關秉寅 社會研究法 2008s

科學與研究Science and Research

本單元大綱• 簡介• 社會科學研究的可能路徑• 什麼是社會研究？• 獲取知識的其他路徑• 科學如何管用 ?• 研究過程的步驟• 量化與質化社會學研究的比較• 實務工作者與科學研究• 社會學的想像

參考： Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2006. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. 第一章。

簡介學生心中的研究是什麼？

• 根據事實，但沒有理論和判斷• 只有專家及大學教授閱讀或使用• 只在大學內，由有博士學位者所做的工作• 涉及到圖書館查閱與某個題目相關的文獻• 常徘徊在特殊地點從事田野觀察的工作• 做實驗，其中涉及設計使受實驗者做些事情• 抽樣調查問卷訪問• 從政府報告中找出圖表資料• 使用電腦、統計、圖、表

什麼是社會研究？• 目的是瞭解社會世界• 研究者要能邏輯的思考、依據規則、重複

一定的程序• 結合理論及以系統方式得到的事實，並運

用其想像力及創造力• 小心的組織與計畫，並選擇適當的研究方

法與技巧來回答問題• 以符合倫理及道德的方式，來對待被研究

者

獲取知識的其他路徑• 權威：我們經常從父母、老師、和專家等權威處

獲取知識。例如：我們對婦女在家庭中的角色的知識與認識。

• 傳統：許多傳統文化長期以來對婦女角色的規範。• 常識：長久的習慣造成性別角色也生活和常識化。• 媒體神話：電視劇的性別角色安排方式。大陸或

外籍新娘是否被媒體醜化？媒體政治。• 個人經驗：個人家庭的母親角色經驗。

個人經驗會產生的誤差• 1 、過度通則化 (overgeneralization) 你所陳述的

看法，超過了經驗證據能推論的範圍。• 2 、選擇性的觀察 (selective observation)• 強化先有的思想，而不是保持中立平衡的論點。• 3 、不成熟的結論 (premature closure) 從科學觀

點看，證據深度不足，便下判斷。• 4 、月暈作用 (halo effect) ：受到個人與地方機

構的名聲影響評鑑中立。

科學如何管用 ?

• Social research involves thinking about questions about the social world and following a set of processes to create new knowledge that is based on science. 社會科學在思考社會世界的問題，同時也遵循一套過程來創造以科學為基礎的新知識。

什麼是科學？• Science is a social institution and a way to

produce knowledge.• Science grew from a major shift in thinking

that began with the Age of Reason or Enlightenment period in western European history.(1600s-1800s)

• Science refers to both a system for producing knowledge and the knowledge produced from the system.

科學是生產知識的系統科學知識系統包括：• Assumptions about the nature of the world and k

nowledge.• An orientation toward knowledge.• Sets of procedures, techniques, and instruments

for gaining knowledge.• It is visible in a social institution called the scienti

fic community.• It evolves and slowly but constantly changing.

科學知識• 科學知識是需要使用理論將知識組織起來。

社會理論是將解釋社會世界相互關連的概念形成一個系統。

• 社會理論需要使用真實世界的資料來驗證。• 這些資料必須是能透過經驗觀察的，但有

些經驗觀察必須透過特殊的技術來間接觀察研究對象。

偽科學及垃圾科學• Pseudoscience is like popular social science. Th

ey promote particular political or social values in the guise of social science. (media and film, etc.)我們每天從媒體暢銷書處獲取許多類似科學的知識。

• Junk science:垃圾科學是 1980年代美國公共關係領域發展出來的概念。公司使用支持自己產品無害健康的證據來反駁科學的發現。 is the term that corporate defenders apply to research, no matter how rigorous, that justifies regulations to protect the environment an public health. No difference from sound science.

科學社群(scientific community)

• Scientific community is a collection of people and a set of norms, behaviors, and attitudes that bind them together.—professional community.

• The boundaries of this community— 社會學門包括社會學、社福與社工、傳播學。

• 每個學門又有許多次領域學術社群。

科學社群的規範(The Norms of the Scientific Community)

• 1. Universalism: the research is judged only on the basis of scientific merit. (no social bias.)

• 2. Organized Skepticism: Scientists should challenge and question all evidence and subject each study to intense scrutiny.

• 3. Disinterestedness: scientists must be neutral, impartial, receptive, and open to unexpected observations or new ideas.

• 4. Communalism: Scientific knowledge must be shared with others.

• 5. Honesty: It is especially stong in scientific research.

Journal Articles in Science• The primary forms in which research findings or

new scientific knowledge appear are scholarly journal articles.

• TSSCI 的期刊（國科會社科中心）──有匿名評審制度 (blind review) ，定期出刊。

• American Sociological Review accept 10 to 15 percent of sumitted manuscripts.

• A researcher gain prestige and honor within the scientific community, respect from peers, and a reputation as an accomplished research through such publications.

Science as a Transformative Process

• Research uses scientific methods to transform ideas, hunches, and questions, sometimes called hypotheses, into scientific knowledge.

• Starts with guess or questions.• Applies specialized methods and

techniques to this raw material.• Ends with a finished product of scientific

knowledge.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

• Quantitative Qualitative• Measure objective facts Constructive social reality,

cultural meaning• Focus on variables Focus on interactive processes, events• Reliability is key Authenticity is key • Value free Values are present and explicit• Independent of context Situationally constrained• Many cases, subjects Few cases, subjects• Statistical analysis Thematic analysis• Researcher is detached Research is involved.

Steps of the Research Process(Quantitative Approach)

• 1. Choose a topic• 2. Focus the project – formulate specific

research question• 3. Design the study• 4. Collect data• 5. Analyze data• 6.Interprete the findings• 7. Inform others.

Steps of the Research Process(Qualitative Approach)

• Acknowledge social self• Adopt a perspective – pondering the

theoretical-philosophical paradigms• Design the study• Collect data• Analyze data• Interpret data• Inform others

The Practitioner and Social Science

• Science does not, and cannot, provide people with fixed, absolute truth.

• The diligent practitioners (human service workers, health care professionals, criminal justice officers, journalists, or policy analysts) who have to make prompt decisions in their daily work.

• Must they abandon scientific thinking and rely only on common sense, personal conviction, or political doctrines?

• Practitioners must conscientiously try to locate the best knowledge currently available; use careful, independent reasoning, avoid known errors or fallacies; and be wary of any doctrine offering complete, final answers.

Sociological ImaginationC. Wright Mills

• You must learn to use your life experience in your intellectual work: continually to examine and interpret it. In this sense craftsmanship is the center of yourself and your are personally involved in every intellectual product upon which you may work.

• Mills argues that because “neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both," we need to develop a way of understanding the interaction between individual lives and society.

Sociological Imagination

Three key questions that constitute the core of Mills' sociological imagination:

• What is the structure of a particular society and how does it differ from other varieties of social order?

• Where does this society stand in human history and what are its essential features?

• What varieties of women and men live in this society and in this period, and what is happening to them?