-Earl_R._Babbie-_The_Practice_of_Social_Research_((BookFi)

The Practice of Social Research

A Note from the Author became too loud to ignore. For me, teaching is like playing jazz. Even if you perform the same number Writing is my joy, sociology my passion. over and over, it never comes out the same twice I delight in putting words together in and you don’t know exactly what it’ll sound like a way that makes people learn or laugh or both. until you hear it. Teaching is like writing with your Sociology shows up as a set of words, also. It rep- voice. resents our last, best hope for planet-training our race and finding ways for us to live together. I feel At last, I have matured enough to rediscover a special excitement at being present when sociol- and appreciate my roots in Vermont each summer. ogy, at last, comes into focus as an idea whose time Rather than a return to the past, it feels more like has come. the next turn in a widening spiral. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next bend. I grew up in small-town Vermont and New Hampshire. When I announced I wanted to be an auto-body mechanic, like my dad, my teacher told me I should go to college instead. When Malcolm X announced he wanted to be a lawyer, his teacher told him a colored boy should be something more like a carpenter. The difference in our experiences says something powerful about the idea of a level playing field. The inequalities among ethnic groups run deep. I ventured into the outer world by way of Harvard, the USMC, U.C. Berkeley, and twelve years teaching at the University of Hawaii. I re- signed from teaching in 1980 and wrote full-time for seven years, until the call of the classroom ii

TWELFTH EDITION The Practice of Social Research Earl Babbie Chapman University Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States iii

The Practice of Social Research, Twelfth Edition © 2010, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Earl Babbie ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright Acquisitions Editor: Chris Caldeira herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by Development Editor: Dan Moneypenny any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited Assistant Editor: Rachael Krapf to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribu- Editorial Assistant: Rebecca Boorsma tion, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, Technology Project Manager: Lauren Keyes except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Marketing Manager: Kim Russell Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Marketing Assistant: Jillian Myers Marketing Communications Manager: Martha For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706. Pfeiffer Project Manager, Editorial Production: Cheri Palmer For permission to use material from this text or product, Creative Director: Rob Hugel submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions. Art Director: Caryl Gorska Print Buyer: Linda Hsu Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to Permissions Editors: Bob Kauser and Leitha [email protected]. Etheridge-Sims Library of Congress Control Number: 2008933881 Production Service: Greg Hubit Bookworks Text Designer: Carolyn Deacy ISBN-13: 978-0-495-59841-1 Photo Researcher: Pre-Press ISBN-10: 0-495-59841-0 Copy Editor: Molly D. Roth Illustrator: Lotus Art Wadsworth Cover Designer: RHDG/Brie Hettey 10 Davis Drive Cover, Part Opener, and Chapter Opener Image: Belmont, CA 94002-3098 USA Masterfile Compositor: Newgen Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at international.cengage.com/region. Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Educa- tion, Ltd. For your course and learning solutions, visit academic.cengage.com. Purchase any of our products at your local college store or at our pre- ferred online store www.ichapters.com. Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09

Dedication Suzanne Babbie

Contents in Brief PART 1 11 Unobtrusive Research 331 12 Evaluation Research 362 An Introduction to Inquiry 1 PART 4 1 Human Inquiry and Science 2 2 Paradigms,Theory,and Social Research 31 Analysis of Data: Quantitative 3 The Ethics and Politics of Social Research 62 and Qualitative 391 PART 2 13 Qualitative Data Analysis 393 14 Quantitative Data Analysis 421 The Structuring of Inquiry: 15 The Elaboration Model 448 Quantitative and Qualitative 89 16 Statistical Analyses 466 17 Reading and Writing Social Research 505 4 Research Design 90 5 Conceptualization,Operationalization,and Appendixes A1 Measurement 124 A Using the Library A2 B GSS Household Enumeration Questionnaire A12 6 Indexes,Scales,and Typologies 160 C Random Numbers A22 7 The Logic of Sampling 187 D Distribution of Chi Square A24 E Normal Curve Areas A26 PART 3 F Estimated Sampling Error A27 G Twenty Questions a Journalist Should Ask about Modes of Observation: Quantitative and Qualitative 229 Poll Results A28 8 Experiments 230 9 Survey Research 253 10 Qualitative Field Research 295 vi

Contents in Detail Preface xiv CHAPTER 2 Acknowledgments xxiii Paradigms, Theory, Part 1 An Introduction and Social Research 31 to Inquiry 1 Introduction 32 CHAPTER 1 Some Social Science Paradigms 32 Human Inquiry and Science 2 Macrotheory and Microtheory 34 Early Positivism 34 Introduction 3 Social Darwinism 35 Looking for Reality 4 Conflict Paradigm 36 Symbolic Interactionism 36 Knowledge from Agreement Reality 4 Ethnomethodology 37 Errors in Inquiry, and Some Solutions 6 Structural Functionalism 38 What’s Really Real? 8 Feminist Paradigms 39 The Foundations of Social Science 10 Critical Race Theory 40 Theory, Not Philosophy or Belief 11 Rational Objectivity Reconsidered 41 Social Regularities 11 Aggregates, Not Individuals 13 Elements of Social Theory 44 Concepts and Variables 14 Two Logical Systems Revisited 46 The Purposes of Social Research 19 The Ethics of Human Inquiry 19 The Traditional Model of Science 46 Some Dialectics of Social Research 19 Deductive and Inductive Reasoning: Idiographic and Nomothetic Explanation 20 A Case Illustration 48 Inductive and Deductive Theory 21 A Graphic Contrast 51 Qualitative and Quantitative Data 23 Pure and Applied Research 25 Deductive Theory Construction 53 The Research Proposal 27 Getting Started 53 Constructing Your Theory 54 An Example of Deductive Theory: Distributive Justice 54 Inductive Theory Construction 56 An Example of Inductive Theory: Why Do People Smoke Marijuana? 57 vii

viii ■ Contents The Links between Theory Nomothetic Causal Analysis and Hypothesis- and Research 58 Testing 96 Research Ethics and Theory 59 False Criteria for Nomothetic Causality 96 CHAPTER 3 Necessary and Sufficient Causes 97 Units of Analysis 98 The Ethics and Politics of Social Research 62 Individuals 100 Groups 100 Introduction 63 Organizations 101 Ethical Issues in Social Research 64 Social Interactions 101 Social Artifacts 103 Voluntary Participation 64 Units of Analysis in Review 103 No Harm to the Participants 65 Faulty Reasoning about Units of Anonymity and Confidentiality 67 Analysis: The Ecological Fallacy and Deception 70 Reductionism 104 Analysis and Reporting 71 Institutional Review Boards 72 The Time Dimension 106 Professional Codes of Ethics 75 Cross-Sectional Studies 106 Two Ethical Controversies 75 Longitudinal Studies 107 Trouble in the Tearoom 75 Approximating Longitudinal Studies 110 Observing Human Obedience 76 Examples of Research Strategies 112 The Politics of Social Research 77 Objectivity and Ideology 78 How to Design a Research Project 112 Politics with a Little “p” 81 Getting Started 113 Politics in Perspective 82 Conceptualization 115 Choice of Research Method 115 Part 2 The Structuring of Operationalization 116 Inquiry: Quantitative Population and Sampling 116 and Qualitative 89 Observations 116 Data Processing 117 CHAPTER 4 Analysis 117 Application 117 Research Design 90 Research Design in Review 117 Introduction 91 The Research Proposal 119 Three Purposes of Research 92 Elements of a Research Proposal 119 Exploration 92 The Ethics of Research Design 120 Description 93 Explanation 94 CHAPTER 5 The Logic of Nomothetic Explanation 94 Criteria for Nomothetic Causality 94 Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement 124 Introduction 125 Measuring Anything That Exists 125

Conceptions, Concepts, and Reality 126 Contents ■ ix Concepts as Constructs 128 Handling Missing Data 171 Conceptualization 130 Index Validation 173 Indicators and Dimensions 131 The Status of Women: An Illustration of Index The Interchangeability of Indicators 133 Construction 176 Real, Nominal, and Operational Definitions 134 Scale Construction 177 Creating Conceptual Order 134 Bogardus Social Distance Scale 177 An Example of Conceptualization: Thurstone Scales 178 The Concept of Anomie 136 Likert Scaling 179 Semantic Differential 180 Definitions in Descriptive Guttman Scaling 181 and Explanatory Studies 138 Operationalization Choices 139 Typologies 183 Range of Variation 140 CHAPTER 7 Variations between the Extremes 141 A Note on Dimensions 142 The Logic of Sampling 187 Defining Variables and Attributes 142 Levels of Measurement 143 Introduction 188 Single or Multiple Indicators 147 A Brief History of Sampling 189 Some Illustrations of Operationalization Choices 148 President Alf Landon 189 Operationalization Goes On and On 149 President Thomas E. Dewey 190 Two Types of Sampling Methods 191 Criteria of Measurement Quality 150 Precision and Accuracy 150 Nonprobability Sampling 192 Reliability 150 Reliance on Available Subjects 192 Validity 153 Purposive or Judgmental Sampling 193 Who Decides What’s Valid? 155 Snowball Sampling 193 Tension between Reliability Quota Sampling 194 and Validity 156 Selecting Informants 195 The Ethics of Measurement 156 The Theory and Logic of Probability Sampling 196 CHAPTER 6 Conscious and Unconscious Sampling Indexes, Scales, Bias 196 and Typologies 160 Representativeness and Probability of Selection 198 Introduction 161 Random Selection 199 Indexes versus Scales 161 Probability Theory, Sampling Distributions, Index Construction164 and Estimates of Sampling Error 200 Item Selection 164 Populations and Sampling Frames 208 Examination of Empirical Relationships 165 Review of Populations and Sampling Index Scoring 170 Frames 210 Types of Sampling Designs 211 Simple Random Sampling 211 Systematic Sampling 211 Stratified Sampling 214

x ■ Contents Implicit Stratification in Systematic Strengths and Weaknesses Sampling 216 of the Experimental Method 249 Illustration: Sampling University Students 217 Ethics and Experiments 250 Multistage Cluster Sampling 218 CHAPTER 9 Multistage Designs and Sampling Error 218 Stratification in Multistage Cluster Survey Research 253 Sampling 220 Probability Proportionate to Size (PPS) Introduction 254 Sampling 221 Topics Appropriate for Survey Disproportionate Sampling and Research 254 Weighting 222 Guidelines for Asking Questions 255 Probability Sampling in Review 224 Choose Appropriate Question Forms 256 The Ethics of Sampling 225 Make Items Clear 257 Avoid Double-Barreled Questions 257 Part 3 Modes of Observation: Respondents Must Be Competent Quantitative and to Answer 258 Qualitative 229 Respondents Must Be Willing to Answer 259 Questions Should Be Relevant 259 CHAPTER 8 Short Items Are Best 260 Avoid Negative Items 260 Experiments 230 Avoid Biased Items and Terms 260 Introduction 231 Questionnaire Construction 262 Topics Appropriate for Experiments 231 General Questionnaire Format 262 The Classical Experiment 232 Formats for Respondents 262 Contingency Questions 263 Independent and Dependent Variables 232 Matrix Questions 264 Pretesting and Posttesting 232 Ordering Items in a Questionnaire 265 Experimental and Control Groups 233 Questionnaire Instructions 266 The Double-Blind Experiment 234 Pretesting the Questionnaire 267 A Composite Illustration 267 Selecting Subjects 235 Probability Sampling 236 Self-Administered Questionnaires 267 Randomization 236 Mail Distribution and Return 270 Matching 236 Monitoring Returns 271 Matching or Randomization? 237 Follow-up Mailings 272 Response Rates 272 Variations on Experimental Design 238 A Case Study 273 Preexperimental Research Designs 238 Validity Issues in Experimental Research 240 Interview Surveys 274 The Role of the Survey Interviewer 274 An Illustration of Experimentation 244 General Guidelines for Survey Alternative Experimental Settings 247 Interviewing 275 Coordination and Control 278 Web-Based Experiments 247 “Natural” Experiments 247

