Methods: How Do We Do Sociology?
Learning Goal: to identify and build methodological designs appropriate for the study of social phenomena, to compare and contrast different methods’ strengths and weaknesses as well as how ethics play a role in social research.
Assignment: Choose one of social problems you discussed with your group. How might you empirically study that problem as a sociologist? Design one qualitative and one quantitative research project that could help to analyze the social problem you identified. Be sure to discuss the strengths and limitations of your methods. For the limitations, mention how/if you could work towards resolving them. Then, talk about the ethical considerations you would take for each method and discuss which method you prefer and why. Finally, discuss your own positionality, or how your biases might shape your work, as well as how to diminish their impact.
Product: Spend about 4-5 hours working on this assignment.