SESSION 2007/2008
SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, CRIMINOLOGY AND CULTURAL STUDIES
Combined Course Handbook for
Research Issues and Methods
And
Dissertation
LEVEL M
CODE: RESE 1001
UNIT CO-ORDINATORS:
Thomas Acton and Terry Cannon
1
Research Issues and Methods
RESE 1001
Handbook 2007-8
Contents
Inside front
cover
The Harvard Referencing Format
Course Specification
3
Assessment details
4
Lecture List, and a note on reading
5
Reading Lists
6
Lecture Notes Measurement, Meaning and bias, Research and the
Dissertation
10
Lecture Notes: What techniques and topics might be covered in a
Methods course: Looking for significance: Sampling and Probability;
11
Lecture Notes: Creating a Research Topic Template
14
Assessment Exercises: General Guidance
15
Lecture Notes Descriptive statistics and Measures of Association;
Correlation, Chi-Square, parametric and non-parametric tests
17
Lab session on SPSS
24
Lecture Notes: Interview Surveys
26
Lecture Notes Observation: Participant and non-participant
27
Lecture Notes The Literature Review
29
Lecture Notes: The Analysis of texts
31
Lecture Notes Evaluation, Ethics, Access and Dissemination
33
Assessment Requirement: Research Ethics Form
36
Dissertation Guidelines
37
2
COURSE SPECIFICATION
COURSE SUBJ CODE: RESE 1001
SCHOOL: Humanities
Course Title: Research Issues & Methods
Effective Term: 1
Course Co-ordinators: Thomas Acton and Terry Cannon
General Level: PG
Specific Level: M
Credit: 15
University Subject Group: Humanities
Specific Entry Requirements: None
Introduction and Rationale:
To conduct research of a high standard it is necessary to plan and design the study and surveys carefully. The
research methodology should be informed by relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge. It needs to set clear
objectives that will achieve the overall aim of the research and choose the appropriate tools of quantitative and
qualitative analysis. Analysis, interpretation and presentation of data should reflect the logic running through the
research exercise.
Empirical issues and theoretical knowledge relevant to this programme will provide the context within which
discussions of methodologies and principles of research will be undertaken. Additionally, special emphasis will be
given to issues of collaborative and action research so that students are equipped to undertake the research and
analysis at their place of work in relation to a ‘real’ problem.
Aims:
The course aims to:
 engender the need for careful planning of a project, including the need for clear researchable objectives;
 critically compare the different methods for collecting different types of information required, including surveys
and participatory methods;
 demonstrate that the context of the available data should be carefully studied before use and application of data;
 examine criteria that determine the choice of research methodologies; and
 demonstrate that analysis, interpretation and presentation are linked and together contribute to the quality of
research.
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of the course, the student will be able to
 analyse a research need and set out researchable objectives;
 select appropriate research methods;
 design, plan and execute a research study or appraisals;
 appreciate the issues related to collaborative and action research;
 critically assess the bases of available data before use of, and interpretation of that data;
 collect and manage data; analyse and interpret results; and
 prepare presentation and reports of research work.
Indicative Content:
Summary statistics and graphical methods
Design of surveys and sampling schemes.
Rapid Participatory Appraisals in relation to rural, urban and environmental issues.
Data collection, storage and retrieval.
Methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Report writing and presentation.
Main Learning and Teaching Activities:
Lectures and practical classes will be given in the principles of research and survey design. Lectures and role play
will be used to teach methodologies in participatory appraisal. Instructions will be provided in the use of computer
software for storage and retrieval of data.
Assessment is by a portfolio of activities that encourage students to engage in research activities that are essential to
the preparation of a good proposal. Each task contributes to the formation of a research proposal, which is not
given a grade, but receives comments from the tutor concerned and the provisional supervisor.
3
Assessment Details:
Methods of
Assessment
Portfolio
Contents
Weighting
Pass
Mark
Maximum
Word
Length
20%
40%
3000
RESEARCH
Research
topic
template
Literature
and resources
search
30%
40%
PROPOSAL
to include
research
question,
statement of
purpose,
literature
survey,
statement of
methodology
Template covering statement
of research question or
hypothesis, stakeholder
analysis, issues and conflicts
involved, data sources
Preliminary search and.
commentary on material
relevant to topic.
Demonstrates use of
Harvard referencing.
Research
Ethics form
Complete an acceptable
standard research ethics
form. Compulsory and must
achieve a pass level.
Case study 1
25%
40%
1000
Case study 2
25%
40%
1000
CASE
STUDIES
Outline Details
Reflective analysis of
material from the British
Household Panel Survey of
1991.
Reflective analysis of
journal article or chapter
relevant to dissertation topic
Deadlines:
A. SUMMATIVE
The Summative Deadline is for a Portfolio containing all of the above, to be handed to registry with the
headersheet firmly attached to it before 4pm on Friday 25th January. BUT if you don’t show us
anything before then you are not likely to do very well.
B. FORMATIVE
For guidance on how to do these assessments, see p.15. Give drafts of individual pieces of work
directly to Thomas Acton for formative assessment by the following dates if at all possible. Note –
these pieces are not in order – you don’t finish one before starting the next. We will be working on all
of them at once from the beginning of the course. Do hand them in sooner if you wish, and the later you
hand them in, the less effective feedback will be:
Research Topic Template: 2nd November
Case Study One: 30th November
Case Study Two: 30th November
Literature Search 7th December
Research Ethics Forms 7th December
Overall Research Proposal 14th December
4
LECTURE LIST
5th October T.Acton Measurement, Meaning and bias, Research and the Dissertation
12th October T.Acton What techniques and topics might be covered in a Methods course:
Looking for significance: Sampling and Probability
19th October T.Acton + T.Cannon (from 11.15) Creating a Research Topic Template: Moving
towards a Research Proposal
26th October; Descriptive statistics and Measures of Association; Correlation, Chi-Square,
parametric and non-parametric tests
2nd November 10.00 T.Acton, Workshop, 11.00 T.Cannon Graphs, Mapping, Correlation and
Spatial Analysis
9th November T.Acton Lab session on SPSS in Lab. D230 (in the library)
16th November T.Acton Interview Surveys
23rd November T.Acton Observation: Participant and non-participant
30th November T.Acton The Literature Review
7th December T.Acton Analysis of Texts
14th December T.Acton Evaluation, Ethics, Access and Dissemination
A note on Reading
Many of the books listed in the reading list on the following pages are text books which
cover most of the topics we look at, and duplicate each other; others are specialist
discussions of particular topics. For your own reference it is often worth buying one of the
“cookbook” type of text-books, that abound both in the library and in bookshops (though we
cannot promise they are all in the library - this is one of the biggest growth areas of sociology
publishing). Only you can tell which one will suit you best, however, so have a good look at
several before you pick one; and make sure you get the latest edition.
