Response 1

Please respond to the following prompt in no less than 300-400 words. In your response, you must fully answer all aspects of the question and support your answer with reference to course materials (textbook, supplementary readings, videos, etc)

Pick one of the specific sociological topics outlined in the following chapters of your book: Demography, Aging, Economy, Family, Religion, Health, and Medicine, or Collective Behavior. Based on what the chapter has to say about the specific topic you choose, discuss what research methods you think would be most applicable to studying it.

Practice Study 1

Now that you have learned about sociological theory and research practices, it’s your turn to think like a sociologist. Pretend you are a social researcher and that you want to answer a question about social life using sociological tools. Complete the following exercise in the form of a short essay:

• Ask a question about society that you think a sociologist could research. Explain why you think a sociologist might find it important to answer this question.
• Describe what theory or theories you think would be most applicable to thinking about this question. What benefits or drawbacks do the major theories offer in terms of focusing your thoughts on the question?
• Describe what research method(s) you think would be most useful for answering the question. Why might a sociologist choose one method over another to complete this research?

 Sociological ResearchREAD pp. 17-33 (“Sociological Methods,” “Quantitative and Qualitative,” “Objective vs. Critical,” “Ethics,” and “What Can Sociology Tell Us?”Doing SociologyPat was confused. Choosing a college to attend was an important decision with life-long implications, but it was difficult to know which school was the right one to attend. Pat had applied to and been accepted by several schools, but now was the time to make a commitment. Pat sought out information from various sources to help make the choice but received different answers. Pat’s parents thought the best choice was to attend the school closest to their home. It was inexpensive and Pat could save money by living at home. Pat’s best friend wanted both of them to attend the same school where they could be roommates, while Pat’s grandparents thought attending college at all was pretty much a waste of time and money.In spite of these conflicts, Pat continued to think about the recommendations mentioned in an article written by a social scientist, who had carefully examined the life trajectories of large numbers of people who had graduated from various colleges across the U.S. Those recommendations were again completely different than those made by friends and family. With all this different information, how could Pat make the right choice?Think about this situation. How should Pat make sense of all the different information and advice available to him? Who should he take most seriously? Why?Sociology endeavors to obtain a scientific understanding of human social life, but social life is something that you live all the time! Therefore, sociology is also about making everyday life momentarily “strange” – stepping back from the assumptions we make that govern our relationships, actions, and worldviews, looking at them from new perspectives and coming back to life with (hopefully) greater insight. So it’s likely that a sociologist will have different conclusions from others in Pat’s life who are not social scientists.But then again, why should Pat trust the sociologist? What makes sociological knowledge valuable? What do they know that people don’t already know about their lives? In order to evaluate sociological research, we must understand how it’s conducted and how sociologists actually reach their conclusions. This unit will help introduce you to how sociologists do sociology and on what basis sociological knowledge rests.Nora Griffin. (2017, April 29). Sociological Research Lecture [Video]. YouTube. 

Sociological ResearchREAD pp. 17-33 (“Sociological Methods,” “Quantitative and Qualitative,” “Objective vs. Critical,” “Ethics,” and “What Can Sociology Tell Us?”Doing SociologyPat was confused. Choosing a college to attend was an important decision with life-long implications, but it was difficult to know which school was the right one to attend. Pat had applied to and been accepted by several schools, but now was the time to make a commitment. Pat sought out information from various sources to help make the choice but received different answers. Pat’s parents thought the best choice was to attend the school closest to their home. It was inexpensive and Pat could save money by living at home. Pat’s best friend wanted both of them to attend the same school where they could be roommates, while Pat’s grandparents thought attending college at all was pretty much a waste of time and money.In spite of these conflicts, Pat continued to think about the recommendations mentioned in an article written by a social scientist, who had carefully examined the life trajectories of large numbers of people who had graduated from various colleges across the U.S. Those recommendations were again completely different than those made by friends and family. With all this different information, how could Pat make the right choice?Think about this situation. How should Pat make sense of all the different information and advice available to him? Who should he take most seriously? Why?Sociology endeavors to obtain a scientific understanding of human social life, but social life is something that you live all the time! Therefore, sociology is also about making everyday life momentarily “strange” – stepping back from the assumptions we make that govern our relationships, actions, and worldviews, looking at them from new perspectives and coming back to life with (hopefully) greater insight. So it’s likely that a sociologist will have different conclusions from others in Pat’s life who are not social scientists.But then again, why should Pat trust the sociologist? What makes sociological knowledge valuable? What do they know that people don’t already know about their lives? In order to evaluate sociological research, we must understand how it’s conducted and how sociologists actually reach their conclusions. This unit will help introduce you to how sociologists do sociology and on what basis sociological knowledge rests.Nora Griffin. (2017, April 29). Sociological Research Lecture [Video]. YouTube.