Telephone Surveys 279 Contents ■ xi Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) 281 Ethics and Qualitative Field Response Rates in Interview Surveys 282 Research 328 Online Surveys 283 CHAPTER 11 Comparison of the Different Survey Methods 285 Unobtrusive Research 331 Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Introduction 332 Research 287 Content Analysis 333 Secondary Analysis 288 Topics Appropriate for Content Analysis 333 Ethics and Survey Research 292 Sampling in Content Analysis 334 Coding in Content Analysis 338 CHAPTER 10 Illustrations of Content Analysis 342 Strengths and Weaknesses of Content Qualitative Field Research 295 Analysis 344 Analyzing Existing Statistics 344 Introduction 296 Durkheim’s Study of Suicide 345 Topics Appropriate for Field The Consequences of Globalization 346 Research 296 Units of Analysis 347 Special Considerations in Qualitative Problems of Validity 347 Field Research 299 Problems of Reliability 348 Sources of Existing Statistics 349 The Various Roles of the Observer 299 Comparative and Historical Relations to Subjects 301 Research 350 Examples of Comparative and Historical Some Qualitative Field Research Research 351 Paradigms 303 Sources of Comparative and Historical Data 355 Naturalism 303 Analytic Techniques 357 Ethnomethodology 306 Ethics and Unobtrusive Measures 259 Grounded Theory 307 Case Studies and the Extended Case CHAPTER 12 Method 309 Institutional Ethnography 311 Evaluation Research 362 Participatory Action Research 313 Introduction 363 Conducting Qualitative Field Topics Appropriate for Evaluation Research 316 Research 364 Formulating the Problem: Issues Preparing for the Field 316 of Measurement 366 Qualitative Interviewing 318 Focus Groups 322 Specifying Outcomes 367 Recording Observations 324 Measuring Experimental Contexts 368 Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Field Research 326 Validity 327 Reliability 328

xii ■ Contents The Qualitative Analysis of Quantitative Data 413 Specifying Interventions 368 Evaluating the Quality of Qualitative Specifying the Population 369 Research 414 New versus Existing Measures 369 Ethics and Qualitative Data Analysis 418 Operationalizing Success/Failure 369 Types of Evaluation Research CHAPTER 14 Designs 370 Experimental Designs 370 Quantitative Data Analysis 421 Quasi-Experimental Designs 371 Qualitative Evaluations 375 Introduction 422 The Social Context 377 Quantification of Data 422 Logistical Problems 377 Use of Research Results 379 Developing Code Categories 423 Social Indicators Research 384 Codebook Construction 425 The Death Penalty and Deterrence 384 Data Entry 426 Computer Simulation 385 Univariate Analysis 426 Ethics and Evaluation Research 386 Distributions 427 Central Tendency 428 Part 4 Analysis of Data: Dispersion 431 Quantitative and Continuous and Discrete Variables 432 Qualitative 391 Detail versus Manageability 433 Subgroup Comparisons 433 CHAPTER 13 “Collapsing” Response Categories 434 Handling “Don’t Knows” 435 Qualitative Data Analysis 393 Numerical Descriptions in Qualitative Research 436 Introduction 394 Bivariate Analysis 436 Linking Theory and Analysis 394 Percentaging a Table 438 Constructing and Reading Bivariate Discovering Patterns 394 Tables 440 Grounded Theory Method 396 Introduction to Multivariate Semiotics 397 Analysis 441 Conversation Analysis 399 Sociological Diagnostics 442 Qualitative Data Processing 400 Ethics and Quantitative Data Coding 400 Analysis 444 Memoing 404 Concept Mapping 405 CHAPTER 15 Computer Programs for Qualitative Data 406 The Elaboration Model 448 QDA Programs 406 Leviticus as Seen through NUD*IST 407 Introduction 449 Using NVivo to Understand Women Film The Origins of the Elaboration Model 449 Directors, by Sandrine Zerbib 411

The Elaboration Paradigm 454 Contents ■ xiii Replication 455 Explanation 455 Organizing a Review of the Literature 506 Interpretation 457 Reading Journals versus Books 507 Specification 457 Evaluating Research Reports 508 Refinements to the Paradigm 460 Using the Internet Wisely 513 Some Useful Websites 513 Elaboration and Ex Post Facto Searching the Web 514 Hypothesizing 462 Evaluating the Quality of Internet Materials 518 CHAPTER 16 Citing Internet Materials 520 Writing Social Research 521 Statistical Analyses 466 Some Basic Considerations 521 Organization of the Report 523 Introduction 467 Guidelines for Reporting Analyses 526 Descriptive Statistics 467 Going Public 527 The Ethics of Reading and Writing Social Data Reduction 467 Research 528 Measures of Association 468 Regression Analysis 472 Appendixes A1 Inferential Statistics 476 Univariate Inferences 476 A Using the Library A2 Tests of Statistical Significance 478 The Logic of Statistical Significance 479 B GSS Household Enumeration Chi Square 483 Questionnaire A12 t-Test 485 Some Words of Caution 486 C Random Numbers A22 Other Multivariate Techniques 488 Path Analysis 488 D Distribution of Chi Square A24 Time-Series Analysis 489 Factor Analysis 491 E Normal Curve Areas A26 Analysis of Variance 493 Discriminant Analysis 495 F Estimated Sampling Error A27 Log-Linear Models 498 Geographic Information Systems G Twenty Questions a (GIS) 500 Journalist Should Ask about Poll Results A28 CHAPTER 17 Glossary G1 Reading and Writing Social Research 505 Bibliography B1 Introduction 506 Index I1 Reading Social Research 506 Photo Credits I10

Preface A “few” years ago (I hate to tell you how many), permit the routine application of established I began teaching my first course in social research techniques. methods. The course focused specifically on survey research methods, and I had only six students in The next day, unexpectedly, Wadsworth called and the class. As the semester progressed, I became asked me to write a methods text! more relaxed as a teacher. Before long, my students and I began meeting in my office, where I could Survey Research Methods was published in 1973. grab and lend books from my own library as their My editors and I immediately received some good relevance occurred to me during class meetings. news, some bad news, and some additional good news. The first good news was that all survey One nagging problem I faced then was the lack research instructors seemed to love the book, and of a good textbook on survey research. The avail- it was being used in virtually every survey research able books fell into one of two groups. Some books course in the country. The bad news was that there presented the theoretical logic of research methods weren’t all that many survey research courses. in such abstract terms that I didn’t think students would be able to apply any of the general principles The final good news, however, was that many to the practical world of “doing” research. The instructors who taught general social research other books were just the opposite. Often termed courses—covering survey research alongside other “cookbooks,” they presented detailed, step-by-step research methods—were inclined to use our book instructions on how to conduct a survey. Unfor- and supplement it with other books dealing with tunately, this approach only prepared students to field research, experiments, and so on. While conduct surveys very much like the one described adjusting to our specialized book, however, many by the authors. Neither the abstract nor the “cook- instructors suggested that Wadsworth have “that book” approach seemed truly useful to students or same guy” write a more general social research their instructors. text. One day I found myself jotting down the table The preface of the first edition of The Practice of of contents for my ideal research methods text- Social Research (1975) acknowledged the assistance book. It was organized around three theoretical of a dozen social research instructors from Califor- principles on which scientific research is based: nia to Florida. The book was a collaboration in a very real sense, even though only my name was on 1. Understanding the theoretical principles on the cover and I was ultimately responsible for it. which scientific research is based. The Practice of Social Research was an immedi- 2. Seeing how those principles are reflected in the ate success. Although it was initially written for established techniques for doing research. sociology courses, subsequent editions have been increasingly used in fields such as psychology, 3. Being prepared to make appropriate com- public administration, urban studies, education, promises whenever field conditions do not communications, social sciences, and political xiv

Preface ■ xv science—in some 30 different disciplines, I’m told. This edition of the book contains some new Moreover, it’s being used by teachers and research- features, all of which were suggested by faculty ers in numerous countries around the world, and reviewers and users. in 2000 a Beijing publisher released a two-volume Chinese edition. Research Ethics: In 1973, Survey Research Methods contained an appendix on research I’ve laid out this lengthy history of the book for ethics, which was one of the few things a couple of reasons. First, when I was a student, reviewers criticized: They were against it. I suppose I thought of textbooks the same way Regarding the section “The Rights of Subjects,” that I thought about government buildings: They one reviewer angrily wrote, “What about were just there. I never really thought about them the rights of science?” Over the years, as being written by human beings. I certainly concern for research ethics has steadily in- never thought about textbooks as evolving: being creased among social researchers, and the topic updated, getting better, having errors corrected. has become steadily more prominent in the As a student, I would have been horrified by the various editions of this book. In the 12th edi- thought that any of my textbooks might contain tion, most chapters end with a section exam- mistakes! ining the ethical implications of the chapter’s topics. Second, pointing out the evolution of the book sets the stage for a preview of the changes that Research Proposal: Many instructors now have gone into this 12th edition. As with previous use the research proposal as a vehicle for revisions, several factors have prompted changes. training students in social research, and For example, because social research technology several of the reviewers asked for more at- and practices are continually changing, the book tention to that topic. As a consequence, each must be updated to remain current and useful. In chapter concludes with a continuing exercise my own teaching, I frequently find improved ways inviting students to apply what they’ve to present standard materials. Colleagues also often learned in the chapter to an evolving research share their ideas for ways to teach specific topics. proposal. Some of these appear as boxed inserts in the book. Both students and instructors often suggest that Keeping Humanity in Focus: Sometimes, various topics be reorganized, expanded, clarified, social research requires us to delve deeply into shrunk, or—gasp—deleted. the relationships among variables and/or take apart intricate social structures. This leads some New to the 12th Edition researchers and research consumers to worry that we might lose sight of the human beings In an earlier edition of this book, I said, “Revising a who lie at the core of our concerns. Some social textbook such as this is a humbling experience. No research efforts, however, undertake sophis- matter how good it seems to be, there is no end of ticated analyses while keeping an immediate ideas about how it could be improved.” That obser- focus on the people involved. A new series of vation still holds true. When we asked instructors boxes in this edition highlights some of those what could be improved, they once again thought studies, as follows: of things, and I’ve considered all their suggestions, followed many of them, and chosen to “think some Chapter 1: Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas, more” about others. I’ve also received numerous Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Mother- comments and suggestions from students who hood before Marriage (Berkeley: University of have been assigned the book; many of the changes California Press, 2005). come from them. Chapter 5: Elijah Anderson, A Place on the Cor- ner: A Study of Black Street Corner Men (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).

xvi ■ Preface Chapter 10: Rachel Sherman, Class Acts: Service • Clarified the top portion of Figure 1-4 and Inequality in Luxury Hotels (Berkeley: Uni- • Cited evaluation research as a special kind of versity of California Press, 2005). applied research, to be examined in Chapter 12 Chapter 14: Kristen Schilt, “Just One of the Guys? How Transmen Make Gender Visible Chapter 2, “Paradigms, Theory, and Social in the Workplace,” Gender and Society 20, no. 4 Research” (2006): 465–90. • Added discussion of feminist standpoint Chapter 17: Sudhir Venkatesh, Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets (New theory York: Penguin, 2008). • Added discussion of critical realism How to Do It: Another new series of boxes in • Introduced the term mesotheory the book provides practical, step-by-step guidance • Dropped references to control variables as “test” to assist students in dealing with what instructors have identified as especially elusive tasks. These variables are the boxes in the series, some of which adapted materials already existing in the book: • Reviewed concepts of idiographic and nomo- • Chapter 2: Framing a Hypothesis thetic in “Elements of Social Theory” • Chapter 4: Identifying the Unit of Analysis • Chapter 7: Using a Table of Random Numbers Chapter 3, “The Ethics and Politics of Social • Chapter 9: Conducting an Online Survey Research” • Chapter 10: Establishing Rapport • Chapter 17: Using Google Scholar • Included discussion of the “politicization of • Chapter 17: Citing Bibliographic Sources science” In addition to these identifiable features, I have continued to pursue my intention to demonstrate • Added a comment on the positive results of the social research as an international, not just Ameri- can, undertaking. Since researchers in different parts Tearoom Trade research of the world sometimes face unique problems, the ways in which they deal with those problems often • Added discussion of Zimbardo’s Stanford prison reveal new dimensions to the logic of social inquiry. experiment Here are some of the other changes in this edi- tion, arranged by chapter: • Provided new discussion of DHHS “Certificate Chapter 1, “Human Inquiry and Science” of Confidentiality” • Provided new section on the purposes of social • Mentioned Nuremberg trials • Discussed Tuskegee syphilis experiments research Chapter 4, “Research Design” • Added materials on using both qualitative and • Provided example of using cohorts to infer quantitative approaches process over time • Clarified the original meaning of “the exception • Included a new diagram to illustrate a cohort that proves the rule” study • Included glossary definitions of epistemology and • Provided new section: “Nomothetic Causal methodology Analysis and Hypothesis Testing” • Coordinated definitions of theory in text and in • Changed Figure 4-5 in previous edition to 4-6 glossary definition in current Chapter 5, “Conceptualization, Operational- ization, and Measurement” • Gave new opening example of college satisfaction • Discussed many names for snow to illustrate concepts and conceptualization • Provided “fear of crime” example to illustrate dimensions

