Sociology 4 Marks Question

Interviewer's bias: The distortion of response to a personal or telephonic interview which results from differential reactions to the social style and personality of interviewers or to their presentation of particular questions. The use of fixed wording questions is one method of reducing interviewer bias. Anthropological research and case-studies are also affected by the problem, which is exacerbated by self-fulfilling prophecy, when the researcher is also the interviewer.

Following are the characteristics of case study method:

1. Case study strives towards a holistic understanding of cultural systems of action.
2. Case studies must always have boundaries.
3. Case study is not sampling research. The case has to be selected so as to maximize what has to be learnt.
4. They focus on one or two issues that are fundamental to understanding whatever is being examined.

The principles associated with observation process are called observation process:

1. Principle of inter-subjectivity of reliability: Repeated observation of the same responses by the same observer shall yield the same data.
2. Principle of inter-objectivity: Repeated observation of the same responses by different observers shall yield the same data. An observation is taken as valid if one has observed what he wants to observe.
3. Principle of validity: Data shall be obtained of such a kind and in such a way that legitimate inferences can be made from the manifest level to the latent level.

Interview bias: Biases that appear in research findings because of the social nature of the interview. There are three major sources of such bias: the interviewer (who may, for example, have prejudices or ask leading questions); the respondent (who may wish to lie or evade questions); and the actual interview situation itself( especially the physical and social setting).

This term is used to describe any situation where an observer records behavior that is exhibited by a participant. The term 'observation' may be used as a technique for gathering data (i.e. we observe somebody doing something) or as the design of a study. It leads to such a variety of usage. To give a precise definition of the term 'observation' means contrasting it with an experimental study. In an observation there is no manipulation of an independent variable. There are different types of study that would be classified as 'observational' under this definition.

According to Black and Champion, the characteristics of observation are:

1. Behaviour is observed.
2. It enables understanding of events affecting social relations of the participants.
3. It looks at reality from the perspective of the observed person himself.
4. It defines regulant and recurrences in social life by comparing data in one study with those in other studies.
5. It is focused on hypothesis free inquiry.

To deal with the problem of objectivity sociologists use the technique of ‘self-reflexivity’ or ‘reflexivity’. The sociologist views opinions, norms or behavioural patterns of different societies from all the perspectives. The sociologist continuously subjects her own attitudes and opinions to self-examination. Also, emphasis is laid on proper documentation of the research. This helps others to retrace the steps taken by the sociologist and scrutinise the study that has been conducted. It also helps the sociologist to check and recheck his/ her work. The sociologist then tries to judge different conceptions of people.

Thus, the sociologists take objectivity as a goal of a continuous ongoing process rather than an already achieved end result.

The question of scientific method is important because it helps sociologists to acquire knowledge.
Sociologist deals with different societies whose culture may be similar or different. They have to conduct research and field work in which they need to take opinions and feelings of people or respondent in that area. Hence, sociologists try to adopt an objective point of view which is neutral and not based on one’s own perception. Some sociologists like Emile Durkhiem believed that in order to study the society with objectivity, it is important to have a scientific approach. Therefore a need for scientific method was felt. He even carried out a scientific study on the phenomenon of ‘suicide’ by giving various rules in sociological method.

The ability to carry out an investigation and to collect data without personal interpretation or bias to influence the process. If we have to rely on a subjective interpretation of an event (such as 'Was that an act of aggression or of playfulness'?), we may find it difficult to maintain our objectivity. Psychologists may choose either to concentrate on actions which are unquestionably relating to the behaviour of interest (stabbing someone in the back, for example, could hardly be interpreted as playfulness) or relying on the shared agreement of more than one observer of the same event (inter observer reliability).

If a finding is repeated, it is described as being reliable. Within the general meaning of the term, it is also used more specifically within psychological assessment and research.
For a research finding to be reliable, it must be shown to exist on successive investigations under the same condition (replication). For a psychometric assessment to be reliable, it should have both internal and external reliability. Answers to a questionnaire or inventory may be checked to see if respondents answer all questions in the same way or if they contradict themselves. This is a measure of internal reliability. Responses may also be checked over a period of time to see if there is stability of measurement over times. If respondent gives the same responses or obtains the same scores consistently over time, then the measure is said to have external reliability.

This method entails the study of different groups and institutions in order to examine similarities and differences. The features under examination may occur within the same society or they may appear in different societies e.g. rates of mobility between different castes and classes belonging to same society may be mutually compared or the same variable appearing in different societies could be compared. The comparative method is one way of testing hypotheses. The main difficulties of the method arise when there is no hypothesis or when it has not been clearly formulated or the unit for compassion has not been defined properly. Since social facts can only be observed, not artificially produced. Under experimental conditions, the method of comparing similar cases in a systematic way is the best.