Course work on sociology research methods

Marriage conflict erodes marital satisfaction. This statement agrees with the three criteria of causality. There is covariation between causes and effects; conflict in marriage causing marital dissatisfaction. There is also the temporal precedence of the causes; conflict in marriage occurring before the marital dissatisfaction, and also the exclusion of the alternative explanations of cause effect linkages.
The dependent variable from the problem ‘ The research problem is to examine the effectiveness of a DVD to change the viewer’s opinion regarding gun control’ is behaviour of the viewer while the independent variable is the watching of the movie. An experimental design could be as follows: Sample a group in a population which you will divide into two equal groups. One group will be the experimental group while the will be the control group. Administer the DVD to the experimental group. Later collect data on their view on gun control from the two groups. Test the results and compare them to check the relationship between watching of the DVD and the point of view on the gun control. Possible results could be that there is no any effect of watching the DVD and the point of view as it regards the gun control. Secondly there could be a positive effect on their view on the control of guns, thirdly there could be a negative point of view of gun control and lastly, the final conclusion could not be made due to intentional pretence of the sampled group.
The time dimension in research includes the time taken to cover the whole research from the start to the end and the time taken for a change in the variable been studied. For example a research schedule indicating that the research should end in four months time. Time taken for a change in variable may be the time taken before giving a test again in a research.
Sampling theory refers to the scientific study of sampling techniques. This involves the use of various techniques in scientific study to generate samples. A sample is a representation of the whole population chosen following scientifically agreed upon logical steps.
Validity refers to the extent or strength of a conclusion, measurement or an inference in relation to the real life situation Reliability refers to the consistency in a measurement. Reliability is always estimation but never an exact.
Research is carried out for various purposes. It can be done to create new knowledge. This involves delving in to new fields of study and hence creates new knowledge. Research is also carried out for various educational awards. This can be a master’s degree in any field of study of which the candidate is awarded after successful completion of a research. It can also be carried out for the purposes of solving particular problems. This happens especially if the problem has been identified and hence a solution needs to be found.
Given the question relationship between participating in school activities and juvenile delinquency, deductively one can proceed from a general theory that juvenile delinquency is caused by lack of participation in school. From this general theory, one can formulate hypotheses, make observations and thus verify the theory. From an inductive point of approach, one can make observations on juvenile delinquency, patterns of the behaviour, generate hypothesis and then generate a general theory.
Inductive research involves the movement from specific observations to broad generalizations while deductive research involves movement from the general to specific results. Inductive has observation, patterns, hypothesis and theory following each other in that order while deductive has theory, hypothesis observations and confirmation.
The four levels of data include; nominal data which classifies objects according to their characteristics such as vehicle models, race etc. This data in this level is mutually exclusive and has no logical order. Ordinal data classifies data based on type but has some logical order. Examples are grading using letters, military ranks etc. The data in this level is mutually exclusive, has logical order and is scaled according quantity of a particular characteristic. Interval data level has the data classified by type and with a logical order. Examples are temperature in degree Celsius and distance in kilometres. The data in this level has equal interval, logical order, scaled by quantity of a character and has no zero starting point. Ratio data has logical order, mutual exclusiveness and has a true starting point. Examples are income and exam score.

Example of nominal variable

Gender: 1. male 2. Female

Marital status: 1. Maried 2. Unmarried 3. Divorced 4. Widowed

Ordinal variables may include

1= low, 2= medium, 3= great