The Importance of Being Right
Some Methodological Notes From a Study of Aids Knowledge
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11064012 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick J Moynihan (0000-0003-4182-6223, Patrick J. Moynihan is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Fordham University. He received his doctoral degree in sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, studying the distribution of public knowledge about HIV/AIDS in the United States from 1987 to 1995. He recently completed a study of post-9/11 Project Liberty crisis counselors and his current work focuses on the role of mobile crisis units in providing mental health services to New York..., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 71-79 |
| Publication date | 2006-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Teaching Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-055X • E-ISSN: 1939-862X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0092055x0603400107 |
| OpenAlex | W2067980796 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 7 |
I offer these analyses and suggestions as an opportunity to illustrate to students the far-reaching consequences of recording a variable and, more generally, the conditional nature of quantitative results. Students should be encouraged to explore the sensitivity of their quantitative measures in terms of univariate statistics and subsequent bivariate associations. Other decisions made in analysis of data, such as the coding of independent variables, can be problematized as part of this exercise. An examination of methodology is sometimes viewed as a retreat, allowing researchers to avoid making a social problem. The above exercise can make clear to students that an investigation into how an envent is measured should not be regarded as a diversion into The Method, but rather as a necessity in determining the magnitude of sociological phenomena and the critical role the analyst of quantitative data plays in this drama
Epistemology · Pedagogy · Social science · Sociology · Energy, Economy, and Technology Trends · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.05 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2007 - 2007 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |