Summary book research methodology
Chapter 1 Introduction
Social research consists of the process of formulating and seeking answers to questions
about the social world
- Altruism: type of helping that takes into acccount the helper’s intentions benefits
and costs
- Operationalize: move beyond abstract definitions to specific, concrete observations
4 Types of research
- Experiment controlling variables, to create a situation
- Survey research questionnaires or interviews to relatively large groups of people
o E.g. frequency of certain characteristics among groups
o Information is collected from part of a group, really mind procedures to
include the right ones
- Field research immersing oneself in a naturally occuring (so not a staged), to gain
firsthand knowledge of the situation
- Available data: data that have been generated for purposes other than those for
which a researcher is using them.
Chapter 2 The nature of science (science comes from scientia which means knowledge)
Issues of epistemology: what constitutes knowledge in the social sciences and how is it
created.
- The aim of science is to produce, understand and explain knowledge
- All fields of study share certain characteristics:
o Type of questions:
scientific questions are questions on why or how patterns occur
non scientific is “what is desirable”
- first step in producing knowledge is description
o concepts are abstracations communicated by words or other signg that refer
to common properties amoung phenomena (e.g. weight)
- second part in producing knowledge is explenation
o several ways of explaining (labelling, defining/giving examples, evoking
emphaty, apealing to authority)
o level of abstractness is very important
- hypothes proposed but not tested, but when they have been repeatedly verified
they become laws
- Theory is used to explain the regularities expressed by laws and to generally explain
empirical generalizations
(ex: The ideal gas law raises the question of why increases in temperature invariably
increase the pressure of gases under constant volume)
, there are always multiple theories but at the end one theory is held superior because of:
1. Involves the fewest number of statements and assumptions
2. Explains the broadest range of phenomena
3. Makes the most accurate predictions
a law or hypothesis is meaningfull when it describes a casual relationship
- a relationship in which a change in one event forces a change in the other
Generalization that explain but do not predict are useless, the other way around they are
usefull
explanations in social science generally boil down to a search for causes
ideally events to be explained can be logically deduced from laws and theories so that it
is possible both to explain the past and present and to predict the future
Tentative knowledge scientific knowledge is tentative, answers raise new questions as
science bases the truth of the statements on observable evidence (and this is always open to
change)
Science is a process involving the continuous interaction of theory and research
Deduction from theory to hypothesis (the conclusion is abolutely certain if evidence is
true)
Induction from data to empirical generalizations (the conclusion is uncertain even if the
evidence is true because it goes beyond the evidence)
Empiricism= a way of knowing or understanding the world that relies directly or indirectly on
what we experience through our senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch
- Necessary to conduct research
Scientists are, or should be, objective observation that is free from emotion, conjecture or
personal bias
- Practically impossible
- Therefore intersubjective testability it must be possible for two or more
independent observers working under the same conditions to agree
influence of bias is unavoidable therefore scientists use control procedures to minimize
biases
- The idea of control is to employ procedures that effectively rule out all explanations
except the one in which the researcher is interested
Control methods include:
1. Using several independent observers
2. Witholding information from subjects
3. Employing instruments like voice recorders
Quantative <-> qualitative discussion
Nomothetic explanations: identify common causes among classes of events
, Idiographic explanations: describe the unique set of conditions that account fort he actions
of a single person or set of actors at a particular time and place
Chapter 3 elements of research design
Three main concerns as a researcher narrows in on research question
1. What entities ( e,.g. individuals, groups, formal organizations, nations) are tob e
studied
2. What aspects or characteristics of these entities are of interest
3. What kinds of relationships among the characteristics are anticipated
The starting point of research is the selection of a topic
there are 5 factors that explain the origin of most topics
1. The structure and state of the scientific discipline ongoing discussions in field of
study
2. Social problems
3. Personal interest of the researcher
4. Social premiums does it recieve funding etc e.g. space program usa 1960’s
5. Practical considerations time, money etc
first it is important to formulate a researchable froblem, this entails deciding what
relationships among what variables of what units are to be studied
Unit of analysis
- The entities (objects or events) under study are referred to in social research as units
of analysis (individual people; social roles, positions and relationships. Social grouping
and social artifacts)
- What or who is tob e described or analyzed
Aggregate data information about one set of units that is statistically combined to
describe a larger social unit (ex: ranking universities; getting the results of individuals)
- When information about individuals is aggregated to describe groups or cellectivities,
the unit of analysis, may be either the individual or the group
to draw conclusions about one unit on the basis of information about another is to risk
commiting a logical fallacy
Ecological fallacy
- The most common one, it involves the mismatching of units (what holds true of a
group also is true of individuals within the group)
- Carefully determine the units about which you wish to draw conclusions and then
make sure that your data pertain to those units
Variables
Variables characteristics of units that vary, taking on different values, catogories, or
attributes for different obstervations
- Note that: any term you would use to describe yourself or someone else, is an
attribute or catogory of a variable
Chapter 1 Introduction
Social research consists of the process of formulating and seeking answers to questions
about the social world
- Altruism: type of helping that takes into acccount the helper’s intentions benefits
and costs
- Operationalize: move beyond abstract definitions to specific, concrete observations
4 Types of research
- Experiment controlling variables, to create a situation
- Survey research questionnaires or interviews to relatively large groups of people
o E.g. frequency of certain characteristics among groups
o Information is collected from part of a group, really mind procedures to
include the right ones
- Field research immersing oneself in a naturally occuring (so not a staged), to gain
firsthand knowledge of the situation
- Available data: data that have been generated for purposes other than those for
which a researcher is using them.
