CONDUCTING SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

 CONDUCTING SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Henslin’s Model	Birago’s Model	Comments
Select a Topic	Select a Topic	Collective Unit of Analysis
Define the Problem	Review the Literature & Define the Problem	Go back and forth until the problem is clear
Review the Literature		Use a Soc. Database
Formulate a Hypothesis		Only for Deduction. Often more than one
	Apply Language of Variables	Identify dependent and independent variables
	Operationalize Your Concepts	Observations must be measureable, and measures must be reliable and valid
	Make Sampling Decisions	Identify your population and decide who among it will be your subjects
Choose a Research Method	Choose a Research Method	Many to choose from; some quantitative, some qualitative. Triangulation also an option
Collect the Data*	Collect the Data	Making and recording your observations
Analyze the Results	Analyze the Results	Analysis is the interpretation of data. Each method has its own analytical procedures
Share Your Results	Share Your Results

 

* A sociologist does not necessarily “do her/his experiment.” An experiment is only one type of method that could be used, just like a Toyota is only one type of car. It would be wrong to assume that every driver drives a Toyota – just as it would be equally wrong to assume that every sociologist does an experiment. In fact, because sociology’s unit of analysis is always collective, social experiments are difficult to do and rarely done. Don’t say, “conducts her/his experiment” when you actually mean “conducts her/his research.”