SocResearch Lesson 4 cont'd

Research can be  either:  

Quantitative                                    Qualitative

statistical analysis                             comparable descriptive analysis
value free                                          values are present and explicit
less context                                       contextual/nuanced

many cases/subjects                          fewer cases/subjects
researcher is detached                       researcher is involved
research is pointed                            research is open-ended

Now, let's add other types of general research.

General Types of Sociological Research

• Longitudinal - a study that examines 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.  The key here is that the researcher studies a bunch of people from the same group/society. 
• Cross-cultural - a study that compares subjects from two or more cultures.  The key here is that a cross-cultural study examines people that are part of different groups/societies and compares them.
• Qualitative or Quantitative - qualitative is subjective and descriptive; it examines the qualities about a subject.  Quantitative is objective and involves examining numbers or statistics.

3.  Is Venkatesh's research better considered longitudinal or cross-sectional?

4.  Any questions about the general types of research?

Now let's examine the specific ways that sociologists gather their research.  

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 

 One example is SHS grad and Brown U. professor, Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve's research.

Content analysis - examing the content of a source such as magazines or shows. 

Here is an  example of content analysis about climate change. 

Sometimes content analysis is historical analyzing changes over time. 

 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)

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

For more info,  Open Stax sociology textbook explains the methods in this chapter.