Research Methods Chapter 1

People use findings from social research to do what?

- reduce crime
- improve public health
- sell products
- or just understanding aspects of their lives

Social Research

a process in which people combine a set of principles, outlooks and ideas (ex. methodology) with a collection of specific practices, techniques and strategies (ex. a method of inquiry) to produce knowledge

Alternatives to social research

- authority
- tradition
- common sense
- media myths
- personal experience

Authority

- when you accept something as true bc someone in a position of authority says its true or it is an authoritative publication
- quick, simple and cheap way to learn something
- history is full of past "experts" whom we now see as being misinformed
- not a

Can too much reliance on authority be dangerous to a democratic society?

yes

Tradition

- tradition is a special case of authority because it is authority from the past
- tradition menas you accept something as being true because "it's the way things have always been

Common Sense

- you rely on what everyone knows and what "just makes sense"
- for ex. the death penalty
- common sense is valuable in daily living, but it allows logical fallacies to slip into thinking
- for ex. the so-called gambler's fallacy

What is the gambler's fallacy?

if I have a long string of losses playing in the lottery, next time I play my chances of winning will be better

Media Myths

- media's primary goal is to entertain not to represent reality
- tv shows, movies and newspaper are important sources of info
- for ex. most people have no contact with criminals but learn about crime by watching tv shows, movies and newspaper, etc
- but

Personal Experience

- if something happens to you, you personally see it or experience it, you accept it as true
- "seeing is believing"
- personal experience can lead you astray because what appears true may actually be due to a slight error or distortion in judgement
- man

The 4 Errors of Personal Experience

(1) overgeneralization
(2) selective observation
(3) premature closure
(4) the halo effect - reinforce each other and can occur in the other areas, as well

Overgeneralization

it occurs when some evidence supports your belief, but you falsely assume that it also applies to many other situations

Selective Observation

- the tendency to take notice of certain people or events based on past experience or attitudes
- occurs when you take special notice of some people or events and tend to seek out evidence that confirms what you already believe and to ignore contradictory

Premature Closure

- occurs when you feel you have the answer and do not need to listen, seek information or raise questions any longer
- an error that is often made when using personal experience as an alternative to science for acquiring knowledge. It occurs when a person

Halo Effect

- which occurs when we overgeneralize from what we accept as being highly possible positive or prestigious and let its strong reputation or prestige "rub off" onto other areas
- an error often made when people use personal experience as an alternative to

Social sciences involve what?

the study of people, their beliefs, behaviour, interaction, institutions and so forth

Science is what

a social institution and means of producing knowledge

Data

the empirical evidence or information that one gathers carefully according to rules or procedures

Data can be what?

either quantitative or qualitative

Quantitative

information expressed as numbers

Qualitative

information expressed as words, visual images, sounds or objects

Empirical Evidence

refers to observations that people experience through the senses - touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste

The Scientific Community

is a collection of people who practice science and share a system of rules and attitudes that sustain the process of producing scientific knowledge - practice a set of norms, behaviour and attitudes that bind them together - it's a professional community

Professional Community

a group of interacting people who share ethical principles, beliefs and values, techniques and training, and career paths

For the most part, the scientific community includes what?

includes both the natural and social sciences

Page 7

examples of sources of knowledge - good to look at

Does the scientific community work together?

yes, they are scattered geographically but its members tend to work together in small clusters

The Scientific Method

- is not one single thing, refers to the: ideas, rules, techniques and approaches that the scientific community uses
- the process of creating new knowledge using the ideas, techniques and rules of the scientific community
- places high value on professio

A Blind Review

the reviewers do not know who conducted the study and the author of the paper does not know who the reviewers are

What does a blind review reinforce?

it reinforces the scientific principle of judging a study on its merits alone

Scholarly journals accept what?

only 10-15% of submitted manuscripts -- also scientists are not paid for publishing in scholarly journals

Is it a problem that reviewers are not paid for their work?

no, they consider it an honour to be asked to conduct peer reviews and to carry out one of the responsibilities of being part of the scientific community

Steps in the Social Research Process

(1) select topic
(2) focus question
(3) design study
(4) collect data
(5) analyze data
(6) interpret data
(7) inform others
it's an interactive process in which the steps blend into each other

For over a century, science had which 2 wings?

- academic research and applied research
- a detached, purely scientific and academic orientation vs a more activist, pragmatic and interventionist orientated

Are these 2 wings rigid?

no the 2 wings cooperate and maintain a friendly relationship

Academic Social Research

- advances fundamental knowledge about the social world
- it provides the major breakthroughs that significantly advance knowledge; it is the painstaking study of broad questions that have the potential to shift how we think about a wide range of issues
-

Applied Social Research

- is designed to address a specific concern or to offer solutions to a problem identified by an employer, club, agency, social movement or organization
- attempts to solve a concrete problem or address a specific policy question and that has a direct, pra

An example of applied social research

the student gov't of a university wants to know if the number of students who are arrested for driving while intoxicated or involved in auto accidents will decline if the university sponsors alcohol-free parties next year

Who is the primary consumer of academic research?

the scientific community

Which research is the one where often someone other than the researcher who conducted the study uses the results?

applied research

Which research is less likely to enter the public domain in publications and may be available only to a few decision makers or practitioners?

applied research

Which researchers must make more tradeoffs?

applied researchers (p. 11)

Major Types of Applied Research

(1) evaluation
(2) action
(3) social impact assessment

Evaluation Research Study

is applied research designed to find out how well a program, a new way of doing something, a marketing campaign, a policy and so forth is working or reaching its goals and objective (it's effectivity) "Does it work?

