UNIT 4. METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Four research methods are widely employed in sociological investigation. A method is a strategy for carrying out research in a systematic way – comparable to a blueprint used in building or a recipe in cooking. The four methods discussed here are all expressions of the logic science. They differ, however, in the specific ways in which observations are made and in the kinds of questions they help us answer. No method is in an absolute sense better or worse than any other; each has characteristic strengths and weaknesses so that any method is particularly suited for certain kinds of research.

Experiments

The logic of science is clearly expressed in the experiment – a method that seeks to specify a cause-and-effect relationship among variables. Experimental research, in other words, is explanatory in character, attempting to show what factors in the social world cause change to occur in other factors. Experiments are typically based on the text of a specific hypothesis – a theoretical statement of a relationship between independent and dependent variables. The goal of an experiment is to find out whether or not the hypothesis is supported by empirical evidence. Thus, an experiment involves three steps: (1) the dependent variable is measured; (2) the dependent variable is exposed to the effects of the independent variables; (3) the dependent variable is measured again to see what (if any) change has taken place.

Survey Research

A survey is a method of contacting individuals in order to obtain responses to a series of items or questions. It is the most widely used of all research methods in sociology. Surveys are particularly useful when we are seeking answers to specific questions, especially when what we want to know cannot be observed directly, such as the political preferences and religious beliefs of individuals, patterns of sexual attraction, or the private lives of married couples. Because surveys typically involve the number of different variables, they (like experiments) are appropriate for conducting explanatory research, in which we attempt to specify the relations among several variables, seeking correlations or even causal links among them. Surveys are also commonly used in descriptive research, in which a sociologist attempts to describe some category of people with regard to one or more variables of interest.

Questionnaires

A questionnaire is a series of questions or items to which all subjects are asked to respond. In most cases, the respondent is provided with possible responses to each item, so that the process of answering only involves selecting the best response. Analyzing the results of the survey is easy because the possible responses have been limited by the researcher. A questionnaire that provides a set of responses to the subject has a closed-ended format.

In some cases, however, a researcher might want to let a subject respond in an entirely free way. In an open-ended format the subjects are able to express their responses however they wish, which allows subtle shades of opinion to come through. Of course, the researcher later has to make sense out of what can be a bewildering array of answers.

How to present the questions to subjects is a major decision for every study that uses a questionnaire. Most often, a questionnaire is mailed to respondents who are asked to complete the form and then return it to the researcher, usually also by mail. This technique is called a self-administered survey. When subjects respond to such questionnaires, no researcher is present, of course. In self-administered surveys, it is especially important to pretest the questionnaire with a small group of people before sending it to all subjects in the study. It can help prevent the costly problem of finding out too late – that instructions or questions were not clear to respondents.

Interviews

Researchers may also use the interview (sometimes called an interview-survey), which is a questionnaire, administered personally to the subject by the researcher. Interviews are especially useful if the items have an open-ended format because the researcher can ask follow-up questions, both to probe a bit more deeply and to clarify the subject’s responses. The researcher must be careful not to influence these responses, however. Sometimes even raising an eyebrow as someone begins to answer a question can be enough to change a response. The advantage of an interview is that a subject is more likely to complete a questionnaire in the presence of a researcher. One disadvantage is that tracking people down is often a difficult job, and more than one attempt may be necessary. Another is that if all subjects do not live in the same area, the costs of conducting research in this way can become extremely high.

Task 1. Transcribe the following words and learn their pronunciation:

strategy, logic, specific, absolute, typically, hypothesis, series, preference, private, category, analyzing, technique

Task 2. Answer the following questions:

1. What is defined by a method?

2. What kind of method is an experiment?

3. What are experiments based on?

4. How would you define a hypothesis?

5. What is the goal of an experiment?

6. What steps does the experiment involve?

7. Where is it better to conduct an experiment?

8. In what way would you characterize a survey?

9. What research may be conducted by means of a survey?

10. What is a questionnaire?

11. What kinds of questionnaires may there be?

12. What is the difference between these two types?

13. What is meant by a self-administered survey?

14. What is an interview?

15. What are the advantages and disadvantages of an interview?

16. Enumerate all methods of sociological research. Which of them do you consider to be the most productive? Give your reasons.

Task 3. Characterize each method of sociological research.

Task 4. Make up a questionnaire on the topic “Who is the leading personality in the country?”

Task 5. Develop the following situations:

1. You are asked to carry out a public opinion poll. What would you start with?

2. What would you recommend to the beginners in carrying out an interview?

Task 6. Find in the text English equivalents for:

проводить исследования; в абсолютном смысле; лучше или хуже; сильные стороны и слабые; переменная; с учетом; испытуемые; во многих случаях; набор ответов; совершенно свободно; ставящий в тупик; по почте; слишком поздно; преимущество; недостаток

Task 7. Arrange the following words into pairs of synonyms:

1. research a) to carry out

2. method b)especially

3. to conduct c) typically

4. to vary d) to select

5. definite e) technique

6. particularly f) certain

7. cause g) to take place

8. to occur h) effect

9. generally i) to appear

10. aim j) investigation

11. result k) to differ

12.to choose l) reason

13. important m) goal

14. to emerge n) significant

Task 8. Translate the following sentences into Russian taking into account the meanings of: in relation to; with regard to; with respect to