MA Sociology Part I Notes: Paper IV Methodologies of Social Research

 MA Sociology Part I Notes: 

Paper IV Methodologies of Social Research

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Unit I : Introduction

 Philosophical foundations: Issuesof Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology 

The Nature of Science and Science of the social 

The Nature of Sociologicalinquiry; Science and common sense

Qualitative and QuantitativeMethodologies

Qualitative and Quantitative Methods part II

Unit II: Methodological Perspectives

Positivism    

Hermeneutic Intervention 

Reflexivity and Social Research 

Feminist MethodologicalPerspectives 

Unit III: Research Methods

 Virtual Research 

Ethics in Virtual Research

The nature and application of Statistics in Sociological research 

Quantitative Methods: Social Survey-questionnaire, Interview schedule, coding practices

Qualitative Methods: Participant observation, Interviews, Case studies and life histories

Unit IV: Planning and Communicating Research

Research Proposal 

Research Design 

Data Collection and Analysis 

LITERATURE REVIEW

A literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. 

Literature reviews are secondary sources, and do not report new or original experimental work.

A literature review can be a precursor in the introduction of a research paper, or it can be an entire paper in itself, often the first stage of large research projects, allowing the supervisor to ascertain that the student is on the correct path. 

A literature review is a critical and in-depth evaluation of previous research. It is a summary and synopsis of a particular area of research, allowing anybody reading the paper to establish why you are pursuing this particular research program.

A good literature review expands upon the reasons behind selecting a particular research question.

A literature review goes beyond the search for information and includes the identification and articulation of relationships between the literature and your field of research.

While the form of the literature review may vary with different types of studies, the basic purposes remain constant:

- Provide a context for the research

- Justify the research

- Ensure the research hasn't been done before (or that it is not just a "replication study")

- Show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge

- Enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject

- Illustrate how the subject has been studied previously

- Highlight flaws in previous research

- Outline gaps in previous research

- Show that the work is adding to the understanding and knowledge of the field

- Help refine, refocus or even change the topic

A literature review has four main objectives:

- It surveys the literature in your chosen area of study

- It synthesises the information in that literature into a summary

- It critically analyses the information gathered by identifying gaps in current knowledge; by showing limitations of theories and points of view; and by formulating areas for further research and reviewing areas of

Controversy.

- It presents the literature in an organized way

 

A literature review shows your readers that you have an in-depth grasp of your subject; and that you understand where your own research fits into and adds to an existing body of agreed knowledge.

 

Here’s another way of describing those four main tasks. A literature review:

- demonstrates a familiarity with a body of knowledge and establishes the credibility of your work.

- summarizes prior research and says how your project is linked to it.

- integrates and summarizes what is known about a subject.

- demonstrates that you have learnt from others and that your research is a starting point for new ideas.

 

Steps for Conducting a Lit Review 

1. Choose a topic. Define your research question: Your literature review should be guided by a central research question. Remember, it is not a collection of loosely related studies in a field but instead represents background and research developments related to a specific research question, interpreted and analyzed by you in a synthesized way.

- Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow.

- Is it manageable? Begin writing down terms that are related to your question.

- These will be useful for searches later.

- If you have the opportunity, discuss your topic with your professor.

2. Decide on the scope of your review: How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover?

- This may depend on your assignment.

- How many sources does the assignment require?

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches: Make a list of the databases you will search.

Remember to include comprehensive databases such as WorldCat and Dissertations & Theses if you need to.

Tips: Look at the Library's research guides in your discipline to select discipline-specific databases. Don't forget to look at books! Make an appointment with or contact your subject librarian to make sure you aren't missing major databases.

4. Conduct your searches and find the literature: Keep track of your searches:

- Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time.

- Write down the searches you conduct in each database so that you may duplicate them if you need to later (or avoid dead-end searches that you'd forgotten you'd already tried).

- Use the bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others.

- Ask your professor or a scholar in the field if you are missing any key works in the field.

- Use RefWorks to keep track of your research citations.

5. Review the literature: Some questions to help you analyze the research: What was the research question of the study you are reviewing? What were the authors trying to discover? Was the research funded by a source that could influence the findings? What were the research methodologies? Analyze its literature review, the samples and variables used, the results, and the conclusions. Does the research seem to be complete? Could it have been conducted more soundly? What further questions does it raise? If there are conflicting studies, why do you think that is? How are the authors viewed in the field? Has this study been cited? if so, how has it been analyzed?

