Research methods

Both sociological and cultural anthropology research methods rely on more or less similar research techniques. Research methods are the ways in which researchers go about collecting information for their study. The differences in these research methods are philosophical in nature, however both methods are used in the inquiry and discovery of certain aspects in a given scope or field.

The research methods used in sociology that will be discussed include experimental research design and survey design. In experimental design, sociologists endeavor to emphasize on external validity and generalizations. In this method, a number of conditions should be met. There should be a control group and a group of experimental research subjects. These subjects are not tested but are subjected to the independent variables. In this design, a pretest assessment is done on the dependent variable, which is followed by introduction of independent variable then a post-test assessment on both groups. In this design, differences might occur between the control groups and the experimental groups. Such differences are taken to be a function of the presence of independent variable and not of other uncontrolled factors. On the other hand, survey design is popular among sociologists. Here, data is collected through administration of questionnaires and interviews, face to face, telephone interviews, mailed self-administered questionnaires and other techniques that produce quantitative assessment. Survey can also be qualitative. In this method, major independent variable is observed (researchers has no control over its variation) (Leming, n.d). Selected respondents are given questionnaires to fill, providing data about them. In survey, as opposed to experiment, no pretest is required, independent variable is not manipulated, and there is no control group for reasons of comparison in surveys.

Philosophical justification in experimental design research method is that minute information cannot be obtained in a research and therefore, by studying a section or a sample of the entire population, the characteristics of the entire population can be determined. There is greater concern in the internal validity of the subjects as researchers are interested in the phase value or generalities in a study.

Cultural anthropology researcher endeavor to study the cultures of living humans. These researches use a variety of methods in gathering information. Under this category, participant observation and historical analysis research methods will be discussed.

In the participant observation, the researcher gets involved with the subjects of study. The researcher interacts and lives together with the subjects as they make observation on their behaviors. This method is popular in the cultural anthropology as researchers are able to obtain first hand information from the study subjects. However, it may not be reliable in cases where there is no good rapport and relationships among researchers and participants. The participants may also change their behaviors due to the presence of a foreign person. Therefore, in this method, the key thing is to enhance good relationships with the subjects in order to avoid making them to behave in a different manner. On the other hand, in historical analysis, the cultural anthropologists study past literature on how the people or subject being studied lived in the past. This study helps in illuminating the cultural aspects or patterns that the current generations’ exhibit hence helping the researchers to draw certain inferences about a certain type of culture. These studies are based on the past document literature and therefore, one disadvantage in this method is that in case there is insufficient information about a given culture, then further research cannot be carried. In addition, this information may not be realistic and objective hence leading to wrong inferences. Advantage of this method of research is that it helps in explaining some of the events that happen in the present hence assisting in alleviating doubts.

The philosophical justification in the participant observation is that people have feelings and are able to change their behaviors in different environments. In this study, the subjects upon learning that they are being studied may change their behaviors rendering the study ineffective. Furthermore, people may not freely interact with a person they perceive to be an intruder or foreign and this may hamper realistic data collection.

Both the sociological and cultural anthropology research methods endeavor to discover and enquire in a given issue for clarity. However, these methods have some differences in their intent, purpose and method. Sociological methods like experimental methods aims at comparing two sets of variables while in cultural anthropology, a method like participant observation and history analysis aims at studying a single aspect. Another difference is that in sociological methods, the purpose is to find out the present and the future behaviors while in anthropology research, the intention is to relate the findings to already formed perceptions on a given aspect or issue. However both the methods are of important in studying different aspects of issues affecting human beings.

Reference

Leming, L.M. (n.d). Research and sampling designs: techniques for evaluating hypotheses, Retrieved from http://www.stolaf.edu/people/leming/soc371res/research.html