One compendium of very recent methodological commentary which is targeted very
precisely on the concerns of your programme, although it is not a “cookbook”, is:
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Sage
5
READING LIST BY TOPICS
1. Measurement, Meaning and bias , Research and the Dissertation
Alford, R.A. 1998 The Craft of Inquiry Oxford: OUP
Blaikie, N. 2000, Designing Social Research Cambridge: Polity
Burns R.B. 2000 4th Ed. Introduction to Research Methods London: Sage
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London:Sage Introduction
Gilbert N ed 1993 Researching Social Life Sage, London
Glaser B. and Strauss A. 1967 The Discovery of Grounded Theory Aldine, Chicago
Hage J and Meeker B.F. 1988 Social Causality London, Sage, Chapter 2
Hantrais L & Steen Morgan eds. 1996 Cross National Research Methods in the Social
Sciences, Pinter, London
Morrow RA & Brown DD 1994 Critical Theory and Methodology Sage, London
Roberts H. ed. 1990 Doing Feminist Research Routledge, London
Stanfield JH and Rutledge MD, 1993 Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods, Sage,
London
Shipman M. 1997 4th ed. The Limitations of Social Research Longman, London Chch 1-3
2. What techniques and topics might be covered in a Methods course: Looking for
significance: Sampling and Probability;
Barnett V. 1991 2nd Ed. Sample Survey Principles and Methods Edward Arnold, London
Chapters 1,3
Dale A., Arber, S., Proctor M., 1988 Doing Secondary Analysis Sage, London chapters 1-3.
(esp. ch. 3, for Data Protection Act)
Denscombe M. 1998 The Good Research Guide Open University Press, Buckingham
Chapters 1,6,7
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Sage, Chapters by
Barker, Willis and Lloyd-Evans and Simon
Dometrius N C. 1992 Social Statistics using SPSS Harper-Collins, New York chapters 1-2
Flick U.1998 An Introduction to Qualitative Research Sage, London Chapters 4-11
Gilbert M 1992 2nd ed. On Social Facts, Princeton University Press, Princeton
Hindess B. 1973 The Use of Official Statistics in Sociology Macmillan, London
Hughes J.A. 1976 Sociological Analysis: Methods of Discovery, Nelson, London, Chapters
1-3
Maisel R, and Persell C.H. 1996 How Sampling Works, Pine Forge Press, Thousand Oaks,
California
Shipman M. 1997 4th ed. The Limitations of Social Research Longman, London Chapters 48 (Part Two)
6
3 Creating a Research Topic Template
Frankfort-Nachmias C., & Nachmias D, 1996 Research Methods in Social Sciences, London
E. Arnold
Bryman A.1998 Quantity and Quality in Social Research, London:Routledge
4. Descriptive statistics and Measures of Association; Correlation, Chi-Square,
parametric and non-parametric tests.
Barnett V. 1991 2nd Ed. Sample Survey Principles and Methods Edward Arnold, London
Ch.2
Corston R. 1992 Research Methods and Statistics in the Social Sciences, Casdec, Birtley
Dometrius N C. 1992 Social Statistics using SPSS Harper-Collins, New York chapter 7
Foster, J.J 1993 Starting SPSS/PC+ and SPSS for Windows: A beginner’s guide to data
analysis Sigma, Wilmslow
Gilbert N ed 1993 Researching Social Life Sage, London chapters 11-13
Kish L. 1987 Statistical Design for Research, Wiley, Chichester
Maleske R.T. 1995 Foundations for Gathering and Interpreting Behavioural Data: An
Introduction to Statistics Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, California
Marsh C. 1988 Exploring Data, Polity, Cambridge, Chapters 1-3
Reid S. 1987 Working with Statistics Polity, Cambridge Chapters 1-6
Rose D. & Oriel Johnson 1993 Introducing Data Analysis for Social Scientists chapters 1-6
Corston R. 1992 Research Methods and Statistics in the Social Sciences, Casdec, Birtley
Foster, J.J 1993 Starting SPSS/PC+ and SPSS for Windows: A beginner’s guide to data
analysis Sigma, Wilmslow
Hudson H.C. 1982 Classifying Social Data Jossey-Bass, London
Reid S. 1987 Working with Statistics Polity, Cambridge chapter 7
Rose D. & Oriel Johnson 1993 Introducing Data Analysis for Social Scientists chapters 710
5 Graphs, Mapping, Correlation and Statial Analysis
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Chapters by Binns,
Mercer, Unwin, Jennings, Conway&Donnelly, Findlay, Mawdsley and Rigg
6 Use of SPSS
Corston, Rod & Colman A. 2003 A crash course in SPSS for Windows 2nd Ed. Blackwell,
Oxford
Field, Andy 2005 Discovering statistics using SPSS : (and sex, drugs and rock'n'roll) 2nd
Ed. Sage, London
Foster, Jeremy J. 2001 Data analysis using SPSS for Windows versions 8 to 10 : a
beginner's guide . – 2nd Ed. Sage, London
Johnson, S. 2005 Brilliant Microsoft Excel Harlow: Prentice Hall
Kerr, Alistair W., Hall, HK and Ko, S.A. 2002 Doing statistics with SPSS Sage, London
Marsh C. 1988 Exploring Data, Polity, Cambridge, Chapters 6 – 11
Reid S. 1987 Working with Statistics Polity, Cambridge Chapters 7-8
7
Rose D. & Oriel Johnson 1993 Introducing Data Analysis for Social Scientists chapters
10-12
7. Interview Surveys
Brenner M. Brown J., Canter D. 1985 The Research Interview, Uses and Approaches
Academic Press, London
Foddy W. 1993 Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and
Practice in Social Research Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gilbert N ed 1993 Researching Social Life Sage, London Chapters 3, 5-8
Marsh C. 1983 The Survey Method: The Contribution of Surveys to Sociological
