Chapter 2: Understanding the Research Process and The Body Ritual Among The Nacirema

  Chapter 2 was basically about understanding social science, how to do research, the different types of research, and how to think critically by assesing research. I learned that they are three different ways that one can interpret both the natural and social worlds. By basic research, applied research, and public sociology. According to the text, basic research is the primary goal of which is to describe some aspect of society and audience ourunderstanding of it. Applied research is the primary goal of which is to directly adress some problem or need, and public sociology is the effort to bring the findings of both basic and applied sociological research to a broader non academic audience. In doing research they are roles of theory because thoery plays several vital roles in social research. The roles are highlighting key questions, explaining collected data, and seeing connections. There is a theory-research dynamic and methods of collecting data. In collecting data the most commonly used technique is a survey. They are versitile and useful. Intensive interviews and focus groups are also useful as well. Intensive interviews is a gathering techinique that uses open-ended questions during somewhat lengthy face-to-face sessions including fewer than 100 participants, while focus groups made up usually of six to twelve people. Other ways to collect data also is by field research, which a researcher systematically observes some aspect of social life in its natural settings, existing sources, which is data previously collected by other researchers and experiments. The three different types of research I learned about are Positivist Social Science, Interpretive Social Science, and Critical Social Science. To assess research a scientific community does monitoring through peer-review process which is a way in which scholars evaluate research manuscripts before they are published in order to ensure their quality.
  According to the Body Ritual Among the Nacirema, I read that the Nacirema culture is characterized by  highly developed market economy which has evolvedin a rich natural habitat. The focus on the activity is the human body, the appearance and health of which loom as a dominant concern in the ethos of the people. This article really opened my mind . It really had me in total shock after reading some of the things that takes place. Such as a "mouth-rite". The "mouth-rite" involved opening a clients mouth and using either a auger, awl, probe or prod to enlarge holes which decay may have created in the teeth. Magical materials are put into these holes and if they aren't naturally occuring holes in the teeth, large sections of one or more teeth are gouged out so that the supernatural substance cane be applied. Knowing that people actualy take magic and other supernatural things so seriously and appling that to their culture was interesting and makes me want to read into other cultures.