METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

Introduction to Family Studies

What is Sociology?

What pops into your mind when you think about Sociology?

What do sociologists study? How is sociological thinking different from

other social science disciplines?

The Sociological ApproachSociology focuses on how social forces

influence individual behavior, actions, and feelings.

ANDSociology examines how the interaction of

individuals and small groups influence the economic or social change?

Humans viewed as both puppets and puppeteers

Thinking like a Sociologist

In this class, we will focus on how families are influenced by the larger social structure Social structure: is a stable

framework of social relationships that guides our interaction with others

The Sociological Approach

Macro Level

Micro Level

Social institutions A social institution is a major sphere of social life with rules and roles that define a social unit of importance to society

A social institution is a visible structure that people can recognize and understand

Families are a social institution

The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level

The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level Family sociologists examine how these social institutions interact and

how they influence behaviors, attitudes, and opportunities in families

Economy

Families

GovernmentEducation

Religion Healthcare

Thinking like a Sociologist

In this class, we will focus on how families are influenced by the larger social structure

The macro level comprises:

Social Status Social statuses are:

the social positions people occupy and the privileges and constraints that are attached to these positions

Who has the POWER in the U.S.The president and other members of the governmentThe RICH

The Sociological Approach – The Macro Level

THE SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH – THE MICRO LEVEL

Micro level deals with issues of social life at the level of individuals or small groups

Micro level analysis focuses on personal choices

Think of an example of a personal choice you made recently and how it was influenced by the larger society, your social status, the economy, the government, the culture of Montclair?

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Social Science Research

How do we know what we know?

Most of us understand the world around us through our personal experience -- the people and situations we have been in or have seen

This personal experience leads to your conclusions about the world

While there is nothing wrong with these ways of knowing -- social scientists are skeptical about relying ONLY on these sources because:

An individual’s experience of those around them is not representative of the broader society

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Social Science Research

How do we know what we know?

Social scientists use a systematic and more scientific mode of investigation

Social scientists rely on:Observations of the social world based on

representative samplesExample: If we wanted to study why people in

the U.S. get married, we should not just survey college students

We avoid the error of overgeneralization: i.e. using what we know about a small group of people to conclude something about all people

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Social Science Research

How do we know what we know?

Most of us understand the world around us through our personal experience -- the people and situations we have been in or have seen

This personal experience leads to your conclusions about the world

While there is nothing wrong with these ways of knowing -- social scientists are skeptical about relying ONLY on these sources because:

An individual’s experience of those around them is not representative of the broader society

04/20/23

Social Science Research

How do we know what we know?

Social scientists use a systematic and more scientific mode of investigation

Social scientists rely on: Observations of the social world based on

representative samples Example: If we wanted to study why people in the

U.S. get married, we should not just survey college students

We avoid the error of overgeneralization: i.e. using what we know about a small group of people to conclude something about all people

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Sociological Theories

Social science theories explain or help us make sense of patterns in social life

Theories shape and direct research – they point us in a direction

That direction influences what we look for, what we find, and how we explain it

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Sociological Theories

Theories about families and relationships are made up a set of statements that explain why certain relationships occur

For example: The age at first marriage has increased because more women are graduating from college and starting careers before marrying

Most Frequently used Methods of Social Research

Demographic Studies

Survey Research

Participant Observation (Field Observation)

Social Experiments

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Demographic Studies Demography is a subfield of social science

that is concerned with: how social conditions are distributed in the

human population and how these populations are changing

Core interests are trends in:FertilityMortalityMigrationMarriage and divorce

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How are demographic data collected?

Most data are collected at the state level and compiled by the National Center of Health Statistics (NCHS)

NCHS is a department of the Center for Disease control (CDC) in Atlanta GE

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Demographic StudiesExamples of Demographic Studies in

FertilityWhat is the fertility rate by race/ethnicity in the US?

How has it changed over the past ten years?

Go to the National Center for Health Statistics:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/

nvsr55_01.pdf

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Fertility Rate

Fertility rate is the number of women age 15 - 44 who gave birth per 1000 women

For example the rate for Non-Hispanic Black women is 89 births per 1000 Non-Hispanic Black women 15 - 44

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Survey Research

Collect information from a subgroup of people, known as a sample

Samples are chosen to represent the larger population from which they are selected.

Data is collected through in-person or phone interviews, or by questionnaires sent through the mail or NOW the internet (web-based)

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Survey ResearchExample of Survey Research General Social Survey

Who conducted the survey? National Opinion Research Center (NORC)

How many people were interviewed?More than 38,000 people interviewed

since 1972National Survey of Family Growth

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/abc_list.htm

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Field Research

Used to understand processes among people by directly observing them as the behaviors take place

Researcher participates directly in

the social life of individuals of groups in question

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PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

Complete Observation:

Arlie Hochschild observed the division of household labor by visiting wives and husbands in their homes

Observation takes place in the real world

Researcher attempts to fade into the background

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Field Research Intensive interviewing

Questions are open ended Designed to be very in depth, with a small

sample Provide rich description of personal experience

Focus Groups Designed to obtain information from a small

group of people Encourage open discussions of topics Used by market researchers and political

pollsters

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SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS

A real test of an effect of A on B Or the effect a new housing opportunity for

better housing on family opportunities… Is to RANDOMLY assign subjects to an

experimental group and a control group Moving to Opportunity Disadvantaged families were randomly

assigned tostaying in public housing receiving a housing voucher for Section8

housing, oror moving to a nearby suburb?

ETHICS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH

Today, before you can even begin a research project – you must go through an extensive process to receive an okay to move forward

Researchers must prove that the individuals (subjects/respondents) who take part in a study will not be mentally or physically injured by theory participation

Much of the ethical review process came out of the Millgram experiements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=274wQJmdRQg

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Summary Families are one social institution among

many Families are influenced by and influence

the larger society Family theories guide research on families

as well as methods chosen to collect data may operate at the:

Family sociologists use systematic methodsDemographic studiesSurvey ResearchObservation and Social Experiments