Lecture notes of the classes of Introduction to Social Science Research at the Erasmus University. Based on everything the teacher said including his examples, as his own lecture sheets are pretty blank. Based on the book The Basics of Social Science Research by Earl Babbie.
Week Subject Chapters
1. What is research? Babbie 1 & 2
2. Research tradition + Research design Babbie 4
3. Research questions Gilbert 3
4. From concepts to variables Babbie 5
5. Sampling + Survey Research Babbie 7 & 9
6. Experiment + Content Analysis Babbie 8 & 11
7. Ethnographic Field Research + Open Interview Babbie 10
8. Qualitative Data Analysis + Ethics Babbie 13 & 3
, Lecture 1: introduction
12 t h of September 2018
Course Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1
What is research? .................................................................................................................................................... 1
How do we start? ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Concepts and Relations (ingredients) ............................................................................................................. 2
From abstract to concrete (preparation) ........................................................................................................ 2
Procedure (order of preparation) ..................................................................................................................... 3
Course Introduction
• Book: The Basics of Social Research (Babbie)
• Lectures aren’t compulsory but we will draw questions from lectures
• For the (compulsory) tutorials, read the literature
• Knowledge and understanding research into social issues
• Read and evaluate research by others
• Final exam = 76% & there’s assignments
• Lectures = book + sidesteps + real world examples
• Assignments are done in groups of 2
• Three topics: gender emancipation // political engagement // cultural globalisation
Why is this course important?
• To become an informed citizen
• To know how knowledge is produced
• Finish your BA studies (my case: premaster)
• To become a professional
What is research?
• Making sure what we are thinking is correct
• Not thinking about reality but more observing and experiencing reality
• Empirical scientifically research: what we can see and smell
Different traditions:
• Physics: finding the laws of nature, exact patterns
• Literary studies: finding the meaning of particular literary texts
• Social science: strict patterns of how things work but also the meaning of things
Foundations of social science: scientific understanding of the world
• It should make sense
o Follow from a logical thinking
o Follow what we know now & what people have done
o Expectations but they don’t have to come true
• It should correspond with what we observe
o Report our observations to other people + has to be able to check
,How to observe scientifically:
• Be objective: try not to be bias
• Be precise: society is complex, therefore we must be as precise as possible about definitions
and demarcations. Pay attention when you make observations
• Be systematic: follow procedures so other people can repeat and understand what you’ve
done
• Be reflective: reflect on what you’ve done. Report and be honest
Subject of research: what do we want to know?
• Interesting parts of reality
o Scientific relevance: research that isn’t necessarily socially relevant
o Social relevance: be applied in the world/ society. Do something with our knowledge
to improve the world
• Usually not the unique, but the patterns
• We won’t research philosophical, aesthetical, and moral issues
How do we start?
Concepts and Relations (ingredients)
• Conceptualisation: translating the topic into concept. First giving your view on the concept
you’re interested in
• Theoretical concept: a (social) phenomenon that is considered relevant to study
Theory: try to give a coherent explanation of one or more concept and their relations
• A systematic explanation
o We try to understand how something works
o We’re interested in what happens to a larger group, the society
o What happens to a longer time frame? Should be still valid for a longer time
• Observations
• The order between a theory and an observation isn’t fixed
• Famous theory: big bang theory
• In university, we basically always need a theory. Thinks must make sense
• Often we start with something we find really interesting and then we start working towards
the theory
From abstract to concrete (preparation)
• Make things concrete: having the data isn’t enough, you need to show it in a way people
will both enjoy and understand it (Hans Rosling)
• Example of globalisation by Hans Rosling: it was about lifespan and income so health and
welfare. Health was made concrete by the lifespan; welfare was made concrete by the
income. Based on existing statistics, collected in the course of time
• Example of digital skills: how can we observe digital skills? Using Wikipedia isn’t a digital
skill. “Digital skills” can be all kinds of skills concerning IT so that’s too abstract. Let people
perform a number of tasks – the number of tasks is an indicator so that’s more concrete.
Find a method that fits: experiment? Test? Just ask?
, Procedure (order of preparation)
General
principles • Where we start can depend on how many knowledge you
already have. The order is not always fixed
• Inductive approach: specific to general: we can start at specific
instances and then think about it and make general principles.
Deductive Logic Inductive We work towards general ideas
• Deductive approach: general to specific: a theory already
exists, you’re gonna test it. Then you start with the general
principles and you’re looking for specific instances. E.g. it’s an
Specific American research and you’ll find out whether it applies to
Instances
Europe
o Mostly combined with more quantitative research
• Nomothetic: looking for patterns that one type of theory can explain. It’s not always
possible but they try. Often with deductive research & quantitative research
• Idiographic: takes in account all the specific details so you will have a detailed explanation
of the case. Mostly inductive & qualitative research
• Model: simplified depiction of reality that helps us start thinking into our research
Example of gaming: is gaming dangerous?
Concepts media usage perception of danger
Observations amount of hours playing videos per week amount of times a person feels unsafe
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