The most common type of applied research

evaluation research

Limitations of Evaluation Research

- the reports of research rarely go through a peer review process
- raw data are seldom publicly available
- the focus is narrowed to select only the inputs and outputs of a program that have a direct effect on people's lives

Action Research

is applied research that treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the division between creating knowledge and using knowledge to engage in political action

Several Types of Action Research

(1) the people being studied actively participate in the research process
(2) the research incorporates ordinary or popular knowledge
(3) the research focuses on issues of power
(4) the research seeks to raise consciousness or increase awareness of issues

Social Impact Assessment

type of applied social research in which a researcher estimates the likely consequences or outcome of a planned intervention or intentional change to occur in the future

A social impact assessment may be apart of what

a part of a larger environmental impact statement required by gov't agencies and used for planning and making choices among alternative policies

Impacts

are the difference between a future with the project or policy and that without the project or policy

Exploratory Research

research into an area that has not been studied and in which a researcher wants to develop initial ideas and a more focused research question (wants to formulate precise questions that he/she can address in future research)

Exploratory research uses which type of data?

they tend to use qualitative data and not be committed to a specific theory or research question -- it rarely yields definitive answers

Descriptive Research

presents/paints a picture of the specific details of a situation, social setting or relationship - it focuses on "how did it happen" and "who was involved" questions (paints a picture with words or numbers, presents a profile, outlines stages or classifie

Which types of research often blur together in practice?

descriptive and exploratory research

A great deal of social research is which research?

descriptive research -- surveys, field research, content analysis and historical research

In descriptive research, a researcher begins with what?

a well-defined subject and conducts a study to describe if accurately; the outcome is a detailed picture of the subject

Explanatory Research

identifies the sources of social behaviours, beliefs, conditions and events; it documents causes, tests theories and provides reasons (focuses on why events occur or tries to test and build social theory)

Example of explanatory research

focusing on why certain couples are choosing cohabitation over marriage

Cross-Sectional Research

- where a researcher examines a single point in time or takes a one-time snapshot approach
- usually the simplest and least costly alternative
- most consistent with a descriptive approach to research

Cross-Sectional Research Disadvantage

its disadvantage is that it cannot capture social processes or change

Longitudinal research

- research in which the researcher examines the features of people or other units at multiple points in time
- more complex and costly than cross-sectional

Time-Series Study

- gathers the same type of information across 2+ periods
- any research that takes place over time in which different people or cases may be looked at in each time period
- researcher can observe stability or change in the features of the units
- specific

Panel Study

- a powerful type of longitudinal research in which a researcher observes exactly the same people, group or organization across multiple time points
- the results of a well-designed panel study are very valuable
- very costly and more difficult

Possible Disadvantages of a Panel Study

tracking people over time is often difficult because some people die or cannot be located

Cohort Study

- type of longitudinal research in which a researcher focuses on a category of people who share a similar life experience in a specified period
- commonly used cohorts are birth cohorts

Birth Cohorts

all people born in the same year (more cohorts - all people hired at the same time and all people who graduate in a given year)

Types of Longitudinal Research

- time series study
- panel study
- cohort study

Case-study Research

- a researcher examines, in depth, many features of a few cases over a duration of time with very detailed, varied and extensive data, often in a qualitative form
- usually qualitative
- research on one or a small number of cases in which a researcher car

The 2 Major Approaches

quantitative and qualitative

Which approach tries to use statistical analytic techniques to analyze large data sets and make generalized statements about social life?

quantitative

Which approach tends to study smaller groups and often believe that the study of people requires specialized techniques that allow researchers to understand and properly interpret the meanings behind their subjects' words and actions?

qualitatitive

Experimental Research

closely follows the logic and principles found in natural science research: researchers create situations and examine their effects on participants

Experiments are most effective for what type of research?

explanatory research

Survey Research

quantitative social research technique in which one systematically asks many people the same questions and then records and analyzes their answers -- summarizes in percentages, tables or graphs

Content Analysis

research in which one examines patterns of symbolic meaning within written text, audio, visual or other communication medium -- 1st identified body of material to analyze and then creates a system for recording specific aspects of it

Existing Statistics Research

research in which one examines previously collected numerical information from government documents or official reports to address new research questions

Qualitative Interviews

a one-on-one interview between a researcher and an interviewee that is usually semi-structured and open ended -- to gain in-depth understanding of the meaning of a social phenomenon to a group of people

Focus Groups

- like qualitative interviews but conducted in a group
- a type of group interview where an interviewer poses questions to the group and answers are given in an open discussion among the group members

Field Research

- begins with a loosely formulated idea or topic, selects a social group or natural setting for study, gains access & adopts a social role in the setting, & observes in detail
- qualitative research where researcher directly observes the people being stud

Historical Research

examines aspects of social life in a past historical era or across different cultures -- may focus on one historical period or several, compare one or more cultures or mix historical periods and cultures