RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Prof IM Ambe

COLLEGE OF ECONOMIC AND

MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

Email: [email protected]

Open Rubric
 KEY QUESTION?

What kind of study will I be doing?

 Research design & methodology
• Research design is a plan or blueprint for answering the research
questions and fulfilling the objectives of the study.

• Described as the “logical structure that guides” the researcher.

• It focuses on the end-product.
– “What kind of study is being planned and what kind of results are aimed at?
– What kind of evidence is required to address the research question
adequately?
• Research methodology focuses on the research process and the
kind of tools and procedures to be used.
 Difference between design & methodology
Research design Research methodology
The final product is the centre The main focus is on the research
point. process. What are the tools and
What are the results that you procedures that you will use?
hope for?
The research problem or You start with specific tasks such as the
research question is the sampling, method of data collection etc.
starting point.
The focus is on the evidence The focus is on the most objective
that is needed to answer the individual steps needed to carry out the
research question. procedure.
 Research design
The research design needs

• Clear objectives derived from the research question

• To specify sources of data collection
• To consider constraints and ethical issues
• Valid reasons for your choice of design
 Classification of the research design

Three traditional categories of research design:

• Exploratory - “discovery”: open questions to gain insight

• Descriptive - “relationships”: gain an accurate profile of persons, events, or
situations
• Causal - “cause-and-effect”: Establish causal relations between variables

The choice of the most appropriate design depends largely on the

objectives of the research and how much is known about the problem and
objectives.
 Exploratory research design

• Find out what is happening, to clarify your understanding of

a problem.
• 3 ways for conducting:
– A search of the literature
– Interview experts in the subject
– Conducting focus group interviews

Flexible and adaptable to change

 Descriptive research design

• Its object is to portray an accurate profile nof persons, events or

situations.
• Usually a research cannot be simply descriptive since the
reader’s reaction would be SO WHAT?
• So it is a means to an end, not an end in itself
 Explanatory research design
• Studies that establish causal relationships between
variables
 Research methods
The research methods can be classified as either:

• Qualitative research – exploring and understanding the meaning

individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem.
• Quantitative research – testing objective theories by examining the
relationship among variables.
• Mixed methods research – an approach to inquiry that combines or
associates both qualitative and quantitative forms.
Qualitative vs. quantitative research methods
Criteria Qualitative research Quantitative research

Purpose To understand & interpret social To test hypotheses, look at

interactions. cause & effect, & make
predictions.
Group studied Smaller & not randomly Larger & randomly selected.
selected.
Variables Study of the whole, not Specific variables studied
variables.
Type of data Words, images, or objects. Numbers and statistics.
collected
Form of data Qualitative data such as open- Quantitative data based on
collected ended responses, interviews, precise measurements using
participant observations, field structured & validated data-
notes, & reflections. collection instruments.

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 Qualitative vs. quantitative research
Criteria Qualitative research Quantitative research
Type of data Identify patterns, features, Identify statistical relationships.
analysis themes.
Objectivity Subjectivity is expected. Objectivity is critical.
and
subjectivity
Role of Researcher & their biases may Researcher & their biases are not
researcher be known to participants in the known to participants in the study,
study, & participant & participant characteristics are
characteristics may be known to deliberately hidden from the
the researcher. researcher (double blind studies).
Results Particular or specialized findings Generalisable findings that can be
that is less generalizable. applied to other populations.
Scientific Exploratory or bottom–up: the Confirmatory or top-down: the
method researcher generates a new researcher tests the hypothesis
hypothesis and theory from the and theory with the data.
data collected.
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 Qualitative vs. quantitative research
Criteria Qualitative research Quantitative research
View of human Dynamic, situational, social, & Regular & predictable.
behavior personal.
Most common Explore, discover, & construct. Describe, explain, & predict.
research
objectives
Focus Wide-angle lens; examines the Narrow-angle lens; tests a
breadth & depth of phenomena. specific hypotheses.
Nature of Study behavior in a natural Study behavior under controlled
observation environment. conditions; isolate causal effects.

Nature of reality Multiple realities; subjective. Single reality; objective.

Final report Narrative report with contextual Statistical report with

description & direct quotations correlations, comparisons of
from research participants. means, & statistical significance
of findings.
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 Mixed research methods

Mixed methods consists of:

“the collection or analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data
in a single study in which the data are collected concurrently or
sequentially, are given a priority, and involve the integration of data
at one or more stages in the process of research”.

