DMS & DPCS

INTRODUCTION TO METHODOLOGY OF
SOCIAL INVESTIGATION/ RESEARCH
WORK
 RESEARCH PROPOSAL
• Introduction: The essence is to write
little background about the topic.
• Problem Statement:
• (A) Context: What the research
intended to study, why the need to
carry out the research on that
particular topic.
• (B) Problem Identification: The core of
the problem
 Cont.
• (C ) Objective: to indicate intention
,what to address and improved base on
your write up

• ( D) Scope of the study: concentrates on

a specific area of the geography or
location

• ( E) Justification and Policy Implications

: what information researcher can add to
policy-making cycle
 Cont.
• Literature Review: This research topic is not new
parse, because others have worked on it .

• Research Methodology: In this research , my

intention is to use the following tools such as ;
questionnaires , Focus Group Discussion ( FGDs),
Participatory Rural Appraisal ( PRA), Triangulation
in order to cross-check my information gathered
before finalization of questionnaires , data
collection or data analysis. The reasons for
selecting the above tools is to have authentic
information as far the research topic is concern.
 Module Overview
Welcome to Introduction to Methodology of
Social Investigation . This module is
designed to help you conduct basic
research into social issues. You may
already have some idea about how
research is conducted but this module
gives a step by step approach to the
subject, types of research , how data is
collected and analyzed, and how to write a
good report on your investigations.
 Cont.
This module covers four main areas:
 Meaning, nature and scope of social
investigation
 Techniques of sampling and data
collection strategies
 Data organisation and presentation of data
 Writing the report
 Objectives
When you complete this module, you should be able to :
 Discuss the basic principles underlying social investigation.
 List the various types of research.
 Understand the importance of statistics to social
investigation.
 Identify a few statistical methods and techniques and their
uses.
 Organise your thoughts on what problems to investigate.
 Write a good literature review.
 State research problems and research questions.
 Collect data from the field, and analyze them.
 Produce a good research report.
 Unit 1:Meaning, Nature and
Scope of Social Investigation
Social investigation involves the systematic
collection of information ( often called data)
to describe, predict, control , or explain social
issues; it is the careful and organised
collection of all possible evidence or
information on a social problem for the
purpose of making a decision. It is also called
social research.
 Cont.
Social investigation helps us to understand how
some people act or behave in certain ways. It
also addresses the beliefs, opinions and
characteristics of individuals in communities in
which we live and work . As a youth in
development work, a basic understanding of
how to undertake social investigation can help
you perform better.
 Cont.
In social investigation, we normally do the
following four basic things: We
 Describe
 Predict
 Control and
 Explain
 Cont.
• Description : Social investigators studying a
given problem or activity begin by identifying
a group of people or community who do
something or who perform an activity. They
would then systematically observe the people
while they undertake the activity or ask them
questions on their actions, behaviour or
opinions. The investigators would then
describe how the people they observed or
questioned acted.
 Cont.
• Prediction: Prediction is done when social
assumptions or guesses are made. These
social assumptions are called hypotheses (
singular is hypothesis). For instance, if we
assume that:
a. communities with good leaders perform a lot
of development work, and
b. communities with interest in development
work complete projects on schedule.
 Cont.
• Control : Let us assume that we want to know whether
giving incentives to people helps them to undertake
development projects.

The elements of good research , according to Hill way

(1974, p.12) the scientific method follows the steps below:

• Identify-the problem to be investigated

• Collect- the relevant info/ data related to the problem
• Develop- tentative explanations of the problem
• Evaluate- the explanations to see whether they agree with
tentative explanations
 Cont.
• We define hypothesis as tentative explanations of factual information. You
collect information to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

• A directional hypothesis is one in which the specific direction (e.g. higher,

lower, more, or less) which the investigator expects to emerge in a
relationships is stated. This is based on what the investigator has found in
the literature, from personal experience or the experience of others. For
example, female porters get more money per day than male porters.

• A non-directional hypothesis does not make a specific prediction about

what direction the outcome of the study will take. For example if a
hypothesis is put as “ there is a difference in participation between male-
led and female-led communities toward community work” then it is a non-
directional hypothesis.
 Unit 2: Techniques of Sampling and
Data Collection Strategies
• Sampling techniques: The persons from
whom information could be gathered form the
population of the study. The population is also
known as the sampling universe. For example,
if you want to collect information from
DMS/DPCS students, then all of them form the
population or the sampling universe.
 Why do we sample?
• It is less expensive to use a sample than cover the entire population
in a study.
• If information is collected from the sample , its completeness and
accuracy can be easily ensured since with fewer numbers, more
attention could be paid to details.
• Information supplied by each individual can be carefully scrutinized
since numbers are small.
• If there are doubts, inquiries can easily be made for verification
since those to be contacted are fewer.
• It is possible to collect more detailed information from a small
number of respondents than from a large one.
• A sample requires comparatively less time both for collection of
data and their analysis.
• In working with the sample, fewer research assistants are needed
than if you have to study the whole population.
 Cont.
• Homogeneous: This is where the population has
the same characteristics, for instance all market
women. In this case the sample could be small.

