4.5 Chapter Summary
Kimberly Puttman
In this chapter, we explored the “how” of social science: how do social scientists do research to understand social problems? We learned that there are three frameworks that provide the foundations for doing social science – the scientific method, the interpretive framework, and the Indigenous framework. Each paradigm makes foundational assumptions about how the social world works. These assumptions change how scientists do their science, and influence the conclusions they make.
We reviewed the ways in which social scientists collect data, understanding how surveys, experiments, interviews, and other methods provide evidence that may support or fail to support any social theory.
We also looked at a research approach beloved by social problems sociologists: research and action. Social problems sociologists want to understand a problem so they can encourage actions to help resolve it. Humanitarian, community-based, and participatory action research methods lend themselves to understanding, engagement, and action by scientists, activists, and community members.
Now that you have some sociological tools and techniques at your fingertips, it’s time to use them to explore the social problem of education. Let’s go back to school!
Essential Ideas
Learning Objective 1: How does a research framework impact the way in which the sociologist conducts research?
A research framework organizes the questions the social scientist might ask, the ways the research is designed, the kinds of information the scientist considers valid, and the use of the research outcomes. In the scientific method, the scientist starts with a measurable hypothesis and collects data to prove or disprove the hypothesis. In the interpretive framework, the scientist has a set of core questions but allows the participant interviews to reveal themes or answers. In the Indigenous framework, scientists emphasize interdependence and connection, using energy, spirit, and stories in addition to physical evidence or sociological information to learn things.
Learning Objective 2: What are the characteristics of each research method?
Each of the six research methods has its strengths, from surveys, which help us understand changes over time, to participant observation, which gives us deep, rich knowledge of a small group of people. Often social scientists will use multiple methods to understand social phenomena.
Learning Objective 3: What challenges do social scientists experience when they combine research and action when examining social problems?
Social problems sociologists often research so that they and others can take effective action. Several research methods support taking action as part of the research process. However, sometimes, action happens before the results are well-understood. The action may be ineffective or harmful because of this limitation.
Key Terms Review
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Key Terms List
action research: a family of research methodologies that pursue action (or change) and research (or understanding) at the same time.
colonization: the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the Indigenous people of an area.
dependent variable: the effect of a change in another variable
hypothesis: a testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or more variables
independent variable: the cause of the change in another variable
Indigenous science: The scientific approach of Indigenous cultures worldwide, a time-tested approach that sustains the community and the environment
interpretive framework: an approach that involves detailed understanding of a particular subject through observation or listening to people’s stories, not through hypothesis testing
qualitative research: non-numerical, descriptive data that is often subjective and based on what is experienced in a natural setting
quantitative research: data collected in numerical form that can be counted and analyzed using statistics
research methods: the ways in which social scientists collect, analyze, and understand research information
scientific method: an established scholarly research process that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing a data collection method, gathering data, and drawing conclusions
scientific racism: the use of pseudo-scientific methods to justify racial inequality.
Discuss and Do
- Scientific Objectivity: Can social scientists use objectivity in their scientific process? Why or why not? Consider using the principles of the scientific method in your answer.
- Indigenous Framework: Review any of the following sources: Archaeology and genomics together with Indigenous knowledge revise the human-horse story in the American West, No 42, Standing for Unči Maka (Grandmother Earth) and All Life: An Introduction to Lakota Traditional Sciences, Principles and Protocols and the Birth of a New Era of Scientific Collaboration, or Colorado Experience: Native Horses [YouTube].
- What is unique about the Indigenous framework?
- How can this framework help us understand social problems differently?
- What are the benefits of weaving mainstream and Indigenous frameworks of science?
- Participant Action Research: Based on Participatory Action Research with Shiran Haasan [YouTube]:
- What is participatory action research?
- What are the benefits of this type of research? Who holds the “power” in this type of research?
- When do we see the effects of participatory action research?
- What are some ways that elements of this type of research are transferable to other settings? What examples does Shirah Haasan give?
- Take Action by Doing Research: Where could you research and act? Write your own proposal for participating in an activity for a non-profit or social protest.
- What could you measure?
- What change might you propose?
- What impact might that change have?
- How would your participation in this activity could give you access to a population to study sociologically?
- Feminist/CRT critique of science: Read Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley or watch the movie Hidden Figures. Or, if you don’t have that much time, you can listen to the children’s version of the story. What examples support a feminist critique of mainstream science?
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Summary
Open Content, Original
“Chapter Summary” by Kelly Szott and Kimberly Puttman is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
a statement that describes and explains why social phenomena are related to each other.
an established scholarly research process that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing a data collection method, gathering data, and drawing conclusions
a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world
a social institution through which a society’s children are taught basic academic knowledge, learning skills, and cultural norms
the concept that people rely on each other to survive and thrive
the ways in which social scientists collect, analyze, and understand research information