1 – In his study of abstract art, David Halle sought to answer multiple questions about abstract art, specifically the ownership and opinions pertaining to it. First, Halle looked at who had abstract art in their homes; determining if the ownership of abstract art indicated social class, he then moved on to more subjective questions such as opinions of abstract art. Halle asked questions about who disliked and liked abstract art for a few different reasons; to learn the specific thinking behind these preferences and to learn if these preferences were linked to knowledge or perceptions within different social classes. In addition, Halle sought to refute Pierre Bourdieu’s claim that only people with cultural capital like or understand abstract
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Two neighborhoods were middle or upper class and the other two were working and lower middle class. Within these neighborhoods Halle chose a random sample of forty households per section for a total of one hundred sixty households. Halle went to each residence and interviewed the inhabitants, specifically the heads of each household and in the case of spouses he interviewed both people. Although the sampling strategy used in this study is good in that one hundred sixty households is a very large sample size by qualitative standards, the limited population of four neighborhoods however, poses a problem. In order to be a random sample, every member of the population being studied has to have an equal probability of being chosen for a sample. In the case of Halle’s study on abstract art, the scope of the sample is very narrow, just four neighborhoods in a large city. A random sample of a population is used so that the researcher can form an inference about the wider population. In this particular case, because the random sample is narrow, Halle can only make inferences about the limited four neighborhood area within his study instead of for the much larger population.
5 a – My research project centers on how specific characteristics within social classes further impact both the ownership of abstract art and the taste or distaste for abstract art. Specifically, how the intersectionality of social class, race, and gender affect who owns abstract art, who would like to own abstract art, and tastes for abstract art. My questions are sociologically significant because, they can indicate how diverse groups of people interpret the
Two neighborhoods were middle or upper class and the other two were working and lower middle class. Within these neighborhoods Halle chose a random sample of forty households per section for a total of one hundred sixty households. Halle went to each residence and interviewed the inhabitants, specifically the heads of each household and in the case of spouses he interviewed both people. Although the sampling strategy used in this study is good in that one hundred sixty households is a very large sample size by qualitative standards, the limited population of four neighborhoods however, poses a problem. In order to be a random sample, every member of the population being studied has to have an equal probability of being chosen for a sample. In the case of Halle’s study on abstract art, the scope of the sample is very narrow, just four neighborhoods in a large city. A random sample of a population is used so that the researcher can form an inference about the wider population. In this particular case, because the random sample is narrow, Halle can only make inferences about the limited four neighborhood area within his study instead of for the much larger population.
5 a – My research project centers on how specific characteristics within social classes further impact both the ownership of abstract art and the taste or distaste for abstract art. Specifically, how the intersectionality of social class, race, and gender affect who owns abstract art, who would like to own abstract art, and tastes for abstract art. My questions are sociologically significant because, they can indicate how diverse groups of people interpret the