Explanation, Allen and Unwin, London
McCracken G.D 1988 The Long Interview Sage, London
8. Observation: Participant and non-participant
Bailey C.A. 1996 A Guide to Field Research Pine Forge/Sage, London
Bell D.A. et al. 1993 Gendered Fields - Men, Woman and Ethnography Routledge, London
Denscombe M. 1998 The Good Research Guide Open University Press, Buckingham
Chapters 4,5,8
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Chapters by
Apentik & Parpart, Momsen, van Donge and Beazley & Ennew
Gilbert N ed 1993 Researching Social Life Sage, London Chapter 9
Robson S. and Foster A. 1989 Qualitative Research in Action Griffin, London 1989
Silverman D. ed. 1997 Qualitative Research: Theory Method and Practice, Sage, London
Warren C.A.B 1988 Gender Issues in Field Research Sage, London
9. The Literature Review
Denscombe M. 1998 The Good Research Guide Open University Press, Buckingham
Chapter 11
Hart, C. 1998 Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research
Imagination Sage, London
10. Analysis of Texts
Michael Billig, 1991 Ideology and Opinions: Studies in Rhetorical Psychology, London: Sage,
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Sage, Chapters by
Meth & Williams, McIlwaine and Unwin
Flick U.1998 An Introduction to Qualitative Research Sage, London chapters 14 - 18
Stuart Hall (ed.), 1997 Representation, Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices,
London: Sage Publications and the Open Univrsity, [especially the two papers by Hall]
McCracken G.D 1988 The Long Interview Sage, London
Miles M.B and Huberman A.M. 1994 2nd Ed. Qualitative Data Analysis Sage, London
Silverman D. 1993 Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for analysing talk, text and
interaction Sage, London
8
11. Evaluation, Ethics, Access and Dissemination
Bell J. 1993 2nd Ed. Doing Your Research Project Open University Press, Buckingham
Bulmer M. Ed. 1982 Social Research Ethics Macmillan, London
Bulmer M et al. 1986 Social Science and Social Policy, Allen and Unwin, London
Cherns A. 1979 Using the Social Sciences Routledge and Kegan Oaul, London
Denscombe M. 1998 The Good Research Guide Open University Press, Buckingham Chch
9, 12
Desai V and Potter R, eds. 2006 Doing Development Research London: Sage, chapters by
Brydon, Harrison, Boas et al, Morse, and Gainsbury & Brown.
Edwards A. and Talbot R. 1994 The Hard-Pressed Researcher Longman, Harlow
Finch J. 1986 Research and Policy Falmer Press, Brighton
Flick U.1998 An Introduction to Qualitative Research Sage, London chapter 6
Gilbert N ed 1993 Researching Social Life Sage, London Chch 4, 16
Gouldner A. 1979 For Sociology Allen Lane, London, 1973
Hakim, C. 1992 2nd Ed. Research design : strategies and choices in the design of social
research. Routledge, London.
Howe R. 1993 A Student Guide to Research in Social Science, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press
Majone G. 1989 Evidence, Argument and Persuasion in the Policy Process Yale University
Press, New Haven
Miles M.B and Huberman A.M. 1994 2nd Ed. Qualitative Data Analysis Sage, London
Chch 11, 12
Müller-Hill B. 1988 Murderous Science, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Rose G. 1986 2nd Ed. Deciphering Sociological Research Routledge and Kegan Paul,
London
Shipman M. 1997 4th ed. The Limitations of Social Research Longman, London Chapters 911
Stern P.C. 1979 Evaluating Social Science Research Oxford University Press, Oxford
Weber M. 1949 The Methodology of the Social Sciences
Free Press, New York, pp.1-49
Wenger G.C. et al. 1987 The Research Relationship Allen and Unwin, London,
9
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 1. Introduction: Assembling the tools for arguments: Measurement,
Meaning and bias , Research and the Dissertation
What is a Concept?
From thinginess to variables: measurement and Indices
The meaning of a variable?
The meaning of significance ? – the chance that a result did not occur by chance.
Hypotheses and Investigations
Hypotheses link at least two concepts, which may have either real or nominal definitions.
You don’t have to have a hypothesis to investigate something - but unless you end up with
something which could be formalised as one, you aren’t dealing in knowledge. A Research
Project is a series of actions aiming to add to knowledge.
Operationalisation
In order to test a hypothesis, you have to put it in testable form, by operationalising it.
Operational definitions turn concepts into variables, and produce indicators.
With indicators we can test hypotheses by gathering data (although this is NOT the only
point of gathering data.)
DEALING WITH BIAS
Is there such a thing as objectivity? Even if it isn’t achievable we can’t just say whatever we
want. Plausibility depends on:
Honesty about our own interests and values
Transparency about our sources and procedures
Replicability of our data-gathering
Rigour and consistency in our scholarly reporting
Does this justify what Alvin Gouldner called “The new objectivity”?
Small group work:
l) Produce a list of all the topics or areas in which members of the group may wish to carry
out their research project
2) What variables are likely to be looked in all (or most?) of these embryonic research
projects; and what kind of values will these variables have ?
