Doing Research in the Social Sciences

Like all scientists, sociologists gain their knowledge by doing research. The goal of sociological research is to test common sense assumptions and replace false ideas with facts and evidence. Part of the sociological perspectiveis to ask “why” and “how” questions and then to form hypothesesto arrive at accurate understandings.Social scientists differ from other scientists, however, in how they conductmuch of their research. Unlike chemists, biologists, or physicists, sociologists (and often psychologists) are very limited in their ability to set up laboratory experiments to replicate real-life conditions. Even if they reproduce conditions as they are in the outside world, the ethical issues involved in manipulating people and controlling events would prevent most sociologists from pursuing this kind of research. For sociologists, the world is their laboratory.

How then do sociologists do research? The methods that sociologists rely on are described below. These methods are classified as either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative research uses numerical data, while qualitative research rests on narrative and descriptive data. Quantitative research tools include surveys and precollected data. About 90 percent of the research published in major sociological journals is based on surveys, so this approach is discussed first.

How are effective surveys conducted? In survey research, care must be taken that surveys are sent to the right number and type of people (Black, 1998). Researchers describe the people surveyed in terms of populations and samples. A population is all those people with the characteristics a researcher wants to study. A population could be all high school seniors in the United States, all retired postal workers living in Connecticut, or the number of freshmen

who buy school yearbooks. Sociologists would like to collect information on all members of a population, but most populations are too large. Surveys including the entire population would cost too much and take too long for most research projects. Instead, a sample is drawn. A sample is a limited number of cases drawn from the larger population. A sample must be selected carefully if it is to have the same basic characteristics as the general population—that is, if it is to be a representative sample. If a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn, the survey findings cannot be used to make generalizations about the entire population.

 

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Field Research

Qualitative research uses narrative or descriptive data rather than quantitative, numerical data. Some aspects of society can best be revealed by qualitative methods. Most of these methods fall under the heading of field research. Field research looks closely at aspects of social life that cannot be measured quantitatively and that are best understood within a natural setting. High school cliques and “jock” culture are examples of topics best studied by field research. When do sociologists use case studies? The most often used approach to field research is the case study—a thorough investigation of a single group, incident, or community. This method assumes that the findings in one case can be generalized to similar situations. The conclusions of a study on drug use in Chicago, for example, should apply to other large cities as well. It is the researcher’s responsibility to point out the factors in the study that are unique and that would not apply to other situations.

When do case studies involve participant observation? In participant observation, a researcher becomes a member of the group being studied. A researcher may join a group with or without informing its members that he or she is a sociologist. A compelling account of undercover participant observation appears in Black Like Me, a book written by John Howard Griffin (1961). Griffin, a white journalist, dyed his skin to study the life of African Americans in the South. Although he had previously visited the South as a white man, his experiences while posing as an African American were quite different. Participant researchers sometimes do not keep their identities secret. Elliot Liebow studied disadvantaged African American males. Even though he was a white outsider, Liebow was allowed to participate in the daily activities of the men. He said, “The people I was observing knew that I was observing them, yet they allowed me to participate in their activities and take part in their lives to a degree that continues to surprise me” (Liebow, 1967:253).

 

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Variables and Correlations

A variable is a characteristic—such as age, education, or occupation— that is subject to change.Variables can be quantitative or qualitative, independent or dependent. How do variables differ? Some materials have greater density than others. Some people have higher incomes than others. The literacy rate is higher in developed countries than in developing countries. Each of these characteristics is a quantitative variable, a variable that can be measured and given a numerical value. In contrast, a qualitative variable is identified by membership in a category. It is an “either/or” or a “yes/no” variable. Sex, marital status, and group membership are three qualitative variables often used by sociologists. People are either male or female; they are married or unmarried; they are band members, football players, sophomores—or they are not. When they conduct studies, sociologists and other scientists identify the qualitative and quantitative variables to investigate. They then define these variables as either independent or dependent. The independent variable in a study is the variable that causes something to occur.

The researcher changes, or looks for changes, in this variable. The dependent variable is what results from the change in the independent variable. For example, you might look at the time spent studying for a test as an independent variable that could cause a change in a grade—a dependent variable. The independent variable of poverty is one of several independent variables that can produce a change in the dependent variable of hunger. Whether a variable is dependent or independent can change depending on the situation. The extent of hunger may be a dependent variable in a study of poverty; it may be an independent variable in a study of crime.

An intervening variable influences the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable. The existence of a government support program, for example, may intervene between poverty and hunger. If a strong safety net exists, for instance, very poor parents and their children may experience no more hunger than those in the working class. Poverty is the cause of hunger but does not have to be if government intervention in the form of incomeand food exists. The poor without a safety net will experience more hunger. The poor with a safety net will not.

 

 

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Sociobiology

Sociobiology is the study of the biological basis of human behavior. It combines Darwin’s theory of natural selection with modern genetics. How do sociobiologists view human behavior? According to Darwin’s theory of evolution, organisms evolve through natural selection. The plants

and animals best suited to an environment survive and reproduce, while the rest perish. Sociobiologists assume that the behaviors that best help people are biologically based and transmitted in the genetic code (Degler, 1991; Wright, 1996). Behaviors that would contribute to the survival of the human species include parental affection and care, friendship, sexual reproduction, and the education of children.

Sociobiologists do not draw a sharp line between human and nonhuman animals. They claim that nonhuman animals also act on knowledge—as when baboons use long sticks to pull ants from an anthill for a meal. Many nonhuman animals, claim sociobiologists, show intelligence of a kind formerly thought to be unique to humans, such as the ability to use language (Begley, 1993; Linden, 1993a).

What are some criticisms of sociobiology? The major criticism of sociobiology is that the importance placed on genetics could be used as a justification to label specific races as superior or inferior. Critics of sociobiology also point out that there is too much variation in societies around the world for human behavior to be explained on strictly biological grounds. They believe that the capacity for using language is uniquely human and that humans have created a social life that goes far beyond what heredity alone could accomplish. Is there a middle ground? Some common ground has emerged in this debate. A growing body of sociologists believe that genes work with culture

in a complex way to shape and limit human nature and social life. They would like this relationship to be further examined (Lopreato, 1990; Weingart, 1997; Konner, 1999). A 1998 study found that women look for one set of characteristics in men they marry while men value different characteristics in women (Buss, Malamuth, and Windstad, 1998). The researchers believe this behavior is programmed into the genetic code. Studies have also determined that stepfathers are more likely than biological fathers to abuse their children (Daly and Wilson, 1997). Is this because men are more protective of their own biological offspring? Because of the speed of discoveries in the field of biology, the relationships between heredity, culture, and behavior are of growing interest to sociobiologists.

 

 

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