- Again, review the abstracts carefully.

- Keep careful notes so that you may track your thought processes during the research process.

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH

 

Types of Research Design:

On the basis of information to be collected, research designs can be classified into the following three categories:

a) Exploratory research

b) Descriptive research

c) Causal research

 

Exploratory Research:

Exploratory research is conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover potential business opportunities.

As the name implies, exploratory research is not intended to provide conclusive evidence from which to determine a particular course of action. In this sense, exploratory research is not an end unto itself. Usually exploratory research is a first step, conducted with the expectation that additional research will be needed to provide more conclusive evidence.

i. Exploratory research is often used to guide and refine these subsequent research efforts.

ii. Exploratory research aims to develop initial hunches or insights and provide direction for any further research needed.

iii. The primary purpose of exploratory research is to shed light on the nature of a situation and identify any specific objectives or data needs to be addressed through additional research.

iv. Exploratory research is most useful when a decision maker wishes to better understand a situation and/or identify decision alternatives.

v. Exploratory research is conducted when decision makers sense a need for marketing research but are unsure of the specific direction the research should take.

 

Methods for Conducting Exploratory Research

a. Key-Informant Technique: Conducting exploratory research by interviewing knowledgeable individuals is sometimes called the key-informant technique. It is also known as an expert opinion survey or a lead-user survey. An effective way to do exploratory research is to seek out and talk to individuals with expertise in areas related to the situation being investigated. The technique is necessarily a very subjective and flexible procedure with no standard approach. In today’s fast-changing technological world, very few individuals possess all of the relevant information about the market. Careful attention must be given to the selection of knowledgeable people. This observation is not limited to business-to-business market settings; it is relevant in almost every context requiring exploratory research. When properly used, the key-informant technique can be very productive in situations where a decision maker senses the need for research but lacks well-defined research objectives.

b. Focus Group Interviews: In a focus group interview, an objective discussion leader introduces a topic to a group of respondents and directs their discussion of that topic in a non-structured and natural fashion. This is sometimes simply called a focus group. Respondents (typically about 8 to 12) discuss a given topic in a fairly informal fashion. A well-trained researcher, called a moderator, leads the discussion. The moderator’s primary tasks are to ensure that key aspects of the topic are discussed and to observe or record the participants’ reactions. Focus groups are used in a variety of situations.

c. Analysis of Secondary Data: Examining appropriate secondary data is a fast and inexpensive way of conducting exploratory research that can generate valuable insights. Such insights, in turn, will provide a proper focus for conclusive research. Sometimes the insights revealed by secondary data analysis may even eliminate the need for conclusive research.

d. Case Study Method: The case study method is an in-depth examination of a unit of interest. The unit can be a customer, store, salesperson, firm, market area, website, and so on. By virtue of its insight-generating potential, the case study method is a useful form of exploratory research. This method is suitable in a research setting in which the company has a general research objective but is unsure of exactly what it is looking for. It involves collecting in-depth data on a variety of important dimensions or factors for the unit of interest. Only the investigator’s time and imagination limit the number and types of factors to be examined. The analysis of case data is nonquantitative and primarily involves numerous comparisons and contrasts of the data. It requires an alert investigator capable of recognizing even subtle differences across cases as well as possible relationships among factors within a case.

e. Observational Method: The observational method involves human or mechanical observation of what people actually do or what events take place during a buying or consumption situation. In this method of data collection, researchers or mechanical / electronic devices witness and record information as events occur or compile evidence from past events. It is useful to assess behavior such as use of products, frequency of store visits, teens shopping with and without supervision, use of media, and time spent on specific websites. It is particularly useful in researching young children, a group that is typically not amenable to many research techniques.

Exploratory research is not limited to the five methods just described, although they are the most frequently used methods. Variations or combinations of these methods can also be employed in an exploratory research project. Insights gained through exploratory research pave the way for conclusive research. Many research projects involve an exploratory phase followed by a conclusive phase.

Ref: Dr. H. Lakdawala's AMR notes

RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve marketing research problems. 

In simple words it is the general plan of how you will go about your research.