10
Lecture 2:
A) What techniques and topics might be covered in a Methods course
B) Looking for significance: Sampling and Probability
A. What techniques and topics might be covered in a Methods course
a) Last week we tried to cover the philosophical bases if research:
Ontology (assumptions about what exists): Measurement, meaning and bias; Hypotheses and
other research questions
Epistemology (how we know: what counts as evidence): Operationalisation, Testings and other
investigations; Reliability and Validity
- and we took a first look at how to bring these together in project design
b) In designing projects we then have a choice of a large number of methods of
i) data collection
ii) data analysis
i) Data Collection
Library research and internet mining
Secondary use of official statistics
Secondary use of other statistical data-sets e.g. from the ESRC data archive.
Secondary use of qualitative data sets (e.g. Peter Worsley’s of Meyer Fortes’ West African
data)
Sample surveys
Interviews and oral history.
Fieldwork and observation
ii) Data Analysis
i)
Qualitative or thematic analysis and its software (e.g. NVivo)
ii)
Quantitative or statistical analysis (e.g. SPSS); Descriptive statistics, association,
correlation, , parametric and non-parametric tests (e.g. chi-square).
iii) Other issues in Research Design and Management;
Acess and Ethics; literature reviews, scholarly conventions, intellectual property rights;
writing up; dissemination and utilisation
11
B. Looking for significance: Sampling and Probability
1) What is Significance?
The statistical operationalistion of commonsense philosophy?
“Significance” as meaning /importance in everyday life.
Statistics uses the mathematics of probability to operationalise this concept by making it
measurable, effectively defining it as “the chance that a result did not come about by
chance”.
It is easiest to measure when data-sets or surveys are complete. We may map an entire area,
or read a complete archive, or give a questionnaire (like a census form) to everyone in a
population.
Then we can look at association of variables in that population (e.g. sex and political
opinion, or free-range living conditions and avian flu, or air quality and bronchitis) and see
how different is the actual association from what it would have been most likely to be if the
association was random.
2) Sampling
But often we just cannot afford to survey complete populations or masses, so we examine a
sample, which we hope will accurately reflect the characteristics of the whole
population/area/archive we wish to examine (but in practice will reflect the accessible
sampling frame, omitting, say, homeless people, or marshes, or illegible documents that we
just can’t get at.)
How do we try to make samples accurate?
A. Methods based on Random Selection
Remember “Random” is a technical term in the Social Sciences.
A sample is random if and only if every member of the sampling frame has an equal chance
of being selected. Taking the first subjects that come along is NOT random sampling (it’s
called opportunity, or interviewer-selected sampling).
1. A true random sample (with replacement). How large should it be? Estimate the
distribution of values within the sample compared with that of the sampling
frame/population? (for the NHS = “Ask a statistician.”)
2. Random sampling without replacement
3. Multi-stage or Area Sampling (including multi-phase or filter sampling)
4. Stratified Random Sampling
12
5. Cluster sampling
B. Methods attempting to approximate to random sampling (where it is hoped to be near
enough to make the use of probability theory for calculating significance sensibly.)
1. Stratified non-random sampling including quota or judgmental sampling. Survey firms
often try to calibrate this (cheap) technique against (expensive) random samples.
2. Systematic sampling eg every nth name, or alphabetical.
C. Other : Snowball sampling, opportunity sampling
Small Group Work
Try to link the variables you considered last week into an operationalisable research question
which might be the starting point for your dissertation.
Before next week
Pick two or three possible reports of research studies that you might use for your first case
study. (see p. 16 below).
13
Lecture 3: Creating a Research Topic Template – Moving Towards a
Proposal

Making your choice of topic
o
Ensure you have a hypothesis or research question – think about answering the
questions WHY, WHAT, HOW? (AND IF RELEVANT – WHEN, WHERE?). This
should guide you to an analytical approach – not simple description. If your research
question can be presented as one or more research hypotheses to be tested, this (these) need
to be operationalised.
o You should be examining and analysing the way in which resources (wealth, income,
assets, environmental/natural) are distributed and redistributed, the patterns of power,
distribution of income and assets (capital wealth), and (where relevant) the
background history of these. You are analysing processes – what and how things
happen, why they are happening the way they are, and what is different now from
before (or likely to change in the future from what it is now).
This is how you can relate your dissertation to the content of the core course on
Globalisation and Development.
o It should have clear boundaries so that you can limit the scope and not be drawn into
less relevant areas.

Think carefully about why you have chosen this topic. Your answer to this may show
that you are doing it for reasons that may not lead to a good dissertation. For instance, if
you are doing it ‘to help your country’, you may not be very objective in your analysis for
fear of upsetting nationalistic feelings. If you are doing it ‘because it will help with my
getting a job’, you may not show everything that may be seen as critical by a prospective
employer.

Think clearly about what your purpose and goal is – write it down and include it.

Do a survey of literature and other resources (including the internet, data and
statistical sources). If these are inadequate, you may have to change your topic. You must
have some (probably “Western”) academic sources (which will most likely be in
English). Sources that are limited to government or commercial information are not so
likely to be objective, and may lead you to have a biased or partial dissertation. Academic
sources are likely to be more objective, and in many cases “Western” academic sources
(i.e. published in countries where there is more freedom of expression, often in English –
which may include researchers from all over the world, not just the West!) are more
protected from bias. Use electronic journals from our library: you should be able to
demonstrate the use of journal articles as a key source for postgraduate work.

Make explicit your methods of analysis – what will you use, and why will you use it?
Do not use data simply to impress – graphs, tables, etc. must be there for a reason – to
assist your analysis.
Adequate resources, methods and information CONFIRMS VIABILITY OF TOPIC
14
Assessment Exercises – How to Do Them
1) Research Template: Suggested headings
* Choice of topic
o Justification
o Research question or hypothesis
* Why have you chosen it?
* What is your purpose and goal?
* Primary data collection methods, if any
* Methods of analysis – what do you expect to use that is appropriate to your topic?
2) Literature Search and Resources Planning: Suggested headings
* Preliminary Literature search (see Lecture 10)
* Assessing Resources required:
o Money (not much for you, but even paper costs money)
o Equipment
o Time (VERY Important to do a time-budget)
o Personnel (You - in this case - but who might help. Might you do a cooperative project with someone else resulting in two reports ? Can you do a
spin-off from a bigger research project at work ?
