Scientific Method: the process a sociologist uses to develop and test theories
American Sociological Association (ASA): a national organization for sociologists dedicated to advancing sociology as a scientific discipline and profession serving the public good
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
Institutional Review Board (IRB): a committee that reviews research proposals to protect the rights and welfare of human participants in research
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
Secondary Analysis: the use of data previously collected for other purposes
Survey: a series of questions used to extract specific information from respondents
Experiment: the use of 2 or more groups in which one group is exposed to a factor being examined
Experimental Group: the study subjects exposed to the independent variable
Control Group: the study subjects who are not exposed to the independent variable and are used as a reference group
Longitudinal Design: the repeated observation of the same subjects over a duration of time
In-Depth Interview: a one on one open ended method that probes for deeper meaning and understanding of the responses of the interviewee
Participation Observation: also called participant observation, a method in which the researcher takes part in the social phenomenon being studied
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
Focus Group: a small group interview or guided discussion using a moderator to gain insight into the participants opinions on specific topics
Groupthink: the tendency of group members to yield to the desire for consensus rather than expressing individual or alternative ideas
Content Analysis: a systematic method of assigning codes to text, video, music, and other media to analyze and infer patterns
Quantitative Methods:
– secondary analysis
– surveys
– experiments
– longitudinal
Qualitative Methods:
– in depth interviews
– participant observation
– focus groups
– content analysis
Sustainability: the idea that current and future generations should have equal or greater access to social, economic, and environmental resources
General Social Survey (GSS): a national survey on contemporary American society to monitor and explain trends and constants in attitudes, behaviors, and attributes
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 (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
Case Study: an in-depth analysis of a particular person, place, or event over a significant period
Verstehen: an empathetic approach to understanding human behavior