Social Research Methods: Qualitative

and Quantitative Approaches

Eighth Edition

Chapter 1

Why Do Research?

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Learning Objectives
1.1 Explain how alternatives to social research are used for making
decisions.
1.2 Describe the scientific approach to social research.
1.3 Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative approaches
to social research.
1.4 Describe the steps in quantitative and qualitative research
processes.
1.5 Summarize the applications of social research.

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1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research (1
of 2)

Objective: Explain how alternatives to social research are used for

making decisions.
• Personal experience and common sense
– Overgeneralization
– Selective Observation and Confirmation Bias
– Premature Closure
– Halo Effect
– False Consensus
– Illusion of Explanatory Depth

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1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research (1
of 2)

• 1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research

• Personal experience and common sense
• Overgeneralization
• We often generalize far beyond what is acceptable
with limited evidence.
• Selective Observation and Confirmation Bias
• Selective observation is taking special notice of
people and events and generalizing from those
observations.
• Confirmation bias is seeking out and distorting
information that supports one’s view.

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1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research (1
of 2)

• Premature Closure
• We believe we no longer need to listen, seek
information, or ask questions.
• Halo Effect
• Overgeneralizing trust in a source because it has a
high status
• False Consensus
• We are not good at distinguishing between what be
believe and what we think other people believe.
• We overestimate how similar our own views are to
those of others.

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1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research (1
of 2)

• Illusion of Explanatory Depth

• Most people believe they know more than they
actually do.

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1.1 Alternatives to Social Science Research (2
of 2)

• Knowledge From Experts and Authority

– Someone in power says it is so.
• Knowledge Based on Popular and Media Messages
– Most people are weak with regard to scientific literacy,
geographic knowledge, and clear logical thinking.
• Knowledge Subordinated to Ideological Beliefs and Values
– Scientists at government agencies are replaced by political
appointees.

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (1 of 4)
Objective: Describe the scientific approach to social research.
• Science
– Scientific research is about 500 years old.
– People previously relied on oracles, mysticism, astrology,
etc.
– Three meanings to science
– Author defines science as a system for producing
knowledge and the body of knowledge that results from it

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (1 of 4)
• 1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific Approach
• Science
• Most people rely on the outward, visible, and
superficial aspects of the natural sciences rather than
on scientific processes when deciding whether or not
something is scientific.
• Some people call the social sciences “soft sciences.”

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (1 of 4)
• Three meanings to science
• A systematic method for finding and producing
knowledge
• Something that takes place in a university or
laboratory
• A collection of specialized knowledge

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (2 of 4)
• Pseudoscience, Junk Science and “Real” Science
– Scientific Literacy
– People who lack literacy in qualitative and quantitative
science easily accept pseudoscience and make errors of
judgment.
– Only 25-28 percent of people in the U.S. are scientifically
literate.
• On general scientific subjects, Americans are more
ignorant of scientific concepts than are their peers in
other advanced countries.
• Climate change

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (2 of 4)
• The Scientific Community
• The scientific community can be seen as organized in a
series of concentric circles.
• Rings and layers depend on the productivity and
engagement of the researchers.
• Loosely defined boundaries

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (3 of 4)
• 1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific Approach
• The Scientific Community’s Norms and Values
• Universalism
• The research is judged only on scientific merit no
matter who does the research.
• Organized Skepticism
• Scientists should challenge and question all
evidence and subject each area of study to scientific
scrutiny.

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (3 of 4)
• Disinterestedness
• Scientists must be neutral, impartial, repetitive, and
open to unexpected observations and new ideas.
• Communalism
• Scientific knowledge must be shared with others.
• Honesty
• Demand honesty in all research.

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (3 of 4)
• Scientific Method, Attitude, and Orientation
• The term scientific method is misleading. A search for
explanation may be a better description.
• Scientific attitude values craftsmanship, pride in
creativity, high-quality standards, and hard work.
• The scientific orientation tends to be precise and logical,
but also flexible and open-ended.

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1.2 What Research Involves: A Scientific
Approach (4 of 4)
• Communication in Science
– Scholarly journal articles
– Blind reviews
• Scholarly journal articles—the means by which
scientists communicate ideas with each other.
• Authors are not paid for their articles.
• Blind reviews—research is reviewed by peers who are
working in the same research area, but they do not
know who conducted the study in question.
• People who review research are not usually paid.
• Science as a Transformative Process
– The research process transforms ideas, theories, guesses, or
questions intoCopyright
a finished
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2011, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
1.3 Varieties of Social Research
Objective: Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative
approaches to social research.
• Both quantitative and qualitative approaches use a variety of
research techniques.
• Both approaches share core scientific principles.
• According to Ragin, the key features common to all qualitative
methods can be seen when they are contrasted with quantitative
methods.
• Quantitative data techniques are data condensers.
• Qualitative methods are data enhancers.

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1.4 Steps in the Research Process (1 of 2)
Objective: Describe the steps in quantitative and qualitative
research processes.
• Quantitative
1. Select a topic.
2. Focus the question.
3. Design the study.
4. Collect data.
5. Analyze data.
6. Interpret data.
7. Inform others

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1.4 Steps in the Research Process (2 of 2)
• Qualitative
1. Acknowledge self and
context.
2. Adopt a perspective.
3. Design a study.
4. Collect data.
5. Analyze data.
6. Interpret data.
7. Inform others.

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Qualitative Research
1. Acknowledge self and context.
a. Choosing a topic is similar to that in quantitative
research.
b. Generally broad in scope
c. Include a self-assessment and situate the topic
within a broader personal and social context.
2. Adopt a perspective.
a. Choose a theoretical-philosophical paradigm.
b. Place the inquiry within the context of discussions
with other researchers.
c. Review current literature.

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Qualitative Research
1. Design the study.
a. Consider type of case or size of sample.
b. Consider what research technique to use.
2. Collect data.
a. Record and verify information.
b. Transfer information into a format that can be read
by computer.
3. Analyze data.
a. Use computer to manipulate data.
b. Use graphics like charts and diagrams.

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Qualitative Research
1. Interpret data.
a. Examine what the data means.
b. Consider alternative interpretations of the data.
2. Inform others
a. Write a report about the study.
b. Present a description of the study and its results.

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1.5 Why Learn How to Conduct Social
Research?
Objective: Summarize the applications of social research.
• Advance knowledge of the social world in ways that avoid the
failings on nonscientific methods.
• Improve decision-making
• Distinguish valuable research from bogus or poorly conducted
studies, pseudoscience, or misused research.

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Conclusion
• Social science research is for, about, and conducted by people.
• Social research is a human activity.
• Social researchers conduct research to discover new knowledge
and to understand the social world.
• You will be enriched if you create a personal link between
yourself and the research process.

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Copyright

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