* Ethics Assessment – see lecture 11
* Bibliography – this follows the Harvard system EXCEPT that a Research Proposal is the
only form of academic writing where you are allowed to list sources you haven’t read or
cited yet!
3) Case Study Analysis 1
Evaluate how the influence of gender and other variables on voting can be researched
through the British Household Panel Survey, and what this tells us about how to use
statistics, paying particular attention to the concept ofc statistical significance – see Lecture 8
4) Case Study Analysis 2
Choose a study or book or journal article (or other suitable material – you can check this with
staff) which reports a single piece of original research and is related to your dissertation topic
(i. e NOT a textbook, NOT a survey of many research results, NOT secondary analysis).
Then do the exact opposite a Research Proposal: extract and evaluate the research template
from the report, and tell us and tell us how successful it has been.The types of criteria you
can use include (you can use these as headings if you wish):
 What is the objective or goal or purpose of the author?
 What type of author is it (single academic? Research team? NGO? Institution or
organisation?)
 What is the research question or hypothesis used?
 What type of information and/or data does the author use?
15
 Is the information adequate for the purpose? If not, what are its shortcomings?
 Does this constitute adequate evidence to support the author’s arguments?
 What is your assessment of the extent that the author has fulfilled the purpose/goal?
5) Project Proposal Portfolio
This will include all the above items, improved after formative feedback. The mark given
will be for the items as they appear in the portfolio, not as how they were first submitted.
Respond to our comments! Improve them!
Some Practicalities
 It may help to produce a ‘spider diagram’ of your project to help you to plan it.
 This work will be the foundation of your research proposal. If you don’t have a viable
research proposal, it is literally pointless to start on your dissertation.
 As you collect references, ensure that you keep good notes on your sources so that you can
give proper references. Make a bibliography as you go along, and note where you have
found each source so that you can find it again easily when you begin work.
 Conclude by pointing out any other difficulties that may have to be faced (and how.)
16
Lecture 4 Descriptive statistics and Measures of Association; Correlation,
Chi-Square, parametric and non-parametric tests.
17
18
19
20
21
22
Lecture 6: SPSS COMPUTING LAB SESSION
- to be held in Lab D230 (in the Library)
1) Log on - ask for help if you don’t know how. You will need your computing id and your
password, both of which are on your registration document. PLEASE REMEMBER TO
BRING A DISK!
2) Check that you are aware of the software that is available to you through the university. At
the end of this exercise we want you to e-mail your results for section 7 below to
T.A.Acton@greenwich.ac.uk and then submit them with your comments as your second case
study.
3) Click on the SPSS icon, choose the option for data entry and wait for a data entry grill to
come up. (Note the TUTORIAL OPTION - it’s good - but we don’t have time for it this
morning.)
4) Create a simple data set about the group we are in tonight:
a) Define your variables: Put one in each of the boxes along the top row (or case) for as
many variables as you have (2 to start with). This makes SPSS give a “default definition” of
your variables. Then define them by clicking on the “variable view” button at the bottom of
the table on your screen. Change var00001 to “Sex”. Define your labels by changing the
residual categories which come up in the row.
Give the full variable label of “Sex” as “Gender of the Respondent”
Give the value labels 1=Male and 2=Female
Make 9 your “missing value”. Keep everything else the same
b) Now use your creative social-scientifc imagination to define a second variable “Ethnicity”
using the same procedures as above. Try to avoid residues of racism - but keep it simple!
(It’s harder than you think.)
c) Now enter everyone in the class as a case with their gender and ethnicity
5) Analyse your data set as follows. Click on Analyze at the top, then Descriptive Statistics,
then Frequencies, and after choosing the statistics you want (and charts, if you like - how
about a pie chart!) proceed - and look at the Frequency Table in your Output File.
What is the Standard Deviation for Sex? What is this an indication of ?
6) Minimise the Output file and click on analysis again. Then click on Crosstabs, and set up
a cross-tabulation of Sex and Ethnicity. Run it after choosing chi-square and correlations
(Kendalls Tau-b) as the statistics you want, and choosing some graphics. Inspect the result.
Why doesn’t chi-square tell us very much with a very small sample?
7) Now for one we prepared earlier!
Click on ‘file’ then ‘open’ then ‘data’ then enter an address I will give you on the day for the
file BHPS1, and it should come up as a data set in your main window.
This data set is from Wave 1 of the British Household Panel Study, which was established
by the Economic and Social Research Council as one of the first national-level generalpurpose longitudinal studies to be conducted in Great Britain. Individuals entering Wave 1 of
the survey in 1991 were re-interviewed at intervals throughout the 1990s. Further technical
details and a copies of the questionnaires are available from the ESRC Research Centre on
23
Micro-Social Change at the University of Essex.This sample was randomly selected (with
appropriate weightings) on a one-per-household basis from the 5,532 representative
households interviewed at Wave 1. It comes from D.Rose and O Sullivan (1996)
Introducing Data Analysis for Social Scientists Open Uni. Press, Buckingham
ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Case Study One: (Max 1000words)
What can you learn from cross-tabulating ASEX with AVOTE, and with AOPFAMF? Email Thomas Acton with an appropriate table and your comments, and submit this as your
second case study. (1000 words maximum).
24
Lecture 7 Interview Surveys
How do we get primary data from a human sample? Sample Survey Method
How do we tap into the experience of other people?
A) A choice of strategies
Generally we have a choice between depth and generality.
The more we concentrate on elucidating one person’s subjective reality, the deeper into it we
can go.
The more we try to generalise about lots of people, the less we can take note of the
experience of individuals.
B) A continuum of methods:
Postal Questionnaire
Administered Questionnaire
Scheduled interview
Structured Interview
Focused Interview
Unstructured Interview
Informant Interview
Oral History
More Structured
^
l
l
\/
Less structured
C. Formulating Questions for Questionnaires or Interview Schedules
The more structured the strategy , the more careful we must be to standardise the questions to
make sure the stimuli which produces the subjects’ responses are the same, so that the results
are commensurable.
