Chapter 2. Sociological Research
Chapter 2 Resources and Activities
Key Terms
authoritative knowledge: Knowledge based on the accepted authority of the source.
case study: In-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual.
carnal sociology: A sociological research method that studies the social world from the point of view of the bodies and bodily practices of the participants.
casual observation: Knowledge based on observations without any systematic process for observing or assessing the accuracy of observations.
code of ethics: A set of guidelines established to foster ethical research and professionally responsible scholarship in sociology or other disciplines.
content analysis: A quantitative approach to textual research that selects an item of textual content that can be reliably and consistently observed and coded, and surveys the prevalence of that item in a sample of textual output.
contingency table: A statistical table that provides a frequency distribution of at least two variables.
control group: In an experiment, the subjects or comparison group who are not exposed to the independent variable.
correlation: When a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable, but does not necessarily indicate causation.
critical research strategy: Research approach that utilizes positivist, interpretive and reflexive methods to produce knowledge that maximizes the human potential for freedom and equality.
critical pedagogy: An approach to teaching and learning based on fostering the agency of marginalized communities and empowering learners to emancipate themselves from oppressive social structures.
decolonization: The process of dismantling colonial power structures.
dependent variable: Variable changed by the impact of another variable.
empirical evidence: Evidence corroborated by direct sense experience and/or observation.
ethnography: The extended observation of the cultural practices, perspectives, beliefs and values of an entire social setting.
experiment: The testing of a hypothesis under controlled conditions.
experimental group: In an experiment, the subjects who are exposed to the independent variable.
field research: Gathering data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey.
grounded theory: The generation of hypotheses and theories after the collecting and analysis of data.
Hawthorne effect: When study subjects behave in a certain manner due to their awareness of being observed by a researcher.
hypothesis: An educated guess that predicts outcomes with respect to the relationship between two or more variables.
hypothetico-deductive methodologies: Methodologies that test the validity of a hypothesis by whether it correctly predicts observations.
independent variable: Variable that causes change in a dependent variable.
inductive approach: Methodologies that derive a general statement from a series of empirical observations.
institutional ethnography: The study of the way everyday