Connecting Sociology and YOU!

Chapter 2: Sociological Inquiry

Resource Details:

secondary analysisthe use of data previously collected for other purposes

surveya series of questions used to extract specific information from respondents,

experimentthe use of two or more groups in which one group is exposed to a factor being examined

 experimental groupthe study subjects exposed to the independent variable,

control groupthe study subjects who are not exposed to the independent variable and are used as a reference group

longitudinal designthe repeated observation of the same subjects over a duration of time

In-depth Interviews Ability to explore different angles and levels Focuses on individuals and transcribing field notes can be time-consuming
Participant Observation Unrestricting access to observe social behavior Difficult to document details and can potentially be unethical
Focus Groups Ease of implementation and quick results Groupthink can occur and moderators can skew the results
Content Analysis Does not involve human subjects and cost-effective Researchers must “read between the lines”