The community profile combines archival data, from the U.S. Census and other sources, with narrative data from a field study of a neighborhood. The goal of the profile is to apply the sociological imagination to the patterns that can be observed in the neighborhood. The first part of the profile is descriptive. Using demographic data and observation, you will attempt to depict the patterns of social life in your neighborhood. In the second part of the profile, this portrait of the neighborhood is placed in a sociological context. The important dimensions of social stratification -- race, class, and gender -- are used to construct an explanation of the observed patterns. This is the movement of the sociological imagination: to connect the features of daily life with the impersonal social forces that structure the way people live.
At first glance, field research may seem like just a casual form of science: observing, listening, discussing and thinking about some social phenomenon. In fact, field research is a rigorous form of empirical research. Because it takes place "out there" in the social settings we are interested in, it requires a particular set of techniques. As a form of social research, though, it rests on the same principles of reliability and validity that guide every sociologist. Collecting data in field settings requires the same careful attention required in the laboratory or public opinion research center.
The methods of field research can be traced back to the social reform movements of the early twentieth century. At the University of Chicago, a number of sociologists and anthropologists went into the community to study it, with the goal of improving the quality of life. Subsequent researchers fully developed these original interview techniques and combined them with efforts at direct observation. They stressed the importance of first-hand experience in the settings to be studied.
Field research is really a variety of data collection strategies: observation, interviewing, surveys, focus groups. The most important collection strategy is participant observation, a technique that involves first-hand observation of the social context being studied. There are many different ways of doing participant observation, which vary from full participation, in which the researcher is an active member of the social phenomenon being studied, to no participation, in which the researcher is present but not an active participant during the observation. The chief advantage of this strategy is that it brings the researcher closer to the phenomenon being studied. Often, the researcher is interested in trying, as much as possible, to view the phenomenon from the point of view of the participants, and to understand the meanings and values that they attach to roles, objects, and institutions in their social landscape. Such research is often called ethnography.
Another common strategy in the field is unstructured interviewing. Unstructured interviews, which can take an almost conversational form, are often used because they are an effective means of discovering the meanings participants attach to their behavior and their context. A researcher begins with a list of topics about which he or she wants to inquire, and lets the discussion be directed, as much as possible, by the respondents themselves. Sometimes, interviews are done in small groups, so that respondents can interact with each other instead of just the interviewer. We call these collective discussions focus groups.
Field research can generate qualitative or quantitative data. Most field research strategies emphasize narrative data, but they can be used to collect quantitative data also. Many field studies combine narrative data with aggregate sources, usually in the form of quantitative information about the groups or contexts being studied. This is the technique that we will employ in the community profile.
Because field research explores subjective experience in great detail, the researcher can often combine an analysis of the participants experiences with a structural explanation of social action. Intensive interviewing often exposes the participants' own distinctive views and peculiar idiom.
Field research is usually more labor intensive than survey research. It almost always takes longer to conduct a field study than a survey. Not only does the researcher have to spend a meaningful amount of time with his or her participants, but the researcher often must spend a good deal of time analyzing interview transcripts and field notes. A common form of data analysis is with this material is content coding, where the researcher develops analytical categories and examines qualitative or quantitative changes in the data. Because of its demands on the researcher, field studies are usually limited to relatively small groups or specific locations.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of field research is objectivity. The researcher often develops personal relationships with those being studied, and this can be a source of unique and useful data. But it is also a potential hazard. Social research must be conducted with some attention paid to the generalizability of the data. This requires that the researcher maintain some intellectual distance from the phenomenon. Data collection should be, to the extent to which it is possible, an accurate reflection of the ways things are, and not just the researcher's personal viewpoint.
Careful, consistent observation is the key to quality data in field research. Frequent recording of field notes is essential. Interviews should be recorded. When this is not possible, the researcher should write summaries of the interviews as soon as possible after the fact. Multiple sources should be compared whenever possible.
Field research yields a wealth of descriptive data. Most sociologists see it as a means for exploratory research. For this reason, the researcher should define terms explicitly so that description is clearly presented. Multiple sources help transcend the limitations of individual perspectives, including that of the researcher.
Sociology has a rich tradition of field research. Some of the finest examples of empirical research in the discipline made use of field methods. One interesting and controversial contemporary field study is Mitchell Duneier's, Sidewalk, an investigation of the social world of homeless street vendors in New York.
Duneier's book has sparked a debate about the use of field research within contemporary political and policy debates. The study is described in several recent reviews, including one by Andrew O'Hehir in Salon, and Charles Davis in The Atlantic. To learn more about the controversy, see a critique of the book and the author's reply.
You need your home address to determine in which U.S. Census tract you live. Go to the Census Tract Street Locator at the U.S. Census site. (From the Census home page, click on American FactFinder, then on "Enter a street address" at the bottom of the left margin, under "Search".) Type your street address (house number, street and zip code) in the appropriate boxes and click on "Go." Your Census information is returned in the box, including your tract and block numbers. If you click on one of the items (e.g., county or tract) you get links to maps and tables with demographic information about that unit. This is a good way to get a map of the tract and a basic demographic profile. We'll use another site to get even more information about the population in the community.
