3. What are the practical and ethical challenges faced by sociologists who wish to conduct participant-observation research?
4. How can sociologists use unobtrusive measures to study social phenomena indirectly?
5. Why is it valuable for sociologists to have a code of professional ethics?
6. What is the objective of basic sociology, and what relationship should there be between basic and applied sociology?
Text III. WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC METHOD?
How do sociologists study human behavior and institutions? Like the typical citizen on the street, the sociologist is interested in the central questions of our time. Is the family falling apart? Why is there so much crime? and such like. Such issues concern most people, whether or not they have academic training. However, unlike the typical citizen, the sociologist must use scientific method in studying society. Scientific method is a systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem.
A key element in scientific method is planning. When sociologists wish to learn more about human behavior, they do not simply walk out the door, or pick up the telephone, and begin asking questions. There are five basic steps in scientific method that researchers follow in developing useful research. These are:
1) defining the problem,
2) reviewing the literature,
3) formulating the hypothesis,
4) selecting the research design and then collecting and analyzing data,
5) developing the conclusion.
An actual example will illustrate the workings of scientific method. In the 1980s, people in the United States became increasingly aware of the plight of the homeless in the nation’s urban centers. In the past the homeless were primarily older white males living as alcoholics in «skid row» areas. However, today’s homeless persons tend to be younger and include growing numbers of families without any shelter.
Defining the problem. The first step in any sociological research project is to state as clearly as possible what you hope to investigate. In beginning their work on homelessness, a team of sociologists headed by David Snow considered the question of who the homeless are. The researchers learned that the mass media presented the homeless primarily as mentally ill. The sociologists developed a researchable question: «How representative is the media image of the homeless?» After that they developed an operational definition, i.e. an explanation of the abstract concept «mental illness». They classified homeless persons as mentally ill «if they had contact with one or more mental health agencies and were simultaneously diagnosed by the agency personnel as having one or more mental health problems.»
Reviewing the literature. By conducting a review of the literature, researchers refine the problem under study, clarify possible techniques to be used in collecting data and may avoid making unnecessary mistakes. When David Snow and his colleagues began considering mental illness among the homeless, they turned to two types of literature. First, they reviewed «popular» magazines such as «Time», «Newsweek» and «People» and found a consistent image of the homeless as «street people» who had previously spent some time in mental hospitals. Second, they examined the systematic studies done in Boston and New York which indicated that homeless persons were usually found to have a diagnosable mental illness. But were these studies representative of the homeless? Still further review showed that, when the researchers focused on the homeless in general, the proportions of homeless persons found to be mentally ill were much lower.
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Formulating the hypothesis. After reviewing the earlier research concerning homeless the researchers developed a guess about the relation- shipbetween mental illness and homelessness. Such aspeculative statement about the relationship between two or more factors is called a hypothesis. A hypothesis essentially tells us what we are looking for in our research. In order to be meaningful, it must be testable.
As part of the study of homelessness, one possible hypothesis might be: «Most homeless persons are not mentally ill.»
In formulating a hypothesis, we do not imply that it is correct. We merely suggest that it is worthy of study, that the hypothesis should be scientifically tested and confirmed, refuted or revised, depending on the outcome of the study.
Collecting and analyzing data. In order to test a hypothesis and determine if it is supported or refuted, researchers need to collect information. To guide them in collecting and analyzing data, they employ one of the research designs, the most effective of them being selecting the sample. There are many kinds of samples, of which the random sample is frequently used by social scientists. By using the random sampling techniques, sociologists do not need to question everyone in a population.
In the study of homelessness the researchers drew a random sample of 800 names from the 13,881 homeless men and women who had registered at least once in the Salvation Army during a 14-month period and then compared this sample with the records of six other states and local agencies such as hospitals, mental health institutions, etc. Ultimately, a usable sample of 767 persons was selected for the study of homelessness.
Developing the conclusion. Scientific studies do not aim to answer all the questions that can be raised about a particular object. Therefore, the conclusion of a research study represents both an end and a beginning. It terminates a specific phase of investigation, but it should also generate ideas for future study. This is true of the research on the homeless conducted by David Snow and his colleagues.
Sociological studies do not always confirm the original hypothesis. In many instances, a hypothesis is refuted, and researchers have to reformulate their conclusions, to reexamine their methodology and to make changes in the research design. In the study discussed above, however, the data confirmed the hypothesis: most homeless persons are not mentally ill. The researchers concluded that the homeless are not typically mentally dysfunctional, they are merely trapped in economic conditions that lead to poverty and despair. With this finding in mind further implications are evident: policy makers must begin to address the issue of homelessness in a very different manner and greater attention must be given to the structural problems of society that contribute to homelessness, including unemployment and the inadequate supply of low-cost housing.
