Sociological Research : Designs, Methods

Case studies are one of the first types of research to be used in the qualitative methodology and repeating the study several times will lead to the increased reliability of the study (Starman, 2013). This methodology is appropriate because it will allow for data collection results to be generalized based on the theoretical propositions and not the population (Harrison et al. 2017).

A case study is an intensive type of research that involves a process in which detailed information is collected

| -They produce data on very specific, narrow topic i.e. the relationship between two variables-Experimenting on human beings in care situations raises difficult ethical issues (Moonie, Stretch, et al, 2003).-Participants usually know that they are in an experiment which may affect the behaviour they produce-It may be time consuming(Stanley, Boswell, et al, 2009).

43.Case Study: an observational technique in which one person id studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

* Repeated measure = A repeated measures design is a longitudinal study, usually a controlled experiment but sometimes an observational study

In Neil Postman’s short essay, “Social Science as Moral Theology,” he describes the social sciences, such as sociology and psychology, not as sciences, but rather as “moral theology” and as “storytelling.” The authors of the textbook Sociology the Essentials would dispute these claims by arguing that social scientists are doing science with their work. In the third chapter labeled, “Doing Sociological Research” there is a section called “The Tools of Sociological Research” that goes into detail of all the different ways sociologists can gather research.

There are different factors that influence sociologist's choice of research. Sociologists have to firstly decide what particular area or topic they want to study, in order for them to carry out their research. When sociologists choose a topic, there are two types of sources available to the sociologists, they are Primary and Secondary. Primary is the data collected by the researchers themselves, usually in the form of questionnaires or interviews. Secondary is the data that is already available e.g. official statistics, diaries, historical documents etc. The researcher then has to decide what type of method they will use for their research.

Although time consuming case study methodology, is normally the choice of research chosen by psychologists when that research requires an in-depth study with detailed analysis of specific groups of people, individuals or events. However when research requires the investigation of a group of individuals with a particular disease particularly related to the association between the risk factor and the disease the typical methodology used would be a case control study. Predictably both case study and case control study research requires small to medium sized specific groups of individuals commonly known as qualitative studies. Whereas, research surveying large numbers of randomly chosen participants required to complete questionnaires are commonly known as qualitative

The first type of research that is used in the field of sociology is experiment research. Experiment research involves creating an experiment based off an hypothesis to answer an question. The scientific method is used to keep the experiment on track and follow a set of guidelines. This experiment is done in a controlled setting in which the design of the experiment is to answer the hypothesis. Data is gathered based on what the participants do or act during the experiment. The data gathered is quantitative, in which the data gathered is expressed in numbers. There are both benefits and limitations of

At first, it would be easy to assume that it was a cross-sectional research because the article said that it was over a 48-hour period. After reading more into the article, I believe that they used the longitudinal research design. To begin, a longitudinal study is where someone takes a group of people of the same age range and studies them over the course of several years or more. All the children tested were initially monitored prenatally and later on in life at age five, before they started school. For it to have been considered a cross-sectional study, the researchers would have used a variety of people from all different age ranges in a much shorter timeframe of a few weeks or months.

An in-depth study of a particular situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey. Case study research is a method that was used to narrow down a very broad field of research into one easily researchable topic.

A case study is a puzzle that has to be solved. The first thing to remember about writing a case study is that the case should have a problem for the readers to solve. The case should have enough information in it that readers can understand what the problem is and, after thinking about it and analyzing the information; the readers should be able to come up with a proposed solution. Writing an interesting case study is a bit like writing a detective story. You want to keep your readers very interested in the situation.

Longitudinal – several observations over a period of time. We use these types of observation if there appears to be a concern over behaviour or development.

The drawback to cross-sectional studies is the inability to express cause and effect relationships between the variables being tested. Or to make a convincing observation in regards to the course of the connection between variables.It is because of the concept of the snapshot at the single moment, that prevents the consideration of before and after that specific moment is analyzed (What researchers mean by cross-sectional vs. longitudinal studies.,2009). As it relates to longitudinal studies, they are observational as well. However, it is over an extended period. Like cross-sectional studies, the researchers are not entering with the participants or respondents. This method studies the same subjects several times over a period of years. This technique gives the scholar the ability to measure the change of data to be collected over time. Longitudinal studies come in three prominent types panel, cohort, and retrospective. The panel study is a representative sample of participants, and the retroactive study utilizes historical data that is sometimes compared to improved

A longitudinal design is a research method in which one group of people is studied over a long length of time in order to observe the changes. One example is that we might want to study how television viewing affects human development over time. To conduct such a study, we would choose one large group of people, such as 3 year olds, conduct a series of tests and asks a series of questions to see how television viewing is currently affecting the 3 year olds, collect their contact information, and then invite the participants to return for another study after a certain length of time, such as a year or two. When the participants return, more tests are conducted and more questions are asked with the purpose of determining if any changes in the