| Sociological Inquiry |
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Maintains a tradition of providing insight into the human condition by publishing leading theoretical and empirical research in sociology. Like in Scientific activity, is like playing a game. It has goals to achieve, roles to follow, and strategies to use in order to obtain a high probability of success. Basic Goal of Sociological Inquiry The basic goal of sociological research is to understand the observable social world. Its main function is to test or verify a hypothesis. Merton describes social research as initiating, reformulating, reflecting and classifying theory. This involves having scientific and theoretical perspective about the aspect of the social world the sociologists is studying. Fundamental Procedure of Sociological Inquiry · Observation-Observation is the foundation of social research. One makes use of the various senses in studying a social phenomenon or social behavior. · Participant Observation- As the name implies, the researcher goes to the field (usually a community), lives with the people for some months, and participates in their activities in order to know and feel their culture. · Life History- This the study of the personal life of a person. Through a series of interviews, the researcher can probe into the decisive moments in their life or the various influences on their life. · Case study- Extensive examination of a specific group over a long period of time is carried out in the case study method. · Interview Method- the researcher also obtains data by interviewing people. If the interview is non-structured, the researcher leaves it to the interviewee (also referred to as the respondent or the informant) to guide the conversation. · Historical Method- This involves a continuous and systematic search for the information and knowledge about past events related to the life of a person, a group, society, or the world. · Comparative Method- is a method used to detect genetic relationships between languages and to establish a consistent relationship hypothesis by reconstructing. · Archival method- this is used to research recorded facts or factual evidences to help us be more knowledgeable. · Content Analysis- this involves the analysis of how people communicate and the messages people talk or write about. This is usually used to study the contents of books and mass media and how they transmit messages. |
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