Preface ■ xvii • Included a new box: “Measuring College • Added reference to registration-based sampling Satisfaction” (RBS) • Discussed the Geertz concept of “thick • Referenced discussion of random-digit dialing description” and problems of cell phones in Chapter 9 • Gave a new summary table reviewing direct Chapter 8, “Experiments” and indirect observables and constructs • Explained why experiments are discussed first • Introduced the term field experiment • Added a paragraph illustrating the importance • Mentioned why we might use preexperimental of keeping the operationalization process open methods • Clarified the definition of validity Chapter 9, “Survey Research” • Added a paragraph distinguishing sex and gender • Changed the diagram of the conceptualization • Updated and expanded section on online sur- process to a table with examples vey research • Discussed differences in qualitative and • Included box on using Survey Monkey • Expanded description of random-digit dialing quantitative conceptualization and • Expanded discussion of problems created by operationalization cell phones Chapter 6, “Indexes, Scales, and Typologies” • Referenced cognitive interviewing regarding • Discussed how indicators of a variable may be pretesting questionnaires unrelated to one another • Reported that interviewer behavior changes • Added discussion of “Webometrics Ranking” of over the course of a survey project universities to the box on U.S. News ranking • Used Obama-Clinton primary as example for • Expanded the captions for Figures 6-2 and 6-3 • Provided new box on “Indexing the World” social desirability showing a variety of indexes rating various • Noted suggestion that interviewers might be aspects of life given more latitude in correcting respondent Chapter 7, “The Logic of Sampling” errors • Mentioned that standard error can be calcu- • Discussed the use of PDAs for survey interview- lated for means and other measures ing or self-administered surveys • Discussed the problems of bias that cell phones • Expanded and updated the discussion of re- create for telephone survey sampling sponse rates • Revised the glossary definition of sampling error • Discussed the decline in interview survey re- • Gave new example of snowball sampling: using sponse rates social networks of nonheterosexual women in small-town U.K. Chapter 10, “Qualitative Field Research” • Corrected the discussion of the finite popula- • Updated Lofland references with new, greatly tion correction revised version • Worked in the quip: “Statistics means never • Gave example of using Internet for qualitative having to say you are certain.” interviewing • Expanded discussion of cell-phone-only • Discussed researcher responsibilities in partici- population patory action research • Added a discussion of “theoretical sampling” in • Discussed and defined emancipatory research • Provided box on giving pencils and cameras to qualitative research projects Peruvian Indians in rainforest • Discussed recent address-based sampling (ABS)

xviii ■ Preface • Mentioned study of globalization impact among • Used Peter Rossi et al. definition of evaluation Irish young people that used drawings, poems, research and songs Chapter 13, “Qualitative Data Analysis” • Discussed study combining focus groups and • Provided major new section on the evaluation in-depth interviews in Sweden of qualitative research • Added pictures of some leading qualitative field • Included new section on QDA programs researchers • Updated Lofland to newest edition • Updated discussion of focus groups Chapter 14, “Quantitative Data Analysis” • Introduced the “ethnographic fallacy” • Added example of Jeffrey Kidder’s study of bike • Clarified the base for percentaging tables • Illustrated subgroup comparison with GSS messengers in New York City example • Introduced Lofland’s notion of “selective com- • Introduced GapMinder as resource for display- petence” in subjects and discussed it in terms of rapport ing data • Discussed how to continue interviewing dif- • Provided new discussion on how to read tables • Updated and clarified discussion of Table 14-12 ficult informants • Updated and clarified the discussion of Table • Referenced article on the difficulty of writing 14-4 autoethnography • Updated data on example of gender, age, and • Described kaupapa Maori research as an ex- church attendance ample of PAR • Updated data on example of income by educa- • Mentioned Silent Racism as an example of non- tion and gender political, nonmarketing focus groups • Updated the data on example of age and at- Chapter 11, “Unobtrusive Research” titude toward marijuana • Updated Megatrends studies Chapters 15, “The Elaboration Model” • Gave lengthy example of qualitative content • No significant changes made analysis of rap music Chapter 16, “Statistical Analyses” • Cited the University of Michigan’s archive of • Added section on t-tests data sources Chapter 17, “Reading and Writing Social • Discussed and cited census website for mapping Research” data • Discussed Middlebury College history depart- • Discussed and cited computer programs for ment banning of citing Wikipedia as a source qualitative and quantitative content analysis • Updated and expanded warnings of misconcep- • Discussed the uses of the Social Explorer for tions and biases on the web mapping data • Illustrated common bibliographic citation • Updated Megatrends studies formats Chapter 12, “Evaluation Research” • Introduced SourceWatch as a resource for judg- • Discussed the Sabido methodology for social ing websites change through mass media As always, I’ve updated materials throughout the book. As an instructor, I’m constantly search- • Gave example of “empowerment evaluation” in ing for new and more effective ways of explaining social research to my own students; many of those connection with Australian school program • Updated examples of topics appropriate for evaluation research

new explanations take the form of diagrams. You’ll Preface ■ xix find several new graphic illustrations in this edition. Once again, I’ve sought to replace older research Boxed examples and discussions Students examples (except for the classics) with more recent tell me they like the boxed materials that ones. I’ve also dropped some sections that I don’t highlight particular ideas and studies, as well think do much for students anymore. as varying the format of the book. Beginning in the tenth edition, I’ve been using boxes that As with each new edition, I would appreciate focus on the ways the mass media use and any comments you have about how the book can misuse social research. be improved. Its evolution over the past 35 years has reflected countless comments from students Running glossary Key terms are highlighted and others. in the text, and definitions for each term are listed at the bottom of the page. This will help Pedagogical Features students learn the definitions of these terms and locate them in each chapter to review Although students and instructors alike have told them in context. me that the past editions of this book were effective tools for learning research methods, I have used Main Points At the end of each chapter, a this revision as an opportunity to review the book concise list of main points provides both a brief from a pedagogical standpoint, fine-tuning some chapter summary and a useful review. The elements, adding others. Here’s the package we main points let students know exactly what came up with in the 12th edition. ideas they should focus on in each chapter. Chapter Overview Each chapter is preceded Key Terms A list of key terms follows the by a pithy focus paragraph that highlights the main points. These lists reinforce the students’ principal content of the chapter. acquisition of necessary vocabulary. The new Chapter Introduction Each chapter opens vocabulary in these lists is defined in context with an introduction that lays out the main ideas in the chapters. The terms are boldfaced in the in that chapter and, importantly, relates them to text, defined in the running glossary that ap- the content of other chapters in the book. pears at the bottom of the page throughout the Clear and provocative examples Students text, and included in the glossary at the back of often tell me that the examples—real and the book. hypothetical—have helped them grasp difficult and/or abstract ideas, and this edition has many Proposing Social Research This series of new examples as well as those that have proved linked exercises invites students to apply what particularly valuable in earlier editions. they’ve learned in the chapter by treating those Graphics From the first time I took a course topics in an evolving research proposal. in research methods, most of the key con- cepts have made sense to me in graphic form. Review Questions and Exercises This Whereas my task here has been to translate review aid allows students to test their under- those mental pictures into words, I’ve also in- standing of the chapter concepts and apply cluded some graphics in the book. Advances in what they’ve learned. computer graphics have helped me communi- cate to the Wadsworth artists what I see in my SPSS Exercises and Online Study Re- head and would like to share with students. I’m sources This edition continues previous edi- delighted with the new graphics in this edition. tions’ movement into cyberspace. Students can use the annotated list of useful websites in this section, as well as other resources mentioned, to take their learning beyond the text and classroom. Appendixes As in previous editions, a set of appendixes provides students with some research tools, such as a guide to the library, a

xx ■ Preface table of random numbers, and so forth. There we’ve created in our own teaching or heard about is an SPSS primer on the book’s website along from colleagues. These include matching, multiple- with primers for NVivo and Qualrus. choice, and open-ended discussion questions for each chapter, along with four to six exercises that Clear and accessible writing This is perhaps use examples from everyday life to reinforce the the most important “pedagogical aid” of all. I material learned in the text. Also included are the know that all authors strive to write texts that answers to the matching and multiple-choice re- are clear and accessible, and I take some pride view questions, as well as a General Social Survey in the fact that this “feature” of the book has appendix, plus chapter objectives, chapter summa- been one of its most highly praised attributes ries, and key terms. through its 11 previous editions. It’s the one thing students write most often about. For SPSS Student Version CD-ROM 16.0 the 12th edition, the editors and I have taken (Windows only) ISBN-10 0495598275 special care to reexamine literally every line in the book, pruning, polishing, embellishing, Based on the professional version of one of the and occasionally restructuring for a maximally world’s leading desktop statistical software pack- “reader-friendly” text. Whether you’re new to ages, SPSS Student Version for Windows provides this book or intimately familiar with previous real-world software for students to do sociological editions, I invite you to open any chapter and data analysis, such as interpreting the GSS data sets evaluate the writing for yourself. found on the companion website. Supplements SPSS Practice Workbook ISBN-10 0495598461 The Practice of Social Research, 12th edition, is accom- panied by a wide array of supplements prepared for This handy guide is coordinated with the text and both the instructor and student to create the best SPSS CD-ROM 16.0 to help students learn basic learning environment inside as well as outside the navigation in SPSS, including how to enter their classroom. All the continuing supplements for The own data; create, save, and retrieve files; produce Practice of Social Research, 12th edition, have been and interpret data summaries; and much more. thoroughly revised and updated. I invite you to Also included are SPSS practice exercises correlated examine and take full advantage of the teaching with each chapter. The guide comes free when and learning tools available to you. bundled with the text. For the Student GSS Data Disk ISBN-10 0495093297 Guided Activities for The Practice of Over the years, the publisher and I have sought to Social Research, 12th Edition provide up-to-date personal computer support for ISBN-10 049559847X students and instructors. Because there are now many excellent programs for analyzing data, we’ve The student study guide and workbook Ted Wage- provided data to be used with them. With this naar and I have prepared continues to be a main- edition, we’ve updated the data disk to include the stay of my own teaching. Students tell me they use 2006 GSS data. it heavily as a review of the text, and I count the exercises as half their grade in the course. Experiencing Social Research: An Introduction Using MicroCase, 2nd Edition In this edition, Ted and I have once again ISBN-10 0534519113 sorted through the exercises and added new ones This supplementary workbook and statistical package, written by David J. Ayers of Grove City

College, includes short discussions, quizzes, and Preface ■ xxi computerized exercises in which students will learn and apply key methodological concepts and labeled as new, modified, or pickup so instructors skills by analyzing, and in some cases collecting know if the question is new to this edition of the and building, simple data files for real sociological Test Bank, picked up but modified from the previ- data. Designed to accompany The Practice of Social ous edition of the Test Bank, or picked up straight Research, the workbook and statistical package take from the previous edition. a step-by-step approach to show students how to do real sociological research, using the same data PowerLecture with JoinIn™ and and techniques used by professional researchers, ExamView® CD-ROM to reinforce, build on, and complement course ISBN-10 049559850X materials. This easy-to-use, one-stop digital library and pre- Readings in Social Research, 3rd Edition sentation tool includes the following: ISBN-10 0495093378 • Ready-to-use Microsoft® PowerPoint® lecture The concepts and methodologies of social research come to life in this interesting collection of articles slides, making it easy for you to assemble, edit, specifically designed to accompany The Practice of publish, and present custom lectures for your Social Research. Diane Kholos Wysocki includes an course interdisciplinary range of readings from the fields of psychology, sociology, social work, criminal • Video-based polling and quiz questions that can justice, and political science. The articles focus on the important methods and concepts typically be used with the JoinIn™ on Turning-Point® covered in the social research course and pro- personal response system vide an illustrative advantage. Organized by key concepts, each of the reader’s ten chapters begins • ExamView® testing software, which provides all with an introduction highlighting and explaining the research concept that each chapter’s readings the test items from the text’s printed test bank elucidate. in electronic format, enabling you to create customized tests of up to 250 items that can be For the Instructor delivered in print or online Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test • The text’s Instructor’s Resource Manual in elec- Bank ISBN-10 0495598488 tronic format This supplement offers the instructor brief chapter outlines, behavioral objectives, ASA recommenda- ABC Video—Research Methods, Volume I tions, detailed chapter outlines, teaching sugges- VHS: ISBN-10 0495804312 tions and resources, video suggestions, questions/ DVD: ISBN-10 049580438X activities to guide research projects, scenarios that apply social research to everyday life, InfoTrac® This series of videos comprising footage from ABC College Edition exercises, and Internet exercises. broadcasts is specially selected and arranged to In addition, for each chapter of the text, the Test accompany your research methods course. The Bank has 50–70 multiple-choice questions, 20–25 segments may be used in conjunction with Wad- true-false questions, and 5 essay questions with sworth’s research methods texts to help provide a answers and page references. All questions are real-world example to illustrate course concepts or to instigate discussion. These ABC videos feature short, high-interest clips from current news events as well as historic raw footage going back 40 years. Clips are drawn from such programs as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, This Week, PrimeTime Live, 20/20, and Nightline, as well as numerous ABC News specials and material from the Associ- ated Press Television News and British Movietone News collections.

xxii ■ Preface Internet-Based Supplements Companion Website for The Practice of Social Research, 12th Edition CengageNow™ The book’s companion website (www.cengage This feature empowers students with the first .com/sociology/babbie) includes chapter-specific assessment-centered student tutorial system for resources for instructors and students. For instruc- Social Research/Research Methods. Seamlessly tors, the site offers a password-protected instruc- tied to the new edition, this interactive web-based tor’s manual, Microsoft PowerPoint presentation learning tool helps students gauge their unique slides, and more. For students, there is a multitude study needs with a “pretest” for each chapter to of text-specific study aids, including the following: assess their understanding of the material. They are then given a personalized study plan that offers in- • Tutorial practice quizzing teractive, visual, and audio resources to help them • Web links master the material. They can check their progress • InfoTrac College Edition key terms with an interactive posttest as well. • Flash cards • Data-analysis primers WebTutor™ on Blackboard® and WebCT® • Glossaries This web-based software for students and instruc- Cengage InSite for Writing and tors takes a course beyond the classroom to an Research™—with Turnitin® Originality anywhere, anytime environment. Students gain ac- Checker cess to the rich content from this book’s companion websites. Available for WebCT and Blackboard only. InSite features a full suite of writing, peer review, online grading, and e-portfolio applications. It is an InfoTrac® College Edition with InfoMarks™ all-in-one tool that helps instructors manage the flow of papers electronically and allows students Available as a free option with newly purchased to submit papers and peer reviews online. Also texts, InfoTrac College Edition gives instructors and included in the suite is Turnitin, an originality students four months of free access to an extensive checker that offers a simple solution for instructors online database of reliable, full-length articles (not who want a strong deterrent against plagiarism, just abstracts) from thousands of scholarly and as well as encouragement for students to employ popular publications going back as far as 22 years. proper research techniques. Access is available for Among the journals available are American Journal packaging with each copy of this book. For more of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Research, and Sociology. information, visit http://insite.cengage.com. InfoTrac College Edition now also comes with In- foMarks, a tool that allows you to save your search parameters, as well as save links to specific articles. (Available to North American college and univer- sity students only; journals are subject to change.)