In Summary: Scientific Method
Let us briefly summarize the process of scientific method through a review of the example. The researchers defined the problem (the relationship between homelessness and mental illness).They reviewed the literature (other studies of the presence of mental illness among the homeless) and formulated the hypothesis («Most homeless persons are not mentally ill»). Snow and his colleagues collected the data by creating an appropriate sample of homeless persons and analyzed them. Finally, they developed the conclusion: the typical homeless person is likely not to have a history of mental illness. Thus, through the systematic application of scientific method, these researchers studied a contemporary social issue and generated meaningful findings of interest to sociologists, mental health workers and policy makers.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE
I. Read and translate the text using a dictionaryif necessary.
II. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following:
отдельная проблема (спорный вопрос), интересовать (касаться) кого-либо, гарантировать объективность и последовательность, определить проблему, изучить литературу, сформулировать гипотезу, выбрать план исследования, собрать и проанализировать данные, сделать вывод, актуальный пример, главным образом, ясно определить, средства массовой информации, персонал, провести обзор, четко определить проблему исследования, выявить технические приемы, избегать ошибок, постоянный образ, соответствовать чему-либо, значимый, иметь в виду (подразумевать), подтвердить, опровергать, пересмотреть, конечный результат исследования, руководить (направлять), отбирать, случайный отбор, провести отбор для исследования, завершить отдельную фазу исследования, создавать идеи для будущего изучения, попасть в ловушку, представлять интерес для.
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III. Supplythe missing words or word combinations choosing among those given below:
1) Like the... on the street, the sociologist is interested in questions that... most people. 2) A... of scientific method is planning. 3) Sociologists do not simply... the door or... the telephone to learn more about human behavior. 4) People in the United States became... of the plight of the homeless in the nation’s... centers. 5) Sociologists try to develop... questions. 6) First, they reviewed... such as «Time», «Newsweek» and «People». 7) Second, they examined... done in Boston and New York. 8) Still... review refuted this hypothesis. 9) A hypothesis... tells us what we are looking for in our research. 10) In formulating a hypothesis we... suggest that it is... study. 11) Sociologists... one of the research designs. 12) The random sample is... used by social scientists.
13) Scientific studies do not... to answer all the questions about....
14) The conclusion of a research study... both an end, and a beginning.
15) The homeless are merely trapped in economic conditions that lead to... and.... 16)... further implications are evident. 17)... contributes to homelessness. 18) Through... of scientific method the researchers studied a... social issue... to sociologists,... and....
policy makers, mental health workers, contemporary, the systematic application, the inadequate supply of low-costing housing, with this finding in mind, poverty, despair, represents, aim, a particular object, frequently, employ, merely, worthy of, essentially, further, the systematic studies, «popular magazines», researchable, aware, urban, walk out, pick up, key element, typical citizen, concern, of interest.
IV. Studythe following words and word combinations and use them in sentences of your own:
to be interested in, to concern smb, (un)like smb, to ensure smth, the workings of a method, to be aware of, to tend to smth, to state as clearly as possible, to present... as..., to be representative of, to conduct a review, to avoid doing smth, further (review, investigation, etc.), to focus on, to imply, to be worthy of, to depend on, ultimately, both... and..., to be true of, to confirm a hypothesis, to make changes in, to be trapped, to lead to poverty and despair, to contribute to, an (in)adequate supply of, to be of interest to smb.
COMPREHENSION EXERCISES
I. Reread the text and answer the following questions.
1) What questions are sociologists interested in? 2) What differs the sociologist from the typical citizen? 3) What is scientific method
and why is planning its key element? 4) What are the five basic steps in scientific method? 5) What does it mean to define a problem? 6) How do sociologists review the literature concerning a problem under study? 7) What is a hypothesis? Is it always correct? 8) How do sociologists test a hypothesis? 9) Why do you think that the random sample is frequently used by social scientists? 10) How do you understand that developing the conclusion is not the end of a research study? 11) What do researchers have to do if their hypothesis is refuted?
II. Define the following key terms and memorize the definitions:
scientific method, hypothesis, research design, random sample.
III. Speak on scientific method and its aspects in brief and illustrate your reports withsituations and examples of your own.
