Samenvatting
Literatuursamenvatting Kwantitatieve Onderzoeksmethoden
Literature summary of the books of De Vaus and Field with the substance for the course Quantitative Research Methods
[Meer zien]Voorbeeld 4 van de 34 pagina's
Voorbeeld 4 van de 34 pagina's
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Voorbeeld van de inhoud
Week 1Research design in social research – David de Vaus.
De Vaus, D. (2001). Research design in social research. Sage.
PART 1: WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?
Chapter 1: The Context of Design
Social researchers ask two fundamental types of research questions:
1. What is going on? Descriptive research.
2. Why is it going on? Explanatory research.
Descriptive research
Descriptions can be concrete (gender mix of a workplace) or abstract (how much poverty is there in
this community).
By demonstrating the existence of social problems, competent description can challenge accepted
assumptions about the way things are and can provoke action. Good description provokes the ‘why’
questions of explanatory research.
Pitfall: abstracted empiricism, mindless fact gathering and not asking the why question.
Explanatory research
Answering the why questions involves developing causal explanations. Causal explanations argue
that phenomenon Y (income level) is affected by factor X (gender).
Three types of causal relationships
Prediction, correlation and causation
Simply because event follows another, or two factors co-vary, does not mean that one causes the
other.
Confusing causation with correlation also confuses prediction with causation and prediction with
explanation. Where two events or characteristics are correlated we can predict one from the other.
,Good prediction does not depend on causal relationships. Nor does the ability to predict accurately
demonstrate anything about causality.
One of the fundamental purposes of research design in explanatory research is to avoid invalid
inferences.
Deterministic and probabilistic concepts of causation
There are two ways of thinking about causes:
o Deterministically: variable X is said to cause Y if, and only if, X invariably produces Y. When X
is present then Y will necessary, inevitably and infallibly occur.
o Probabilistically: increased chances on cancer because of smoking.
The complexity of human social behavior and the subjective, meaningful and voluntarist components
of human behavior mean that it will never be possible to arrive at causal statements of the type ‘If X,
and A and B, then Y will always follow’.
Human behavior is not simply determined, so we cannot achieve deterministic explanations.
Because behavior is constrained, we can achieve probabilistic explanations.
Most causal thinking in the social sciences is probabilistic rather than deterministic.
Theory testing and theory construction
Attempts to answer the why questions are theories.
Theories vary in complexity, abstraction and scopes.
Distinguish between two different styles of research:
o Theory building
o Theory testing
Theory building
Process in which research begins with observations and uses inductive reasoning to derive a theory
from these observations.
This form of theory building entails asking whether the observation is a particular case of a more
general factor, or how the observation fits into a pattern or story.
Theory testing
This approach begins with a theory and uses theory to guide observations to make: it moves from the
general to the particular. Testing of the theory. Use of deductive reasoning to derive a set of
propositions. We need to develop these propositions so that is the theory is true then certain things
should follow in the real world. Then we assess whether
these predictions are correct. If they are correct, the
theory is supported. If not the theory needs to be either
rejected or modified.
Theory testing and theory building are often presented as
alternatives modes of research, they should be part of
one ongoing process.
What is research design?
The function of a research design is to ensure that the
evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial
question as unambiguously as possible.
,When designing research, we need to ask: given this research question (or theory), what type of
evidence is needed to answer the question (or test the theory) in a convincing way.
Design versus the method
Research design is different from the method by which data are collected. How the data are collected
is irrelevant to the logic of the design. All data collections methods can be used for any design type.
Quantitative and qualitative research
o Quantitative research: evaluated against the strengths and weaknesses of statistics.
o Social surveys, experiments.
o Qualitative research: adopts an interpretative approach to data, studies things within their
contexts and considers the subjective meanings that people bring to their situation.
o Case studies.
We can always find some evidence consistent with almost any theory. However, we should be
skeptical of the evidence. And rather than seeking evidence that is consistent with our theory, we
should seek evidence that provides a compelling test of the theory.
There are two related strategies for doing this:
o Eliminating rival explanations of the evidence.
o Deliberately seeking evidence that could disprove the theory.
Fallacy of affirming the consequent: people think not of the alternative hypotheses and conclude that
since the evidence is consistent with their theory, then the theory is true.
Structure of this type of reasoning:
If A is true then B should follow.
We observe B.
Therefore A is true.
Falsification: looking for evidence to disprove the theory
Ask yourself: what evidence would convince me that the theory is wrong?
The logic of disproving a theory:
If A is true then B should follow.
B does not follow.
Therefore A is not true.
Chapter 2: Tools for Research Design
Before design
Social researchers must be clear about their research question before developing a research design.
Focusing descriptive research questions
To narrow the focus of descriptive research we need to specify the scope of what is to be described.
1. What is the scope of the core concepts?
2. What is the time frame for the description?
3. What is the geographical location for the description?
4. How general is the description to be?
5. What aspect of the topic are you interested in?
6. How abstract is your interest?
7. What is the unit of analysis? – The thing about which we collect information and from which
we draw conclusions.
Focusing explanatory research questions
, In framing explanatory questions we need to further specify our focus.
Dependent variable: the variable that is treated as the effect in the causal model: it is dependent on
the influence of some other factor. Y.
Independent variable: the variable that is the presumed cause. X.
Intervening variables: variables that come between the independent variable and the dependent
variable in a causal chain. The means by which cause X produces effect Y. Z.
Extraneous variables: two variables can be correlated without being causally related. The correlation
may be due to the two factors being outcomes of a third variable, the extraneous variable. Z.
Least focused type of explanatory research: searching for causes or effects.
When clarifying a research question it is helpful to draw diagrams. It is also helpful to ask four key
questions.
1. What am I trying to explain (what is the dependent variable)?
2. What are the possible causes (what are the independent variable)?
3. Which causes will I explore?
4. What possible mechanisms connect the presumed causes to the presumed effects (what are
the intervening variables)?
Nomothetic explanations: partial explanations of a class of cases rather than a ‘full’ explanation of a
particular case. They involve an examination of relatively few causal factors and a larger number of
cases. provides an understanding of the influence of a factor.
Idiographic explanations: focus on particular cases and develop as complete an explanation of each
case as possible. They involve examining as many factors as possible that contribute to the case
including unique factors. provides a good understanding of the case.
Theoretical and substantive rivals
The following provide sources of alternative explanations:
The theoretical literature
Other researchers
Practitioners, key informants, policy makers, advocates
Own experience, hunches and intuitions
Technical/methodological rivals
The types of methodological rivals that will be examined:
1. Demand characteristics of the situation
2. Transient personal characteristics
3. Situational factors
4. Sampling of items
5. Nature of the sample
6. Lack of clarity of the instrument
7. Format of data collection
8. Variation in the administration of the instrument
9. Processing/analysis errors
Operationalization
Defining concepts requires a nominal definition and an operational definition of each concept.
Concepts are by nature not directly observable. We need to translate this into something we can
measure. This involves defining and clarifying abstracts concepts and developing indicators of them.
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