1. Describe the scientific method.
    
2. Explain how scientific knowledge develops over time.
    
3. Describe the various methods of sociological research and the types of questions each one can help us answer.
    
4. Describe how sociologists engage in secondary data analysis.
    
5. Identify the key issues in social research, including reliability, validity, trust, legality, and avoidance of harm.

Summary

Sociologists apply the scientific method. First, a sociologist finds a question that needs to be answered, and then reviews the literature to see what has already been found. Next, the sociologist develops a hypothesis, chooses a research method, and collects data that can confirm, or fail to confirm, the hypothesis. Finally, the researcher analyzes the data in relation to the initial hypothesis. Sociology is a multiple-paradigm science, which means that no one model unifies all sociologists. Sociologists use different research methods depending on the research question they are studying. Quantitative methods yield data in the form of numbers, and qualitative methods yield verbal descriptions. Observation consists of systematically watching, listening to, and recording what takes place in a natural social setting over some period of time. In interviews, respondents are asked a series of questions, usually on a face-to-face basis. Survey research collects data through interviews and questionnaires. Experimentation, less common, manipulates one or more independent variables to examine their effect on one or more dependent variables.

Sociologists also often engage in secondary data analysis, in which they reanalyze data collected by others. Secondary data may consist of statistical information, historical documents and analyses, or the content of cultural artifacts and messages. Reliability is the degree to which a given measure produces the same results time after time, and validity is the degree to which a measure is accurate. Past problems with questionable research ethics have led to the development of institutional review boards (IRBs), which vet proposed projects before they are allowed to proceed. A key requirement is that researchers obtain informed consent from their respondents by explaining the true nature and purpose of the study and any sensitive or dangerous aspects of the research. It is difficult to avoid bias altogether. However, clear and objective descriptions of research procedures will enable other researchers to evaluate and perhaps replicate them.