Concept
A concept is a general idea about
something. Think of the example of a cat:
there is a difference between talking about
an existing cat, a particular cat and the
idea of a cat, the concept of a cat, which
is something in our minds as a furry small
domesticated mammal.
Concept
It is through these ideas these concepts
we perceive the external world. In a
sense, concepts are a way of generalizing.
We see many cats on the street and we
developed the concept of a cat. We put
all the cats we saw on the street in one
category and called it the concept cat.
Concept
Concepts are the tools with which we
think, criticize, argue, explain and analyze.
Concepts help us to understand the
complex reality because we can grasp a
more complex concept with the help of two
or more concepts.
Models
Models and theories are broader than
concepts; they comprise a range of ideas
rather than a single idea.
Think of models as constructs that explain
the relationship between concepts.
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theory
Theories are true generalizations that
Qualitative research
Qualitative researchers often rely on
interpretative or critical social science.
The research questions originate with the
standpoint of the people being studied, not that
of outsiders. Hence, the aim of the qualitative
researchers is to remove false beliefs and
prejudices held about those being studied.
They treat people as creative and
compassionate beings, not as objects. They
often question power or inequality and view
social relations as the outcome of willful action
rather than as laws of human nature.
Qualitative research
Qualitative researchers speak a language
of cases and contexts. They emphasize
conducting detailed examinations that are
sensitive to specific social historical
contexts. They place issues in a larger
socio-historical context, observe everyday
processes close up and understand the
viewpoints of those involved.
Qualitative research
Those who do qualitative research apply logic in practice and they
follow a nonlinear research path. Their research path is relatively
messy; it is tied to specific cases and oriented toward the practical
completion of a task. It has fewer set of rules. Qualitative research
relies on the informal wisdom that has developed from the
experiences of researchers. Many qualitative researchers learned
how to do research by reading many reports, by trial and error and
by working with an experienced researcher.
In quantitative research, the research question is set, preplanned
whereas in qualitative research it emerges during the research
process. Topic narrowing occurs as the research is carried out, as
data are collected. Developing a focused research question is part
of the data collection process, during which the researcher actively
reflects on and develops preliminary interpretations.
Quantitative research
Quantitative researchers on the other
hand, generally rely on a positivist
approach to social science.
In positivism, the goal of the research is to
discover and document law-like
generalizations.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative researchers speak a language of variables and
hypotheses.
A variable is a concept that varies. Variables take on two or more values.
Examples: Gender , married status, type of crime committed , a persons attitude
towards abortion
Attributes are different than variables, male is not a variable but and attribute.
Likewise robbery is an attribute of the variable type of crime. Variables vary and take
on a range of values. Types of variables : Independent variable, Dependent variable
Intervening variable. In a research that aims to understand the relationship between
smoking and cancer, the dependent variable would be being cancer and the
independent variable would be the number of cigarettes smoked each day.
Qualitative research
In quantitative research, the research question is
set, preplanned whereas in qualitative research
it emerges during the research process. In
qualitative research, topic narrowing occurs as
the research is carried out, as data are
collected.
In qualitative research, developing a focused
research question is part of the data collection
process, during which the researcher actively
reflects on and develops preliminary
interpretations.
A note
Researchers who use one style alone
(either quantitative methods or qualitative
methods) do not always communicate well
with those using the other.
1. select topic
2. focus question
3. design research
4. collect data
5. analyze data
6. interpret data
7. inform others
Research Design
A sociological research has to be planned in
advance. This planning is called research
design. While designing a research you
translate general ideas and concerns into
specific and researchable topics. E.g.
general topic: deviance,
research topic: violent street crime in urban areas.
(eventually, you need to narrow your research topic
further, for example: violent street crime in Tarlabasi,
Istanbul.
1. Research purpose
2. Research strategy
Research strategy: logic of investigation that specifies the way in
which the researcher uses his or her subject matter.
Case study / comparative study
Longitudinal study / cross-sectional study
Case study: a detailed exploration and / or description of the case to
explain how things work in that case. Case studies are in-depth
studies of one case; the findings of the research cannot be
generalized.
Comparative study: investigates similarities and differences between
cases. E.g. Durkheims study of suicide, different social groups have
different suicide rates.
Longitudinal study: investigates changes over time. For example,
you can look at how women homicides increase or decrease since
the beginning of the second wave feminist movement.
Cross-sectional study: investigates how things work at a particular
period of time. Historical change is ignored, time is out of the
picture. For example, you can compare years of education of girls
in different countries but you do not take into account the element of
time in such a study.
3. Research Methods
The researcher can choose between different research
methods:
proceed to survey
Define topics define questions evaluate questions |
revise questions
When designing a questionnaire, you should be careful that your respondents
will be able to understand the questions you ask. For example, if you ask
questions such as Have you ever experienced anomie?, Do you occupy a
contradictory class position? your respondents will not understand you
because they are not sociologists.
Research methods
Quantitative: Content Analysis
The researcher first identifies a body of research to
analyze and then creates a system for recording the
specific aspects of the material that is analyzed, for
example, the researcher may look at how often a word or
a theme occurs in one or more newspapers over a
certain period of time.
For example, my research topic may be the
representation of domestic violence in the written media.
I may pick up three major newspapers in Turkey, go
through them between 2000 and 2005 and see whether
such news occur more frequently and whether they are
given more space in the newspapers as we move from
2000 to 2005. I may also analyze the photographs and
how the news is discussed by each newspaper, etc.
Research Methods
Qualitative: Ethnographic research
Ethnography means writing about people, it is usually understood
as exploring how people feel and experience social life.
In ethnographic studies, the researcher participates in some way in
the situation that is being studied. This involves observing what
people are doing, how they talk to each other, engaging in
conversations with them and conducting informal interviews, or all.
Ethnographic methods were developed by structural-functionalist
anthropologists who went and lived along with the peoples they
studied, learning their languages and understanding their cultures. In
other words, these researchers did participant observation. They
participated in the lives of the people they were studying and
meanwhile they did observations about the people and the
phenomena they were studying.
It is generally anthropologists who use the term ethnographic
research; sociologists and other social scientists who follow similar
research methods (such as participant observation and in-depth
interviews) prefer to use the term field work.
Research Methods
Qualitative: Ethnographic research
Qualitative researchers use conversations, or in other words, they
conduct in-depth interviews when they collect data for their
research.
Semi-structured interviews: not as formal as questionnaires. The
aim is to get more detailed and in-depth information. In most cases,
you are interested in the way in which the person you interview
explain a phenomenon, his or her way of giving meaning to events
and situations. You prepare a checklist of topics and questions to be
explored, a list of questions before you do the interview but the way
in which you ask these questions depends on the flow of the
conversation.
Research Methods
Qualitative: Historical Comparative Research
The researcher begins with a loosely formulated topic or question.
Researchers often use multiple forms of data sources, newspapers,
books, reports, existing statistics, observations and interviews. It is
usually descriptive or exploratory.
Sources of data: letters, government reports, newspapers, diaries,
television broadcasts,
Marxs capital was based on official publications produced by the
factory inspectors and other government agencies.
Webers protestant ethic based on religious tracts and
pamphlets.
Both are examples of historical comparative research .
Durkheims study on suicide was based on existing official
statistics.