2.3 How Do Sociologists Know What They Know?

LO 2.3: Describe the methodological approaches sociologists use.

Research methods include the tools used to collect data, like surveys, interviews, and observations and procedures for analyzing data. For sociologists, data are typically the words people say in an interview, fieldnotes from observations, or survey responses. Once collected, the researcher must analyze the data. Analyzing data means the researcher looks for the patterns in the data, which may or may not answer a research question or support a hypothesis.

Understanding how sociologists know what they know helps everyone evaluate factual claims better, whether one learns about those claims from peer-reviewed research articles, social media users, or journalists. This section focuses on how sociologists studied the impact of COVID-19 on employed parents, using qualitative and quantitative approaches to understanding the topic.