IV. Employthe scientific method and its stages described in this text and comment on the problem of the homeless in Russia.
V. Give some other actual examples of human behavior whichcan be analyzed with the help of this scientific method of sociological research. Comment on them thinking like sociologists.
Text IV. RESEARCH DESIGNS FOR COLLECTING DATA. ETHICS OF RESEARCH
An important aspect of sociological research is the decision as to how data should be collected. A research design is a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. Sociologists regularly use experiments, participant observations, surveys and unobtrusive techniques to generate data for their research.
Experiments. When sociologists wish to study a possible cause-and- effect relationship, they may conduct experiments. An experiment is an artificially created situation that allows the researcher either to confirm or to refute the hypothesis under study. In the classic method of conducting an experiment, two groups of people are selected and compared: the experimental group which is exposed to the experiment and the control group which is not.
Participant observation. It is a research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation in and observation of a group or a community under study. In some cases, the sociologist actually «joins» the group for a period of time to get an accurate sense of how it operates. In conducting participant observation research the investigator may face several problems. Firstly, in our
society many people resent the feeling of ‘«being studied». Thus, if the group sees the researcher as an outsider and an observer — rather than a member of the group — its members may feel uneasy and hide many thoughts and emotions. On the other hand, if the researcher disguises his or her identity or purpose, he or she is being somewhat dishonest and this may also distort the group process. Finally, sociologists must learn to see the world as the group sees it. This raises a delicate question regarding the effect of the group on the observer and the observer on the group. The sociologist must retain a certain level of detachment from the group under study and the observer cannot allow the close associations or even friendships that inevitably develop or influence the conclusion of the study.
Surveys. Almost all of us have responded to surveys of one kind or another. A survey is a study, generally in the form of an interview or a questionnaire, which provides sociologists with information concerning how people think and act.
Each of these forms has its own advantages. An interview can obtain a high response rate because people find it more difficult to turn down a personal request for an interview than to throw away a written questionnaire. On the other hand, questionnaires have the advantage of being cheaper. Also, since the questions are written, the researcher knows that there is some guarantee of consistency, whereas five interviewers can ask the same question in five different ways.
Unobtrusive measures. They include a variety of research techniques that have no impact on who or what is being studied. Social scientists and students from the University of Arizona studied people’s spending and eating habits by examining household garbage left out on the street. This is an unconventional example of the use of unobtrusive measures in social scientific research.
The basic techniques of unobtrusive measures are the use of statistics and studying cultural, economic and political documents, including newspapers, periodicals, radio and television tapes, diaries, songs, folklore and legal papers, to name a few examples.
It is important to realize that research designs need not be viewed as mutually exclusive. Two or more methods used together may be especially informative. For example, unobtrusive methods have proved to be valuable as a supplement to other research methods. One investigator wished to examine the relationship between reported and actual beer consumption. He obtained a «front door» measure of consumption by asking residents of houses how much beer they drank each week. At the same time, a «backdoor» measure was developed by counting the number of beer cans in their garbage. This backdoor method produced a considerably higher estimate of beer consumption.
Ethics of research. Most sociological research uses people as sources of information — as respondents to survey questions, participants in experiments or subjects of observation. That is why in conducting research sociologists must abide by the code of ethics that puts forth the following basic principles:
1. Maintain objectivity and integrity in research.
2. Respect the subject’s right to privacy and dignity.
3. Protect subjects from personal harm.
4. Preserve confidentiality.
5. Acknowledge research collaboration and assistance.
6. Disclose all sources of financial support.
The ethical considerations of sociologists lie not only in the methods used, but in the way the results are interpreted. We recognize that sociologists will be influenced by their own personal values in selecting questions for research but under no condition can a researcher allow his or her personal feelings to influence the interpretation of data. In conducting research, sociologists must practice value neutrality in Max Weber’s phrase. And as part of this neutrality, investigators have an ethical obligation to accept research findings even when the data run counter to their own personal views, to theoretically based explanations, or to widely accepted beliefs.
