Читать книгу Essentials of Sociology - George Ritzer - Страница 68

Sociological knowledge is derived from research that may use a variety of different methods. Typically, the method chosen is and should be driven by the nature of the research question. Imagine that you are a sociologist interested in studying differences in the behavior of people who visit Las Vegas. You might start by observing, perhaps by watching people gamble. You might look for variations: Are men and women equally represented at the slot machines? Are they equally likely to play craps or blackjack? Are there age differences in who plays which games? You could do much the same thing in looking for differences among those who attend the shows and musical events at the casinos. Are there gender differences between the Las Vegas audiences of, say, Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère or Zumanity and the audiences of the music of Barry Manilow or a Penn & Teller magic show? Are there age differences between the audience members at a Carrot Top show and those at a Mariah Carey concert? To better understand such differences, you might be inspired to participate, to become a participant observer, gambling or being entertained alongside those you are studying.

You may realize that your specific research questions are better answered through use of the interview method. You might interview those who have come to Las Vegas to gamble, asking about their expectations for having fun or winning a lot of money. Or, you might administer an anonymous questionnaire or survey to find out how much money people who gamble have lost.

You could also create an experiment. Using a social science lab at your university, you could set up a Las Vegas–style poker table and recruit students as participants. You could tell them that the typical player loses 90 percent of the time and that previous research has shown that most players lose most of the time. You could then ask whether, in spite of that information, they still want to gamble at your poker table. Of greatest interest would be those who say yes. You could interview them before they start “gambling” at your table, observe them as they gamble, and interview them again after they finish gambling. Did they start out believing, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that they would win? How could they have retained such a belief in spite of all the counterevidence? What are their feelings after gambling at your table? Did those feelings seem to be related to whether they won or lost? How likely are they to gamble again? Are there important differences between women and men in terms of their answers to these questions?

Observation is a primary method in sociological research. Do you think people behave differently when they know they are being observed?

Stephen Alvarez/National Geographic Creative

Observation, interviews, surveys, experiments, and other research methods are all useful and important to sociologists. All have strengths but also limitations. Before we examine these methods in more detail, there is an important distinction between two basic types of research methods that should be clarified.