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39.06.01 «Социологические науки»

Sociologists adhere to the scientific method; that is, they acquire data through observation
and leave it open to verification by others. Research is a data-gathering and data-explaining
enterprise governed by strict rules. Research methods are the various techniques that sociologists and
other investigators use to formulate or answer meaningful research questions and to collect, analyze,
and interpret data in ways that allow other researchers to check the results. Theory and research are
interdependent, because theories inspire research, whose results can be used to support, disprove, or
modify those theories; the results of social research can inspire theories; and theories are used to
interpret facts generated through research. No matter which of the three perspectives they favor, all
sociologists are guided by the scientific method when they investigate human behavior. The scientific
method is an approach to data collection that relies on two assumptions: knowledge about the world is
acquired through observation, and the truth of that knowledge is confirmed by verification – that is, by
others making the same observations.

Researchers collect data that they and others can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell; that is, they
focus on what they observe through the senses. They report the process they used to make their
observations so that interested parties can duplicate, or at least critique, that process. If observations
cannot be duplicated, or if repeating the study yields results that differ substantially from those of the
original study, we consider the study suspect. Findings endure as long as they can withstand continued
reexamination and duplication by the scientific community. No finding can be taken seriously unless
other researchers can repeat the process and obtain the same results.

When researchers know that others are critiquing and checking their work, the process
serves to reinforce careful, thoughtful, honest, and conscientious behavior. Moreover, this
“checking” encourages researchers to maintain objectivity; that is, it encourages them not to let
their personal, or subjective, views about the topic influence their observations or the outcome
of the research. This description of the scientific method is an ideal one, because it outlines how
researchers and reviewers should behave. Ideally, researchers should be guided by the core
values of honesty, skepticism, fairness, collegiality, and openness. In practice, though, some
research is dismissed as unimportant and unworthy of examination simply because the topic or
the researcher is controversial or because the findings depart from mainstream thinking.
Moreover, some researchers fabricate data to support a personal, an economic, or a political
agenda. The extent to which researchers actually adhere to core values remains unknown.
Research should be carefully planned; the enterprise of gathering and explaining facts involves a
number of interdependent steps.

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