Chapter 2 The nature of science (science comes from scientia which means knowledge)
Issues of epistemology: what constitutes knowledge in the social sciences and how is it
created.
- The aim of science is to produce, understand and explain knowledge
- All fields of study share certain characteristics:
o Type of questions:
scientific questions are questions on why or how patterns occur
non scientific is “what is desirable”
- first step in producing knowledge is description
o concepts are abstracations communicated by words or other signg that refer
to common properties amoung phenomena (e.g. weight)
- second part in producing knowledge is explenation
o several ways of explaining (labelling, defining/giving examples, evoking
emphaty, apealing to authority)
o level of abstractness is very important
- hypothes proposed but not tested, but when they have been repeatedly verified
they become laws
- Theory is used to explain the regularities expressed by laws and to generally explain
empirical generalizations
(ex: The ideal gas law raises the question of why increases in temperature invariably
increase the pressure of gases under constant volume)
, there are always multiple theories but at the end one theory is held superior because of:
1. Involves the fewest number of statements and assumptions
2. Explains the broadest range of phenomena
3. Makes the most accurate predictions
a law or hypothesis is meaningfull when it describes a casual relationship
- a relationship in which a change in one event forces a change in the other
Generalization that explain but do not predict are useless, the other way around they are
usefull
explanations in social science generally boil down to a search for causes
ideally events to be explained can be logically deduced from laws and theories so that it
is possible both to explain the past and present and to predict the future
Tentative knowledge scientific knowledge is tentative, answers raise new questions as
science bases the truth of the statements on observable evidence (and this is always open to
change)
Science is a process involving the continuous interaction of theory and research
Deduction from theory to hypothesis (the conclusion is abolutely certain if evidence is
true)
Induction from data to empirical generalizations (the conclusion is uncertain even if the
evidence is true because it goes beyond the evidence)
Empiricism= a way of knowing or understanding the world that relies directly or indirectly on
what we experience through our senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch
- Necessary to conduct research
Scientists are, or should be, objective observation that is free from emotion, conjecture or
personal bias
- Practically impossible
- Therefore intersubjective testability it must be possible for two or more
independent observers working under the same conditions to agree
influence of bias is unavoidable therefore scientists use control procedures to minimize
biases
- The idea of control is to employ procedures that effectively rule out all explanations
except the one in which the researcher is interested
Control methods include:
1. Using several independent observers
2. Witholding information from subjects
3. Employing instruments like voice recorders
Quantative <-> qualitative discussion
Nomothetic explanations: identify common causes among classes of events
, Idiographic explanations: describe the unique set of conditions that account fort he actions
of a single person or set of actors at a particular time and place
Chapter 3 elements of research design
Three main concerns as a researcher narrows in on research question
1. What entities ( e,.g. individuals, groups, formal organizations, nations) are tob e
studied
2. What aspects or characteristics of these entities are of interest
3. What kinds of relationships among the characteristics are anticipated
The starting point of research is the selection of a topic
there are 5 factors that explain the origin of most topics
1. The structure and state of the scientific discipline ongoing discussions in field of
study
2. Social problems
3. Personal interest of the researcher
4. Social premiums does it recieve funding etc e.g. space program usa 1960’s
5. Practical considerations time, money etc
first it is important to formulate a researchable froblem, this entails deciding what
relationships among what variables of what units are to be studied
Unit of analysis
- The entities (objects or events) under study are referred to in social research as units
of analysis (individual people; social roles, positions and relationships. Social grouping
and social artifacts)
- What or who is tob e described or analyzed
Aggregate data information about one set of units that is statistically combined to
describe a larger social unit (ex: ranking universities; getting the results of individuals)
- When information about individuals is aggregated to describe groups or cellectivities,
the unit of analysis, may be either the individual or the group
to draw conclusions about one unit on the basis of information about another is to risk
commiting a logical fallacy
Ecological fallacy
- The most common one, it involves the mismatching of units (what holds true of a
group also is true of individuals within the group)
- Carefully determine the units about which you wish to draw conclusions and then
make sure that your data pertain to those units
Variables
Variables characteristics of units that vary, taking on different values, catogories, or
attributes for different obstervations
- Note that: any term you would use to describe yourself or someone else, is an
attribute or catogory of a variable
