Vermette - Transcript - Chapter 1 - Asking sociological questions
- 1. Transcript of Asking Sociological Questions Slide 1: INTRODUCTION Hello. This is Dr. Vermette again. This time I’d like to speak with you about Chapter Two of your text. At this point, we will focus on how sociologists focus on asking and answering questions, sociological questions. Slide 2: BASIC CONCEPTS – FOUR TYPES OF QUESTIONS To adequately prepare how to answer questions, the sociologist explores four types of questions: factual, or empirical, comparative, developmental and theoretical. These are discussed in great detail in your text. Make sure you are able to define these, give examples and be sure to read the more comprehensive information in you text to help you do well in your assignments and tests but more importantly to view the world around you just a little differently. This will help you to understand how the world around you works. Slide 3: BASIC CONCEPTS – EIGHT STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS. Sociologists don’t just I think I’ll do some research. They have an eight-step research process they follow. We will be asking the following questions as we look at this process: Which step comes first in the research process? Which step in the research process involves asking questions about the relationship among variables? Which step comes first: carrying out the research or reviewing the literature? Which step in the research process involves stating the significance of your results and how these results relate to research that has been done before? What is the final step in the research process? Why might this be considered the first step of the research process as well? Remember this discussion is part of a very brief video. It provides a broad overview of our topic. Be sure to read your text and do the assignments to get a more comprehensive understanding of the eight steps of the research process. This is not the only topic that is covered in this chapter.
- 2. Slide 4: BASIC CONCEPTS – STEP 1 There are 8 steps in the research process. The first step in the research process is to define the research problem. It is at this stage that the sociologist determines where the gaps exist in an understanding about a topic. What questions still haven’t been answered? What puzzles still haven’t been solved? At this stage the sociologist raises questions that often start out with what, where, how, when, or why. Sometimes a researcher will duplicate research that has gone before. Replicated research is very important because it gives credibility to the findings. We will be looking at the researcher who is doing original research and the process they follow which is not different but they might ask some different questions. So let’s move on to the next step. Slide 5: BASIC CONCEPTS – STEPS 2 AND 3 In the second step of the research process, the sociologist spends a lot of time reviewing the research that has been conducted about the topic. What questions have already been raised? What questions are still unanswered? How have others approached the problem? Reviewing the evidence clarifies the topic and gives the researcher better ideas about how to carry out the research. After the sociologist reviews the evidence, he or she is ready to make the problem precise. This is when the sociologist formulates hypotheses. Hypotheses are a refinement of the research problem posed in the first step, or educated guesses about what is going on that are based on a review of the relevant evidence. I want to emphasize that hypotheses are not pie in the sky what ifs they are educated guesses tied to previous research. Hypotheses are also formulated in such a way that they can be evaluated using evidence. Facts and data will either support or disprove the hypotheses. Slide 6: BASIC CONCEPTS – STEPS 4 AND 5 In the fourth step of the research process, the sociologist works out a research design. Some hypotheses are better suited to surveys, some to interviews, some to participant observation. Sociologists have a wide variety of methods from which to choose. What works best depends on factors we will review later in Chapter 2. In the fifth step the sociologist carries out the research. This is when data are systematically gathered according to the research design. It is important that the sociologist remains flexible for unexpected problems can occur in the process of gathering information. Sometimes plans fall through. Sometimes people don’t cooperate. Sometimes data that we supposed to be available aren’t. The more thoroughly the sociologist completes the work at the previous steps, the better he or she will be able to deal with unexpected problems at this stage.
- 3. Slide 7: BASIC CONCEPTS – STEPS 6, 7 AND 8 Moving on to Step 6 we find that once the data have been gathered, analysis and interpretation can begin. Computers often help the sociologist sort through and make sense of the evidence gathered in the previous stage. When interpreting the results, the sociologist tries to answer his or her initial questions and determines if the data support the research hypotheses. This is a tricky and sometimes frustrating phase. Even with careful work at previous stages, we often end up with partial answers to research questions or inconclusive findings. It is at the seventh step of the research process, the sociologist reports the findings. The research report can take the form of a presentation or a published journal article or book. The report usually includes the research questions and hypotheses, information about the research design and data, and the results of the research. The report also often describes new questions and avenues for future research. Once these findings are registered and discussed in the wider academic community, the final stage involves future versions of research on the basis of new questions raised. Good research usually includes elements of all steps of the research process, but some projects don’t fit neatly or completely into the eight stages, or they don’t proceed in exactly the order described. CONCLUDING REMARKS Now that we have concluded our discussion of the research process I would like you to read about it in your text. Read the chapter so you will have a comprehensive picture of how a sociologist goes about asking and answering questions. That will help you when doing your assignments. Have a great day and I will talk with you again next week.