Research methods-from Chicago to Darfur

                Sociology poses a problem in that, in trying to explain human behavior, it is one of the most corruptible and easily manipulated disciplines. Along with history and religion, Sociology has contributed to some horrible doctrines and practices, such as Social Darwinism and eugenics. The upside of this argument, however, is that Sociologists ultimately learn from their mistakes and most often have the advancement of all people at their core, unlike some (looking at you, Spencer and Galton.) One key point that Sampson makes about his analysis of ‘everything,’ seen through the lens of neighborhood effects, is that while he borrows much from the Chicago School of urban sociology, the amount and datedness of what he borrows is not of major consequence. He devotes an entire section of the second chapter to the roots of urban sociology and its players, as well as theories, but notes that he may not use any of the ideas depending on how well they explain the situation of enduring neighborhood effects in Chicago (as a microcosm/case study for cities.) He is not concerned with technicalities and arguments whether one should or should not use a theory because it is old-if it had been disproven, this may be something different, but he is open to using a range of theories to explain the phenomenon he sees. This seems like logical and sound Sociological practice, and is likely one of the reasons he has found such success-only by not binding one’s research can one be most effective. Another thing to note is that he collected data from the field as well as from statistics, which does not bind him in potentially unfair, ivory-tower-longstanding assumptions.

        In that vein, the introductory data that he presents also provides a useful method of conceptualizing neighborhood effects. This type of research may be useful across place, as he shows with his comparison of Chicago and Stockholm. While he is following the idea of ecological mapping, it reminded me of a similar research project I had done for independent study over the summer following my study abroad. (Yes, everything does have to link back to genocide and mass atrocities prevention, so be ready.) In asking the question of what motivated the Janjaweed (Arab nomads) to attack Black Africans in the Darfur genocide (which is still ongoing, by the way), I applied the greed versus grievance theory of political sociology. I used quantitative and qualitative data, and while one half of the research was based off of survivor testimony, the other half was from Global Imaging Systems (GIS) captured during the conflict. Through telescopes and cameras in space, much like google earth, one can see the amount of damage done to villages but also the amount of land that has been grazed over by cattle. In the Darfur genocide, these two images correlate with each other and are predictive of where an attack on a village has happened for the purpose of acquiring grazing lands for Arab nomads’ cattle herds. While this can be seen as the opposite of urbanity, it does support Sampson’s research methods and their application across areas of study in the discipline of Sociology.  Sampson deserves the notoriety that he has received for both his theory and research methods!

Nerd article that no one but myself is interested in showing the application of Sampson's research methods:

http://www.giscorps.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=63