The issue of value neutrality becomes especially delicate when one considers the relationship of sociology to government. Max Weber urged that sociology remain an autonomous discipline, and not become unduly influenced by any one segment of society. According to his ideal of value neutrality, sociologists must remain free to reveal information that is embarrassing to government.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE
I. Read and translate the text using a dictionaryif necessary.
II. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following:
что касается, план исследования, получить данные, наблюдения участника эксперимента, опрос, ненавязчивый, причинно- следственные отношения, проводить эксперимент, искусственно созданная ситуация, подвергаться чему-либо, ясно установить, исследователь (2), испытывать неприязнь к, наблюдатель, испытывать неудобства, с другой стороны, исказить, щекотливый вопрос, относительно чего-либо (2), сохранять беспристрастность, тесные связи, участвовать в опросах, анкета, высокий процент, отклонить личную просьбу, ряд приемов в исследовании, нетра-
диционный пример, взаимно исключающие, оценка (2), респондент, участник, объект (предмет) наблюдения, честность, достоинство, конфиденциальность, сотрудничество, ни при каких условиях, нейтральность оценки, этическое обязательство, противоречить чему-либо, обнародовать информацию.
III. Supplythe missing words or word combinations choosing among those given below.
1) An... of sociological research is the decision... how data should be collected. 2) Sociologists use different techniques... for their research.
3) When sociologists wish to study a possible... they may conduct experiments. 4) An experiment allows the researcher... to confirm... to refute the hypothesis under study. 5) In conducting participant observation the investigator may... several problems. 6) If the researcher acts as..., the members of the group may.... 7) If the researcher... his identity and purpose, he is being somewhat.... 8) The observer cannot allow the close associations that... develop to influence the conclusion of the study. 9) Almost all of us have responded to.... 10) Since the questions are written, there is some.... 11) Sociologists from Arizona studied people’s spending and eating habits by examining.... 12) Two or more research methods used together may be.... 13) Unobtrusive methods have proved to be valuable as... to other research methods.
14) The beer consumption experiment produced... of beer consumption.
15) It is very important how sociologists... of their research. 16) Sociology should remain... and not become... influenced by government. 17) Sociology must... to reveal information that is... to government.
remain free, embarrassing, an autonomous discipline, unduly, interpret the results, a considerably higher estimate, a supplement, especially informative, household garbage, guarantee of consistency, surveys of one kind or another, inevitably, disguises, dishonest, an outsider, feel uneasy, face, either... or..., cause-and-effect relationship, to generate data, important aspect, as to.
IV. Studythe following words and word combinations and use them in sentences of your own:
to obtain data scientifically, to be exposed to, to collect data through, to get an accurate sense of, to face some problems, to resent smth, to disguise, to raise a delicate question, to provide smb with smth, to throw away, to include a variety of research techniques, to have some (no) impact on, to name a few examples, to prove to be..., to abide by, under no condition, to accept research findings, to run counter to, to urge, to remain free.
COMPREHENSION EXERCISES
I. Reread the text and answer the following questions.
1) What research techniques do sociologists regularly use to generate data? 2) What is considered to be the classic method of conducting an experiment? 3) What problems does the sociologist face in conducting participant observation research? 4) What are the advantages of an interview and a questionnaire? 5) What basic techniques of unobtrusive measurement do you know? 6) Are different research designs viewed as mutually exclusive? 7) What must sociologists abide by while conducting research? 8) What are the basic principles of the code of ethics? 9) What else do the ethical considerations of sociologists lie in? 10) What is the main ethical category that sociologists should practice in conducting research? 11) What is important in the relationship of sociology to government?
II. Define the following key terms and memorize the definitions:
research design, experiment, survey, unobtrusive measures, code of ethics, value neutrality.
III. Speak on the researchdesign and researchtechniques in brief and illustrate your report withsituations or examples of your own.
IV. Determine a social problem of dailylife that is of interest toyou and trytowork out a researchdesign and choose researchtechniques toobtain and analyze data regarding it.
V. Speak on the ethics of research and comment on its basic princi pies developing the idea. Doyou agree withall of them? Can you add any other principles to the Code of Ethics?
VI. Read the following and comment on the topics suggested.
1) On the surface, the principles of the Code of Ethics seem quite clear-cut. It may be difficult to imagine how they could lead to any disagreement or controversy. However, many delicate ethical questions cannot be resolved simply by following these six points. For example, should asociologist engaged in participant-observation research always protect the confidentiality of subjects? What if the subjects are members of a religious cult engaged in unethical and even illegal activities?
2) The Code of Professional Ethics expects sociologists to disclose all funding sources. But it does not state whether sociologists who accept funding from a particular agency may also accept their idea on what should be studied. In this case sociologists turn from basic sociological research to applied research for government agencies and the private sector losing to a great extent the freedom to choose their own problems and substituting the problems of their clients for those which might have interested them on purely theoretical grounds. Two delicate questions arise here:
a) Is it possible that applied sociology, the use of the discipline for some specific and practical applications, should get more prominent at the expense of basic sociology, the objective of which is to gain a more profound knowledge of the fundamental aspects of social phenomena?
b) And can it be that Max Weber’s ideal of value neutrality might be undermined too?