When writing a questionnaire we have to make sure
a) We operationalise all independent as well as dependent variables (ie always ask sex, age,
parents’ occupation, marital status, ethnicity.)
b) Include leading and misleading questions only if we really mean to
c) Decide on a balance between closed and open-ended questions
d) Decide whether multiple choice or scaled questions are appropriate
e) We list the questions in the most respondent-friendly manner (leave age till last!)
f) Arrange the questions to make the coding as easy as possible for data analysis - through
pre-coding if possible
25
g) That any translations, or dialect adaptations are as near-equivalent as possible. (And that
we don’t exaggerate how successful we are in this task!
h) If necessary repeat a question in a different form as a check on reliability
i) For interview schedules include any necessary probes or prompts for open-ended
questions.
D. The interview as a social situation
Remember that the environment of the interviewee always has an effect, and so will the
character of the interviewer in every situation but that of the postal questionnaire.
The less structured the interview the more complex the situation and the nature of the
rapport to be built between interviewer and interviewee (cf Government “Handbook for
Interviewers”)
26
Lecture 8: Observation – Participant and non-Participant
See for Yourself!
Observation is the foundation of all methods of data collection:
Interviews: Recording others’ recollected observations.
Documentary Analysis: Examining written-down observations.
Experiments: Stirring things up and recording the result.
But sometimes sociologists need to observe directly what happens naturally when as it is
happening. You may have to wait a long time for anything interesting to happen – but at
least you will now that what you see happen is not the result of inadequately controlled
experimental stimuli, or a figment of someone else’s memory or selective record keeping.
(At least you can make your own selection!)
Two common methods of direct observation: Non-participant and Participant observation.
A. Non-Participant Observation:
Select and operationalise hypothesis
Draw up schedule for observation
Carry out times, replaceable observation
Analyse data
e.g. Hypothesis: Our lecturer is excited by student questions.
Operationalisation: Our lecturer waves his/her hands more when responding to student
questions.
Schedule:
Ordinary Lecturing
Responding to Questions
Waves Hands
Raises Hands above shoulders
Scratches Head
uncontrollably
Assaults Students
Pause for questions while you start filling this in.
Most schedules are much more complex – with columns for different individuals, time
periods and behaviour items. Complex hypotheses may require several schedules and
several observers. Preparing a good observation schedule is as difficult and open ended an
art form as writing a good questionnaire.
27
B. Participant Observation:
Gain Access.
Learn language if necessary and seek cultural acclimatization.
(What is missing at this point? We, actually, hypothesis forming isn’t much use in
participant observation. Hypotheses tend to be an end product for testing by other
methods rather than a starting point.)
Immerse self in total environment of the behaviour to be observed, while writing up field
log. At this point text books tend to warn the observer against “going native”. Acton
would prefer to warn the observer against remaining imperialist.
Retreat to ivory tower, analyse log, write book, give expert advice on “your” natives for
rest of life. (It doesn’t have to like that; it too often has been.)
Advantages of Non-participant Observation
Can be rigorously structured to give quantifiable, replaceable data.
Relatively easy to defend against accusations of bias.
Disadvantages of Non-participant Observation
Lacks interpretative depth.
Results are partly determined by initial selection of hypothesis and construction of schedule.
Advantages of Participant Observation
Unparalleled interpretative depth.
Open-ended and flexible approach to new experience.
Greatest possible challenge to observer’s ethnocentrism.
Disadvantages of Participant Observation
Highly subjective, and subject to accusations of bias.
No way of knowing if subjects are a representative sample.
If not combined with historical and other scholarship, may lead observers (especially
structural functionalists) into considerable interpretative historical error.
Leads to conflict of loyalties for observer and other theoretical problems (e.g. covert vs overt
observation).
Such ethnocentrism as survives the challenges to it may, through the observer’s writings, be
embedded more firmly in the observer’s culture.
Conclusion:
Studying whole cultures requires a combination of ALL sociological and historical methods.
28
Lecture 9 The Literature Review
Grounding Research in Existing Knowledge
- and not reinventing the wheel !
a) Preparing yourself to ask the right questions
b) Showing readers you know the issues and questions - so they take you seriously
c) Showing gaps in existing knowledge
d) Locating your own work theoretically.
To do it you need
a) to build a substantial bibliography (this may be in several sections - but using the
Harvard system you list it all in a single list by author) .
Don’t rely on existing bibliographies, but use search engines on the internet, CD Roms of
article titles in the library, and the most recent journals.
b) to discuss it in categorical terms
i.e. your literature review is NOT an annotated bibliography, NOR should it be a succession
of individual book reviews. Rather you should list the subject-area categories of literature
(most dissertations have 2 or 3)- and cite the most important books within them.
In literature reviews it is OK to have some rather general sentences about the
tendency of a literature and then to have a long list of citations all within the same pair of
brackets. This is greatly preferable to having a whole page of sentences referring to the same
topic and citing a lot of similar books one at a time.
c) not to pre-empt the substantial chapters of the report
When you do your first draft of the literature review, you may find yourself writing miniversions of your overall conclusions and argument. These will need to be hiked out and put
in later chapters. Your literature review reports the scope of the relevant literatures - it
doesn’t present books as as evidence (except occasionally where you may have to explain
why your thesis is not dealing with some topic you nevertheless recognise as important.
Books and documents will only be presented as evidence in your substantial chapters. The
corollary of this is: even a wholly-library-based theoretical dissertation still needs a
literature review which treats books as part of “a literature”, rather than the subject of your
research.
Scholarly Conventions and Intellectual Property Rights
The ESRC makes “intellectual property rights” a key part of the new research training. Why?
No just commercial considerations - but to assure the evidence trail, and enable the
assessment of bias, through transparency about the kind of document which is used as
evidencer.
