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All Lectures Social Research Methods Sociology Year 1
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Social Research Methodology Lecture 1: 01/11/21Gerbens Beliefs: → Methodology is related to philosophy of science, but is not identical to
it.
→ Research questions determine the importance of particular methods or research strategy,
therefore the research question is highly important
→ Students determine their own theoretical position on the basis of substantiation (the act of
validating)
Sociologically Appealing: there is a form of correlation between background, opinions and
behavior.
What is science? → the objective of science is the formulation of explanatory theories which
concern empirical reality.
The theoretical: a system of logically coherent, non contradictory statements about a party
of reality → de groot
→ theories link the empirical to the theoretical
Theory (Byrman): an explanation of observed realites, in order to transfer the theoretical to the
empirical we need to use methodology (methods of research)
Concept: abstract term which describes phenomenon observed
Laws (Outdated): regularity of facts (observation)
Postulate: basic assumption in a theory
Proposition: explanatory relationship between concepts
Middle Range Theories: useful for empirical research, but have a limited scope
Grand Theories: abstract, but very large scale
Background research: focussed search for theories, empirical research and limited scope.
Fact Collection: hardly focused on theory, ad-hoc selection (for a specific purpose with limited
planning)
Induction: a form of reasoning in which from a limited number of observations, a universal
statement is made about all cases, it is a transfer from the empirical to theoretical
Deduction: a form of reasoning in which general statements and predictions about observations
are made, this is a focus on the theoretical to the empirical, often previous theory is used
Verification Logic: the same properties are shared by all individuals,
,Falsification logic: the same properties are not shared by individuals,
Induction problem: how many observations are actually required to arrive at ‘valid’ statements?
→ Solution 1: falsification, as it is stronger than verification
→ Solution 2: use of statistics and probability to come to a ‘valid statement’.
Inductie Empirical Cycle: Observation → Theory
Deductive Empirical Cycle: Theory → Observation to prove.
Reading: 11.5 Rules for Designing Questions:
Starting point → bearing research in mind at all times when designing questions, what
information is wanted? And what is the best way of gathering this?
General principles: focus on how to answer the research questions that you have given to
yourself, it is essential to ask questions related to the research, other questions may lead
respondents in different directions, and it is important to focus on your forms of analysis
→ questions cannot be ambiguous, we must know what is being studied, and purposefully
target this in our questions, additionally a preoccupation may be placing yourself in the position
of respondents, this can help to highlight any ambiguity in your work.
Do’s When Designing Questions: make sure that the respondent has the necessary knowledge
to answer the questions you are providing,
→ also make sure that there is symmetry between a closed question and its answers, fixed
choice answers must align and accurately represent the questions , possible answers need to
represent the possible responses you can gather.
→ make sure that the answers for close ended questions are balanced, if there is a scale such
as a likert scale, both ends of this scale must have equal power, for example most negative and
most positive
→ you can also consider to use middle alternatives in attitude scales, it is argued that it
increases satisfaction (where ppts answer out of necessity and not with their actual interest and
answer in mind). However the absence of middle alternatives can lead to item non response, so
it is definitely important to consider including an alternative.
, Don'ts when designing questions: avoid using ambiguous terms in your questions, such as
regular and often, as they are not good indicators of frequency, people may have different frames
of reference for this, and it can impact results.
→ how to correctly apply frequency? → use a timestamp, shc as 3-4 weeks, a year, month,
days, this should be more accurate and valid.
→ avoid using long questions: repondants can lose the thread of what is being asked, and
therefore it is best to avoid these.
Avoid using double barreled questions: asking about two things in one question is a weakness
in designing questions, it can lead to uncertainty on the behalf of the respondent, and the
question cannot target both aspects especially if they don't correspond in the question.
Avoid using very general questions: these questions lack frames of reference, they lack
specificity and this can lead to varying results due to the difficulty in interpreting them.
Avoid using leading questions: these can suggest a response to the respondents, and this is not
favorable and it provides a bias to your research
Avoid asking two questions in one, instead of doing this, one question may be asked as an
initial question, and then the second question can be asked and answered if applicable.
Avoid using questions that include negatives: asking in a positive format can lead to less
problems, and it is far easier for respondents to misread information if there is the presence of a
negative, it can easily be missed, for example in the word non-universal, the non can be missed,
and therefore result in an answer that is not favored.
Avoid using technical terms: not all respondents will understand the meaning of these, and the
use of acronyms is especially unfavorable as these are also difficult to decipher for some
individuals.
Avoid stretching respondents' memories: we cannot rely too much on people's memories as it
has been proven that they are not always the most accurate and correct, especially if the
questions ask about things from long in the past.
Avoid using tick all that apply, although there is some evidence to suggest that yes/no question
lead to full response, this presents a forced choice format, and it may result in more options
being selected but whether this is accurate is up to the researcher.
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