Unfinished but helpful

1. Sociological Inquiry
 Is the systematic analysis of the motivations and behaviour of individual within a
group ; the study of social as a whole and of such social institution as the family,
the church , the branches of the government , the school and the community.

2. Goals of Sociological Inquiry
 The basic goal of sociological inquiry is to obtain an understanding of the
observable social world. To understand aspects of this social world, one has to
observe phenomena in relation to particular point of time and place and realize how
they were, how they are and how and why they have or have not changed.

3. Sociological Inquiry Procedure
 Defining Problem
It is important that the researcher delimits the scope and breadth of the problem and define the
phenomena to focus on.
According to Bernard Barber, sociological inquiry is the collection and ordering of facts in terms of a
conceptual theoretical model.

4. The Researcher Guide
 Concept: is defined variously by different sources. Philosophers and others generally
agree that concepts are formed from experience and other pre-existing mental content by
abstraction and other operations in the brain.
 Hypothesis: is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon.
 Theory: refers to scientific theories, which are
proposed explanations of empirical phenomena, made in a way consistent with scientific
method, that fulfil certain criteria.
 Operational Definition : defines something in terms of the specific process or set
of validation tests used to determine its presence and quantity.

5. Gathering Of Data
 Primary Sources: Are
original materials. Generally, primary
sources are not accounts written after
the fact with the benefit of hindsight.
 Secondary Sources: Is
a document or recording that relates or
discusses information originally
presented elsewhere. A secondary source
contrasts with a primary sources, which
is an original source of the information
being discussed; a primary source can be
a person with direct knowledge of a
situation, or a document created by such
a person.

6. Analyzing of Data
 Independent and Dependent Variables:
Are used in similar but subtly different ways in mathematics and statistics as part of
the standard terminology in those subjects. They are used to distinguish between
two types of quantities being considered, separating them into those available at the
start of a process and those being created by it, where the latter (dependent
variables) are dependent on the former (independent variables)

7.  Moderating Variable: Is one that has a strong contingent effect on the
independent variable and dependent variable relationship.
 Intervening Variable: Is one that surfaces between the time
the independent variables start operating to influence the dependent variable and the time
their impact is felt on it.
 Control Variables: Has different meanings, depending on the area/place in
which it is used. The control variable is something that is constant and unchanged in an
experiment.

8. Verifying Data