29
So DO use the Harvard system (see inside front cover) at all times, and AVOID any
suggestion of plagiarism.
Remember: Library research is not the same thing as a literature review.
How to do the Literature Search component of the Research Proposal
Complete a brief initial review of the literatures (ie the categories of literature) which are
essential or desirable to contextualise your research, mentioning one or two of the most
important examples of each.
This preliminary review of the literature is obviously not going to be comprehensive – at this
stage you are mainly making sure that your topic has sufficient resources – especially
academic ones in English – to enable you to do the project. We would expect you to identify
at least 10 significant academic sources in English, and a range of reports, internet sites,
government sources, business reports (where relevant) in addition.
30
Lecture 10 ANALYSIS OF TEXTS (from books to interview transcripts
and field notes)
Content Analysis vs Discourse Analysis
The quantitative vs qualitative argument rears its head again!
The linguist de Saussure made a seminal distinction between langue (the structure of words,
grammar and symbols of semiotics) and parole (the message or meaning), which together
make up the structure of language.
Content Analysis is concerned with langue, with language as behaviour, with analysing
words as signifiers;
Discourse Analysis is concerned with parole, with language as communication, with
analysing what is signified, the arrangement of meanings.
Is there a middle way?
A. Traditional methods of content analysis:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
formulate a precise hypothesis relating linguistic to non-linguist variables e.g. “Less
extreme left wing groups will use more adverbs in their propaganda”
define the relevant data i.e. state exactly what you are counting (eg – which groups,
and phrases do you count as “left-wing”)
choose units of analysis (words, headlines, sentences, stories or whatever, and
definition of categories to contain units, which should be unambiguous, mutually
exclusive and exhaustive. (If at all possible!)
enumeration, index construction and testing of hypotheses
testing for reliability (by repeat coding of texts) and validity (by construction of ad
hoc predictive and construct validity tests)
B. Traditional Methods of Discourse Analysis
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
locate the text in terms of what is known about the author, the author’s view of the
audience, and different audiences’ views of the author.
identify the major controversies involved: with whom is the author grouped and
against whom. (And what differences exist within an identified discourse e.g “New”
vs “Old” Labour. )
within a given corpus of texts identify and exemplify the common arguments and
themes, and their logical links.
Rigorously compare what each of the texts you are looking at says about the themes
you have identified as important.
Empathetically, imaginatively and hermaneutically characterise the main themes of
the discourse(s) you are analysing.
31
C. Yippee – Computers can now do both at once
From the 1980s on more rigorous analysis of extended in-depth interview transcripts
essentially utilised both techniques (cf McCracken 1988). In the 1990s qualitative analysis
software has essentially computerised this methodology with packages like NUDist, and
Winmax.
32
Lecture 11: Evaluation, Ethics, Access and Dissemination
A) Evaluation:
1) How do we assess the Research Reports of others?
How do we decipher their methodology from the end product? Or from the Introduction
(assuming this is the last part written?
Is evaluation a mirror image of the research process?
2) The checklist approach: Check the appropriateness of
a) Theory in general
b) Whether theoretical propositions to be investigated are specific enough and grounded in
the literature?
c) Whether the operationalisation was apopropriate. Was there a pilot? Are methods of
checking validity and reliability built in?
d) Fieldwork. Were the decisions inherent in operationalisation adequately resourced and
carried out? Was the access OK. How were problems acknowledged? Was the research
ethical?
e) Is the data analysis sound.
3) Problems with the “Where did it all go wrong” approach.
a) as a method of learning methodology it tends to promote pessimism – even impossibilism
b) Qualitative research, especially that engaged in theory-building rather than theory-testing,
may not be so cut and dried as the stages above suggest.
c) The method of ideal types versus the method of difference: the Bethnal Green Studies, (by
Willmott and Young) describing ideal types or central tendencies of “Family and Community
in East London” are still widely taking as a model despite Jennifer Platt’s devastating
critique “Social Research in Bethnal Green”
B). Ethics and Access
Right from wrong?
1) The possibility of “Value - free” research?
“This dilemma...actually does not exist, for one of its horns is imaginary. For it to exist one
would have to assume, as some apparently do, that it is indeed possible to do research that is
uncontaminated by personal and political sympathies... [that]... is not possible and... the
question is not whether we should take sides, since we inevitably will, but rather whose side
are we on.” [my emphasis]
Becker, H. (1967) “Whose side are we on?” in Sociological Work, p.124
“An attitude of moral indifference has no connection with scientific objectivity”
Weber, M. (1949) “The meaning of ethical neutrality in the social sciences” in The
Methodology of the Social Sciences, p.54
Weber in fact opposed Scientism - the notion that there are two separate and autonomous
spheres of fact and “morality” or ethics, and that the collection of facts (scientific data
collection), is always to be done without reference to the collector’s value - system (scientific
33
objectivity) and that t science has a particular authority, and knowledge drawn from has a
privileged epistemological status, i.e. is more authoritative because it is “scientific” in
some way.
Arguments against these notions: what is “scientific research”? What makes it “scientific”?
Can “science” [more especially social “science”] ever be “value-free”? Should our research
ever be value-free? What did Weber mean by his phrase “wertfrei” [value-free or unbiased]?
2) Ethical issues.
If then we have to “do” ethics what is the status of ethical statements and codes of ethics:
a) are they absolute (always to be adhered to no matter what the circumstances)?
b) Are they relative (to be put into operation at some places at some times)?
When and where do these codes apply (are they socially constructed notions that only apply
to particular societies at certain periods)? Ethical situationism: the notion that each particular
situation or circumstance can be measured “on its merits”, against one’s personal sense of
ethics
What is the relationship between ethics and justice? Social justice? Ideas about “good” and
“evil”?
“Give every man his due” (Socrates) But how do we define “due” and who is “everyman”?
3) Those who demand their “due” of the social scientist
a) other social scientists – the “professions”
b) employers and research funders: universities, government departments, funding
trusts. Also the taxpayer or the people as a whole?
c) Students, apprentices, research assistants
d) the “subjects” (“objects”?) of research.
