KENDALL: CHAPTER 2

Kendall asks: Why is research necessary?
   1) To avoid "common sense" misunderstandings
   2) To clarify our thinking
   3) To provide evidence for our claims
   4) To develop theories and explanations with the 'scientific method'


SCIENTIFIC METHOD:

    THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS A SYSTEMATIC,  ORGANIZED SERIES OF STEPS THAT
    ENSURES MAXIMUM OBJCTIVITY AND  CONSISTENC RESEARCHING A PROBLEM"

Two broad ways of doing research:
   1) INDUCTIVE
   2) DEDUCTIVE

BUT BOTH SHARE BASIC STEPS:

   1.  DEFINE THE PROBLEM
   2.  REVIEW THE LITERATURE
   3.  FORMULATE HYPOTHESES
   4.  COLLECT AND ANALYZE DATA
           A) SAMPLING
           B) RANDOM SAMPLING
   5.  CONSTRUCT TYPOLOGIES
   6.  DEVELOP CONCLUSIONS/THEORY
          A) VALIDITY --DOES IT MEASURE ACCURATELY?
          B) RELIABILITY--DOES MEASURE PROVIDE
             CONSISTENTLY ACCURATE RESULTS?
   7.  FURTHER RESEARCH: WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?

(SUMMARIZE FROM CHART

RESEARCH DESIGNS THESE ARE SIMPLY A DETAILED PLAN  OR METHOD FOR 
OBTAINING INFORMATION (IN SCIENCE,  WE CALL THIS "DATA") IN A SYSTEMATIC 
AND CONSISTENT MANNER.  THE CHOICE OF DATA DEPENDS ON SUCH THING AS 

   1) QUESTIONNAIRES 
   2) FEASIBLITY OF DATA COLLECTION 
   3) COSTS
   4) TIME AVAILABLE
   5) INTENT OF THE PROJECT

Lots of ways to collect data:

   1.  EXPERIMENTS:   THESE ARE ARTIFICIALLY  CRATED SITUATIONS ALLOW THE 
       RESEARCHER TO  MANIPULATE VARIABLES  AND CONTROL VARIABLES.

       a) CONTROL VARIABLES: THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP IS EXOSED TO AN INDEPENDENT
       VARIABLE;  CONTROL GROUP IS NOT.

       b) RANDOM VARIABLES: Variables that occur randomly

   2.  "GETTING INVOLVED (Researchers immerse themselves in the field)

           A) PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION: Getting involved
           B) SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATIN
           THIS MIGHT BE  CALLED "HANGING OUT." POINT IS TO GIVE
           GIVE DEEPER LAYERS OF MEANING IN A GIVEN GROUP SETTING
         (GIVE EXAMPLES OF STATEVILLE, COMPARE WITH EXPERIMENTS

   3.  SURVEYS:   INTERVIEW OR QUESTIONNAIRES  (MOST LIKE,
       ETC)---THEN " MEASURE" THE RESPONSES

   4.  CASE STUDIES:  DEFINE AND EXPLAIN

   5.  DOCUMENTARY
          A) LIBRARY DOCUMENTS
          B) "OFFICIAL STATISTICS" (GPAS & SAT SCORES
              BY RACE, ECON STATUS, REGION, SCHOOL, ETC
          C) CONTENT ANALYSIS (BOOKS, MEDIA) (EXPLAIN)

THESE ARE OFTEN DIVIDED INTO TWO BROAD TYPES OF RESEARCH:
   1) QUANTITATIVE
   2) QUALITATIVE

BETWEEN OBTRUSIVE AND UNOBTRUSIVE:

   1.  UNOBTRUSIVE:   NO RISK OF RESEARCHER PRESENCE HAVING
       ON HOW PEOPLE  BEHAVE LOOKING AT DOCUMENTS,   WATCHI
 
       DISTANCE, CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MEDIA
   2.  OBTRUSIVE:   ACTUALLY ON THE SPOT  (EG,  PO,  SOME S
       ETC)---MAY  SHAPE HOW  PEOPLE  BEHAVE  SIMPLY BY  PR
 
       (EG--HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE)
         (HAWTHORNE EFFECT--EXPLAIN)

ETHICS OF RESEARCH:

   1.  OBJECTIVITY AND INTEGRITY
   2.  RESPECT RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND DIGNITY
   3.  PROTECT SUBJECTS FROM PERSONAL HARM
   4.  PRESERVE CONFIDENTIALITY
   5.  ACKNOWLEDGE RESEARCH COLLABORATION AND ASSISTANCE
   6.  DISCLOSE FINANCIAL SUPPORT

   BELMONT PRINCIPLES:

   1.  BENEFICENCE: Respect research subjects
   2.  BENEVOLENCE: Do good (or at least no harm)
   3.  JUSTICE: Do right (put research to good social purpose)

DISCUSS (if time):

   A) TEAROOM TRADE
   B) PRISON RESEARCH
   C) ZIMBARDO
   D) MILGRAM

TERMS TO KNOW:
 --Operational Definition
 --Method
 --Theory
 --Hypothesis 
 --Others from end of chapter "Key Terms"


(FOR MORE INFO, SEE THIS HANDOUT on scientific method

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