Research Methods Study Topics
You should study all notes and assigned readings and lab concepts.
The Uses of Social Research
Science is all about asking questions:
Research methods is about how we answer those questions.
Have you ever participated in social science research before (as a researcher or subject)?
Science of Shopping
Why study Research Methods?
Ways of Knowing
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these ways of knowing?
In what situations would each of them be most useful?
The Scientific Method
Is it Perfect?-No (a work in progress)
Bias in what gets published
Scientific Research Vs. Common Knowledge
Uses of SOCIAL RESEARCH
How might you research a given question?
Theory Research and Ethics
Sources of Research Questions
What do we mean by “selecting a researchable topic?”
How is Theory involved?
How are Models involved?
Practical Concerns for being researchable
Uses of SOCIAL RESEARCH
Deductive: begin with, is it an X is it or not
Inductive: Begin with what is this “mass,” feel way around.
Collecting Data
Theory
Hypotheses
Variables
Attribute
Models
Do you have extraneous variables ?
What relationships might be spurious?
How do they answer the question with research?
Library & Literature Review
RESEARCHABLE QUESTIONs
Feasible research questions
Ethics
Do No Harm
Voluntary Consent
Informed Consent
Anonymity
Confidentiality
Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects”
3
Picking the People you Want to Study
Sampling
Population
Census
sample
Why Sample?
Simple Random Sampling
Systematic Random Sampling
Operationalization and Measurement
Measurement
The assignment of values (and often numbers) to objects or events so that we can study them
Steps in Measurement
Operationalization
Indicators
Index (a composite measure)
scale
reliability
Validity of Measures
face validity:
content validity:
predictive validity:
construct validity:
internal validity:
external validity:
Lying on Surveys- So use Time Diary-What We Say About Our Religion, And What We Do
4
Selecting an Appropriate Research Design and Survey Design
Correlation vs Causality
Common response
Confounding factors
Coincidence.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING CAUSALITY
Random Experiment- Study Shows Riding The Quiet Car Is Crushing Your Spirit
control group
randomization
Learning the Test effect
Comparison Group Quasi Experiment
Non-Experimental Research Designs
Panel Design
Longitudinal
Trend or Cohort Study
Questionnaires and Structured Interviews
5
Qualitative Research
Deductive
observational techniques.
What does that data look like?
Thin description : uses basic language without much detail
Thick: has much more detail
How might you describe each of these using thick versus thin approaches?
Controlled Observations involve clear decisions about what kinds of things are to be observed.
Qualitative Data Collection Techniques
Descriptive Data
Transcribing
Qualitative Data Analysis Process
Issues of Access
naturalistic
Demand characteristics
Interviewer effect
Visual sociology
Using images as a source of data
Thin description
Thick
How might you describe each of these using thick versus thin approaches?
Controlled Observations.
Applied Social Research
Available Data
Content Analysis
Uses of SOCIAL RESEARCH
The Policy Cycle
Content Analysis