Notes:
Auguste Comte-developed the concept of sociology based on the methods used in the physical sciences
scientific method, the process a sociologist uses to develop and test theories
peer review, a process by which research is evaluated by a group of experts in the specific subject area
hypothesis, an educated guess about a relationship between two or more situations, events, or factors
independent variable, a factor that causes a change in another variable
dependent variable, a factor that is changed by another variable
validity, the extent that the study measures what it claims to measure
operational definition, a clear, concise, and observable measure of the variable
reliability, the extent to which a study yields the same result in repeated studies
quantitative research design, data collection that focuses on exploring correlations by using systematic, numerical, and other objective measures to generalize across groups of people
qualitative research design, data collection using interviews, fieldwork, observation, photos, text, and other subjective measures
representative sample, a subset of the population whose characteristics accurately reflect those of the larger population from which it is drawn
informed consent, a signed statement by participants indicating full knowledge of the risks involved, and acknowledgment of the procedures to withdraw from the study at any time willingly
Anonymity, concealing the identities of participants within the research project
confidentiality, guarding who has the right of access to the data provided by the participants
| Existing data is plentiful and study can be conducted quickly |
ethnography, a descriptive account of social life and culture in a particular social system derived from the researcher being embedded over time within a group, organization, or community
participation observation, also called participant observation, a method in which the researcher takes part in the social phenomenon being studied
in-depth interview, a one-on-one open-ended method that probes for deeper meaning and understanding of the responses of the interviewee; useful and effective when dealing with sensitive topics like abuse, racism, and death
content analysis, a systematic method of assigning codes to text, video, music, and other media to analyze and infer patterns
snowball sampling, a process in which people in the group being studied introduce the researcher to other people to study
time diary method, a research method in which subjects track their actions at various points in time over several days
Hawthorne effect, the tendency of people to change their behavior when they know they are being watched.
ethics, principles of conduct about how you are supposed to behave in a given situation
debriefing, a follow-up review of the research
code of ethics, a set of guidelines of appropriate behavior established by an organization for its members to follow
value neutrality or objectivity, the effort to eliminate bias from the research
sample of convenience, a research sample based on the ease of accessibility of the research subjects.
verstehen (vûrst e hen), an empathetic approach to understanding human behavior