RESEARCH METHODS
A PRATICAL GUIDE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Bob Matthews and Liz Ross | Longman
Part A, Part B & Part C1-C3
, Part A – Thinking about research
A1 What is research?
- Research quality = reliability, validity, credibility and ethical practice of a piece of research
- Process = on-going, continuous series of actions to achieve a specific result
- Research = process or practice we undertake to extend knowledge or find answers to questions
3 components: The question, The research process, The answer
Needs to be planned, does not happen by accident
Process is transferable – same process for different researches and researchers
Nature of research: structural, purposeful, rigorous (strict), robust, defensible, and systematic
More than just gathering facts or data – focused on explanation and description
- Basis of research quality check
Reliability (dependability/replicability)
Can the results be replicated by other researchers while using the same methods
Should get a result that is similar (social sciences) or exactly the same (natural sciences)
Dependability = measure of quality; consistency in research practice, e.g. all data included
Validity and credibility
Am I researching what I think I am? And is the data relevant to my research question?
Credibility = believability, transparency of researcher’s interpretations of gathered data
Generalizability and transferability
Able to claim that the findings are true/relevant for the wider population/different context?
Ethical practice
Is the researcher’s behavior respectful to all humans involved?
- Social researcher = asks questions about the way we live and how/why somethings happens
A2 Knowledge, theories, paradigms and perspectives
- Information = knowledge gained through study, experience or instruction
Gather information to address and demonstrate understanding of question
- Social research = research done by social researchers following a systematic plan
Concern for the truth; all subjective – don’t know if our truth is the same as the truth
What, why and how questions – describe, explore, understand and explain social phenomena
- Social world = setting or cultural surroundings in which social research takes place
- Social often seen as relationship or interaction between two or more people
Scientist interest in social relationship between individuals and the social world
- Natural sciences = study of physical world and associated phenomena
Subject is independent from researcher
- Social phenomenon = anything influenced by humans, like an organization, family or community
- Knowledge = information about, awareness of, or an understanding of
Five ways of knowing
1) Belief: believe something to be true
2) Authoritative knowledge: an authority tells you something is true
3) Experiential knowing: knowledge built up from experience
4) Theoretical knowing: theory or set of ideas as response or explanation
5) Empirical knowledge: knowledge based on research evidence
- According to Blaikie there are three approaches to truth
1) Truth can be reliably established
2) All knowledge is temporary, never know when we have discovered the truth
3) There is no truth
- Ontology = the science of what is/being, how the social world is seen – different positions
Objectivism = social phenomena in our social world have an existence of their own
A PRATICAL GUIDE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Bob Matthews and Liz Ross | Longman
Part A, Part B & Part C1-C3
, Part A – Thinking about research
A1 What is research?
- Research quality = reliability, validity, credibility and ethical practice of a piece of research
- Process = on-going, continuous series of actions to achieve a specific result
- Research = process or practice we undertake to extend knowledge or find answers to questions
3 components: The question, The research process, The answer
Needs to be planned, does not happen by accident
Process is transferable – same process for different researches and researchers
Nature of research: structural, purposeful, rigorous (strict), robust, defensible, and systematic
More than just gathering facts or data – focused on explanation and description
- Basis of research quality check
Reliability (dependability/replicability)
Can the results be replicated by other researchers while using the same methods
Should get a result that is similar (social sciences) or exactly the same (natural sciences)
Dependability = measure of quality; consistency in research practice, e.g. all data included
Validity and credibility
Am I researching what I think I am? And is the data relevant to my research question?
Credibility = believability, transparency of researcher’s interpretations of gathered data
Generalizability and transferability
Able to claim that the findings are true/relevant for the wider population/different context?
Ethical practice
Is the researcher’s behavior respectful to all humans involved?
- Social researcher = asks questions about the way we live and how/why somethings happens
A2 Knowledge, theories, paradigms and perspectives
- Information = knowledge gained through study, experience or instruction
Gather information to address and demonstrate understanding of question
- Social research = research done by social researchers following a systematic plan
Concern for the truth; all subjective – don’t know if our truth is the same as the truth
What, why and how questions – describe, explore, understand and explain social phenomena
- Social world = setting or cultural surroundings in which social research takes place
- Social often seen as relationship or interaction between two or more people
Scientist interest in social relationship between individuals and the social world
- Natural sciences = study of physical world and associated phenomena
Subject is independent from researcher
- Social phenomenon = anything influenced by humans, like an organization, family or community
- Knowledge = information about, awareness of, or an understanding of
Five ways of knowing
1) Belief: believe something to be true
2) Authoritative knowledge: an authority tells you something is true
3) Experiential knowing: knowledge built up from experience
4) Theoretical knowing: theory or set of ideas as response or explanation
5) Empirical knowledge: knowledge based on research evidence
- According to Blaikie there are three approaches to truth
1) Truth can be reliably established
2) All knowledge is temporary, never know when we have discovered the truth
3) There is no truth
- Ontology = the science of what is/being, how the social world is seen – different positions
Objectivism = social phenomena in our social world have an existence of their own