Acknowledgments It would be impossible to acknowledge adequately Marian A. O. Cohen, Framingham State all the people who have influenced this book. My College earlier methods text, Survey Research Methods, was Kimberly Dugan, Eastern Connecticut State dedicated to Samuel Stouffer, Paul Lazarsfeld, and University Charles Glock. I again acknowledge my debt to Craig Forsyth, University of Louisiana at them. Lafayette Herman Gibson, Henderson State University I also repeat my thanks to those colleagues ac- Ellen Goldring, Peabody College, Vanderbilt knowledged for their comments during the writing Susan Gore, University of Massachusetts at of the first, second, and third editions of this book. Boston The present book still reflects their contributions. Sarah Hurley, Arkansas State University Many other colleagues helped me revise the book Jana L. Jasinski, University of Central Florida as well—including the amazing 110 instructors Robert Kleidman, Cleveland State University who took the time to respond to our electronic sur- Michael Kleiman, University of South Florida vey. Their feedback was invaluable. I also particu- Augustine Kposowa, University of California, larly want to thank the instructors who reviewed Riverside the manuscript of this edition and made helpful Marci B. Littlefield, Indiana State University suggestions: Patrick F. McManimon, Jr., William Patterson University Emily Barman, Boston University Jeanne Mekolichick, Radford University Dale Brooker, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Jared Schultz, Texas Tech University Health Dwight Haase, University of Dayton Sciences Center Linda Lindsey, Maryville University Bruce H. Wade, Spelman College Elizabeth Monk-Turner, Old Dominion Thomas C. Wilson, Florida Atlantic University University Gary Wyatt, Emporia State University Sunil Thankam, The University of Texas at San Antonio I would also like to thank survey participants who took the time to provide valuable information on Also, I appreciate the insights and assistance of several features of the book: those who reviewed the previous edition: James T. Ault, III, Creighton University Victor Agadjanian, Arizona State University Paul Calarco, SUNY at Albany Melanie Arthur, Portland State University Pat Christian, Canisius College xxiii William T. Clute, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Acknowledgments ■ xxiv Roy Childs, University of the Pacific particularly on the wisdom, creativity, and perspira- tion of the acquisitions editor and the development Liz Depoy, University of Maine editor, in this case Chris Caldeira and Dan Mon- eypenny, respectively. I am very grateful for their Pat Fisher, University of Tennessee efforts on this book, and you should be, too. Robert Gardner, Bowdoin College There are also others at Wadsworth whose talents have had an impact on this book. I would Elizabeth Jones, California University of like to acknowledge Meghan Pease for her inspired Pennsylvania marketing efforts, making sure everyone on the planet is aware of the book; Lauren Keyes for her Barbara Keating, Minnesota State University, work on the website and other technology supple- Mankato ments; Erin Parkins for managing the development of all of the useful print supplements to round out J. David Martin, Midwestern State University the teaching package; and Cheri Palmer for shep- herding the countless pieces and people required to Patrick A. Moore, University of Great Falls turn a manuscript into a book. I also wish to thank Anne Baird, Morehouse I also wish to thank Greg Hubit for managing College; Rae Banks, Syracuse University; Roland all the critical production processes with great skill. Chilton, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; M. Richard Cramer, University of North Carolina, Molly Roth is the standard by which copy Chapel Hill; Joseph Fletcher, University of Toronto; editors should be judged, though that might set Shaul Gabbay, University of Illinois, Chicago; the standard too high. Molly and I have worked Marcia Ghidina, University of North Carolina, together on several books now, and she is simply Asheville; Roland Hawkes, Southern Illinois Uni- the best. She successfully walks the thin line that versity; Jeffrey Jacques, Florida A&M University; separates a reluctance to say the author failed and Daniel J. Klenow, North Dakota State University; a delight in saying it. I have never felt she let me Wanda Kosinski, Ramapo College, New Jersey; get away with anything, nor have I felt anything Manfred Kuechler, CUNY Hunter College; Cecilia but the highest support for my intention. Some- Menjívar, Arizona State University; Joan Morris, how, Molly can see what I’m trying to say and can University of Central Florida; Alisa Potter, Concor- often find ways of saying it more clearly and more dia College; Zhenchoa Qian, Arizona State Univer- powerfully. sity; Robert W. Reynolds, Weber State University; Laurie K. Scheuble, Doane College; Beth Anne Ted Wagenaar has contributed extensively to Shelton, University of Texas, Arlington; Matthew this book. Ted and I coauthor the accompanying Sloan, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Bernard student study guide, Guided Activities for Practicing Sorofman, University of Iowa; Ron Stewart; Randy Social Research, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Stoecker, University of Toledo; Theodore Wage- Ted is a cherished colleague, welcome critic, good naar, Miami University, Ohio; Robert Wolf, Eastern friend, and altogether decent human being. Connecticut State University; and Jerome Wolfe, University of Miami. I have dedicated this book to my soul mate, best friend, and wife, Suzanne Babbie. The fact Over the years, I’ve become more and more that she became my wife during the course of this impressed by the important role played by edi- revision makes it all the more fitting. I see in Suze tors in books like this. Although an author’s name those things I am most proud of in myself, except I appears on the book’s spine, much of its backbone see purer versions of those qualities in her. She en- derives from the strength of its editors. Since nobles what is possible in a human being, and 1973 I’ve worked with many sociology editors I become a better person because of her example. at Wadsworth, which has involved the kinds of adjustments you might need to make in successive marriages. The quality of a book like this depends

The Practice of Social Research

1 Human Inquiry Science is a familiar word; everyone uses it. and Science Yet, images of science differ greatly. For some, science is mathematics; for others, it’s white 2 Paradigms, Theory, coats and laboratories. It’s often confused with and Social Research technology or equated with tough high school or college courses. 3 The Ethics and Politics of Social Research Science is, of course, none of these things per se. It is difficult, however, to specify exactly what science is. Scientists themselves disagree on the proper definition. For the purposes of this book, we look at science as a method of inquiry—a way of learning and knowing things about the world around us. Contrasted with other ways of learning and knowing about the world, science has some special characteristics. It is a conscious, deliberate, and rigorous undertaking. Sometimes it uses statistical analyses, but often it does not. We’ll examine these and other traits in this opening set of chapters. Dr. Benjamin Spock, the renowned author and pedi- atrician, began his books on child care by assuring new parents that they already know more about child care than they think they do. I want to begin this book on a

PART 1 An Introduction to Inquiry similar note. Before you’ve read very far, you will realize theoretical paradigms that shape the nature of inquiry that you already know a great deal about the practice of and that largely determine what scientists look for and social research. In fact, you’ve been conducting research how they interpret what they see. all your life. From that perspective, the purpose of this book is to help you sharpen skills you already have and Whereas most of this book deals with the scientific perhaps to show you some tricks that may not have concerns of social research, Chapter 3 introduces two occurred to you. other important concerns: the ethics and politics of research. Researchers are governed by a set of ethical Part 1 of this book lays the groundwork for the rest constraints that reflect ideals and values aimed at help- of the book by examining the fundamental characteris- ing, not harming, people. Social research is also shaped tics and issues that make science different from other by the fact that it operates within the political codes and ways of knowing things. In Chapter 1, we’ll begin with systems of the societies it seeks to study and under- a look at native human inquiry, the sort of thing you’ve stand. These two topics appear throughout the book as been doing all your life. In the course of that examina- critical components of social research. tion, we’ll see some of the ways people go astray in trying to understand the world around them, and I’ll The overall purpose of Part 1 is to construct a summarize the primary characteristics of scientific backdrop against which to view the specifics of research inquiry that guard against those errors. design and execution. After completing Part 1, you’ll be ready to look at some of the more concrete aspects of Chapter 2 deals with social theories and the links social research. between theory and research. We’ll look at some of the 1

CHAPTER ONE Human Inquiry and Science CHAPTER OVERVIEW All of us try to understand and predict the social world.Scientific inquiries—and social research in particular—are designed to avoid the pitfalls of ordinary human inquiry. Introduction The Purposes of Social Research Looking for Reality Knowledge from The Ethics of Human Inquiry Agreement Reality Errors in Inquiry, and Some Dialectics Some Solutions of Social Research What’s Really Real? Idiographic and Nomothetic The Foundations Explanation of Social Science Inductive and Deductive Theory Theory, Not Philosophy Qualitative and or Belief Quantitative Data Social Regularities Pure and Applied Research Aggregates, Not Individuals Concepts and Variables The Research Proposal CengageNOW for Sociology Use this online tool to help you make the grade on your next exam. 2 After reading this chapter, go to “Online Study Resources” at the end of the chapter for instructions on how to benefit from CengageNOW.

Introduction ■ 3 Introduction by means of personal experience and discovery alone, things are set up so we can simply believe This book is about knowing things—not so much what others tell us. We know some things through what we know as how we know it. Let’s start by ex- tradition and some things from “experts.” I’m not amining a few things you probably know already. saying you should never question this received knowledge; I’m just drawing your attention to the You know the world is round. You probably way you and society normally get along regarding also know it’s cold on the dark side of the moon, what’s so. and you know people speak Chinese in China. You know that vitamin C can prevent colds and that There are other ways of knowing things, unprotected sex can result in AIDS. however. In contrast to knowing things through agreement, we can know them through direct How do you know? Unless you’ve been to the experience—through observation. If you dive into dark side of the moon lately or done experimental a glacial stream flowing through the Canadian research on the virtues of vitamin C, you know Rockies, you don’t need anyone to tell you it’s cold. these things because somebody told them to you, The first time you stepped on a thorn, you knew it and you believed what you were told. You may hurt before anyone told you. have read in National Geographic that people speak Chinese languages in China, and because that When our experience conflicts with what ev- made sense to you, you didn’t question it. Perhaps eryone else knows, though, there’s a good chance your physics or astronomy instructor told you it we’ll surrender our experience in favor of the was cold on the dark side of the moon, or maybe agreement. you heard it on National Public Radio (NPR). Let’s take an example. Imagine you’ve come to Some of the things you know seem absolutely a party at my house. It’s a high-class affair, and the obvious to you. If someone asked you how you drinks and food are excellent. In particular, you’re know the world is round, you’d probably say, taken by one of the appetizers I bring around “Everybody knows that.” There are a lot of things on a tray: a breaded, deep-fried appetizer that’s everybody knows. Of course, everyone used to especially zesty. You have a couple—they’re so “know” that the world was flat. delicious! You have more. Soon you’re subtly mov- ing around the room to be wherever I am when I Most of what you and I know is a matter arrive with a tray of these nibblies. of agreement and belief. Little of it is based on personal experience and discovery. A big part of Finally, you can’t contain yourself any more. growing up in any society, in fact, is the process “What are they?” you ask. “How can I get the rec- of learning to accept what everybody around us ipe?” And I let you in on the secret: “You’ve been “knows” is so. If you don’t know those same things, eating breaded, deep-fried worms!” Your response you can’t really be a part of the group. If you were is dramatic: Your stomach rebels, and you throw up to question seriously whether the world is really all over the living-room rug. Argh! What a terrible round, you’d quickly find yourself set apart from thing to serve guests! other people. You might be sent to live in a hospital with other people who question things like that. The point of the story is that both of your feelings about the appetizer were quite real. Your Although most of what we know is a matter initial liking for them, based on your own direct of believing what we’ve been told, there is noth- experience, was certainly real. But so was your ing wrong with us in that respect. It’s simply the feeling of disgust when you found out that you’d way human societies are structured, and it’s a quite been eating worms. It should be evident, however, useful quality. The basis of knowledge is agree- that this feeling of disgust was strictly a product of ment. Because we can’t learn all we need to know the agreements you have with those around you

4 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science that worms aren’t fit to eat. That’s an agreement Knowledge from you entered into the first time your parents found Agreement Reality you sitting in a pile of dirt with half of a wriggling worm dangling from your lips. When they pried One answer that has arisen out of that grappling is your mouth open and reached down your throat in science, which offers an approach to both agree- search of the other half of the worm, you learned ment reality and experiential reality. Scientists have that worms are not acceptable food in our society. certain criteria that must be met before they will accept the reality of something they have not per- Aside from these agreements, what’s wrong sonally experienced. In general, a scientific asser- with worms? They are probably high in protein tion must have both logical and empirical support: and low in calories. Bite-sized and easily packaged, It must make sense, and it must not contradict they are a distributor’s dream. They are also a deli- actual observation. Why do earthbound scientists cacy for some people who live in societies that lack accept the assertion that the dark side of the moon our agreement that worms are disgusting. Some is cold? First, it makes sense, because the moon’s people might love the worms but be turned off by surface heat comes from the sun’s rays, and the the deep-fried breading. dark side of the moon is dark because it’s always turned away from the sun. Second, scientific mea- Here’s another question to consider: “Are surements made on the moon’s dark side confirm worms ‘really’ good or ‘really’ bad to eat?” And this logical expectation. So, scientists accept the here’s a more interesting question: “How could reality of things they don’t personally experience— you know which was really so?” This book is about they accept an agreement reality—but they have answering the second kind of question. special standards for doing so. The rest of this chapter looks at how we know More to the point of this book, however, sci- what is real. We’ll begin by examining inquiry as ence offers a special approach to the discovery a natural human activity, something we all have of reality through personal experience. In other engaged in every day of our lives. We’ll look at the words, it offers a special approach to the business of source of everyday knowledge and at some kinds inquiry. Epistemology is the science of knowing; of errors we make in normal inquiry. We’ll then methodology (a subfield of epistemology) might examine what makes science—in particular, social be called the science of finding out. This book science—different. After considering some of the presents and examines social science methodol- underlying ideas of social research, we’ll conclude ogy, or how social scientists find out about human with an initial consideration of issues in social social life. research. Why do we need social science to discover the Looking for Reality reality of social life? To find out, let’s start by con- sidering what happens in ordinary, nonscientific Reality is a tricky business. You probably already inquiry. suspect that some of the things you “know” may not be true, but how can you really know what’s Ordinary Human Inquiry real? People have grappled with this question for thousands of years. Practically all people, and many other animals as well, exhibit a desire to predict their future epistemology The science of knowing; systems of circumstances. Humans seem predisposed to un- knowledge. dertake this task by using causal and probabilistic methodology The science of finding out; proce- reasoning. First, we generally recognize that future dures for scientific investigation. circumstances are somehow caused or conditioned by present ones. We learn that getting an education will affect how much money we earn later in life