• Heterogeneous: A heterogeneous population is

made up of different categories. These may be
men and women, young and old, rich and poor,
citizens and strangers as happens in studying an
urban community.
 Data collection strategies
• Representativeness (randomization), and
• Non-representativeness( non-randomization).
• Focus group discussions (FGD): sample size 5-15 participants and
should be homogeneous, i.e. in the same social or economic status

• The questionnaire
• Closed –ended, in which the questions permit only certain
responses such as “yes” or “no” or choose from answers provided
in the questionnaire,

• Open-ended, in which individuals can make any responses they

wish in their own words.
 Unit 3:Data Organisation and
Presentation
• Data organisation involves the various ways
through which information gathered from the
field is put together in a meaningful way for
easy comprehension. Your findings as well as
views and opinions about the findings are
presented in different forms to reflect the
objectives set out for the study.
 Cont.
CODING
• Unmarried- 0
• Married- 1
• Widowed- 2
• Divorced- 3
• Separated- 4

• EDITING: One way of organizing data collected from

the field is by editing the materials. Editing involves
going through the data carefully to find out
inconsistencies and errors.
 Unit 4: Writing the Research
Report
• The research proposal : It is always useful to prepare a
proposal of what you intend to do and discuss with your
tutor and other people to see if what you want to do is
right. The proposal should set out what you want to
investigate. You must pay particular attention in the
proposal to the methodology, that is , how you want to go
about the study.

• Research design: Research design is the plan for the study

(Survey, evaluation, historical / longitudinal studies)

• Research instruments/tools: They include questionnaires,

interviews and focus group discussions.
 Data analysis and presentation
• You need to indicate how your data is to be
analyzed-manually or with the computer.

• In presenting your findings, you can use

percentages, bar graphs and pie charts to
explain important points.

• You may also use some statistics to show the

mean, median and mode.
 Why write a research report?
• A report is produced for reference by other students and researchers to
guide them in their work, and also as the basis for further research into
other aspects of the problem you have studied.

• Some research can lead to the development of new knowledge and

theories in particular fields.

• A research report may also provide the opportunity for people interested
in the topic to learn more about the area of study.

• Sometimes, policy makers utilize a research report as the basis for

formulating new policies.

• Writing the report trains you to write systematically , basing your

conclusions on data from field, and not on your personal inclinations and
biases.
Major components of the report
• Introduction
• Review of related literature
• Methodology
• Presentation and analysis of data/ findings
• Summary, Main conclusions and
Recommendations (if any)
 Cont.
• Other important aspects of the report that
you have to consider critically include:
• Use of appropriate language
• Typing
• Presentation of tables and figures
• References or bibliography
• Appendices, for example , questionnaires,
charts and maps.,..
 The Report
• A good report should be well arranged and written in good
language. It should be concise and clearly written in the past
tense since what is being reported has already been done.
The sentences should describe and explain what has been
found during the investigation. The report is not meant to
persuade the reader.

• Only the surname of authors should be used and all titles like
Mr, Dr, Prof, Mrs. should be avoided. For example, Hamza
(1987) studied youth associations in the Eastern Province and
concluded that most of them were not active. Note that
Hamza refers to Dr. Mohammed Hamza but only his surname
or last name is used.
 Referencing
• Bibliography , therefore covers a wider range
of sources, that is , sources cited in the report
and other related sources. You can also use
“Literature Cited” in place of References; both
limit you to only literature cited in the study.
 The author-date system has two
parts:
• The citation in the text is enclose in brackets,
e.g. ( Yaro, 1988).

• Yaro , M. 1980. Youth Work and Emerging

Issues in Development, City Publishing
Incorporated, Accra.
 Reference List
a) Two or three authors
( Yaro and Mensah, 1999)
( Alhassan, Amadu, and Toure, 1999)

b) More than three authors

If Alhassan , Amadu, Toure and Gibril are the authors, the reference is written as
Alhassan et al or Alhassan and others

c) Group as authors
If the source is published by an agency with no author’s name
( World Bank, 1997)
( West African Rice Research Institute, 2000)

d) Specific pages
( Addo 1998, 46)
 Cont.
e) Periodicals: Mensa, E. (1994) The Place of
Young Adults in Dev. In Youth and Dev., Vol.2,
No 1, June, pp 15-35
f) Newspapers: Daily Times, 2003, Editorial May
18. In the text, the citation is as follows:
In an article entitled “Prospects for youth
employment “ published in the Daily Times,
18 May, 2001, John Mensah reported that…….
 Cont.
g) Unpublished Materials: Messanvi, Joseph
(1999) FGM Among the Grune-speaking
people of Ghana, MPhil thesis, University of
Ghana ( Unpublished)
 FORMAT FOR A RESEARCH
PROJECT
• Title Page
• Certification Page
• Dedication Page
• Acknowledgement Page
• Abstract Page
• Table of Content Page
 Table of content
• Introduction
• Review of related literature
• Methodology
• Presentation and analysis of data/
findings
• Summary, Main conclusions and
Recommendations (if any)
 Reference
• Module 14: INTRODUCTION TO METHODOLOGY OF
SOCIAL INVESTIGATION/ RESEARCH WORK
 THE END

THANK YOU!!!
TEL:9300300,3574421
EMAIL:ebrima2064022@yahoo.com