The researchers defined the problem (the relationship between homelessness and mental illness).They reviewed the literature (other studies of the presence of mental illness among the homeless) and formulated the hypothesis («Most homeless persons are not mentally ill»). Snow and his colleagues collected the data by creating an appropriate sample of homeless persons and analyzed them. Finally, they developed the conclusion: the typical homeless person is likely not to have a history of mental illness. Thus, through the systematic application of scientific method, these researchers studied a contemporary social issue and generated meaningful findings of interest to sociologists, mental health workers and policy makers.
Vocabulary practice
I. Read and translate the text using a dictionary if necessary.
II. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following:
отдельная проблема (спорный вопрос), интересовать (касаться) кого-либо, гарантировать объективность и последовательность, определить проблему, изучить литературу, сформулировать гипотезу, выбрать план исследования, собрать и проанализировать данные, сделать вывод, актуальный пример, главным образом, ясно определить, средства массовой информации, персонал, провести обзор, четко определить проблему исследования, выявить технические приемы, избегать ошибок, постоянный образ, соответствовать чему-либо, значимый, иметь в виду (подразумевать), подтвердить, опровергать, пересмотреть, конечный результат исследования, руководить (направлять), отбирать, случайный отбор, провести отбор для исследования, завершить отдельную фазу исследования, создавать идеи для будущего изучения, попасть в ловушку, представлять интерес для.
III. Supplythe missing words or word combinations choosing among those given below:
1) Like the … on the street, the sociologist is interested in questions that… most people. 2) A… of scientific method is planning. 3) Sociologists do not simply … the door or … the telephone to learn more about human behavior. 4) People in the United States became … of the plight of the homeless in the nation's … centers. 5) Sociologists try to develop … questions. 6) First, they reviewed … such as «Time», «Newsweek» and «People». 7) Second, they examined … done in Boston and New York. 8) Still… review refuted this hypothesis. 9) A hypothesis … tells us what we are looking for in our research. 10) In formulating a hypothesis we … suggest that it is… study. 11) Sociologists … one of the research designs. 12) The random sample is … used by social scientists.
13) Scientific studies do not … to answer all the questions about ….
14) The conclusion of a research study … both an end, and a beginning.
15) The homeless are merely trapped in economic conditions that lead to … and …. 16) … further implications are evident. 17)… contributes to homelessness. 18) Through … of scientific method the researchers studied a… social issue … to sociologists,… and ….
policy makers, mental health workers, contemporary, the systematic application, the inadequate supply of low-costing housing, with this finding in mind, poverty, despair, represents, aim, a particular object, frequently, employ, merely, worthy of, essentially, further, the systematic studies, ^popular magazines», researchable, aware, urban, walk out, pick up, key element, typical citizen, concern, of interest.
IV. Studythe following words and word combinations and use them in sentences of your own:
to be interested in, to concern smb, (un)like smb, to ensure smth, the workings of a method, to be aware of, to tend to smth, to state as clearly as possible, to present … as …, to be representative of, to conduct a review, to avoid doing smth, further (review, investigation, etc.), to focus on, to imply, to be worthy of, to depend on, ultimately, both … and …, to be true of, to confirm a hypothesis, to make changes in, to be trapped, to lead to poverty and despair, to contribute to, an (in)adequate supply of, to be of interest to smb.
Comprehension Exercises
I. Reread the text and answer the following questions.
1) What questions are sociologists interested in? 2) What differs the sociologist from the typical citizen? 3) What is scientific method and why is planning its key element? 4) What are the five basic steps in scientific method? 5) What does it mean to define a problem? 6) How do sociologists review the literature concerning a problem under study? 7) What is a hypothesis? Is it always correct? 8) How do sociologists test a hypothesis? 9) Why do you think that the random sample is frequently used by social scientists? 10) How do you understand that developing the conclusion is not the end of a research study? 11) What do researchers have to do if their hypothesis is refuted?
II. Define the following key terms and memorize the definitions: scientific method, hypothesis, research design, random sample.
III. Speak on scientific method and its aspects in brief and illustrate your reports withsituations and examples of your own.
IV. Employthe scientific method and its stages described in this text and comment on the problem of the homeless in Russia.
V. Give some other actual examples of human behavior whichcan be analyzed with the help of this scientific method of sociological research. Comment on them thinking like sociologists.
Text IV. Research Designs for cOllecting Data. Ethics of Research
An important aspect of sociological research is the decision as to how data should be collected. A research design is a detailed plan or method for obtaining data scientifically. Sociologists regularly use experiments, participant observations, surveys and unobtrusive techniques to generate data for their research.
Experiments. When sociologists wish to study a possible cause-and-effect relationship, they may conduct experiments. An experiment is an artificially created situation that allows the researcher either to confirm or to reftite the hypothesis under study. In the classic method of conducting an experiment, two groups of people are selected and compared: the experimental group which is exposed to the experiment and the control group which is not.
Participant observation. It is a research technique in which an investigator collects information through direct participation in and observation of a group or a community under study. In some cases, the sociologist actually «joins» the group for a period of time to get an accurate sense of how
