Building Blocks of Research

1. Tuesday, September 6, 2011 Building Blocks of Research

2. Observation assignment: details, how to calculate Design: variables, u of a, measurement issues Discussion on forseeable problems Today:

3. Observation Assignment: The How-Tos!

4. Directly observing as it happens Different from a survey: Different from experiment: Different from taking pre-existing data & analyzing Primarily qualitative approach Observation in research

5. QUALITATIVE- description/explanation, smaller scale, non-probsamples, limited attempts at generalizability (depth vs. breadth). • WHY? • QUANTITATIVE-Establishing the existence of a relationship (correlation) b/w variables through large-scale, probsamples, generalizing(breadth vs. depth). • WHAT? QUANT vs. QUAL

6. 2 broad approaches: Structured: Unstruct’d: Your projects=STRUCTURED Types of observation

7. In general: • structured=good for testing hypotheses • unstructured=good for generating hypotheses • Most of the time when obs is really used in soc research, it is unstructured field research. Struct vs. Unstruct Obs

8. Useful for same situations in which you’re not trying to get a randomized sample What types of studieswould this be useful in? When is observation useful?

9. When you want to maintain the complexity of a situation; not reduce it to just a set of quantifiable variables. • When you want to get an insider’s view of events; different interpretations/meanings. • Example • Humphreys When is obs useful, 2

10. You will do struct’d field observation • Steps: In any obs study, need to decide on • Site (where and why?) • Sample (who or what) • Access and self-presentation • Recording obs/data collection • Data analysis • I’ll go through each in turn… Steps in observation

11. Site: How do researchers choose where to base their study? • Convenience • Relevance to study Steps in depth

12. Sampling: Often less structured for qual (obs) studies. Usually non-prob. • For this project, be very specific (structured) • Access/Self-presentation • Decisions about obtrusive vs. unobtrusive, • Ethics and practicalities play in. Steps in depth, cont.

13. Recording obs: Also called “data collection.” Data analysis: After done observing, go home and figure out what you’ve got. Steps, cont.

14. You’ll do all these things in a very structured way for this 1st assignment. • Overall idea: come up with a concept, then a hypothesized relationship between this concept and a variable, operationalizeand observe, analyze data. Specifics of project

15. What are possibilities for things you could actually observe? • Ex: People in public places, TV shows or ads, News articles or broadcasts, billboards. • What to think about b/f you choose: • CONCEPTS: What broad concept are you interested in studying? • Ex: authority, obedience, courtesy, chivalry, heterosexism/homophobia, generosity,etc. • How to get at this concept? • Develop IV and DV Things to observe

16. Working in grps=key part of this assigment. Reliability Researchers have different ways of handling this.. Notes on working in groups

17. Researchers also try to check reliability as they go by: • Triangulating • Insider’s view • “Inter-coder reliability” Reliability, cont.

18. Make sure 2+ trained people who are given all the info on operationalizing, do in fact see the same thing. Examples? Inter-coder reliability

19. What do you think you look for: all coders having same info, or diff? • One key is that coders work separately. Why? Inter-coder reliability, cont.

20. For your projects, this is important, too. • Develop a detailed observation plan together • Go out and observe separately • Come back and see how reliable your measure turned out to be. Reliability in your projects

21. If observing people: • Observe same place/time, but don’t talk or share notes. • Decide how to choose • If observing TV • Make sure to observe same thing at same time • If observing documents • Can hand them back & forth Observing in groups

22. Calculation!

23. Erik’s notes on how to do tables

34. Depending upon whether your indvar is quantitative or qualitative Set up your own stuff!

35. Design: Variables, Units of Analysis

36. Process We need to develop the language tools Go back…

37. Who or what you are actually observing, recording, etc. Units of Analysis

38. Individual people Events Social groupings Social roles/relationships Social artifacts Types of Units of Analysis

39. Helps you make sense! Ex: Why are Units of Analysis important?

40. A subset of units of analysis Variables

41. YOU define them. Variables II

42. Attributes: • Exhaustive • mutually exclusive. Variables and Attributes

43. 1820: “White,” “Colored” 1890: “White,” “Black,” “Mulatto,” “Quadroon,” “Octoroon,” “Chinese,” “Japanese,” or “Indian” 2000: "White,” “Black or African American,” “American Indian and Alaska Native,” “Asian,” “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander,” “Some other race,” “Two or more races” 2010: “For this census, Hispanic origins are not races.” Example: US Census and Race… Exhaustive? Mutually Excusive?

44. In the previous example of the census, what was the: • Unit of Analysis? • Variable? • Attributes? So.

46. If there are no attributes, then you don’t have a variable. Var and Attributes, II

47. Study: Interview religious victims of domestic violence to see coping strategies. Why are “religion” and “victim” NOT variables? Example

48. Nominal/Categorical Ordinal Types of variables

49. Interval Ratio Types of Variables-2

50. Quant: Qual: Qualitative and Quantitative Variables