In recent years, sociologists who study deviance have learned that they can measure the quantities of narcotics consumed by a community by testing its sewage before treatment. what part of the research process would the sociologists be carrying out when they visit the sewage treatment plant to test its sewage?

The answer is collect data.

Explanation:

This is an essential step for answering research questions. The data can be collected through other research papers, or provided by the subjects using surveys, questionnaires or observations -in this instance, it is provided by the subjects' sewage. It might be necessary to visit the plant twice (at the beginning and the end of the research) to compare data and draw conclusions.