Revision Exercises on Unit Two
1. Revise the active vocabulary and the definitions of the key terms of unit twoand translate the following intoEnglish.
1) Как и обычный гражданин, социолог интересуется главными вопросами нашей повседневной жизни, но делает это используя научный метод исследования. 2) Социологи не просто выходят на улицу и начинают задавать вопросы, они разрабатывают план исследования и отбирают технические приемы для сбора и анализа данных. 3) Существует пять основных стадий научного исследования: определение проблемы, обзор литературы по данной проблеме, формулировка гипотезы, выбор плана исследования для сбора данных и подведение итогов. 4) Формулируя гипотезу, социологи не подразумевают, что она обязательно верна; они просто предполагают, что ее следует изучить. 5) В зависимости от конечного результата исследования гипотеза может быть подтверждена, опровергнута или пересмотрена. 6) Существуют различные способы отбора участников для проведения исследования, и случайная выборка является наиболее часто используемым методом. 7) Научные исследования не имеют целью ответить на все вопросы относительно данной проблемы, поэтому очень часто вывод исследования завершает отдельную фазу, но создает идеи для будущих изысканий. 8) Так оказалось и в случае с исследованием проблемы бездомных, проведенным американскими социологами. 9) Вывод исследования доказал, что бездомные, в основном, умственно полноценные люди, но они оказались в ловушке тех экономических условий, которые привели их к бедственному положению и отчаянию. 10) Таким образом, благодаря последовательному использованию научного метода исследователи изучили важную социальную проблему, и их выводы представляют интерес для социологов, психотерапевтов и государственных деятелей. 11) Важным аспектом социологического исследования является решение вопроса о том, как следует отбирать необходимые данные. 12) В нашем обществе люди отрицательно относятся к тому, что их подвергают обследованию. 13) Если исследователь скрывает свою личность и цель исследования, он поступает нечестно, и это может исказить процесс его внедрения в наблюдаемую группу. 14) Возникает щекотливый вопрос относительно влияния наблюдателя на группу и группы на наблюдателя. 15) Наблюдатель не может позволить, чтобы близкие отношения, которые неизбежно возникают, повлияли на выводы исследования. 16) Мы все подвергались опросам того или иного рода в форме либо интервью, либо анкетирования. 17) Людям труднее отказать в личной просьбе принять участие в интервью, чем выбросить анкету. 18) Социологи университета штата Аризона изучали привычки людей в еде, исследуя домашние отбросы и мусор, оставленные на улице. 19) В большинстве социологических исследований люди используются как источники информации: они являются респондентами в опросах, участниками экспериментов, объектами наблюдения. 20) Поэтому при проведении научных исследований социологи должны придерживаться Кодекса Этики. 21) Макс Вебер настаивал на том, чтобы социология оставалась независимой наукой и ни в коем случае не подвергалась влиянию со стороны какого-либо института общества.
II. Reread the texts of unit twoagain and discuss the problem- questions given in the learning objectives in the introduction tothe unit.
III. Comment on the following quotation, thinking like sociologists:
«The great strategy of science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact» (Thomas H. Huxley «Biogenesis and Abiogenesis», 1870).
Unit Three. ORGANIZING SOCIAL LIFE CULTURE
Looking Ahead
In unit three we begin our study of the organization of social life within human communities and societies. Unit three examines the basic element of any society: its culture. It considers the development of culture from its roots in the prehistoric human experience, cultural universals and variations among cultures. The major aspects of culture — including language, norms, sanctions and values — are defined and explored. The discussion focuses both on the general cultural practices found in all societies and on the wide variations that can distinguish one society from another.
Learning Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1. How do aspects of a culture develop? How do they spread from one society to another?
2. What are the cultural universals? In what do they differ in different societies?
3. Through what process do human cultures change and expand?
4. Why do sociologists make a useful distinction between elements of material and nonmaterial culture?
5. Why is language viewed by sociologists as the foundation of every culture?
6. In what ways are norms and sanctions used to reward or to penalize human behavior?
7. Can you offer a list of basic human values typical of and common for all societies?
8. Should people maintain linguistic integrity within a particular society? Or should bilingualism be an important aspect of the educational policy in any country?
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