# German Sociological Research Methods

**Language:** German  
**CEFR Level:** B1  

> Join Leon and Johanna for discussions on sociological research methods, one short conversation at a time. Each lesson trains your ear until you can follow every word and answer back.

**Setting:** At Leon's lively Späti in Berlin-Neukölln, Johanna stops by during a research visit to Berlin to help design a local community study. Sitting on wooden crates outside, they compare notes on sociological research methods to capture how the neighborhood is changing.

## Lessons

### 1. Comparing different research methods

Leon and Johanna share their frustration with online surveys and discuss why Johanna prefers conducting qualitative interviews.

### 2. Discussing the challenges of a task

Johanna explains the tedious process of transcribing interviews to Leon and why her professor still believes it is highly valuable.

### 3. Comparing casual and professional concepts

Leon and Johanna jokingly compare the daily gossip at Leon's shop to academic field research.

### 4. Discussing bias in data collection

Johanna and Leon discuss how age bias and unrepresentative samples can easily skew the results of online surveys.

### 5. Discussing ethical boundaries

Leon and Johanna discuss the balance of time and money in research before Johanna raises the ethical question of observing people without their knowledge.

### 6. Debating research dilemmas

Leon and Johanna debate whether researchers should inform participants they are being watched, considering how it might change their behavior.

### 7. Proposing a compromise

Johanna suggests debriefing participants after an observation as a compromise, and Leon agrees that working with human subjects is rarely perfect.

### 8. Distinguishing cause and effect

Johanna complains about her statistics software, leading Leon to help clarify the difference between correlation and causation with a simple example.

### 9. Discussing the impact of phrasing

Johanna and Leon discuss how the way a question is phrased can completely change the results of a survey.

### 10. Illustrating how questions influence answers

Johanna gives examples of how different question formulations prompt different thoughts, leading Leon to ask about intentional manipulation.

### 11. Evaluating the reliability of studies

Johanna and Leon talk about how research can be manipulated and why it is important to look at who funded a study.

### 12. Critiquing representation in online data

Johanna explains how researchers use social media data, while Leon points out that this method excludes people who do not use these platforms.

### 13. Explaining the need for qualitative data

Johanna explains to Leon why her neighborhood study requires real-life stories rather than just numbers, while Leon encourages her efforts.

### 14. Making an informal agreement

Leon offers to share stories about his regular customers the next day, and Johanna agrees to meet without using a voice recorder.