Summary course GEO1-2415 Research Skills Global Sustainability Science. Summary of lectures and book Social Research Methods 5th edition by Alan Bryman (ISBN 9453)
Chapter 1: The nature and process of social research
Social research: Academic research on topic relation to questions relevant to the social scientific
fields. May be motivated by developments and changes in society.
Goals of doing research:
Find answers to important problems (as sustainability)
Test theories and advance knowledge
Inform policy decisions and debates (specific policy issue or decision by generating insights)
Why do social research?
Social research will be done because in the course of reading the literature on a topic or
when reflecting on what is going on in society, questions can occur to academics. They may
notice a gap in the literature or an unsolved issue.
When there is a development in society, that provides an interesting point of departure for a
research question
Because there is an aspect of our understanding of what goes on in society that’s unresolved
The main seven elements of social research process:
1. Literature review: Reading existing literature about the topic. Be aware of what’s already
known and being able to link your own research question, findings and discussion to the
existing literature. To demonstrate the credibility and contribution of your research.
2. Concepts and theories: Concepts are labels that we give to aspects of the social world that
seem to have common features, as power and bureaucracy.
3. Research questions: A question that provides an explicit statement of what the researcher
wants to find out about. Developing a research question is a matter of narrowing down and
focussing on what you want to know about. If you don’t specify research questions, there is a
great risk that your research will be unfocused and that you will be unsure about what your
research is about and what you are collecting data for.
4. Sampling cases: Representative samples approach is based on principles to do with searching
for a sample that can represent a wider population.
5. Data collection: Data can be collected to answer the research questions.
6. Data analysis: The application of statistical techniques to data that have been collected. Data
analysis is mostly about data reduction. An issue to bear in mind is that data analysis could
refer to the analysis of primary or secondary data. Primary data; the researchers who were
responsible for collecting the data conduct the analysis. Secondary data; when someone else
analysis the data.
7. Writing up: We do research so that it can be written up, thereby allowing others to read
what we have done and concluded.
There are 7 types of research questions, first 3 are the most common ones:
Predicting an outcome (does y happen under circumstances a and b?)
Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon (is y affected by x or is y a
consequence of x?)
Evaluating a phenomenon (does y exhibit the benefits that it is claimed to have?)
Describing a phenomenon (what is u like or what forms does y assume?)
Developing good practice (how can we improve y?)
Empowerment (how can we enhance the lives of those we research?)
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, Comparison (do a and b differ in respect of x?)
Chapter 2: Social research strategies: Quantitative research and qualitative research
Epistemological issues: What is regarded as appropriate knowledge about the social world
Ontological issues: Ones to do with whether the social world is regarded as something external to
social actors or as something that people are in the process of creating
Empiricism approach: General approach that suggests that only knowledge gained through
experience is acceptable. Ideas must be subjected to the rigours of testing before they can be
considered knowledge.
Deductive or deduction approach: Whether theory guides research
Inductive or induction approach: Whether theory is an outcome of research
Abductive or abduction approach: Doing a bit of both
The process of deduction:
1. Theory
2. Hypothesis
3. Data collection
4. Findings
5. Hypothesis confirmed or rejected
6. Revision of theory
Qualitative research: Research strategy that emphasizes words rather than quantification in the
collection and analysis of data. Inductive approach. Can also be used to test theories. Not concerned
with the generation of theory
Quantitative research: Research strategy that emphasizes quantification in the collection and analysis
of data. Deductive approach.
Differences between quantitative and qualitative research:
Quantitative Qualitative
Principal orientation to the Deductive; testing of theory Inductive; generation of theory
role of theory in relation to
research
Epistemological orientation Natural science model, in Interpretivism
particular positivism
Ontological orientation Objectivism Constructionism
Chapter 4: Planning a research project and formulating research questions
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,Main steps in developing research questions:
Research area
Select aspect of research area
Research questions
Select research questions
The research area may derive from any of several sources:
Personal interest/experience
Theory (testing or exploring aspects of labour process theory)
The research literature (studies relating to a research area)
Puzzles (Looking at two inconsistent views)
New developments in society
Social problem
Criteria for research questions:
Clear: Being intelligible
Researchable: Possible to do research to it
Connection(s) with established theory and research: There should be a literature on which
you can draw to help illuminate how your research questions should be approached
Research questions should be linked to each other: You could not very readily construct a
single argument in relation to unrelated research questions
Original: Make an original contribution to the topic
Neither to broad nor too narrow: Too broad, you will need a massive grant to study them.
Too narrow, you cannot make a reasonably significant contribution to your area of study
What is the role of research questions?
It forces you to be clear on what you focussing on
Drives you into a good and clear direction
Inspiration or source for research questions:
Gaps between what we see in theory and actual
Societal problems
Societal trends (corona)
Intellectual puzzles and contradictions
Chapter 5: Getting started: Reviewing the literature
What is the aim of reviewing literature:
To establish what is already known about the topic and to frame the review in such a way
that it can act as a background and justification for your investigation
Two kinds of literature review:
Narrative reviews: Examination of theory and research relating to your field of interest that
outlines what is already known and that frames and justifies your research question(s).
Traditional literature review. Two processes in the ways literature is taken:
o Constructing intertextual coherence: Existing knowledge is represented and
organised, author shows how contributions to the literature relate to each other
and the research reported.
o Problematizing the situation: Literature is subverted by locating a problem.
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, Systematic reviews: Tend to be stand-alone reviews. Approach to reviewing the literature
that adopts explicit procedures. Often seen as evidence-based approach. Typical context is a
research question of ‘what works?’ Main steps of systematic review:
o Define the purpose and scope of the review
o Seek out studies relevant to the scope and purpose of the review
o Assess the relevance of each study for the research questions
o Appraise the quality of studies from step 3
o Extract the results of each study and synthesize the results
The purpose of examining existing literature:
To see what is already known about this area;
To see what concepts and theories are relevant to this area;
To see what research methods and designs have been employed in studying this area;
To see if there are any significant controversies;
To see if there are any inconsistencies in findings relating to this area;
To see if there are any unanswered research questions in this area;
To see how the literature relates to your research questions.
Reasons for writing a literature review:
You need to know what is already known in connection with your research area
You need to give some background information about the area because the reading person
may not be familiar with the topic
You can learn from other researchers’ mistakes and avoid making the same ones
You can learn about different theoretical and methodological approaches to your research
area
It may help you to develop an analytic framework
It may suggest further research questions for you
It will help with the interpretation of your findings
What are the limitations of systematic review? Criticism on systematic review approach:
Situations where research questions are not capable of being defined in terms of the effect
of a particular variable
It can lead to a bureaucratization of the process of reviewing literature, because it is more
concerned with the technical aspects of how the review is done that with the analytical
interpretations generated by it
The approach assumes that an objective judgement about the quality of an article can be
made. But there is a lack of consensus on how the quality of studies should be carried out
Referring the work of others is important because
It emphasizes that you are aware of the historical development of your subject
It shows that you recognize that your own research builds on the work of others
Lecture 2: Research design
Chapter 3: Research designs
Research design criteria:
Measurement validity: The degree to which a measurement of a concept truly reflects
that concept
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