Sociology as a Social Science: Methods

Definition: a form of applied research that includes a number of research activities designed to evaluate programs from planning to completion.

• program evaluation

• internal chart audit

• hawthorne studies

• qualitative research

Definition: power used to create motivation or to accomplish group goals.

• personal power

• legitimate power

• social power

• culture

Definition: tools of sociological inquiry that involve examining numerical data with mathematics.

• content analysis

• quantitative research methods

• quantitative data

• variable

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next is defined as:

• culture

• power

• sociology

• social structure

The German sociologist who formulated Social Action Theory in which people and their interactions contribute to shaping society, the meanings we attach to our actions are important is:

• George Herbert Mead

• Karl Marx

• Max Weber

• Emile Durkheim

Definition: the unity among different elements of society resulting from a specialized division of labor

• social structure

• functional integration

• power

• culture

Definition: research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form; measurable and objective

• case study

• quantitative variable

• survey research

• quantitative research

Definition: the systematic study of human society

• culture

• psychology

• sociology

• program evaluation

French sociologist who took a scientific approach to society, his methods combined empirical research (verified by observation) and sociological theory.

• Emily Dustoven

• Emile Durkheim

• Max Weber

• Karl Marx

Informal research methods, including observation, following social media sites, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and projective techniques; somewhat subjective.

• program evaluation

• qualitative research

• participant observation

• content analysis