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CHAPTER 3: Doing Sociological Research
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- 1What is the difference between DEDUCTIVE reasoning and INDUCTIVE reasoning? Give examples.DE-ductive:
Is looking at previously KNOWN facts of a general topic and creating a specific research question from that base.
e.g. Catholic Doctrine forbids abortion. Therefore, it would be assumed that Catholics are unlikely to support abortion.
IN-ductive:
Is looking at SPECIFIC examples of a topic and making a generalized conclusion.
e.g. Protesters outside an abortion clinic are Evangelists. Therefore religious beliefs influence human behaviour. - 2What are the 5 stages of the RESEARCH PROCESS?1) General Theory + Research Question
2) Research Design
3) Data Collection
4) Data Analysis
5) Conclusions - 3Why is it important to ensure that a sample is REPRESENTATIVE of the population being studied?Most Sociologists want to study groups that are too large to be easy and practical. Therefore it is important to get a 'representative' sample in order to create a valid conclusion.
The sample should be large enough in order to reflect the population and allow sociologists to make a generalization. i.e. a conclusion based on 5/100 students is not as valid as one based on 60/100 students.
The sample must also be unbiased. All possible backgrounds should have equal opportunity. Bias is usually avoided by generating a RANDOM sample. - 4Give an example of a STATISTICAL MISINTERPRETATION or mistake that supports a biased viewpoint.Overgeneralising is a common statistical misinterpretation as people (such as the media) forget that most studies are only applicable to their sample size.
e.g. Studies of a particular school may show that girls score higher grades than boys. An over-generalisation may assume that girls in EVERY school score higher than boys. - 5What is the difference between QUALITATIVE research and QUANTITATIVE research?Qualitative research:
Is research that specifically looks at SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR (what people say and do) and can generally be interpreted.
Quantitative research:
Is statistical analysis - it uses numerical data in order to understand variables such as the sample size/population. - 6If you were to study homeless people - what research method would you use and why? What are the problems with that?Research method: QUALITATIVE.
It is difficult to take on the study by Quantitative research as that only gives limited and specific information. If the question was based on the amount of homeless people - it may be useful but If it was about their lifestyle, an interview (as a form of qualitative research) would be more effective.
It would be difficult to gather this kind of data as it is impractical to have any follow up questionings - homeless people do not have a fixed place to stay.
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- Introduction to Sociology revision for EXAM
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