Looking for Reality ■ 5 and that swimming beyond the reef may bring an As I suggested earlier in this chapter, our at- unhappy encounter with a shark. Sharks, on the tempts to learn about the world are only partly other hand—whether or not they reason the mat- linked to direct personal inquiry or experience. An- ter through—may learn that hanging around the other, much larger, part comes from the agreed-on reef often brings a happy encounter with unhappy knowledge that others give us, those things “every- swimmers. one knows.” This agreement reality both assists and hinders our attempts to find out for ourselves. Second, we also learn that such patterns of To see how, consider two important sources of our cause and effect are probabilistic. That is, the ef- secondhand knowledge—tradition and authority. fects occur more often when the causes occur than when the causes are absent—but not always. Tradition Thus, students learn that studying hard produces good grades in most instances, but not every time. Each of us inherits a culture made up, in part, of We recognize the danger of swimming beyond the firmly accepted knowledge about the workings of reef, without believing that every such swim will the world and the values that guide our participa- be fatal. As we’ll see throughout the book, science tion in it. We may learn from others that planting makes these concepts of causality and probability corn in the spring will garner the greatest assistance more explicit and provides techniques for dealing from the gods, that eating too much candy will with them more rigorously than casual human decay our teeth, that the circumference of a circle is inquiry does. It sharpens the skills we already approximately twenty-two sevenths of its diam- have by making us more conscious, rigorous, and eter, or that masturbation will blind us. Ideas about explicit in our inquiries. gender, race, religion, and different nations that you learned as you were growing up would fit in this In looking at ordinary human inquiry, we need category. We may test a few of these “truths” on to distinguish between prediction and understand- our own, but we simply accept the great majority of ing. Often, we can make predictions without un- them. These are the things that “everybody knows.” derstanding—perhaps you can predict rain when your trick knee aches. And often, even if we don’t Tradition, in this sense of the term, offers some understand why, we’re willing to act on the basis clear advantages to human inquiry. By accepting of a demonstrated predictive ability. A racetrack what everybody knows, we avoid the overwhelm- buff who discovers that the third-ranked horse in ing task of starting from scratch in our search for the third race of the day always seems to win will regularities and understanding. Knowledge is probably keep betting without knowing, or caring, cumulative, and an inherited body of information why it works out that way. Of course, the drawback and understanding is the jumping-off point for the in predicting without understanding will become development of more knowledge. We often speak powerfully evident when one of the other horses of “standing on the shoulders of giants,” that is, on wins and our buff loses a week’s pay. those of previous generations. Whatever the primitive drives or instincts that At the same time, tradition may hinder human motivate human beings and other animals, satisfy- inquiry. If we seek a fresh understanding of some- ing these drives depends heavily on the ability to thing everybody already understands and has predict future circumstances. For people, however, always understood, we may be marked as fools for the attempt to predict is often placed in a context of our efforts. More to the point, however, it rarely knowledge and understanding. If you can under- occurs to most of us to seek a different understand- stand why things are related to each other, why ing of something we all “know” to be true. certain regular patterns occur, you can predict bet- ter than if you simply observe and remember those agreement reality Those things we “know” as part patterns. Thus, human inquiry aims at answering of the culture we share with those around us. both “what” and “why” questions, and we pursue these goals by observing and figuring out.

6 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science Authority our casual inquiries and at the ways science guards against those errors. Despite the power of tradition, new knowledge ap- pears every day. Quite aside from our own personal Inaccurate Observations inquiries, we benefit throughout our lives from new discoveries and understandings produced by Quite frequently, we make mistakes in our obser- others. Often, acceptance of these new acquisitions vations. For example, what was your methodology depends on the status of the discoverer. You’re instructor wearing on the first day of class? If you more likely to believe that the common cold can have to guess, it’s because most of our daily obser- be transmitted through kissing, for example, when vations are casual and semiconscious. That’s why you hear it from an epidemiologist than when you we often disagree about what really happened. hear it from your uncle Pete (unless, of course, he’s also an epidemiologist). In contrast to casual human inquiry, scientific observation is a conscious activity. Just making Like tradition, authority can both assist and observation more deliberate helps reduce error. If hinder human inquiry. We do well to trust the you had to guess what your instructor was wear- judgment of the person who has special training, ing on the first day of class, you’d probably make expertise, and credentials in a given matter, espe- a mistake. If you’d gone to the first class with a cially in the face of controversy. At the same time, conscious plan to observe and record what your inquiry can be greatly hindered by the legitimate instructor was wearing, however, you’d be far authorities who err within their own province. more likely to be accurate. (You might also need a Biologists, after all, make their mistakes in the field hobby.) of biology. Moreover, biological knowledge changes over time. In many cases, both simple and complex measurement devices help guard against inaccu- Inquiry is also hindered when we depend on rate observations. Moreover, they add a degree of the authority of experts speaking outside their precision well beyond the capacity of the unassisted realm of expertise. For example, consider the politi- human senses. Suppose, for example, that you’d cal or religious leader with no medical or biochemi- taken color photographs of your instructor that day. cal expertise who declares that marijuana can fry (See earlier comment about needing a hobby.) your brain. The advertising industry plays heavily on this misuse of authority by, for example, having Overgeneralization popular athletes discuss the nutritional value of breakfast cereals or having movie actors evaluate When we look for patterns among the specific the performance of automobiles. things we observe around us, we often assume that a few similar events provide evidence of a general Both tradition and authority, then, act as pattern. That is, we overgeneralize on the basis of double-edged swords in the search for knowledge limited observations. (Think back to our now-broke about the world. Simply put, they provide us with racetrack buff.) a starting point for our own inquiry, but they can lead us to start at the wrong point and push us off Probably the tendency to overgeneralize peaks in the wrong direction. when the pressure to arrive at a general under- standing is high. Yet it also occurs without such Errors in Inquiry, pressure. Whenever overgeneralization does occur, and Some Solutions it can misdirect or impede inquiry. Besides the potential dangers of tradition and au- Imagine you are a reporter covering an animal- thority, other pitfalls often cause us to stumble and rights demonstration. You have orders to turn fall when we set out to learn for ourselves. Let’s in your story in just two hours, and you need to look at some of the common errors we make in know why people are demonstrating. Rushing to the scene, you start interviewing them, asking for their reasons. The first three demonstrators you

Looking for Reality ■ 7 interview give you essentially the same reason, so Haying began right after the Fourth of July. you simply assume that the other 3,000 are also The farmers in our neighborhood believed that there for that reason. Unfortunately, when your anyone who started earlier was sure to suffer story appears, your editor gets scores of letters from all the storms of late June in addition to those protesters who were there for an entirely different following the holiday which the old-timers reason. said were caused by all the noise and smoke of gunpowder burning. My mother told me that Scientists often guard against overgeneraliza- my grandfather and other Civil War veterans tion by committing themselves in advance to a claimed it always rained hard after a big battle. sufficiently large and representative sample of Things didn’t always work out the way the observations. Another safeguard is provided by the older residents promised, of course, but every- replication of inquiry. Basically, replication means one remembered only the times they did. repeating a study and checking to see whether the same results are produced each time. Then, as a Illogical Reasoning further test, the study may be repeated again under slightly varied conditions. There are other ways in which we often deal with observations that contradict our understanding of Selective Observation the way things are in daily life. Surely one of the most remarkable creations of the human mind One danger of overgeneralization is that it can lead is “the exception that proves the rule.” That idea to selective observation. Once we have concluded doesn’t make any sense at all. An exception can that a particular pattern exists and have developed draw attention to a rule or to a supposed rule (in its a general understanding of why it exists, we tend original meaning, “prove” meant “test”), but in no to focus on future events and situations that fit the system of logic can it validate the rule it contradicts. pattern, and we tend to ignore those that do not. Even so, we often use this pithy saying to brush Racial and ethnic prejudices depend heavily on away contradictions with a simple stroke of illogic. selective observation for their persistence. What statisticians have called the gambler’s fal- Sometimes a research design will specify in lacy is another illustration of illogic in day-to-day advance the number and kind of observations to reasoning. Often we assume that a consistent run be made as a basis for reaching a conclusion. If of either good or bad luck foreshadows its oppo- we wanted to learn whether women were more site. An evening of bad luck at poker may kindle likely than men to support freedom to choose an the belief that a winning hand is just around the abortion, we would commit ourselves to making a corner. Many a poker player has stayed in a game specified number of observations on that question much too long because of that mistaken belief. in a research project. We might select a thousand Conversely, an extended period of good weather carefully chosen people to be interviewed on the may lead you to worry that rain will certainly ruin issue. Alternately, when making direct observations the weekend picnic. of an event, such as attending the animal-rights demonstration, we might make a special effort to Although all of us sometimes fall into embar- find “deviant cases”—precisely those who do not rassingly illogical reasoning, scientists try to avoid fit into the general pattern. Concluding that one this pitfall by using systems of logic consciously and youth became delinquent largely because of a lack explicitly. We’ll examine the logic of science more of positive adult role models draws attention to the deeply in Chapter 2. For now, simply note that part that role models play in keeping most youths on the straight and narrow. replication Repeating a research study to test and either confirm or question the findings of an earlier In this recollection of growing up in rural study. Vermont, Lewis Hill (2000: 35) presents another example of selective observation:

8 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science logical reasoning is a conscious activity for scientists the wicked tree thing; in fact, the second tribe felt and that other scientists are always around to keep that the spirits in the tree were holy and benefi- them honest. cial. The discovery of this diversity led members of the first tribe to conclude that “some tribes I could Science, then, attempts to protect its inquiries name are pretty stupid.” For them, the tree was still from the common pitfalls of ordinary inquiry. wicked, and they expected that some misguided Accurately observing and understanding reality is people would soon be moving to Toad City. not an obvious or trivial matter. Indeed, it’s more complicated than I’ve suggested. The Modern View What’s Really Real? What philosophers call the modern view accepts such diversity as legitimate, a philosophical “differ- Philosophers sometimes use the phrase naive real- ent strokes for different folks.” As a modern thinker, ism to describe the way most of us operate in our you would say, “I regard the spirits in the tree as evil, daily lives. When you sit at a table to write, you but I know that others regard them as good. Neither probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about of us is right or wrong. There are simply spirits in whether the table is made up of atoms, which in the tree. They are neither good nor evil, but differ- turn are mostly empty space. When you step into ent people have different ideas about them.” the street and see a city bus hurtling down on you, it’s not the best time to reflect on methods for test- Adopting the modern view is easy for most ing whether the bus really exists. We all live with of us. Some might regard a dandelion as a beauti- a view that what’s real is pretty obvious—and that ful flower, whereas others see only an annoying view usually gets us through the day. weed. In the premodern view, a dandelion has to be either one or the other. If you think it is a weed, I don’t want this book to interfere with your it is really a weed, though you may admit that ability to deal with everyday life. I hope, how- some people have a warped sense of beauty. In the ever, that the preceding discussions have demon- modern view, a dandelion is simply a dandelion. It strated that the nature of “reality” is perhaps more is a plant with yellow petals and green leaves. The complex than we tend to assume in our everyday concepts “beautiful flower” and “annoying weed” functioning. Here are three views on reality that are subjective points of view imposed on the plant will provide a philosophical backdrop for the dis- by different people. Neither is a quality of the plant cussions of science to follow. They are sometimes itself, just as “good” and “evil” were concepts im- called premodern, modern, and postmodern views of posed on the spirits in the tree in our example. reality (W. Anderson 1990). The Postmodern View The Premodern View Increasingly, philosophers speak of a postmodern This view of reality has guided most of human his- view of reality. In this view, the spirits don’t exist. tory. Our early ancestors all assumed that they saw Neither does the dandelion. All that’s “real” are things as they really were. In fact, this assumption the images we get through our points of view. Put was so fundamental that they didn’t even see it as differently, there’s nothing “out there”; it’s all “in an assumption. No cavemom said to her cavekid, here.” As Gertrude Stein said of the city of Oak- “Our tribe makes an assumption that evil spirits land, “There’s no there, there.” reside in the Old Twisted Tree.” No, she said, “STAY OUT OF THAT TREE OR YOU’LL TURN INTO A No matter how bizarre the postmodern view TOAD!” may seem to you on first reflection, it has a certain ironic inevitability. Take a moment to notice the As humans evolved and became aware of their book you are reading; notice specifically what it diversity, they came to recognize that others did looks like. Because you are reading these words, it not always share their views of things. Thus, they probably looks something like Figure 1-1a. may have discovered that another tribe didn’t buy

