Sociology Essay

Ryan Cooney

        Sociology is the study of societies around the world and how one is able to figure out methods to understand the reasoning and details of how the societies work. There are many ways to go about this subject such as fieldwork, surveys, experiments, and comparative historical research. Each method gives certain pros that make advancements in this field, however they also have downsides that make it difficult to obtain completely accurate solutions.

        Fieldwork is the most basic of sociological research studies. In this method a person conducts research on a specific group of people. This is a method that can provide great information if carried out well. The downfall to this method is that the person who performs the research may have there own personal opinions and ideals that may compromise the way that the group may be understood. Things such as stereotypes and the upbringing of the fieldworker may influence how the interpretation of the research. It is tough to analyze fieldworker’s personal research so there may be problems with complete unbiased accuracy.

        Surveys are a common method in sociological research. Surveys are a good method right off the bat because it takes the person out of the equation so the result will be more straightforward. There are two types of surveys that are sent out to specific groups of people to collect data. A standard survey is more of just a simple questionnaire with simple answers. This makes the number of surveys easily comparable. However, with the surveys being so simple there is really no depth and specificity which may be misleading. Open-ending surveys are more in depth and valuable answers, however it causing difficulty for surveys to be comparable. When analyzing both methods it seems that the standard survey would be more realistic because although it is less specific it is less time consuming. Also, majority of people don’t like surveys in general, let alone ones that take an extensive amount of time.

Experiments are great tests that can result in visual confirmation in the study of societies. Using both a control and variable groups one can solve how certain subjects react to stimuli between different selected groups. One simple experiment was conducted, where students were given roles of either prisoners or guards. It was witnessed that the students took on characteristics of the roles they were given. It was thought that it was just the nature of the prison that caused the students to act that way. The situation can also be seen that the students were just acting not caused by the nature of the prison just trying to portray the stereotypical view of what a guard or prisoner should act like. Experiments are good because specific result can be isolated, but is still conducted by people and in sociology it may seem unnatural. Simulated experiments of real life were the next step to be most true to the group being researched.