The first issue that you must resolve in order to construct a community profile is the operational definition of "neighborhood." U.S. Census tracts are defined to include about 3,000-6,000 people. This is one approximation of what we mean sociologically by "neighborhood," though what is perceived as a neighborhood sometimes cuts across tract boundaries. The advantage of this operationalization is that it is well-defined; Census tracts are common units in demographic analysis.
On the other hand, when people use the term "neighborhood" they usually refer to a place designation that is more ambiguous, in terms of defining boundaries, but more recognizable. In Brooklyn, residents know the meaning of names like "Midwood," "Sunset Park," "Crown Heights," or "Canarsie," even if they don't know exactly where the neighborhood is. The advantage of this operationalization is that it has ecological validity; it is the closest definition to that of the people living in the community to be studied.
There are many other options between these two points. Each researcher must decide for him- or herself what the right combination of precision and ecological validity should be. The site where we will access data, Infoshare Online, has tabulated data for a variety of units (including Assembly districts, school districts, police precints, and health areas). You should select the unit that you believe best corresponds to "neighborhood" for the area you are studying.
Follow the link to Infoshare (it will open in a new window). Click on the "Area Profile" tab. The default region is NYC, and this is what we want. Select your unit of analysis from the list by double-clicking on it. On the next page, select Brooklyn from the list of boroughs. Then, select your neighborhood from the list by double-clicking on it. (The contents of the list will vary according to your choice of units of analysis. If you selected "Census Tract," for example, find your tract number in the list. If you selected "NYC neighborhood," select your neighborhood name.) Infoshare has data collected by a variety of federal and state agencies. You can examine data about demographics (such as race, gender, age, household characteristics, family characteristics, and housing characteristics), socio-economics (such as public assistance, income, and crime), or health (such as births, STDs, cancer incidence). Select data from the most recent year available for the particular measure you want. Print the table. Infoshare reports frequencies in most cases, so you will need to calculate percentages. (In some cases, the results are means, or averages, and these should not be transformed into percentages.)
One of the most useful features of Infoshare is that it allows you to compare areas. This means that you can easily compare your neighborhood with Brooklyn as a whole. First, click on "Area Comparison" and then select "borough" as the overall area type. Select New York City and then click on "Brooklyn" from the list of boroughs. Next, select your neighborhood unit. For example, if you defined your neighborhood as your Census Tract, then make that selection in the list under "Areas to Compare." You can then compare data for your Census Tract with Brooklyn as a whole using any of the variables available. It would be useful to look at some of the basic social and economic characteristics in comparison, such as median income.
There are many other useful sites that you can consult for information about your neighborhood. You should take a look at the official site for New York City, NYC.gov. From the list of city agencies, choose "City Planning". From the links on the left, point to "Reference" and then select "Census FactFinder". Type your address into the appropriate boxes, select "Brooklyn" from the list of boroughs, select "Census Tract" or "Communvity District" (depending on how you define your neighborhood), and click on "Map It". You'll see a map of the neighborhood and below a list of tables. You can browse tables for many useful variables, just as at the U.S. Census site. The advantage of the NYC.gov site is that it is much easier to get to the information you want.
Another useful site is the New York City Housing and Neighborhood Information System, at NYU. You can build maps of your neighborhood using social, economic, and especially, housing data. Please note that you'll have to register for an account on the Infoshare and NYCHANIS sites.
Collect as much data as you need to supplement your account of the nature of inequality in your neighborhood from your field notes. Summarize the demographic data you collect with the demographic data form.
We are going to use a visual survey method for the field study. This means that you don't need to interview people from the neighborhood. Instead, you will take notes about what you see in the public spaces of the community.
Take a stroll around your neighborhood. Make notes about what you see as evidence of the class character of your neighborhood. Describe the physical setting of the neighborhood: buildings, streets, businesses, transportation, etc. Describe the social setting: what people are doing, how they interact, where they interact, etc.
Take notes about what you see, even if it doesn't seem directly relevant at the time. You'll have an opportunity to review your notes, and connections and relationships often become visible only upon reflection.
It is usually a good idea to make several short trips through the neighborhood, rather than one longer one. If you vary the time and day that you make your observations, you will get a fuller picture of the neighborhood. In this way, you will get a sense of how the community changes during the cycles of normal activity.
Submit summaries of your narrative data with the field notes form.
In the essay, you will use the data you collected to describe the characteristics of inequality in your neighborhood. The field notes and demographics constitute the evidence you will use to support your argument. It isn't enough to just announce your opinion about the nature of inequality in your community. Rather, you have to make a sociological argument. You must explain how stratification structures the way that people live with examples from your data. In addition, you must indicate when there is data that contradicts your judgment. In other words, if you think your neighborhood is working class, but some of the economic indicators suggest middle class incomes, you must mention this as counter-evidence.
In most cases, there will be some evidence to support a variety of interpretations. The presence of counter-evidence does not prove your judgment false. But, to give an intellectually honest argument, you must acknowledge that not all of the data supports your position. If there is a lot of counter-evidence, you must explain why you made the judgment you did.
Your essay should be between 750 and 900 words. Pay attention to style and form, as well as content. You will submit your community profile to me electronically, using EssayCheck.
To help you write a profile correctly, I've provided some examples of outstanding student work from previous semesters.
After you submit a draft, you may take a look at instructions for the final edited version.
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