Research Methodology for International Students: Summary
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Course
410126-B-5
Institution
Tilburg University (UVT)
Book
Social Research
This is a summary including all lecture notes and chapter notes needed for the course Research Methodology. The course is part of the study program for first year Bachelor students of the HR, GMSI and Sociology studies. I passed the course with 8.5 :)
Introduction to Research Methodology Lecture Notes - 410126-B-5 Tilburg University
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Research Methodology for International Students
410126-B-5
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
LECTURE AND BOOK CHAPTER NOTES
,Week 1: Notes from lectures and chapters 1,2,3........................................................................................1
Chapter 1.................................................................................................................................................2
Chapter 2.................................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 3.................................................................................................................................................5
Week 2: Notes from lectures and chapters 4 and 15...................................................................................7
Chapter 4.................................................................................................................................................8
Chapter 15.............................................................................................................................................13
Week 3: Notes from lectures and chapter 5..............................................................................................15
Chapter 5...............................................................................................................................................15
Week 4: Notes from lectures and chapter 6..............................................................................................22
Chapter 6...............................................................................................................................................22
Week 5: Notes from lectures and chapter 7..............................................................................................26
Chapter 7...............................................................................................................................................26
Week 6: Notes from lectures and chapters 8 and 9...................................................................................30
Chapter 8...............................................................................................................................................30
Chapter 9...............................................................................................................................................36
WEEK 1: NOTES FROM LECTURES AND CHAPTERS 1,2,3
,Research methodology is about how to get reliable and valid data through choosing the appropriate
design and to be aware of all kinds of biases that might occur in even more so: to prevent biases to occur
or curing it when the bias was unavoidable.
Concept - a general/ abstract description of a social phenomenon.
Variable - empirical manifestation of a concept
Hypothesis - an expected relationship between two or more variables that can be researched/tested.
Two types of hypotheses:
- Bivariate hypotheses: expected relationship between two variables (x,y)
- Multivariate hypotheses: expected relationship between more variables - one dependent and
multiple independent variables.
- 4 types:
- Multiple causality - x1 causes y but x2 also causes y.
- Mediation - x1 has an effect on x2 which has an effect on y;
in other words: x1 has an indirect effect on y through x2.
- Partial mediation = direct + indirect effect
- Moderation - x1 causes y, but the effect changes depending on x2;
in other words, the effect of x1 on y is different depending on the moderator x2.
- Spurious relationship - x2 causes x1, but x2 also causes y - spurious.
The conceptual model - a graphical representation of a set of logically connected hypotheses.
Causality:
3 necessary conditions to establish causal relationships:
- Association - statistical relationship between variables
- Direction of the relationship - cause ->consequence; independent - cause; dependent-
consequence; the independent variable causes the dependent.
- Nonspuriousness - no other variables are allowed to explain the relationship.
Unit of analysis - about whom or what statements are made in the research.
Unit of observation - whoever gives the information about the unit of analysis.
Nested data - combining data from different level of observation.
- Country level observation information: national statistics
- Individual information: questionnaires
Logical fallacies - drawing conclusions at one level while analyzing another level.
- Ecological fallacy - drawing conclusions at the individual level while analyzing group level.
- Atomistic fallacy - drawing conclusions on aggregate level (mass) while analyzing individuals.
CHAPTER 1
, e. The cardinal principle in social research is not to confuse causality with correlation.
· Causality – a theoretical notion that makes a variable force, produce, or bring a change in
another.
· Correlation – a relationship between two things doesn’t mean that one thing caused the other.
2. Two criteria of social research:
a) Research subject involves people, looks also at groups that people form
b) Because it is scientific, it must be possible to address the topic or answer the question by making
appropriate observations.
3. Approaches to social research:
- Experiment – a major approach to social research that entails the manipulation of the
independent variable and researcher control over the events to which research participants are
exposed.
- Survey – distribution of questionnaires or interviews to relatively large groups of people. The
purpose for that is to describe the frequency of certain characteristics among groups or
populations. This information can be related to other characteristics of respondents such as
gender or age. Key feature of surveys is also that the information is collected from part of the
group to generalize about the whole group (which might be hazardous).
- Field research is essentially a matter of immersing oneself in a naturally occurring (rather than
“staged”) set of events to gain firsthand knowledge of the situation.
- Available data – data that has been generated for purposes other than those for which a
researcher is using them. These might be written records (letters, diaries, paintings, clothing,
artefacts).
CHAPTER 2
1. Epistemology – science which explains what constitutes knowledge in social sciences and how it
is created.
2. The aim of science is to produce knowledge and to understand and explain knowledge.
- Two sets of criteria determine acceptance or rejection of knowledge:
- the form / logical structure of knowledge
- the evidence on which this “knowledge” is based
3. Science as a product: all fields of study share certain characteristics:
● Type of questions:
- scientific questions are questions on why or how patterns occur that can be answered by
making observations; scientific knowledge must take a form that meets the requirements
of description, explanations, prediction and understanding.
- non-scientific questions answer “what is desirable”; these are questions about essence or
morality, but they cannot be investigated scientifically.
4. Producing knowledge:
● First step in producing knowledge is description:
- Concepts are abstractions communicated by words or other signs that refer to common properties
among phenomena (e.g. weight)
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