2 SocResearch Lesson 5cont'd

 

Reviewing the general types of research:

General Types of Sociological Research

• Longitudinal - a study that examines specific subjects over an extended period time.  For example, a researcher might interview kids at age 5, then at age 15 and then again at 25.  Some research is conducted over the course of decades by different researchers.
• Cross-sectional - a study that examines a group of people at a single point in time.  For example, like taking a section of cake that has different layers, a researcher might take a sample of people from a group like SHS.  The research might examine 10 students from each grade to get an understanding of the school as a whole. 
• Cross-cultural - a study that compares subjects from two or more cultures.
• Qualitative or Quantitative - qualitative is subjective and descriptive; it examines the qualities about a subject.  Quantitative is objective and involves examining numbers or statistics.
• Historical analysis - examing changes over time in comparison to present-day. 

1. What general type of research is your article?

Small group:  Explain what type of research your article is to your group.  Ask questions.  Help each other understand.

Now let's examine the specific ways that sociologists gather their research.  For more info,  Open Stax sociology textbook explains the methods in this chapter, see their graphic organizer below:

Methods of sociological research

These are some of the more common methods of research that you will come across in sociology:

Qualitative:

Survey - interviews that are open-ended 

Field work/ethnography - observing subjects by living with them, watching them and taking notes 

Content Analysis - examining the content of media or other cultural productions

 

Quantitative: 

Survey - questionnaires that are close-ended such as multiple choice or likert scale.

Experiment/Audit study - comparing the responses of two or more different reactions.

Statistical analysis - existing sources (data sets, such as GSS or Census data)

2.  Which of the methods above does Venkatesh use in the excerpt from Gang Leader? Explain when/how.  (Arguably he does 5 of them!)

3.  What methods are in your article?

Important considerations in research;  The importance of both ethics and peer-review in research:

Read this critique of Venkatesh's work and answer the question below.

4.  What are the criticisms of Venkatesh's Gang Leader research?

For more info on Venkatesh's work:

• Gang Leader for a Day on Amazon. 
• Read an excerpt from the book and download Venkatesh reading and talking about his book from NPR. 
• Venkatesh speaking on the Colbert Report and he explains that there are important ways of doing research correctly.
• Venkatesh speaking about his book and the research he did.  
• An interview at slate.com between Venkatesh and Alex Kotlowitz (There Are No Children Here).