Sequential vs concurrent mixed research design

 Reasons for “mixing”
• The insufficient argument – either quantitative or qualitative may
be insufficient by itself
• Multiple angles argument – quantitative and qualitative
approaches provide different “pictures”
• The more-evidence-the-better argument – combined quantitative
and qualitative provides more evidence
• Community of practice argument – mixed methods may be the
preferred approach within a scholarly community
• Eager-to-learn argument – it is the latest methodology
• “Its intuitive” argument – it mirrors “real life”

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 Research strategies
• select
– Experiment – variables; hypotheses
– Survey – questionnaires; quantitative data
– Archival research – admin records & documents
– Case study – phenomenon in its real life context
– Ethnography – study groups
– Action research – iterative process of inquiry
– Grounded theory – develop theory inductively
– Narrative inquiry – collect & analyse complete
stories
• Or a combination of strategies
 Research Strategies

An experiment will involve

• Definition of a theoretical hypothesis

• Selection of samples from know populations
• Random allocation of samples
• Introduction of planned intervention
• Measurement on a small number of dependent
variables
• Control of all other variables
 Research Strategies
Survey: key features

• Popular in business research

• Perceived as authoritative
• Allows collection of quantative data
• Data can be analysed quantitatively
• Samples need to be representative
• Gives the researcher independence
• Structured observation and interviews can be used
 Research Strategies
Case Study: key features

• Provides a rich understanding of a real life context

• Uses and triangulates multiple sources of data

A case study can be categorised in four ways

and based on two dimensions:

single case v. multiple case (more ability to generalize)

holistic case(choose 1 organization as a whole)
v. embedded case(some departments or activities)
 Research Strategies

Action research: key features

• Research IN action - not ON action focusing on the purpose

• Involvement of practitioners in the research
• The researcher becomes part of the organisation
• Promotes change within the organisation
 Research Strategies
Grounded theory: key features
Inductive deductive approach

• Theory is built through induction and deduction

• Helps to predict and explain behaviour
• Develops theory from data generated by
observations
• Is an interpretative process, not a logico-deductive
one
 Research Strategies

Ethnography: key features

Inductive approach

• Aims to describe and explain the social world inhabited

by the researcher
• Takes place over an extended time period
• Involves extended participant observation such as studying
gorillas in their natural habitat
 Research Strategies

Archival research: key features

• Uses administrative records and documents as the principal

sources of data
• Allows research questions focused on the past
• Is constrained by the nature of the records and documents
• Example: historical research
 Population and sample

Population, sample and individual cases

Overview of sampling techniques
Sampling techniques
 Data collection techniques
‘What type of data do I need?’
• Using secondary data
– What? Where is it located? Access secured?
• Collecting primary data
– Who? Where are my intended participants?
– Participant observation
– Structured observation
– Interviews -Forms of interviews
• Structured, semi-structured and unstructured
– Questionnaires
• do not have to included in proposal
 Measuring instrument/data gathering and
capturing
• Primary vs secondary data sources
• Describe the instruments will be used to gather data (tests,
techniques, surveys, etc)
• Provide reliability and validity information to show techniques are
valid for the study
• Describe how the variables will be measured
• Provide justification for selection of instruments based on theory,
research question, subject characteristics, etc.
• Provide published reliability of instrument and plan to establish
reliability
• Trustworthiness in qualitative research
 Analysing and interpreting quantitative data
• Quantitative data is presented in a numerical format and collected in a
standardised manner
– e.g. surveys, closed-ended interviews, tests
– analysed using statistical techniques
• Descriptive statistics are used to summarize the basic feature of a data
set through
– measures of central tendency (mean, mode, and median)
– dispersion (range, quartiles, variance, and standard deviation)
• Inferential statistics allow researchers to assess their ability to draw
conclusions that extent beyond the immediate data, e.g.
– if a sample represents the population
– if there are differences between two or more groups
– if there are changes over time
– if there is a relationship between two or more variables
 Analysing and interpreting qualitative data
• Qualitative data is thick in detail and description.
• Data often in a narrative format
• Data often collected by observation, open-ended interviewing,
document review
• Analysis often emphasizes understanding phenomena as they
exist, not following pre-determined hypotheses

There are a number of paradigm and discipline based strategies for

qualitative data analysis including
– content analysis, discourse analysis, narrative analysis,
conversation analysis, semiotics, hermeneutics, grounded
theory
 Other things to Note
• Time dimension – cross-sectional or longitudinal
• Conceptualisation – i.e. you must specify the meanings of the
concepts and variables to be studied.
• Operationalisation – how will we actually measure the variables
under study?
• Reliability – are the results repeatable? – relevant to quantitative
social research.
• Replication - can others replicate the results?
• Validity – will examine later but are the results a true reflection of the
world? Internal (are they measuring the underlying
pheonomen)/external (generalise to the population)
 Are you there??
• Research methodology
– For each of the headings, indicate what is
appropriate for your research
• Research design
• Research method/approach
• Research strategy
• Population
• Sampling
• Data collection
• Data analysis