Sociology Now, Census Update

Why Sociological Methods Matter

Sociology is a “social science,” a phrase that requires some consideration. As a social

science, sociology, like economics or political science, uses methods derived from the

natural sciences to study social phenomena. Sociologists study group dynamics as an

economist might study price fluctuations: When a new variable is introduced to the

situation, we can measure its direct impact on its surroundings.

But sociology is also a socialscience, like anthropology or history, attempting to

study human behavior as it is lived by conscious human beings. As a result of that

consciousness, human beings don’t behave in exactly the same ways all the time, the

ways that natural phenomena like gravity, or planetary orbits, might. People possess

subjectivity—a complex of individual perceptions, motivations, ideas, and really messy

things like emotions. “Imagine how hard physics would be if particles could think”

is how the Nobel Prize–winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann once put it.

Thus, sociology uses a wide variety of methodologies—perhaps a greater variety

than any other academic field. The range of different methods sociologists use extends

from complex statistical models, carefully controlled experiments, and enormous sur-

veys to such methods as the literary analysis of texts, linguistic analysis of conversa-

tions, ethnographic and field research, “participant observation,” and historical

research in archives.

104 CHAPTER 4HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW? THE METHODS OF THE SOCIOLOGIST

intact families in which there was a lot of conflict between the parents, the children from

divorced families actually are doing better!

It turns out, in a sense, that what “everybody knows” is wrong. Sociologists Paul Amato

and Paul Booth found that children from intact high-conflict families fare worse than chil-

dren in intact, low-conflict families and children from divorced families. And while we would

never prescribe divorce “for the sake of the children,” it’s clear that the impact of divorce is

far more complicated, and children far more resilient, than many popular pundits might

imagine (Booth and Amato, 2001; Amato, 2000).

How could these conclusions have been so wrong? It turns out that the populations

they chose for their sample, the way they constructed comparisons, and the manner in

which they analyzed data led the researchers down an errant path. Most researchers are

honest and well-intentioned. But the methods they choose can often lead them astray.

This example shows how false it is to dismiss sociology as simply “making a science out

of common sense.” It turns out that much of what passes for common sense turns out to be

wrong. Sociology enables us to use scientific thinking to see the complexity of various issues.