Mary Cassatt: Woman and Child Driving (1879-81).



Introduction to the Course

Welcome to Sociology 202, Introduction to Research Methods! This course covers the key elements of a wide variety of procedures for collecting and analyzing data on social problems. It serves as the foundation for a companion course--Sociology 302, Intermediate Methods--where students can practice the lessons they learn here.

To appreciate the rigorous lessons taught in Sociology 202 and 302, it is helpful to understand the role of the sociologist in reducing social problems. There are many ways to reduce social problems: people and organizations donate money to social service agencies; social workers deliver needed services; police officers enforce laws; and journalists raise awareness of the nature and negative consequences of social problems. Still, people can devote only so much of their time, energy, and money to reducing social problems. Given limited resources, what is the best way to reduce the wide variety of social problems? What types of programs work best? How do we get the most bang for our buck?

To answer these questions one must know the main causes of social problems. Discovering these main causes is the role of the sociologist.

What are the main causes, for example, of juvenile delinquency? Are they parental neglect, a culture of violence, a pattern of bumps on the head, or perhaps skin color? Dismissing patterns of bumps on the head (i.e., phrenology) through observation and analysis is an easy task. Ruling out skin color is a little more difficult (after all, persons with darker skin color are more often detained, arrested, and convicted of crimes), and deciding which social cause--parental neglect or a culture of violence--is the more important determinant of juvenile delinquency is a very difficult task. Learning about cause, however, is the key to reducing social problems. Otherwise, society can waste a lot of money (by studying bumps on the head), harm many persons (by assuming that persons with darker skin color lead darker lives), or pursue remedies that are less effective than they should be (yes, a violent culture does influence rates of juvenile delinquency, but inappropriate parenting of young children is an even more important cause).

Thus, the role of the sociologist is to discover the main causes of social problems. When we know how something works, we are best prepared to fix it.

How do we know social reality? How do we discover the causes of social problems? These are the questions we address in this course. In a sense, learning sociological methods is the means by which one translates one's passion for social change into effective action for social change.

Discovering cause and effect is not just collecting data and calculating statistics associated with it. By its very nature, cause and effect imply positing a theory, wherein theory is defined a set of abstract, empirically falsifiable statements about reality. We will learn much about the linkages between theory and methods, the importance of theory, and the nature of theory as compared with opinion. That is, we will learn how to conduct a science of society.

I hope you find taking this course to be an informative, enjoyable, and worthwhile experience!

A Note Regarding the Artwork on this Web Site

The images displayed on the Sociology 202 web site are examples of impressionist works created by French artists during the late 19th century. This theme was selected to honor the contributions to research methods of the French sociologist, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917). Durkheim believed that if he could demonstrate how even the most individual act possible was affected by social forces, he could establish sociology as a science and show the relevancy of sociological inquiry for reducing social problems. In his influential book, Suicide, Durkheim, using methods that would be considered rudimentary by today's standards, nevertheless showed effectively that suicide rates vary by important social-demographic conditions, such as age, marital status, and religious affiliation. For his many contributions to sociological theory and methods, Durkheim is known as the father of modern sociology.

Thank you to Carol Gerten-Jackson for providing art images on her website, CGFA: A Virtual Art Museum. To learn information about each painting displayed on this site, hold the cursor on the image; an "alt tag" will appear that describes the painting.