Qualitative Research Methods For The Social Sciences
This is a complete summary for the course of Research Methods, which was given in blocks 3 and 4.
Each chapter contains the information from the lectures, and also the information from the relevant literature assigned for each week.
Summary Quantitative Research
Methods
Lecture 1: Introduction to qualitative and quantitative
research methods and ethics
QRMC CH2 (p.11-22), CH3 (p.23-28) & (p.37-41). QRMSS CH1 & Ch3
Research = investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation
of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical
application of such new or revised theories or laws.
The notion of quality is essential to the nature of things. On the other hand, quantity is
elementally an amount of something.
Quality: what, how, when, and where of thing its essence and ambience
Qualitative research thus refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions, characteristics,
metaphors, symbols, and descriptions of things.
Seven primary ways to collect qualitative data
1. Interviewing
2. Focus groups
3. Ethnography the scientific description of peoples and cultures with their
customs, habits, and mutual differences.
4. Sociometry the study of relationships within a group of people.
5. Unobtrusive measures are measures that don’t require the researcher to
intrude in the research context. Direct and participant observation require that
the researcher be physically present. This can lead the respondents to alter their
behavior in order to look good in the eyes of the researcher. A questionnaire is
an interruption in the natural stream of behavior. Respondents can get tired of
filling out a survey or resentful of the questions asked.
Unobtrusive measurement presumably reduces the biases that result from the
intrusion of the researcher or measurement instrument. However, unobtrusive
measures reduce the degree the researcher has control over the type of data
collected. For some constructs there may simply not be any available
unobtrusive measures.
6. Historiography
7. Case studies
Scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge that has characterized
the development of science. It involves careful observation, applying rigorous scepticism
,about what is observed, given that cognitive assumptions can distort how one interprets the
observation. It involves formulating hypotheses, via induction, based on such observations;
experimental and measurement-based testing of deductions drawn from the hypotheses;
and refinement (or elimination) of the hypotheses based on the experimental findings.
These are principles of the scientific method, as distinguished from a definitive series of
steps applicable to all scientific enterprises.
Theory
Empirical Prediction
generalization
Induction Observation Deduction
Scientific method (4 primary steps)
Theories a proposed explanation for how a set of natural phenomena will occur, capable
of making predictions about the phenomena for the future, and capable of being falsified
through empirical observation. Empiricism is the belief that science is only acceptable
insofar as the phenomenon in question can be "sensed" by average people.
Falsifiability was introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper, as an attempt to
solve both the problem of induction and the demarcation problem. He saw falsifiability as
the cornerstone of critical rationalism, his theory of science.
Popper opposed falsifiability to verifiability. For example, in order to verify the claim "All
swans are white" one would have to observe every swan, which is not possible, whereas the
single observation "Here is a black swan" is sufficient to falsify it.
Predictions / hypotheses the conclusion that occurs at the end of a series of propositions
A proposition is a statement that either confirms something or denies something.
Conditional or hypothetical propositions, two primary parts: antecedent (if statement) and
consequent (then statement).
Hypothetical propositions forming arguments = a set of propositions in which one follows
logically as a conclusion from the others
Observations where a researcher attempts to test the hypotheses created in the
previous step (for example experiment). Observations should be empirical, objective, and
controlled.
Empirical Generalizations an attempt to describe a phenomenon based on what we
know about the phenomenon at this time.
Difference between induction and deduction is important because it indicates the
relationship between theory and data collection (the research itself)
,Induction:
Theory is the outcome of the study
Generalizing based on your observations
Deduction:
most commonly used
from theory and forms of hypothesis data collection
often in quantitative research
linear: one step is followed by another step in a logical order
Theory
Should be able to describe or explain a set of natural phenomena (observable
events)
Should be capable of making predictions about the phenomena for the future
Should be falsifiable through empirical observations
Prediction
Syllogism is a kind of logical argument that applies deductive reasoning to arrive at a
conclusion based on two or more propositions that are asserted or assumed to be true.
Major premise (uitgangspunt) comes from theory / prior research
Minor premise comes from theory / prior research
Conclusion is the new prediction / hypothesis
Example:
Major: All men are mortal.
Minor: Socrates is a man.
Hypothesis: Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
Major: Passengers in airplanes like flight attendants who use humor
Minor: There is a positive relationship between liking and trust
Hypothesis: Passengers in airplanes trust flight attendants who use humour
The Tuskegee syphilis study was an investigation in Tuskegee and surroundings in the state
of Alabama in the United States into the effects of untreated syphilis. The subjects were 600
poor, black Americans who were unaware of the study, with 201 healthy men among them
serving as control groups. The 399 sick men were not given any medication when it was
available. The study ran from 1932 to 1972, when most of the subjects died. The results and
subsequent hearings in the U.S. Congress led to changes in the criteria for medical scientific
research with humans.
Observation
Do passengers in airplanes trust flight attendants who use humour?
How could you test that? Suppose that you fail to find evidence…
Example: Clever Hans (Horse)
, Empirical Generalization
Any scientifically valid observation should have consequences for your theory, regardless of
whether it is confirmatory or non-confirmatory.
Generalizations should lead to refinements in theory; good theories are continuously
updated on the basis of new empirical evidence.
However: failure to find (confirmatory) evidence can also be due to methodological
limitations
Absence of evidence ≠ evidence of absence
Research Ethics
Ethics are the moral principles that a person must follow, irrespective of the place or
time. Behaving ethically involves doing the right thing at the right time.
Harm against the scientific method:
Lack of data accuracy
Post hoc hypothesis revision
post hoc analysis consists of statistical analyses that were specified after the
data were seen
Harm against participants:
Participant identity disclosure (bekendmaking van de identiteit van de
deelnemers)
Physical or psychological harm
Harm against colleagues:
Lack of data sharing
Duplicate data publication
Lack of authorship credit
Plagiarism
"Ethical" falls along two tracks of thinking: theological or philosophical.
Theologians the rightness or wrongness of a behavior by searching
specific religious texts, oral teachings, or traditions.
Philosophers "What should a person do?
Two basic concepts in ethics:
1. Means the tools or behaviors that one employs to achieve a desired outcome
(good or bad)
2. Ends those outcomes that one desires to achieve (good or bad)
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