4) How do social scientists contribute to policy-making more generally?
C) Dissemination
1) Getting your work published:
Needful for any knowledge you have to be used or useful for someone else;
(utilisation - briefing)
An accounting for the resources that have been put in (accountability - report)
A contribution to your c.v. (presentation - publication)
2) Oral Presentation as a preliminary
N.B. Oral presentation can be of a written paper. Papers often find their way upwards
through a hierarchy of locations of presentation viz.
local graduate seminar
seminar at someone else’s university
(If you are using stuff from your dissertation you will almost always have to make it much
tighter and more hearer-friendly. )
34
Then via submission of an abstract to the organising Committee, go to
Professional or issue-oriented conference or
Scholarly Association Conference
3) Submission to peer-reviewed journals
Once the bugs have been taken out of your work through discussions, it may,
if you are lucky, be selected for the book of the conference. If so make sure that you change it
quite a lot before submitting it to a peer-reviewed journal.
For this, choose carefully; look at journals in the library, and adjust the style
of your writing to the rules and style of the journal. Remember the less prestigious the
journal, the quicker and easier it is to get published.
Your paper will be sent to two anonymous reviewers, and you may be asked
to make changes. (Usually a good sign).
A tip: Join a professional association: volunteer to review books and act as an anonymous
referee for their journal yourself.
Don’t forget to list articles in professional journals - which may be more useful even if they
don’t carry so much academic prestige.
4) Books
Many journal articles also appear as book chapters. This is legitimate because the journal
audience is disciplinary, but the book audience is usually problem-oriented. Edited books are
often the outcome of issue-oriented conferences.
If you run the conference - you often get to edit the book. And with all this experience, you
may find the time to write a whole one yourself - or at least to send off book proposals to
publishers (which go down better if you can refer to a few articles already published.)
A tip: Give your papers a slightly different title and adapt the first paragraph to the venue at
each outing: this will make your list of publications a lot longer
35
RESEARCH ETHICS FORM
MA/M.Sc World Trade and Development
1)Date ……………………… 2)Name……………………………………………………
2) Staff/Student I.D. (as on your Resource Card) ……………………….
3) List any individuals who are acting as supervisors for this research.
……………………………………………………………………………..
4) Title of your Research
………………………………………………………………………..
5) Brief summary of your research proposal (250 words maximum)
6) Is there anyone whose interests might be damaged by, or who might object to the procedures or
outcomes of your research in any way. Outline why you think your research is ethically justified despite
any objections or risks, and what steps you have taken to minimise the possibility of unjustfiable harm.
(NB, sometimes causing harm to individuals, eg facilitating the conviction of dangerous criminals, is
justified. So be frank!)
7) Who is or are the funder(s) or sponsor(s) of your research, if any
………………………………………………………………...
NOTE: If your research does involve any invasive physical procedures, or experimental work with
human or animal subjects, or there are any complex or difficult ethical issues, you should also fill in
the University Research Ethics Committee form.
An electronic copy of this form is available by e-mail. Include a completed copy of this form with your
project proposal
36
Dissertation Guidelines
Process
 The Research Methods course forms the background to your analytical capabilities
 Foundations in Postgraduate Study provides the tools for critical thinking and practical
guidance on research work
 The research methods course ensures that early on you provide a preliminary idea of your topic
in the Research Topic Template, which is discussed in tutorial or seminar format in class.
 A potential supervisor is then identified who can meet and discuss with you your ideas and
assist you in forming your research proposal.
 Coursework in the Research Methods course is directly linked to your dissertation:
o Case Study Analysis encourages you to apply your analytical capacity and critical
thinking to a study done by someone else that relates to your topic, and to do your
own secondary analysis on published datas;
o The Research topic template, Literature Search and the Research Ethics form will
be edited together to make a Research which proposal provides you with the
initial ‘map’ of your topic, based on a research question or hypothesis, a clear
purpose, and initial survey of the literature.
 The formal summative for these pieces of work is in January. You should use the development
of this coursework to begin your work on your topic so that by early next year you are well on the
way to having a viable structure, an awareness of sources (and a collection of these as
photocopies, notes, etc.)
 You should be submitting draft chapters by February and March
 You should then be ready to begin serious work on your dissertation as soon as the exams are
over in May/June.
 Criteria for marking the dissertation:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Clear research question or hypothesis
Coherence of argument
Good use of evidence to support argument
Originality of argument
Clarity of structure
Range of literature used – types of sources, extent of sources
Correct referencing (Harvard System or other agreed system)
Proper bibliography
Visual presentation
Grammar and spelling
Proper length (15,000 including all annexes)
The maximum length for the Dissertation is 15,000 words (including annexes). It will be
submitted for a deadline in late August 2007 (date to be confirmed).
37
Two bound paper copies must be submitted, and an electronic version sent by email to your
supervisor. The binding should be simple and cheap – e.g. a ‘comb’ binding available in many
printing shops.
The Dissertation will be marked by your supervisor, and a second marker within the university.
Some will also be sent to the external examiner for moderation.
The normal warnings on plagiarism (the representing of other people’s work as your own)
apply to the dissertation and will be implemented strictly.
Summary timetable for Dissertation for MA WTD students
Indicative
Month
October
November
December
January
February
March
April/May
June - August
August
Action
Who
Research Methods course and
Foundations for Postgraduate Study course begin
Research Topic Template presented
Initial allocation of and meetings with potential supervisor
Meetings with provisional supervisor
Students coursework assignments for Research Methods:
 Case Study analysis
 Research Proposal
Research Methods: Coursework submitted and marked
TA & TC
Early drafts of dissertation chapters prepared
Dissertation chapters prepared
Initial feedback from supervisors
Exams
Dissertation drafts prepared
Supervisors comment
Dissertation revised
Submission
Two bound copies and electronic version to supervisor
38
Students
TC
Students
Deadline!
Students
TA & TC
Students
Students
Supervisors
Students
and
supervisors
Deadline!