Social Science Research Methods
Explore how social science research methods provide a systematic and logical approach to studying individuals, societies, and social processes. Learn how these methods help in avoiding illogical reasoning, overgeneralization, and selective observation, leading to a clearer understanding of the social world.
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Presentation Transcript
Making Sense of the Social World 4thEdition Chapter 1: Science, Society, and Social Research
Science A set of logical, systematic, documented methods for investigating nature and natural processes; the knowledge produced by these investigations.
Social Science The use of scientific methods to investigate individuals, societies, and social processes; the knowledge produced by these investigations.
Can we see the social world more clearly if we use the methods of social science?
Science relies on logical and systematic methods to answer questions, and it does so in a way that allows others to inspect and evaluate its methods. So social scientists develop, refine, apply, and report their understanding of the social world more systematically, or scientifically, than the general public does.
Social Science Research Methods Reduce the likelihood of overgeneralization by using systematic procedures for selecting individuals or groups to study, so that they are representative of the individuals or groups to which we wish to generalize.
To avoid illogical reasoning, social researchers use explicit criteria for identifying causes and for determining whether these criteria are met in a particular instance. For example, we might think that people who don t have many social ties just aren t friendly . . . . . . even if we know they have just moved into a community and started a new job.
For example, if we are convinced that heavy Internet users are antisocial, we can find many confirming instances. But what about elderly people who serve as Internet pen pals for grade school children, or therapists who deliver online counseling? Social science methods can reduce the risk of selective or inaccurate observation by requiring that we measure and sample phenomena systematically.
Scientific methods lessen the tendency to answer questions about the social world from ego-based commitments, excessive devotion to tradition, and/or unquestioning respect for authority. Social scientists insist: Show us the evidence!
