Sunday, September 16, 2018

SocBook 6th entry Friday 9/14/18

We live in a world where we can’t trust anything. All of the information we take in must be scrutinized by using the scientific method. This way we can get true information. Chrystal gave us 10 steps for the research method






Pick a topic
Review literature to find out what others have already learned.
What exactly are your questions?
What will you need to carry out your research?
Are there any ethical concerns?
What method will you use?
What will you record the data?
What do the data tell you?
What are your conclusions?
How can you share what you’ve learned?


 There are a few ways to perform research. Experiment, Participant Observation, Survey and Existing Sources.

You should start broad and narrow down on exactly what you are trying to find out. Use a random sample so it does not create a bias and use the biggest sample you can. There must not harm humans during their lifetime during an experiment. Jane Goodall is an example of participant observation in chimp society.  A survey is exactly what it sounds like. A series of questions to be filled out by participants. Existing sources means to research and you must watch out for plagiarism. 

People use common sense but that does not always lead to the truth. Sociology uses empirical data. 

Two main types of research are Qualitative and Quantitative.

Quantitative research uses lots of data to get exact results. You process lots of information on lots of people quickly. This starts by asking questions, reviewing literature to see what is written. Then select the research method and propose a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a statement and a theory is the explanation of the hypothesis.

Qualitative research uses individual data to get broad results. This allows for individuals to give immediate results. For this method you have to define the researchers roll in the group. Define the Problem. Identify the theory that drives the problem. This involves research and reviewing literature. Selecting information gathering tools and analyzing the data.

Both perspectives are important and have advantages. They are used to explain behavior and its consequences. You can combine both and use mixed method.



Ethnology is the study of the characteristics of various peoples and the differences and relationships between them. Ethnology allows you to get as close as possible to seeing from another groups point of view.  The video explains that ethnography is completely immersive and attempts to record life without disruption.  It applies social and academic theories to a small group to understand a larger one. It states that ethnography is actionable by working in complementary practices.

Positive from me to society: reconnect with old friends
Negative from me to society: Stay reclusive and disconnected

Positive from society to me: Sharing happy memories with reconnected friends
Negative from society to me: Exhausting to discern good people from bad

Cultural Experience 227 words:

The first time I left my home culture was when I joined the Army. I was introduced to a new culture made up of a mixture of many cultures. We learned to become a team by having a common goal. Even in this large mixed culture eventually smaller groups began to form. People with similar backgrounds or interests would group together.

The next major cultural experience for me was traveling to the Middle East. Spending time in the Arabic culture was very strange for many reasons. The first thing I noticed was the lack of diversity. In the US even in the least diverse areas there are still many groups of different people. In Mosul for example, there were only Iraqis. Everyone dressed the same and looked the same. They all spoke the same language. The only difference was religion and even that was hard to tell apart most of the time. At the time I thought the second major difference was the attitude towards community. They did not seem to care about their neighbors. Each house was surrounded by walls and gates. They would throw their trash out into the street with no care for how it made the entire community worse. As I have gotten older I can now see that there are communities like this all over the world and all over the US. 

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SocBook 11th entry 10/2/18

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