Sociological research methods

Sociologists examine the world, see a problem or interesting pattern, and set out
to study it. They use research methods to design a study—perhaps a positivist,
quantitative method for conducting research and obtaining data, or perhaps an
ethnographic study utilizing an interpretive framework. Planning the research
design is a key step in any sociological study. When entering a particular social
environment, a researcher must be careful. There are times to remain anonymous
and times to be overt. There are times to conduct interviews and times to simply
observe. Some participants need to be thoroughly informed; others should not
know they are being observed.

Surveys
As a research method, a survey collects data from subjects who respond to a
series of questions about behaviours and opinions, often in the form of a
questionnaire. The survey is one of the most widely used positivist research
methods. The standard survey format allows individuals a level of anonymity in
which they can express personal ideas. At some point or another, everyone
responds to some type of survey. Not all surveys would be considered sociological
research. Marketing polls help companies refine marketing goals and strategies;
they are generally not conducted as part of a scientific study, meaning they are
not designed to test a hypothesis or to contribute knowledge to the field of
sociology. The results are not published in a refereed scholarly journal, where
design, methodology, results, and analyses are vetted.
Surveys can track attitudes and opinions, political preferences, reported individual
behaviours (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits), or factual information
such as employment status, income, and education levels. A survey targets a
specific population, people who are the focus of a study, such as university
athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset)
diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a
sample: that is, a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger
population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is
represented by the sample. In a random sample, every person in a population has
the same chance of being chosen for the study. According to the laws of
probability, random samples represent the population as a whole. It is important
to inform subjects of the nature and purpose of the study upfront. If they agree to
participate, researchers thank subjects and offer them a chance to see the results
of the study if they are interested. The researcher presents the subjects with an
instrument (a means of gathering the information). A common instrument is a
structured questionnaire, in which subjects answer a series of set questions. For
some topics, the researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions,
allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question.

Experiments
You’ve probably tested personal social theories. “If I study at night and review in
the morning, I’ll improve my retention skills.” Or, “If I stop drinking soda, I’ll feel
better.” Cause and effect. If this, then that. When you test the theory, your results
either prove or disprove your hypothesis. One way researchers test social theories
is by conducting an experiment, meaning they investigate relationships to test a
hypothesis—a scientific approach. There are two main types of experiments: lab-
based experiments and field experiments. In a lab setting, the research can be
controlled so that perhaps more data can be recorded in a certain amount of
time. In a natural or field-based experiment, the generation of data cannot be
controlled but the information might be considered more accurate since it was
collected without interference or intervention by the researcher. As a research
method, either type of sociological experiment is useful for testing if-then
statements: if a particular thing happens, then another particular thing will result.
To set up a lab-based experiment, sociologists create artificial situations that
allow them to manipulate variables. Classically, the sociologist selects a set of
people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or education. Those
people are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other
is the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent
variable(s) and the control group is not. This is similar to pharmaceutical drug
trials in which the experimental group is given the test drug and the control group
is given a placebo or sugar pill. To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the
sociologist might expose the experimental group of students to tutoring while the
control group does not receive tutoring. Then both groups would be tested for
differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the experimental
group of students. As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would
not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of either group of students, so the
setting would be somewhat artificial. The test would not be for a grade reflected
on their permanent record, for example.

Field Research
The work of sociology rarely happens in limited, confined spaces. Sociologists
seldom study subjects in their own offices or laboratories. Rather, sociologists go
out into the world. They meet subjects where they live, work, and play. Field
research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without
doing a lab experiment or a survey. It is a research method suited to an
interpretive approach rather than to positivist approaches. To conduct field
research, the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and
observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In fieldwork, the sociologists,
rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element. The researcher
interacts with or observes a person or people, gathering data along the way. The
key point in field research is that it takes place in the subject’s natural
environment, whether it’s a coffee shop or tribal village, a homeless shelter or a
care home, a hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort.
While field research often begins in a specific setting, the study’s purpose is to
observe specific behaviours in that setting. Fieldwork is optimal for observing how
people behave. It is less useful, however, for developing causal explanations of
why they behave that way. From the small size of the groups studied in fieldwork,
it is difficult to make predictions or generalizations to a larger population.
Similarly, there are difficulties in gaining an objective distance from research
subjects. It is difficult to know whether another researcher would see the same
things or record the same data. We will look at three types of field research:
participant observation, ethnography, and the case study.

Participant Observation
Rothman had conducted a form of study called participant observation, in which
researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities for the
purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers
study a naturally occurring social activity without imposing artificial or intrusive
research devices, like fixed questionnaire questions, onto the situation. A
researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend,
institution, or behaviour. Researchers temporarily put themselves into “native”
roles and record their observations. A researcher might work as a waitress in a
diner, or live as a homeless person for several weeks, or ride along with police
officers as they patrol their regular beat. Often, these researchers try to blend in
seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true
identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.
At the beginning of a field study, researchers might have a question: “What really
goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?” or “What is it like
to be homeless?” Participant observation is a useful method if the researcher
wants to explore a certain environment from the inside. Field researchers simply
want to observe and learn. In such a setting, the researcher will be alert and open
minded to whatever happens, recording all observations accurately.

Ethnography
Ethnography is the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural
values of an entire social setting. Researchers seek to immerse themselves in the
life of a bounded group, by living and working among them. Often ethnography
involves participant observation, but the focus is the systematic observation of an
entire community. The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects
view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to
a community. An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small
Newfoundland fishing town, an Inuit community, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist
monastery, a private boarding school, or Disney World. These places all have
borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are
there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect
certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a determined
amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as
possible, and keeping careful notes on his or her observations. A sociologist
studying a tribe in the Amazon might learn the language, watch the way villagers
go about their daily lives, ask individuals about the meaning of different aspects
of activity, study the group’s cosmology and then write a paper about it. To
observe a spiritual retreat centre, an ethnographer might sign up for a retreat and
attend as a guest for an extended stay, observe and record how people
experience spirituality in this setting, and collate the material into results.

The Case Study

Sometimes a researcher wants to study one specific person or event. A case study
is an in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual. To conduct a case
study, a researcher examines existing sources like documents and archival
records, conducts interviews, engages in direct observation, and even participant
observation, if possible. Researchers might use this method to study a single case
of, for example, a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim.
However, a major criticism of the case study as a method is that a developed
study of a single case, while offering depth on a topic, does not provide enough
evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make
universal claims based on just one person, since one person does not verify a
pattern. This is why most sociologists do not use case studies as a primary
research method.
However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these
instances, a single case study can add tremendous knowledge to a certain
discipline. For example, a feral child, also called “wild child,” is one who grows up
isolated from human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and
language, elements crucial to a “civilized” child’s development. These children
mimic the behaviours and movements of animals, and often invent their own
language. There are only about 100 cases of “feral children” in the world. As you
may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral
children provide unique information about child development because they have
grown up outside of the parameters of “normal” child development. And since
there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method
for researchers to use in studying the subject.