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Causation
correlation between 2 variables, where a change of one variable is the cause of a change in another variable. (domino affect)
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Valid sociological topic?
- any human behavior. even bad behavior.
- Example: spouse abuse.
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research is based on?
- sociologists' interest
- access to subject
- appropriate methods
- ethical considerations
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basic steps of scientific reserach?
- 1. select topic
- 2. identify problem
- 3. review literature
- 4. form hypothesis
- 5. pick research method
- 6. collect data
- 7. analyze results
- 8. share results with the community of sociologists
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research methods:
"how sociologists gather data"
- 1. survey
- 2. participant observation
- 3. secondary analysis
- 4. documents.
- 5. experiments
- 6. unobtrusive measures.
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how sociologists choose research methods
- based on questions to be answered
- their access to potential subjects
- resources available
- their training (personal education)
- ethical consideration
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why sociological research is often contraversial
- people get upset because sociologists...
- 1. do research on bad/illegal activities
- 2. research on personal/intimate areas
- 3. biases or goes against interests
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relationship between gender and research
- there are 2 aspects:
- 1. based on samples of men don't necessarily apply to women and vice versa.
- 2. some researches, such as studying abused spouses, rape victims, and rapists, the GENDER OF THE RESEARCHER could affect the results.
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relationship between theory and research:
- They depend on each other.
- theory is used to interpret the data they gather.
- theory makes questions that need to be answered by research.
- research helps make theory.
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