Looking for Reality ■ 9 FIGURE 1-1 FIGURE 1-2 A book. All of these are the same book, but it looks different Wife’s Point of View. There is no question in the wife’s mind when viewed from different locations, perspectives, or “points as to who is right and rational and who is out of control. of view.” FIGURE 1-3 Does Figure 1-1a represent the way your book Husband’s Point of View. The husband has a very different “really” looks? Or does it merely represent what the perception of the same set of events, of course. book looks like from your current point of view? best friend what had happened? What solutions Surely, Figures 1-1b, c, and d are equally valid would seem appropriate for resolving the conflict? representations. But these views of the book differ greatly from each other. Which is the “reality”? Now consider a third point of view. Suppose you were an outside observer, watching this As this example illustrates, there is no answer interaction between a wife and husband. What to the question “What does the book really look would it look like to you now? Unfortunately, like?” All we can offer is the different ways it looks from different points of view. Thus, according to the postmodern view, there is no “book,” only vari- ous images of it from different points of view. And all the different images are equally “true.” Now let’s apply this logic to a social situation. Imagine a husband and wife arguing. When she looks over at her quarreling husband, Figure 1-2 is what the wife sees. Take a minute to imagine what you would feel and think if you were the woman in this drawing. How would you explain later to your best friend what had happened? What solu- tions to the conflict would seem appropriate if you were this woman? Of course, what the woman’s husband sees is another matter altogether, as shown in Figure 1-3. Take a minute to imagine experiencing the situ- ation from his point of view. What thoughts and feelings would you have? How would you tell your

10 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science we can’t easily portray the third point of view view suggests there is actually no “objective” reality without knowing something about the personal to be observed in the first place. There are only our feelings, beliefs, past experiences, and so forth that several subjective views. you would bring to your task as outside observer. (Though I call you an “outside” observer, you You may want to ponder these three views would be, of course, observing from inside your of reality on your own for awhile. We’ll return own mental system.) to them in Chapter 2 when we focus on specific scientific paradigms. Ultimately, two points will To take an extreme example, if you were a emerge. First, established scientific procedures confirmed male chauvinist, you’d probably see the sometimes allow us to deal effectively with this fight pretty much the same way that the husband dilemma—that is, we can study people and help saw it. On the other hand, if you were committed them through their difficulties without being to the view that men are generally unreasonable able to view “reality” directly. Second, different bums, you’d see things the way the wife saw them philosophical stances suggest a powerful range of in the earlier picture. possibilities for structuring our research. Imagine that instead you see two unreason- Let’s turn now from general philosophical ideas able people quarreling irrationally with each other. to the foundations of social science approaches to Would you see them both as irresponsible jerks, understanding. A consideration of these underpin- equally responsible for the conflict? Or would you nings of social research will prepare the way for our see them as two people facing a difficult human exploration of specific research techniques. situation, each doing the best he or she can to resolve it? Imagine feeling compassion for them The Foundations and noticing how each of them attempts to end the of Social Science hostility, even though the gravity of the problem keeps them fighting. Science is sometimes characterized as logico- empirical. This ungainly term carries an important Notice how different these several views are. message: As we noted earlier, the two pillars of sci- Which is a “true” picture of what is happening ence are logic and observation. That is, a scientific between the wife and the husband? You win the understanding of the world must both make sense prize if you notice that the personal viewpoint you and correspond to what we observe. Both elements bring to the observational task will again color your are essential to science and relate to the three perception of what is happening. major aspects of the enterprise of social science: theory, data collection, and data analysis. The postmodern view represents a critical dilemma for scientists. Although their task is to ob- To oversimplify just a bit, scientific theory serve and understand what is “really” happening, deals with the logical aspect of science—providing they are all human and, as such, bring along per- systematic explanations—whereas data collection sonal orientations that will color what they observe deals with the observational aspect. Data analysis and how they explain it. There is ultimately no way looks for patterns in observations and, where appro- people can totally step outside their humanness to priate, compares what is logically expected with see and understand the world as it “really” is—that what is actually observed. Although this book is pri- is, independently of all human viewpoints. marily about data collection and data analysis—that is, how to conduct social research—the rest of Part 1 Whereas the modern view acknowledges the is devoted to the theoretical context of research. inevitability of human subjectivity, the postmodern Parts 2 and 3 then focus on data collection, and Part 4 offers an introduction to the analysis of data. theory A systematic explanation for the observa- tions that relate to a particular aspect of life: juve- Underlying the concepts presented in the nile delinquency, for example, or perhaps social rest of the book are some fundamental ideas that stratification or political revolution.

The Foundations of Social Science ■ 11 distinguish social science—theory, data collection, they face is getting people to agree on criteria of and analysis—from other ways of looking at social success and failure. Yet such criteria are essential phenomena. Let’s consider these ideas. if social research is to tell us anything useful about matters of value. By analogy, a stopwatch cannot Theory, Not Philosophy or Belief tell us if one sprinter is better than another unless we first agree that speed is the critical criterion. Today, social theory has to do with what is, not with what should be. For many centuries, how- Social science, then, can help us know only ever, social theory did not distinguish between what is and why. We can use it to determine these two orientations. Social philosophers liberally what ought to be, but only when people agree mixed their observations of what happened around on the criteria for deciding what outcomes are bet- them, their speculations about why, and their ideas ter than others—an agreement that seldom about how things ought to be. Although modern occurs. social researchers may do the same from time to time, as scientists they focus on how things actually As I indicated earlier, even knowing “what are and why. is and why” is no simple task. Let’s turn now to some of the fundamental ideas that underlie social This means that scientific theory—and, more science’s efforts to describe and understand social broadly, science itself—cannot settle debates about reality. values. Science cannot determine whether capital- ism is better or worse than socialism. What it can Social Regularities do is determine how these systems perform, but only in terms of some set of agreed-on criteria. In large part, social research aims to find patterns For example, we could determine scientifically of regularity in social life. Although all the sciences whether capitalism or socialism most supports share that aim, it sometimes imposes a barrier for human dignity and freedom only if we first agreed people when they first approach social science. on some measurable definitions of dignity and free- dom. Our conclusions would then be limited to the Certainly at first glance the subject matter of meanings specified in our definitions. They would the physical sciences seems to be more governed have no general meaning beyond that. by regularities than does that of the social sciences. A heavy object falls to earth every time we drop By the same token, if we could agree that it, but a person may vote for a particular candidate suicide rates, say, or giving to charity were good in one election and against that same candidate in measures of the quality of a religion, then we the next. Similarly, ice always melts when heated could determine scientifically whether Buddhism enough, but habitually honest people sometimes or Christianity is the better religion. Again, our steal. Despite such examples, however, social affairs conclusion would be inextricably tied to our chosen do exhibit a high degree of regularity that research criteria. As a practical matter, people seldom agree can reveal and theory can explain. on precise criteria for determining issues of value, so science is seldom useful in settling such debates. To begin with, the tremendous number of for- In fact, questions like these are so much a matter mal norms in society create a considerable degree of opinion and belief that scientific inquiry is often of regularity. For example, traffic laws in the United viewed as a threat to what is “already known.” States induce the vast majority of people to drive on the right side of the street rather than the left. We’ll consider this issue in more detail in Registration requirements for voters lead to some Chapter 12, when we look at evaluation research. predictable patterns in which classes of people As you’ll see, researchers have become increasingly vote in national elections. Labor laws create a high involved in studying social programs that reflect degree of uniformity in the minimum age of paid ideological points of view, such as affirmative action workers as well as the minimum amount they are or welfare reform. One of the biggest problems paid. Such formal prescriptions regulate, or regular- ize, social behavior.

12 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science Aside from formal prescriptions, we can ob- had the fastest promotions. It stood to reason that serve other social norms that create more regu- MPs would say the promotion system was unfair, larities. Among registered voters, Republicans are and the air corpsmen would say it was fair. The more likely than Democrats to vote for Republican studies, however, showed just the opposite. candidates. University professors tend to earn more money than unskilled laborers do. Men tend to Notice the dilemma faced by a researcher in earn more than women. And so on. a situation such as this. On the one hand, the ob- servations don’t seem to make sense. On the other Three objections are sometimes raised in regard hand, an explanation that makes obvious good to such social regularities. First, some of the regu- sense isn’t supported by the facts. larities may seem trivial. For example, Republicans vote for Republicans; everyone knows that. Second, A lesser person would have set the prob- contradictory cases may be cited, indicating that lem aside “for further study.” Stouffer, however, the “regularity” isn’t totally regular. Some laborers looked for an explanation for his observations, and make more money than some professors do. Third, eventually he found it. Robert Merton and other it may be argued that, unlike the heavy objects that sociologists at Columbia University had begun cannot decide not to fall when dropped, the people thinking and writing about something they called involved in the regularity could upset the whole reference group theory. This theory says that people thing if they wanted to. judge their lot in life less by objective conditions than by comparing themselves with others around Let’s deal with each of these objections in turn. them—their reference group. For example, if you lived among poor people, a salary of $50,000 a year The Charge of Triviality would make you feel like a millionaire. But if you lived among people who earned $500,000 a year, During World War II, Samuel Stouffer, one of that same $50,000 salary would make you feel the greatest social science researchers, organized impoverished. a research branch in the U.S. Army to conduct studies in support of the war effort (Stouffer et al. Stouffer applied this line of reasoning to the 1949–1950). Many of the studies focused on the soldiers he had studied. Even if a particular MP had morale among soldiers. Stouffer and his colleagues not been promoted for a long time, it was unlikely found there was a great deal of “common wisdom” that he knew some less-deserving person who had regarding the bases of military morale. Much of gotten promoted more quickly. Nobody got pro- their research was devoted to testing these “obvi- moted in the MPs. Had he been in the Air Corps— ous” truths. even if he had gotten several promotions in rapid succession—he would probably have been able to For example, people had long recognized that point to someone less deserving who had gotten promotions affect morale in the military. When even faster promotions. An MP’s reference group, military personnel get promotions and the promo- then, was his fellow MPs, and the air corpsman tion system seems fair, morale rises. Moreover, it compared himself with fellow corpsmen. Ulti- makes sense that people who are getting promoted mately, then, Stouffer reached an understanding of will tend to think the system is fair, whereas those soldiers’ attitudes toward the promotion system that passed over will likely think the system is unfair. (1) made sense and (2) corresponded to the facts. By extension, it seems sensible that soldiers in units with slow promotion rates will tend to think the This story shows that documenting the obvi- system is unfair, and those in units with rapid pro- ous is a valuable function of any science, physical motions will think the system is fair. But was this or social. Charles Darwin coined the phrase fool’s the way they really felt? experiment to describe much of his own research— research in which he tested things that everyone Stouffer and his colleagues focused their studies else “already knew.” As Darwin understood, the on two units: the Military Police (MPs), which had obvious all too often turns out to be wrong; thus, the slowest promotions in the Army, and the Army apparent triviality is not a legitimate objection to Air Corps (forerunner of the U.S. Air Force), which any scientific endeavor.

The Foundations of Social Science ■ 13 What about Exceptions? When these regularities change over time, social scientists can observe and explain those changes. The objection that there are always exceptions to any social regularity does not mean that the regu- Aggregates, Not Individuals larity itself is unreal or unimportant. A particular woman may well earn more money than most The regularities of social life that social scientists men, but that provides small consolation to the study generally reflect the collective behavior majority of women, who earn less. The pattern still of many individuals. Although social scientists exists. Social regularities, in other words, are proba- often study motivations that affect individuals, the bilistic patterns, and they are no less real simply individual as such is seldom the subject of social because some cases don’t fit the general pattern. science. Instead, social scientists create theories about the nature of group, rather than individual, This point applies in physical science as well as life. Similarly, the objects of their research are social science. Subatomic physics, for example, is typically aggregates, or collections, rather than a science of probabilities. In genetics, the mating individuals. of a blue-eyed person with a brown-eyed person will probably result in a brown-eyed offspring. Sometimes the collective regularities are amaz- The birth of a blue-eyed child does not destroy the ing. Consider the birthrate, for example. People observed regularity, because the geneticist states have babies for a wide variety of personal rea- only that the brown-eyed offspring is more likely sons. Some do it because their own parents want and, further, that brown-eyed offspring will be grandchildren. Some feel it’s a way of completing born in a certain percentage of the cases. The social their womanhood or manhood. Others want to scientist makes a similar, probabilistic prediction— hold their marriages together, enjoy the experience that women overall are likely to earn less than of raising children, perpetuate the family name, men. Once a pattern like this is observed, the social or achieve a kind of immortality. Still others have scientist has grounds for asking why it exists. babies by accident. People Could Interfere If you have fathered or given birth to a baby, you could probably tell a much more detailed, id- Finally, the objection that the conscious will of the iosyncratic story. Why did you have the baby when actors could upset observed social regularities does you did, rather than a year earlier or later? Maybe not pose a serious challenge to social science. This you lost your job and had to delay a year before is true even though a parallel situation does not ap- you could afford to have the baby. Maybe you only pear to exist in the physical sciences. (Presumably, felt the urge to become a parent after someone physical objects cannot violate the laws of phys- close to you had a baby. Everyone who had a baby ics, although the probabilistic nature of subatomic last year had his or her own reasons for doing so. physics once led some observers to postulate that Yet, despite this vast diversity, and despite the id- electrons had free will.) There is no denying that a iosyncrasy of each individual’s reasons, the overall religious, right-wing bigot could go to the polls and birthrate in a society—the number of live births vote for an agnostic, left-wing African American per 1,000 population—is remarkably consistent if he wanted to upset political scientists studying from year to year. See Table 1-1 for recent birth- the election. All voters in an election could sud- rates for the United States. denly switch to the underdog just to frustrate the pollsters. Similarly, workers could go to work early If the U.S. birthrate were 15.9, 35.6, 7.8, 28.9, or stay home from work and thereby prevent the and 16.2 in five successive years, demographers expected rush-hour traffic. But these things do would begin dropping like flies. As you can see, not happen often enough to seriously threaten the however, social life is far more orderly than that. observation of social regularities. Moreover, this regularity occurs without society- wide regulation. No one plans how many babies Social regularities, then, do exist, and social will be born or determines who will have them. scientists can detect them and observe their effects. You do not need a permit to have a baby; in fact,

