Sociological Research

            Sciences such as biology and chemistry confine their research to the laboratory. Discuss why sociologists do so much of their research outside the laboratory. Why is this type of necessary? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of research?

Sociology is the scientific study of society, human behavior, and social groups (Basirico, Cashion, & Eshleman, 2014).  Sociology was first used by Auguste Compte in the 1830s when he proposed a science that united all knowledge about human activity.  It is considered one of the social sciences and similar to natural and physical sciences, it involves research.  Natural sciences include biology, botany, bacteriology, etc., and they involve the study of living organisms.  The physical sciences include physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc., and they involve the aspects of the nonliving world (Basirico, et al., 2014).  These types of sciences all involve concrete things.  Sociology, however, involves the study of human behavior – which is always changing and evolving.  Without an understanding of the natural and physical sciences, it would be difficult for sociologists to gain an understanding of human behavior (Basirico, et al., 2014).  Other social sciences include economics, political science, anthropology, psychology, history (studied from a social standpoint), and geography (also when studied from a social standpoint).

            To gain a greater understanding of all things human, the sociologist does much of his research outside of the lab.  Sociologists operate from the sociological perspective; consciously questioning the obvious to remove them from their familiar experiences and looking at them objectively and critically (Basirico, et al., 2014).  They study the interactions between two people to the complex relationships between each other, their community, their environment, even to their nation.  Sociology may assume that human behavior is patterned, but this does not exclude the human’s right to free choice.  By becoming aware of the social processes that influence the way humans think, feel, and behave, and an understanding of having free will to act, can help to shape the social forces that individuals may face (Basirico, et al., 2014). 

            The sociological perspective functions through macrosociology and microsociology; the only differences being the scale that is examined.  Macrosociology involves broad social categories while microsociology involves smaller, closer social categories (Basirico, et al., 2014).  Once they become of aware of the nature of the research they want to conduct, they follow the research process to discover the answer.  Researcher may choose from a variety of methods.  Surveys are commonly used in the form of a questionnaire, interview, or telephone poll.  Participant observation involves the sociologist collecting data and studying society in which he actually becomes a part of the group that is being studied.  A controlled experiment is a focused way of collecting data and proves to be useful for determining patterns of cause and effect.  Ethnomethodology is a theoretical approach based on the belief that the normal order of society can be discovered by disrupting it.  By disrupting the normal order, observations are made to see how people respond and how they try to restore social order (Basirico, et al., 2014). 

            The advantages to these types of studies is becoming aware of social patterns and being able to make predictions based on research findings.  The major disadvantage comes from God’s gift of free will – the ability to make choices without external coercion. 

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Reference

Basirico, L. A., Cashion, B. G., & Eshleman, R. (2014). SOCI200 (6th ed.). Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.