Sociological Research Methods

Instructions: Answer each question regarding Sociological Research Methods.

·       (225 words each question) (450 words total).

Discussion Question 1: We talked about various guidelines about research ethics in social science research, among which an important principle is to do no harm to research subjects. Let’s assume that you conducted a research project and followed all the protocols, and you feel certain that you have protected your subjects well. However, the research findings you have are somewhat surprising, and you can imagine that people with certain political standing can use it to justify actions that potentially hurt disadvantaged groups (hypothetically, say, you find that improving infrastructures and schools in neighborhoods with high percentages of Blacks and Hispanics do not end up helping Black and Hispanic kids’ wellbeing; or, say, children from same-sex families have worse mental health when they grow up). Do you see any ethical problem of publishing these results?

Discussion Question 2: Nov 2 was the election date in many states in the United States. If you read the newspapers today (and maybe the next several days), you will find some discussion about exit polls. Last week we talked about sampling. Exit polls are polls taken as voters exit the voting places. For exit polls to be accurate, getting the right sample is very important. How do you think the COVID-19 pandemic and the related changes may affect the accuracy of exit polls? How do you think people can improve the sampling of exit polls given the changes in voting behavior? Do you trust the results of exit polls you see? Why and why not? Why do you think we need exit polls to begin with?