14 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science TABLE 1-1 Imagine that someone says to you, “Women Birthrates,United States:1980–2006* ought to get back into the kitchen where they be- long.” You’re likely to hear that comment in terms 1980 15.9 1994 15.0 of what you know about the speaker. If it’s your 14.6 old uncle Harry who is also strongly opposed to 1981 15.8 1995 14.4 daylight saving time, zip codes, and personal com- 14.2 puters, you’re likely to think his latest pronounce- 1982 15.9 1996 14.3 ment simply fits into his rather dated point of view 14.2 about things in general. If, on the other hand, the 1983 15.6 1997 14.4 statement is muttered by an incumbent politician 14.1 trailing a female challenger in an electoral race, 1984 15.6 1998 13.9 you’ll probably explain his comment in a com- 14.1 pletely different way. 1985 15.8 1999 14.0 14.0 In both examples, you’re trying to understand 1986 15.6 2000 14.3 the behavior of a particular individual. Social research seeks insights into classes or types of indi- 1987 15.7 2001 viduals. Social researchers would want to find out about the kind of people who share that view of 1988 16.0 2002 women’s “proper” role. Do those people have other characteristics in common that may help explain 1989 16.4 2003 their views? 1990 16.7 2004 Even when researchers focus their attention on a single case study—such as a community or 1991 16.2 2005 a juvenile gang—their aim is to gain insights that would help people understand other communities 1992 15.8 2006 and other juvenile gangs. Similarly, the attempt to fully understand one individual carries the broader 1993 15.4 purpose of understanding people or types of people in general. *Live births per 1,000 population When this venture into understanding and Source:U.S.Bureau of the Census,Statistical Abstract of the United States explanation ends, social researchers will be able (Washington,DC:U.S.Government Printing Office,2008),Table 77,p.63. to make sense out of more than one person. In understanding what makes a group of people many babies are conceived unexpectedly, and some hostile to women who are active outside the home, are borne unwillingly. they gain insight into all the individuals who share that characteristic. This is possible because, in an Social science theories, then, typically deal with important sense, they have not been studying aggregated, not individual, behavior. Their purpose antifeminists as much as they have been studying is to explain why aggregate patterns of behavior antifeminism. It might then turn out that Uncle are so regular even when the individuals partici- Harry and the politician have more in common pating in them may change over time. We could than first appeared. even say that social scientists don’t seek to explain people at all. They try to understand the systems Antifeminism is spoken of as a variable in which people operate, the systems that explain because it varies. Some people display the atti- why people do what they do. The elements in such tude more than others do. Social researchers are a system are not people but variables. interested in understanding the system of variables that causes a particular attitude to be strong in one Concepts and Variables instance and weak in another. Our most natural attempts at understanding usu- ally take place at the level of the concrete and idiosyncratic. That’s just the way we think. variables Logical sets of attributes. The variable gender is made of up of the attributes male and female.

The Foundations of Social Science ■ 15 The idea of a system composed of variables may Some Common Social Concepts seem rather strange, so let’s look at an analogy. The subject of a physician’s attention is the patient. Young Social UcplapsesPr oclliatsicsalRvaiecwe/sethGneincditeyr If the patient is ill, the physician’s purpose is to help the patient get well. By contrast, a medical OccAufrpicaatnioLAinbmeeraricl anAge Plumber Female researcher’s subject matter is different—the vari- ables that cause a disease, for example. The medical Variable Attributes researcher may study the physician’s patient, but Age for the researcher, that patient is relevant only as a Gender Young, middle-aged, old carrier of the disease. Occupation Female, male Plumber, lawyer, That is not to say that medical researchers don’t Race/ethnicity care about real people. They certainly do. Their data-entry clerk . . . ultimate purpose in studying diseases is to protect Social class African American, Asian, people from them. But in their research, they are Political views less interested in individual patients than they are Caucasian, Latino . . . in the patterns governing the appearance of the Upper, middle, lower . . . disease. In fact, when they can study a disease Liberal, conservative meaningfully without involving actual patients, they do so. FIGURE 1-4 Social research, then, involves the study of Variables and Attributes. In social research and theory, both variables and their relationships. Social theories are variables and attributes represent social concepts. Variables written in a language of variables, and people get are sets of related attributes (categories, values). involved only as the “carriers” of those variables. male and female: “The class is 60 percent men and Variables, in turn, have what social researchers 40 percent women.” An unemployment rate can be call attributes (or categories or values). Attributes thought of as a description of the variable employ- are characteristics or qualities that describe an ment status of a labor force in terms of the attributes object—in this case, a person. Examples include fe- employed and unemployed. Even the report of family male, Asian, alienated, conservative, dishonest, intelligent, income for a city is a summary of attributes composing and farmer. Anything you might say to describe that variable: $3,124; $10,980; $35,000; and so forth. yourself or someone else involves an attribute. Sometimes the meanings of the concepts that Variables, on the other hand, are logical sets lie behind social science concepts are immediately of attributes. Thus, for example, male and female clear. Other times they aren’t. This point is dis- are attributes, and sex or gender is the variable cussed in “The Hardest Hit Was . . .” composed of those two attributes. The variable occupation is composed of attributes such as farmer, The relationship between attributes and vari- professor, and truck driver. Social class is a variable ables is more complicated in the case of explanation composed of a set of attributes such as upper class, and gets to the heart of the variable language of middle class, and lower class. Sometimes it helps to scientific theory. Here’s a simple example, involving think of attributes as the categories that make up two variables, education and prejudice. For the sake a variable. (See Figure 1-4 for a schematic review of simplicity, let’s assume that the variable education of what social scientists mean by variables and has only two attributes: educated and uneducated. attributes.) attributes Characteristics of people or things. The relationship between attributes and vari- ables forms the heart of both description and expla- nation in science. For example, we might describe a college class in terms of the variable gender by reporting the observed frequencies of the attributes

16 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science The Hardest Hit Was . . . In early 1982,a deadly storm ravaged the San Francisco Bay Area, Business destroyed Marin Santa Cruz leaving an aftermath of death,injury,and property damage.As the People killed mass media sought to highlight the most tragic results of the storm, People injured $1.50 million $56.5 million they sometimes focused on several people who were buried alive in a People displaced 5 22 mud slide in Santa Cruz.Other times,they covered the plight of the 2,900 Homes destroyed 50 made homeless in Marin County. Homes damaged 379 400 Businesses destroyed 370 135 Implicitly,everyone wanted to know where the worst damage Businesses damaged 28 300 was done,but the answer was not clear.Here are some data describing Private damages 2,900 10 the results of the storm in two counties:Marin and Santa Cruz.Look Public damages 25 35 over the comparisons and see if you can determine which county was 800 “hardest hit.” $65.1 million $50.0 million $15.0 million $56.5 million Certainly,in terms of the loss of life,Santa Cruz was the“hardest hit”of the two counties.Yet more than seven times as many people were The question can be answered only if we can specify what we injured in Marin as in Santa Cruz;certainly,Marin County was“hardest mean by“hardest hit.”If we measure it by death toll,then Santa Cruz hit”in that regard.Or consider the number of homes destroyed (worse in was the hardest hit.If we choose to define the variable in terms of Santa Cruz) or damaged (worse in Marin):It matters which you focus on. people injured and or displaced,then Marin suffered the bigger disaster. The same dilemma holds true for the value of the damage done:Should The simple fact is that we cannot answer the question without specify- we pay more attention to private damage or public damage? ing exactly what we mean by the term hardest hit. This is a fundamental requirement that will arise again and again as we attempt to measure So which county was“hardest hit”? Ultimately,the question as social science variables. posed has no answer.Although you and I both have images in our minds about communities that are“devastated”or communities that are only Data source: San Francisco Chronicle, January 13,1982,p.16. “lightly touched,”these images are not precise enough to permit rigor- ous measurements. Similarly, let’s give the variable prejudice two attri- person is prejudiced or unprejudiced. I’ll pick the butes: prejudiced and unprejudiced. people one at a time (not telling you which ones I’ve picked), and you have to guess whether each Now let’s suppose that 90 percent of the uned- person is prejudiced. We’ll do it for all 20 people in ucated are prejudiced, and the other 10 percent are Figure 1-5a. Your best strategy in this case would unprejudiced. And let’s suppose that 30 percent of be to guess prejudiced each time, because 12 out of the educated people are prejudiced, and the other the 20 are categorized that way. Thus, you’ll get 12 70 percent are unprejudiced. This is illustrated in right and 8 wrong, for a net success of 4. Figure 1-5a. Now let’s suppose that when I pick a person Figure 1-5a illustrates a relationship or associa- from the figure, I tell you whether the person is tion between the variables education and prejudice. educated or uneducated. Your best strategy now This relationship can be seen in terms of the would be to guess prejudiced for each uneducated pairings of attributes on the two variables. There person and unprejudiced for each educated person. are two predominant pairings: (1) those who are If you followed that strategy, you’d get 16 right educated and unprejudiced and (2) those who are and 4 wrong. Your improvement in guessing uneducated and prejudiced. Here are two other prejudice by knowing education is an illustration useful ways of viewing that relationship. of what it means to say that the variables are related. First, let’s suppose that we play a game in which we bet on your ability to guess whether a

The Foundations of Social Science ■ 17 FIGURE 1-5 Relationship between Two Variables (Two Possibilities). Variables such as education and prejudice and their attributes (educated/uneducated, prejudiced/unprejudiced) are the foundation for the examination of causal relationships in social research. Second, by contrast, let’s consider how the 20 We’ll be looking at the nature of relationships people would be distributed if education and preju- between variables in some depth in Part 4. In dice were unrelated to each other (Figure 1-5b). particular, we’ll explore some of the ways relation- Notice that half the people are educated, and half ships can be discovered and interpreted in research are uneducated. Also notice that 12 of the 20 (60 analysis. For now, you need a general understand- percent) are prejudiced. If 6 of the 10 people in ing of relationships in order to appreciate the logic each group were prejudiced, we would conclude of social science theories. that the two variables were unrelated to each other. Knowing a person’s education would not be of any Theories describe the relationships we might value to you in guessing whether that person was logically expect between variables. Often, the prejudiced. expectation involves the idea of causation. That is, a person’s attributes on one variable are expected

18 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science to cause, predispose, or encourage a particular that education exposes people to a wide range of attribute on another variable. In the example just cultural variation and to diverse points of view—in illustrated, we might theorize that a person’s being short, it broadens their perspectives. Prejudice, on educated or uneducated causes a lesser or greater the other hand, represents a narrower perspective. likelihood of that person seeming prejudiced. Logically, then, we might expect education and prejudice to be somewhat incompatible. We might As I’ll discuss in more detail later in the book, therefore arrive at an expectation that increasing education and prejudice in this example would be education would reduce the occurrence of preju- regarded as an independent variable and a dice, an expectation that our observations would dependent variable, respectively. These two support. concepts are implicit in causal, or deterministic, models. In this example, we assume that the likeli- Because Figure 1-5 has illustrated two possi- hood of being prejudiced is determined or caused bilities—that education reduces the likelihood of by something. In other words, prejudice depends on prejudice or that it has no effect—you might be something else, and so it is called the “dependent” interested in knowing what is actually the case. variable. What the dependent variable depends There are, of course, many types of prejudice. For on is an independent variable, in this case, educa- purposes of this illustration, let’s consider preju- tion. For the purposes of this study, education is an dice against gays and lesbians. Over the years, the “independent” variable because it is independent of General Social Survey (GSS) has asked respondents prejudice (that is, people’s level of education is not whether homosexual relations between two adults caused by whether or not they are prejudiced). is “always wrong, almost always wrong, sometimes wrong, or not wrong at all.” In 2004, 56 percent Of course, variations in levels of education can, of those interviewed said that homosexuality was in turn, be found to depend on something else. always wrong. However, this response is strongly People whose parents have a lot of education, for conditioned by respondents’ education, as Table 1-2 example, are more likely to get a lot of education indicates. (See the box for more about the GSS.) than are people whose parents have little educa- tion. In this relationship, the subject’s education is Notice that the theory has to do with the two the dependent variable, and the parents’ educa- variables education and prejudice, not with people as tion is the independent variable. We can say the such. People are the carriers of those two vari- independent variable is the cause, the dependent ables, so the relationship between the variables can variable the effect. only be seen when we observe people. Ultimately, however, the theory uses a language of variables. In our discussion of Figure 1-5, we looked at It describes the associations that we might logically the distribution of the 20 people in terms of the expect to exist between particular attributes of dif- two variables. In constructing a social science the- ferent variables. ory, we would derive an expectation regarding the relationship between the two variables based on TABLE 1-2 what we know about each. We know, for example, Education and Anti-Gay Prejudice independent variable A variable with values that Level of Education Percent saying are not problematic in an analysis but are taken as Homosexuality is Always simply given. An independent variable is presumed Wrong to cause or determine a dependent variable. Less than high school graduate 72% dependent variable A variable assumed to depend High school graduate 62% on or be caused by another (called the independent Junior college 56% variable). If you find that income is partly a func- Bachelor’s degree 44% tion of amount of formal education, income is being Graduate degree 30% treated as a dependent variable.

