This is a summary of all the mandatory chapters of the book Understanding the Social World by Schutt (Chapter 1-10). It includes some of the information presented in lectures on the book. It's a concise summary but doesn't miss any important information. It covers content such as qualitative/quanti...
Chapter 1 - UTSW (Lecture + Reading)
What is research? → systematic investigation to find and report knowledge
Scientific research relies on logical and systematic methods, others can inspect and evaluate these methods.
Social science relies on scientific methods to investigate individuals and societies.
4 processes when reasoning / making a decision & their possible errors;
1. Observing
● Selective observation → only look at things in line with our beliefs
● Inaccurate observation → simply making an observation that is inaccurate
2. Generalizing
● Overgeneralization → something we have observed once ‘has to be’ the same every time
3. Reasoning
● Illogical reasoning → jumping to conclusions or making invalid assumptions
4. Reevaluating
● Resistance to change → not wanting to change your ideas or drawn conclusions
○ Why? →
■ Ego-based and institutional commitments
■ Excessive devotion to tradition
■ Uncritical agreement with authority
Scientific relevance Applied relevance
- Extend theory - Evaluate policy/program
- Empirical discoveries - Innovations in business
- Innovations in methods
General steps in the research process
1. Formulate a research question
→ explicit question that represents the direction and scope of your research
2. Literature review
- What is known?
- What concepts and theories have been applied?
- What methods have been applied?
- Any clashes of evidence?
3. Concepts & theories
Concept → organizing principles that describe aspects of the world (e.g. empathy)
Theory → a system of ideas intended to explain and predict regularities in the world
Concepts are key ingredients of theories
, 4. Formulate hypothesis
→ informed speculation that is set up to be tested about the relationship between variables
The hypothesis should be testable & falsifiable (=is it possible to conceive of an observation or
argument that proves the hypothesis to be false)
E.g. find 1 alien and the hypothesis that aliens don’t exist is wrong.
5. Decide on your research method/design & sample
Sample → the segment of the population that is selected for research (people, objects)
Design → a framework for the collection of data
6. Collect data
7. Analyze data
Quantitative analysis → application of statistical techniques to the data to test your hypothesis
(numbers & means)
Qualitative analysis → focuses on description, understanding, or interpretation of information
→ almost always inductive
8. Report/disseminate results
Quantitative and/or qualitative methods
Quantitative methods → surveys, experiments that record amounts
Qualitative methods → participant observation, interviewing, focus groups (written/spoken observations)
Quantitative methods are often used when the motives for research are explanation, description, or evaluation.
And quantitative researchers are often guided by a positivist philosophy.
Positivism → the belief that our perceptions and understanding of the social world can be distorted
by errors and that scientific methods can help us to see and understand reality more
clearly
Qualitative research is often guided by the philosophy of constructivism.
Constructivism → social reality is socially constructed and the goal of social scientists is to
understand what meanings people give to reality, not to determine how reality
works apart from these constructions
So, positivists believe there is a concrete, objective reality that scientific methods help us understand.
Constructivists believe that people construct an image of reality based on their own preferences and
prejudices and their interactions with others.
When combined; triangulation.
,Epistemology
→ what is knowledge and how can it be acquired?
- Positivism; application of natural science methods to the study of social reality (universal laws,
experiments, numbers)
- Interpretivism; subjective meaning plays a crucial role (focus on interpretation and meaning of social
reality)
- You can’t say people have empathy of 5.3; like what does that mean?
Ontology
→ what is the nature of reality? (wikipedia; Ontology is the philosophical study of being. More broadly, it studies
concepts that directly relate to being, in particular becoming, existence, reality, as well as the basic categories of
being and their relations.)
- Objectivism; social phenomena exist independently from social actors (mind-independent)
- Universality → everyone experiences the same
- Constructionism; social phenomena are dependent on social actors and social interaction (focus
on change, subjectivity)
- Everyone experiences things differently because of e.g. culture
- Think of ‘social construct’
Deductive research
→ research with an expectation (hypothesis) is inferred from theory and then tested
Theory → hypothesis → observations/findings
- experimental research
Inductive research
→ research in which general conclusions are drawn from data
Observations/findings → theory
Research questions
They will;
- guide your literature search
- guide your hypothesis
- guide your decision about research designs
- guide decisions about data collection
- provide readers with a clear sense of your research
Criteria;
- clear - not too broad/narrow
- researchable - original contribution
- connection with theory & research - avoid ‘How…?’
Sources;
- gaps in literature - a social problem - personal experience
- opposing findings - counter-intuitive phenomena
- testing a theory - testing an intervention
- replication - collaborations with industry
, Interdisciplinary research questions → integrate data, methods, concepts and theory from different
scientific disciplines → creates a common understanding (kitchen metaphor)
Types of social research
1. Descriptive research
→ social phenomena are defined and described (often quantitative; surveys, etc.)
2. Exploratory research
→ how people get along in the setting under question, what meaning they give to their actions and
issues concern them (often qualitative)
Asking ‘What is going on here?’ without having explicit expectations
3. Explanatory research
→ identify the causes and effects of social phenomena and predict how one phenomenon will change
or vary in response to variation in some other phenomenon
Will this → change this Cause → effect
Why do things happen and what are the consequences?
4. Evaluation research
→ describes/identifies the impact of social policies and programs
It can include elements of all research methods
Examples →
Descriptive research What are the characteristics of X?
Comparative What are the differences and similarities between X and Y?
research
Correlational What is the relationship between variable X and variable Y?
research
Exploratory What are the main factors in X? What is the role of Y in Z?
research
Explanatory Does X have an effect on Y? What is the impact of Y on Z? What are the causes of
research X?
Evaluation research What are the advantages and disadvantages of X? How well does Y work? How
effective or desirable is Z?
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