Sociological and Cultural Anthropological Research Methods - Essay Example

Investigator makes a prediction over the area under study. Observational research is another commonly used sociological research method. It involves direct observation of subjects' reactions in a natural setting or in a laboratory. Information obtained is limited since subjects may feel embarrassed hence not open to giving true accounts of the experiences while others do not the study seriously. On a volunteering basis, the volunteers may not be representative of the general public (Bernard, 2011).

Cultural anthropology research methods include; Participant observation whose aim is at achieving a close relationship with a given group of understudies such as a religious group and community. Subsequently aids in learning their practices through thorough participation with the people in their specific area usually done over a long period. According to Bernard (2011), this method involves to a greater extent well-defined variable methods such as collective discussions, informal interviews, own self-analysis, direct observation of undertakings, and life histories.

Historical Analysis is another cultural anthropology research method that mainly includes piece of writing with reference to people found at a particular place at a given time. The writings are findings from researchers who typically, resided among the people understudy for a period, participating in and observing their social and cultural life preserved for future reference. This method involves cultural anthropologists spending extensive hours in libraries, archives, churches, and schools going over records (Bernard, 2011). A characteristic historical data includes information on climate, nature of the habitat, and physical geography.

Justifications of sociological research methods depend on realism vs. Idealism and causality vs. Interpretation. Kornblum and Smith (2011) justify Participant Observation as a theoretical commitment that drives the sociologist into participant observation. Researchers assert that understanding social behavior solely depends on the individual experience. Sociologists who lean on external accounts and objective evidence can have no appreciation of the way people act, and neither can they understand environments and history as their subjects do. Russell Bernard (2011) justifies Historical Analysis as vast knowledge or information from different researchers about the same area. The researcher is able to compare and contrast the findings from different researchers and come up with substantial information which gives a good overview of the findings. When thorough research work is done information from the historical analysis is usually effective.

Sociological and Cultural Anthropological research methods employ both observation methods, which involve the researcher being part of the research group and participating in their practices either openly or secretly in order to get substantial information about the group (Kornblum & Smith, 2011). They differ on experimental methods of sociological research method whose interest is on statistical analysis trying to establish a correlation - the tendency for two or more things existing together referring to the strength of the relationship between them. Read More