Unit 2: Sociology and Scientific

Approach
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit learners will be able to-
• Explain the Nature of Sociological
Inquiry
• Methods of Sociological
Investigations
Contents
 Methods of Sociological
Investigations
Scientific Method
• The basis of study of any science or discipline is
its methods. Science in general and natural
science in particular follow the scientific
method.
• The scientific method has added much to their
credibility and objectivity. The scientific method
consists of steps or procedures which are to be
followed precisely.
• The scientific method requires
precise preparation in developing
useful research. Otherwise, the
research data collected may not
prove accurate.
• Sociologists and other researchers
follow five basic steps in the scientific
method:
(1) defining the problem,
(2) reviewing the literature,
(3) formulating the hypothesis,
(4) selecting the research design and then
collecting and analyzing data, and
(5) developing the conclusion.
We can use an actual example to illustrate the
working of the scientific method.
Figure: Scientific Method
• The scientific method allows sociologists to
objectivity and logically evaluates the data
they collect.
• Their findings can suggest ideas for further
sociological research.
 Experiments
• When sociologists want to study a possible
cause-and-effect relationship, they may conduct
experiments.
• An experiment is an artificially created situation
that allows a researcher to manipulate variables.
• In the classic method of conducting an
experiment, two groups of people are selected
and matched for similar characteristics, such as
sex or age or education.
• The researchers then assign the subjects to
one of two groups: the experimental or the
control group.
• The experimental group is exposed to an
independent variable; the control group is not.
Thus, if scientific were testing a new type of
birth control pill, they would administer the
drug to an experimental group but not to a
control group.
• Sociologists don’t often rely on classic form of
experiment, because it generally involves
manipulating human behavior in an
inappropriate manner, especially in a
laboratory setting.
• However, the do try to re-create experimental
conditions in the field.
 The Social Survey
• The social survey technique seems to be very
popular in sociology.
• Bogardus said, “A social survey is the collection of
data concerning the living and working
conditions, of the people in a given community”.
• E.W. Burgess said, “A social survey of a
community is the scientific study of its conditions
and needs for the purpose of presenting a
constructive programme of social advance”.
 The Procedural Ways of Social Survey

• The social survey method has the ultimate goal

of seeking social facts. It normally involves the
following steps:
• Enunciating the object or purpose of the survey;
• Definition of the problem under study;
• The delimitation of the area or scope of study;
• Examination of the available evidence or sources
relating to the problem;
• Preparation of questionnaire schedule;
• Field work to collect data;
• Arrangement, tabulation and statistical
analysis of the data;
• Interpretation of results;
• Deduction and graphic expression.
 Observation
• Observation is one of the principal techniques of
research in social sciences.
• Ian Robertson said, “Observational studies usually
involve an intensive examination of a particular
group, event or social process.
• The researcher does not attempt to influence what
happens in any way but aims instead at an accurate
description and analysis of what takes place,”
• Wallace and Wallace said, “In an observational
study the researcher actually witnesses social
behavior in its natural setting”.
• Investigators who collect information through
direct participation and/or by watching a group
or community are engaged in observation.
• An increasingly popular form of qualitative
research in sociology today is ethnography.
Ethnography refers to the study of an entire
social setting through extended systematic
observation.
• Typically, the description emphasizes how the
subjects themselves view their social life in
some setting.
 Types of Observation

Observation may be of three broad types:

1. Non-Controlled, Participant Observation.
2. Non-Controlled Non-Participant Observation.
3. Systematic Controlled Observation.
 The Historical Method
• The historical method refers to, “a study of
events, process, and institutions of past
civilizations, for the purpose of finding the origins
or antecedents of contemporary social life and
thus understanding its nature and working.
• This method is based on that our present forms of
social life, our customs and traditions, beliefs and
values, and our ways of living as such have their
roots in the past and that one can best explain
them by tracing them back to their origins.
• The utility and wide acceptances of the historical
method have resulted in one of the fields of
sociology known as “historical sociology.” “Historical
sociology studies societies of the remote as well as
of recent past to discover origins of, and find
explanations for, our present ways of life.”
• In a way, all types of sociological researchers are
historical for the sociologists make use of the
records relating to the things that have happened
or have been observed.
• But generally, the term “historical sociology” is
applied to the study of social facts which are more
than fifty or so years old.
 References
• সেন, রংগলাল ও নাথ, বিশ্বম্ভর কু মার (২০০৩),
প্রারম্ভিক সমাজবিজ্ঞান, ঢাকাঃ নিউএজ
পাবলিকেশন্স।
• করিম, নাজমুল(১৯৯৯), সমাজবিজ্ঞান সমীক্ষণ,
ঢাকাঃ নওরোজ কিতাবিস্তান।
• মহাপাত্র, অনাদি কু মার (১৯৯৮), বিষয় সমাজতত্ত্ব,
কলিকাতাঃ ইন্ডিয়ান বুক কনসার্ণ।
• Rao, shankar & Chand, s (2009), Sociology,
New Delhi: S. Chand & company ltd.
• Smelser, Neil (1995), Sociology, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
• Giddens, Anthony (2006), Sociology,
Cambridge: Polity press.