Notes made during the lectures of Research methods & statistics 1 of the bachelor Communication Science at the universiteit Twente.
The notes belong to the following book: the practice of social research by Earl Babbie 15th edition.
Research methods & statistics 1 10-9-2021
3 types of research question
Normative (‘ought’). Example: what standards should researches ought to?
Answers to normative questions are subjective.
Conceptual (‘meaning’). Examples: what is addiction? What is research?
Empirical (‘is). Example: how can we reduce air pollution in the future?
All have their own methods. In this course we focus on empirical research methods.
A question related to ‘why’ something is happening is an empirical question.
Two main types of empirical research questions
Descriptive. Examples: how do students deal with distance learning? How many students
went to school today?
How many and how questions are often descriptive
Causal (explanatory). Examples: what is the effect of hours spend on social media on
happiness?
Why questions are usually casual.
Empirical research questions have these 3 things.
Units of analysis (often: ‘people’, ‘companies’)
Variables (things that are different)
Setting (context)
Quiz
What are mass media? This is a conceptual question.
Do prosocial relationships with influencers help teenagers feel less lonely in quarantine? This
is an empirical and explanatory question.
Should Netflix limit the maximum viewing time per day for Peppa Pig videos? This is a
normative question.
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, Research methods & statistics 2 20-9-2021
Wheel of science
Deductive research: you have an idea and you come up with a theory to prove. Example: you
are interested in the effect of using Instagram on body image you may want to look into
what is already known by body image. Your expectations for your answer is your hypothesis.
You try to put as much holes in your study. You start from theory to more specific
observation. You use this type of research when you have enough knowledge to come up
with a theory. Deductive research
Inductive research: you start with observations, in your observations you might see some
patterns: data analysis. You start from more specific observation to theory. You use this type
of research when you do not have enough knowledge to come up with a theory first so you
start with observations. The outcome is different you do not have an hypotheses that you
falsify or not falsify. Anthropologist do this the most: they go to a community, observe them,
explore the patterns, make a theory about something.
Formulating clear research questions
Is it easier to convince students to make sustainable choices?
This is not a good question because you don’t know that it is easier than what? You do not
know which students. Sustainable choices is far to broad. Students from where is missing.
The time is missing. Easier should relate to a variable but it is not clear which variable.
You need to always use unit, variable and setting in your research question.
Examples
Energy research & social science:
What did the researchers do?
What was their research question?
Do you see words you don’t understand?
It is explanatory. Homeowner vs renters -> this has a different In your perception energy.
They used a focus group and a survey in their research. Why? To have different types of
data. They did the focus group first and then the survey. Why? So they could get more
specific with their questions in the survey. In the focus group you can see which perceptions
people have, there was not much people in this focus group. The number of people that
took part in the survey is really high and impressive. The first lines of the abstract are to
show why they are doing the research. From ‘our research shows’ you can see the results.
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