Some Dialectics of Social Research ■ 19 General Social Survey (GSS) The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of that source.You can learn more about the GSS at the official website Chicago conducts a periodic national survey of American public maintained by the University of Michigan;go to the link at http:// opinion for the purpose of making such data available for analysis by the www.norc.org/GSS+Website/ social research community.Many data examples in this book come from The Purposes of deliberately intended to bring about social change, Social Research creating a more workable and/or just society. Any kind of social science study, however, can change Chapter 4 will examine the various purposes of our view of society, in some cases challenging com- social research in some detail, but a brief preview monly accepted “truths” about certain groups of here will be useful. To begin, sometimes social re- people (see “Keeping Humanity in Focus”). search is a vehicle for mapping out a topic that may warrant further study later: looking into a new po- The Ethics of Human Inquiry litical or religious group, learning something about use of a new street drug, and so forth. The methods While most of this book is devoted to the logic and vary greatly and the conclusions are usually sugges- techniques of doing social research, you will soon tive rather than definitive. Even so, such exploratory discover another theme running throughout the social research, if carefully done, can dispel some discussion: the ethical dimension. You will learn misconceptions and help focus future research. that medical, social, and other studies of human be- ings have often used methods later condemned as Some social research is done for the purpose unethical. In Chapter 3 and throughout the book, of describing the state of social affairs: What is the we are going to examine the various concerns that unemployment rate? What is the racial composi- distinguish ethical from unethical research. tion of a particular city? What percentage of the population plans to vote for a particular political I suspect that such ethical concerns will make candidate? Careful empirical description takes the more sense to you as you learn more about the place of speculation and impressions. actual techniques of doing research, but I want to alert you to this important issue at the outset of our Often, social research has an explanatory journey. purpose—providing reasons for phenomena in the form of causal relationships. Why do some cities Some Dialectics have higher unemployment rates than others? of Social Research Why are some people more prejudiced than oth- ers? Why are women likely to earn less than men There is no one way to do social research. (If there for doing the same job? Although answers to such were, this would be a much shorter book.) In fact, questions abound in ordinary, everyday discourse, much of the power and potential of social research some of those answers are simply wrong. Explana- lies in the many valid approaches it comprises. tory social research provides more trustworthy explanations. Four broad and interrelated distinctions, however, underlie the variety of research ap- Later in this chapter, we’ll compare pure and proaches. Although one can see these distinctions applied research, but it’s worth noting here that the purpose of some research is pretty much limited to understanding, while other research efforts are

20 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science Keeping Humanity in Focus As we have seen,a wide variety of research approaches can enhance women interviewed tended to speak highly of the institution,indicating our grasp of social dynamics.Much social research involves the they hoped to be married one day.Further,many were only willing to analysis of masses of statistical data.As valuable as the examination settle down with someone trustworthy and stable—better to remain of overall patterns can be,it can come at the risk of losing sight of the unmarried than to enter a marriage that will end in disaster. individual men and women those data represent.As such,some social research focuses specifically on the detailed particulars of real lives at the At the same time,these young women felt strongly that their ground level of society.Throughout this book,I’ll highlight some recent ultimate worth as women centered on their bearing children.Most felt it studies that reflect this latter approach to understanding social life,in was preferable to be an unmarried mother than to be a childless woman, an attempt to“keep humanity in focus”during our broader discussion of the real tragedy in their eyes. social science practice. This view of marriage may differ greatly from your own.As we Statistics suggest that,in the United States,unwed mothers have seen,assumptions about“what’s real”are often contradicted by and their children,particularly those who are poor,will face a host of actual observations;this is crucial to understanding“what will work”to problems in the years to come.Both the child and the mother will likely address social issues. struggle and suffer.The children are less likely to do well in school and in later life,and the mothers will probably have to struggle in low-paying Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before jobs or live on welfare.The trend toward births out of wedlock has Marriage by Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas. © 2005 Regents increased dramatically in recent decades,especially among the poor.As a of the University of California. Published by the University of reaction to these problems,the Bush administration launched a Healthy California Press. Photograph © Michael Smyth Marriage Initiative in 2005 aimed at encouraging childbearing couples to marry.Voices for and against the program have been raised with vigor. In their book Promises I Can Keep, Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas raise a question that might have been asked prior to the creation of a solution to the perceived problem:“Why do poor women bear children outside of wedlock?”The two social scientists spent five years speaking one-on-one with young women who had had children out of wedlock. Some of the things they learned dramatically contradicted various wide- spread images of unwed mothers.For instance,whereas many people have bemoaned the abandonment of marriage among the poor,the as competing choices, a good social researcher losing, why you may be having trouble getting good learns each of the orientations they represent. This dates or a decent job. In our everyday explanations, is what I mean by the “dialectics” of social research: we engage in two distinct forms of causal reasoning, There is a fruitful tension between the complemen- though we do not ordinarily distinguish them. tary concepts I’m about to describe. Sometimes we attempt to explain a single situ- Idiographic and Nomothetic ation in idiosyncratic detail. Thus, for example, you Explanation may have done poorly on an exam because (1) you forgot there was an exam that day, (2) it was in All of us go through life explaining things. We do your worst subject, (3) a traffic jam made you late it every day. You explain why you did poorly or well for class, (4) your roommate kept you up the night on an exam, why your favorite team is winning or before the exam by playing loud music, (5) the police kept you until dawn demanding to know what you had done with your roommate’s stereo—

Some Dialectics of Social Research ■ 21 and what you had done with your roommate, for life. The nomothetic patterns you discover might that matter—and (6) a wild band of coyotes ate offer a good guide for planning your study habits, your textbook. Given all these circumstances, it’s for example, while the idiographic explanation no wonder you did poorly. might be more convincing to your parole officer. (See “Idiographic and Nomothetic Reasoning in This type of causal reasoning is called an Everyday Life.”) idiographic explanation. Idio- in this context means unique, separate, peculiar, or distinct, as in By the same token, both idiographic and the word idiosyncrasy. When we have completed nomothetic reasoning are powerful tools for an idiographic explanation, we feel that we fully social research. For example, A. Libin and understand the causes of what happened in this J. Cohen-Mansfield (2000) contrast the way that particular instance. At the same time, the scope the idiographic and nomothetic approaches are of our explanation is limited to the single case at used in studying the elderly (gerontology). Some hand. Although parts of the idiographic explana- studies focus on the full experiences of individu- tion might apply to other situations, our intention als as they live their lives, whereas other studies is to explain one case fully. look for statistical patterns describing the elderly in general. The authors conclude by suggesting ways Now consider a different kind of explanation. to combine idiographic and nomothetic approaches (1) Every time you study with a group, you do in gerontology. better on the exam than if you had studied alone. (2) Your favorite team does better at home than Social scientists, then, can access two distinct on the road. (3) Fraternity and sorority members kinds of explanation. Just as physicists treat light get more dates than members of the biology club sometimes as a particle and other times as a wave, do. Notice that this type of explanation is more so social scientists can search for broad relation- general, covering a wider range of experience or ships today and probe the narrowly particular observation. It speaks implicitly of the relationship tomorrow. Both are good science, both are reward- between variables: for example, (a) whether or ing, and both can be fun. not you study in a group and (b) how well you do on the exam. This type of explanation—labeled Inductive and Deductive Theory nomothetic —seeks to explain a class of situations or events rather than a single one. Moreover, it Like idiographic and nomothetic forms of explana- seeks to explain “economically,” using only one or tion, inductive and deductive thinking both play just a few explanatory factors. Finally, it settles for a a role in our daily lives. They, too, represent an partial rather than a full explanation. important variation within social research. In each of these examples, you might qualify idiographic An approach to explanation in your causal statements with such words or phrases which we seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic as on the whole, usually, or all else being equal. Thus, causes of a particular condition or event. you usually do better on exams when you’ve stud- Imagine trying to list all the reasons why you ied in a group, but not always. Similarly, your team chose to attend your particular college. Given has won some games on the road and lost some all those reasons, it’s difficult to imagine your at home. And the attractive head of the biology making any other choice. club may get lots of good dates, while the homely nomothetic An approach to explanation in members of sororities and fraternities spend a lot of which we seek to identify a few causal factors Saturday nights alone working crossword puzzles. that generally impact a class of conditions or The existence of such exceptions is the price we events. Imagine the two or three key fac- pay for a broader range of overall explanation. As I tors that determine which colleges students noted earlier, patterns are real and important even choose—proximity, reputation, and so forth. when they are not perfect. Both the idiographic and the nomothetic ap- proaches to understanding can be useful in daily

22 ■ Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science Idiographic and Nomothetic Reasoning in Everyday Life The difference between idiographic and nomothetic explanations we have a simpler,more general,explanation,which wouldn’t necessarily can be found in everyday life.Consider the following: be true of all teenage boys but portrays a general pattern. Idiographic: “He’s like that because his father and mother kept giving him mixed signals.The fact that his family moved seven times by Be warned that neither explanation is necessarily true.When these the time he was twelve years old didn’t help.Moreover,his older brother models are used in social research,other elements of the inquiry—such is exactly the same and probably served as a role model.” as how subjects were chosen,how measurements were made,and so forth—strengthen the validity of conclusions drawn. Nomothetic: “Teenage boys are like that.” In the idiographic mode,we have a seemingly complete explana- tion for the behavior of the one boy in question.In the nomothetic mode, For example, there are two routes to the con- discovery doesn’t necessarily tell you why the pat- clusion that you do better on exams if you study tern exists—just that it does. with others. On the one hand, you might find yourself puzzling, halfway through your college ca- There is a second and very different way that reer, why you do so well on exams sometimes but you might arrive at the same conclusion about poorly at other times. You might list all the exams studying for exams. Imagine approaching your you’ve taken, noting how well you did on each. first set of exams in college. You wonder about the Then you might try to recall any circumstances best ways to study—how much you should review shared by all the good exams and by all the poor the readings, how much you should focus on your ones. Did you do better on multiple-choice exams class notes. You learn that some students prepare or essay exams? Morning exams or afternoon by rewriting their notes in an orderly fashion. Then exams? Exams in the natural sciences, the humani- you consider whether you should study at a mea- ties, or the social sciences? Times when you studied sured pace or else pull an all-nighter just before the alone or . . . SHAZAM! It occurs to you that you exam. Among these kinds of musings, you might have almost always done best on exams when you ask whether you should get together with other studied with others. This mode of inquiry is known students in the class or just study on your own. You as induction. could evaluate the pros and cons of both options. Induction, or inductive reasoning, moves Studying with others might not be as efficient, from the particular to the general, from a set of because a lot of time might be spent on things specific observations to the discovery of a pattern you already understand. On the other hand, you that represents some degree of order among all can understand something better when you’ve the given events. Notice, incidentally, that your explained it to someone else. And other stu- dents might understand parts of the course that induction The logical model in which general prin- you haven’t gotten yet. Several minds can reveal ciples are developed from specific observations. Hav- perspectives that might have escaped you. Also, ing noted that Jews and Catholics are more likely your commitment to study with others makes it to vote Democratic than Protestants are, you might more likely that you’ll study rather than watch the conclude that religious minorities in the United special Brady Bunch retrospective. States are more affiliated with the Democratic party and then your task is to explain why. This would be In this fashion, you might add up the pros and an example of induction. the cons and conclude, logically, that you’d benefit from studying with others. It seems reasonable to you, the way it seems reasonable that you’ll do better if you study rather than not. Sometimes, we

Some Dialectics of Social Research ■ 23 say things like this are true “in theory.” To com- Image not available due to copyright restrictions plete the process, we test whether they are true in practice. For a complete test, you might study alone We’ll return to induction and deduction in for half your exams and study with others for the Chapter 2. Let’s turn now to a third broad distinc- other exams. This procedure would test your logical tion that generates rich variations in social research. reasoning. Qualitative and This second mode of inquiry, known as Quantitative Data deduction or deductive reasoning, moves from the general to the specific. It moves from (1) a The distinction between quantitative and qualita- pattern that might be logically or theoretically ex- tive data in social research is essentially the distinc- pected to (2) observations that test whether the ex- tion between numerical and nonnumerical data. pected pattern actually occurs. Notice that deduc- When we say someone is intelligent, we’ve made tion begins with “why” and moves to “whether,” a qualitative assertion. A corresponding assertion whereas induction moves in the opposite direction. about someone less fortunately endowed would be that he or she is “unintelligent.” When psycholo- As you’ll see later in this book, these two very gists and others measure intelligence by IQ scores, different approaches both serve as valid avenues they are attempting to quantify such qualitative for science. Each approach can stimulate the assessments. For example, the psychologist might research process, prompting the researcher to take say that a person has an IQ of 120. on specific questions and framing the manner in which they are addressed. Moreover, you’ll see deduction The logical model in which specific ex- how induction and deduction work together to pectations of hypotheses are developed on the basis provide ever more powerful and complete under- of general principles. Starting from the general prin- standings. Figure 1-6 shows how these two ap- ciple that all deans are meanies, you might anticipate proaches interact in the practice of social research. that this one won’t let you change courses. This an- ticipation would be the result of deduction. Notice, by the way, that the distinction between deductive and inductive reasoning is not necessar- ily linked to the distinction between nomothetic and idiographic modes of explanation. These four characterizations represent four possibilities, in everyday life as much as in social research. For example, idiographically and deductively, you might prepare for a particular date by taking into account everything you know about the per- son you’re dating, trying to anticipate logically how you can prepare—what type of clothing, behavior, hairstyle, oral hygiene, and so forth will likely produce a successful date. Or, idiographically and inductively, you might try to figure out what it was exactly that caused your date to call 911. A nomothetic, deductive approach arises when you coach others on your “rules of dating,” when you wisely explain why their dates will be im- pressed to hear them expound on the dangers of satanic messages concealed in rock and roll lyrics. When you later review your life and wonder why you didn’t date more musicians, you might engage in nomothetic induction.