SOCL 2001 Chapter : Chapter 2
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Chapter 2: Methodology
SAT average in LA→ 1576 (18th in nation)
- number based on bad sample
ACT average in LA→ 19.2 (47th in nation)
- good sample
Methodology
- the rules and procedure to guide research
- have to go through procedure so people cannot criticize you for researching the
wrong way
Ways we get ideas
- common sense→ our past experiences and personal observations convince us that
certain things are true
- authorities→ people as assumed to be knowledgable because of their experience or
position
- tradition→ the wisdom of previous generations is passed on and accepted as
accurate
- research (empirical methods)→ focus on observable phenomenon
❖ Sociology – uses scientific method to develop laws, principles, and theories about the
social world
Concept
- an abstract system of meaning that enables us to perceive a phenomenon in a
particular way
- tools that permit us to share meanings
- variables→ when concepts have two or more degrees or values
Statements about social facts
- three levels of abstraction
- theory→ most abstract
o set of logically interrelated positions that explains some process or set of
phenomenon in a testable fashion
o should be stated in abstract terms
o should allow predictions to be made
o many propositions
o made up of concepts
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o ex.)government, sports team→ leadership affects group performance
- proposition→ abstract
o a statement about the nature of some phenomenon
o consists of a statement about the relationship between two or more variables
o college football – quality of head coach affects the quality of the time
o ex.) president
- hypothesis→ concrete
o when a proposition is formulated so it can be tested
o states that if one variable changes in some regular fashion, a predictable
change will occur
o made up of variables
o testable hypothesis→ most concrete
▪ SEC – coach’s rating in 2013 positively related to the number of wins
in 2014
▪ can test with numbers
- Operational definitions – something you can count or measure
Social control theory
- our behavior is determined by social control
- behavior can be in different contexts
- if you punish someone, they will not do it again bc they learned a lesson
- ex.) criminal behavior is controlled by sentence
Labeling theory
- we behave as other people expect us to
- people follow their label
- predicts that people who get arrest are going to repeat their offense
Wife abuse and husband’s arrest
- 1/3 of cases→ arrest husband
- 2/3 of cases→ husband not arrested
- people who get arrested are less likely to beat wife again→ social control theory
- people who get arrested are going to beat their wife again→ labeling theory
- husband is employed, arrests stop→ positive relationship
- husband is unemployed, arrests increase→ negative relationship
❖ Whether or not each theory is correct depends on the individual