Definitions of Research Design: 

1.      According to David J Luck and Ronald S Rubin, “A research design is the determination and statement of the general research approach or strategy adopted for the particular project. It is the heart of planning. If the design adheres to the research objective, it will ensure that the client’s needs will be served.

2.      According to Kerlinger, “Research in the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance. 

3.      According to Green and Tull, “ A research design is the specification of methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed. It is the over-all operational pattern or framework of the project that stipulates what information is to be collected from which source by what procedures.

The function of a research design is to ensure that requisite data in accordance with the problem at hand is collected accurately and economically. Simply stated, it is the framework, a blueprint for the research study which guides the collection and analysis of data. The research design, depending upon the needs of the researcher may be a very detailed statement or only furnish the minimum information required for planning the research project.

To be effective, a research design should furnish at least the following details. 

- A statement of objectives of the study or the research output.

- A statement of the data inputs required on the basis of which the research problem is to be solved.

- The methods of analysis which shall be used to treat and analyze the data inputs.

 

 More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect of:

-         What is the study about?

-         Why is the study being made?

-         Where will the study be carried out?

-         What type of data is required?

-         Where can the required data be found?

-         What periods of time will the study include?

-         What will be the sample design?

-         What techniques of data collection will be used?

-         How will the data be analyzed?

-         In what style will the report be prepared?

 

Advantages of research design

- Consumes less time.

- Ensures project time schedule.

- Helps researcher to prepare himself to carry out research in a proper and a systematic way.

- Better documentation of the various activities while the project work is going on.

- Helps in proper planning of the resources and their procurement in right time.

- Provides satisfaction and confidence, accompanied with a sense of success from the beginning of the work of the research project.

 

Need for Research Design: Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Research design has a significant impact on the reliability of the results obtained. It thus acts as a firm foundation for the entire research. For example, economical and attractive construction of house we need a blueprint (or what is commonly called the map of the house) well thought out and prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research design or a plan in advance of data collection and analysis for our research project.

 

Research design stands for advance planning of the methods to be adopted for collecting the relevant data and the techniques to be used in their analysis.

The need for research design is as follows:

-         It reduces inaccuracy;

-         Helps to get maximum efficiency and reliability;

-         Eliminates bias and marginal errors;

-         Minimizes wastage of time;

-         Helpful for collecting research materials;

-         Helpful for testing of hypothesis;

-         Gives an idea regarding the type of resources required in terms of money, manpower, time, and efforts;

-         Provides an overview to other experts;

-         Guides the research in the right direction.

 

Importance and scope of Research Design

Research design carries an important influence on the reliability of the results attained. It therefore provides a solid base for the whole research. It is needed due to the fact that it allows for the smooth working of the many research operations. This makes the research as effective as possible by providing maximum information with minimum spending of effort, money and time. For building of a car, we must have a suitable blueprint made by an expert designer. In a similar fashion, we require a suitable design or plan just before data collection and analysis of the research project. Planning of design must be carried out cautiously as even a small mistake might mess up the purpose of the entire project. The design helps the investigator to organize his ideas, which helps to recognize and fix his faults, if any. In a good research design, all the components go together with each other in a coherent way. The theoretical and conceptual framework must with the research goals and purposes. In the same way, the data gathering method must fit with the research purposes, conceptual and theoretical framework and method of data analysis.

 

The importance and scope of research design in research methodology is due to the following:

1. It may result in the preferred kind of study with helpful conclusion.

2. It cuts down on inaccuracy.

3. Allows you get optimum efficiency and reliability.

4. Reduce wastage of time.

5. Reduce uncertainty, confusion and practical haphazard related to any research problem.

6. Of great help for collection of research material and testing of hypothesis.

7. It is a guide for giving research the right path.

8. Gets rid of bias and marginal errors.

9. Provides an idea concerning the type of resources needed in terms of money, effort, time, and manpower.

10. Smooth & efficient sailing (sets boundaries & helps prevent blind search) Maximizes reliability of results.

11. Provides firm foundation to the endeavor.

12. Averts misleading conclusions & thoughtless useless exercise. Provides opportunity to anticipate flaws & inadequacies (anticipates problems).

13. Incorporates by learning from other people’s critical comments & evaluations.

 

Ref: Dr. Hanif Lakdawala's AMR Notes