Bryman6ce Lectureppt ch01
Bryman6ce Lectureppt ch01
1. Explain the relationship between theory in the broad sense and data
gathering; in particular, you should be able to recognize that the purpose
of collecting data may be to test theories or to create theories.
2. Discuss the positivist, interpretivist, and critical approaches to social
science, including their key assumptions regarding the purposes of social
research and how it should be conducted.
3. Describe the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative research.
4. Identify how different factors, including values, politics, and issues
related to the research question(s) may influence social research.
• What is theory?
– An explanation of observed regularities or patterns
• Common components of a theory
– Definitions: What are the key terms?
– Descriptions: What are the characteristics?
– Relational statements: How are variables related?
• Deterministic
• Probabilistic
• Deductive method
– The most common approach to social research
– Begins with theory
– Understand specific phenomenon through background research
– Develop hypotheses
– Test with empirical data
– Revise if necessary
• Inductive method
– Theories and interpretations are the outcome of theory
– Gather and examine data first
– Then create theory from the observations
• Grounded theory
– Deriving theory from observations
– Used by qualitative researchers
• Epistemology
– How do we know the world?
– How does knowledge become acquired?
• Three broad positions on knowing the world:
– Positivism
– Interpretivism
– Critical approaches
• Quantitative research
– Uses numbers and statistics in the collection and analysis of data
• Qualitative research
– Uses mainly words and other non-numeric symbols in the collection
and analysis of data
• Reflexivity
– Researchers’ awareness that their values and decisions have an
impact on the research
– Personal biases are made explicit
• Research subjects/participants
– Gatekeepers
– Who gets access? Are strings attached?
• Research findings
– What sorts of findings are “acceptable” to those who fund or publish
research?