Quantitative Research Methods in Social Sciences
Lecturer: Lia Tsuladze, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social and Political
Studies, Tbilisi State University, Georgia.
Course Aims. The aim of the course is to familiarize students with quantitative research
methods in social sciences, as well as to facilitate them to gain practical skills of
conducting quantitative researches. Therefore, students will not only receive theoretical
knowledge on the related topics but also, based on it, undertake practical work such as
developing a social research program, designing a sample, constructing a questionnaire,
and conducting a standardized/structured interview. As survey research is considered to
be the main method of quantitative research, students will sequentially cover all its stages
from developing a research question to the data analysis and reporting.
Course Format. Lectures that provide students with necessary theoretical background,
and seminars and discussions, where students present their practical assignments and give
feedback to one another. Students will work in the groups of 3-4 on the practical
assignments and present them to the whole group at each seminar.
Course Contents.
1. Introduction to quantitative research methods. Survey research as the main
method of quantitative research
Introduction: Two methods of social research - quantitative and qualitative, basic
differences between them. Social research and theory: The interaction of theory and
research. The process of theory construction and the process of theory testing.
Survey research as the main method of quantitative research. A brief history of
survey research. The scientific characteristics of survey research.
References:
De Vaus, D. A. (1990). Survey in Social Research (2nd ed.). London: Unwin Hyman. Ch.
2.
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 3.
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Neill, J. (2007). Qualitative versus Quantitative Research: Key Points in the Classic
Debate.
Retrieved
http://wilderdom.com/research/QualitativeVersusQuantitativeResearch.html#Features
2. Social Research Program
What is a social research program and why is it necessary to start a research with
developing a proper research program? The structure of a social research program, its
theoretical and procedural parts. The structure of a theoretical part: 1. Formulating a
research question and stating its importance; 2. Identifying a topic and an object of the
research; 3. Clarifying the research aim and objectives; and 4. Developing the research
hypotheses. The structure of a procedural part: 1. Designing a sample; and 2. Identifying
appropriate research methods.
An example of a research program: Lika’s PhD research: “Autonomy and
Sanctions in Socialization in the Context of Georgian Culture.”
Assignment: Students choose a particular topic of their interest and develop a
theoretical part of the research program in the groups of 3-4. A common topic is chosen
by the whole group; however, each subgroup works on a particular aspect of this topic.
References:
De Vaus, D. A. (1990). Survey in Social Research (2nd ed.). London: Unwin Hyman. Ch.
3, 4.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 1.
Harper R., Kelly M. (2003). Measuring Social Capital in the UK. National Statistics.
retrieved www.statistics.gov.uk/socialcapital
3. Seminar
Presentation and discussion of the social research programs by the groups of students.
Feedback from the whole group: Identifying strengths and weaknesses of each research
program and improving them.
4. Types of Survey Research. Basic Survey Designs
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What is survey? Purposes of survey research: Description, explanation, and
exploration. Steps in Conducting a survey. Main types of survey research: Selfadministered questionnaires, mail surveys, internet surveys, personal interviews, and
telephone interviews. Interviews versus questionnaires: advantages and disadvantages of
each. Ethical considerations, an interviewer’s central task and the principles of
performance.
The issues related to selecting a survey method: Population issues, sampling
issues, question issues, content issues, bias issues, and administrative issues.
Basic survey designs. Cross-sectional surveys and longitudinal surveys: trend
studies, cohort studies, and panel studies. Variations on basic designs: parallel samples,
contextual studies, and sociometric studies. The ways of choosing an appropriate design.
References:
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 4.
De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Ch. 8.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 2, 6.
Newman, W. L. (2003). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (5th ed.). Boston: A&B. Ch. 10, pp. 263-268, 289-304.
Trochim, W. (2006). Survey Research. Retrieved
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survey.php
5. Questionnaire Design
Question content and principles of question design. Types of questions and
response categories. Developing question responses. Guides to question construction and
wording issues. Questionnaire design issues: Length of questionnaire; questionnaire
layout; question order and format; non-response. Pilot testing: Evaluating questions and
questionnaires. Measurement quality: reliability and validity.
An example of a questionnaire: CRRC Data Initiative 2007 - Individual
Questionnaire.
Assignment: Students develop thematic sections for questionnaires (in the groups
of 3-4) for the research topic they have developed a research program on.
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References:
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 7.
De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Ch. 7.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 7, 8.
Newman, W. L. (2003). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (5th ed.). Boston: A&B. Ch. 10, pp. 268-288.
6. Seminar
Presentation and discussion of the questionnaire sections by the groups of students.
Feedback from the whole group: Identifying strengths and weaknesses of each
questionnaire and improving them.
7. Indexes and Scales
Indexes versus scales. Index construction: item selection; bivariate relationships
among items; multivariate relationships among items; index scoring; handling missing
data. Index validation: internal versus external validation.
Scale construction and principles of measurement: unidimensionality, reliability,
validity, linearity, and reproducibility. Types of scales: Thurstone scale; Bogardus scale;
Likert scale; and Guttman scale. Issues that complicate scaling and some solutions to
these problems.
An example of scales: CRRC Data Initiative 2007 - Individual Questionnaire.
Assignment: Students develop scales for their questionnaires (in the groups of 34).
References:
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 8.
De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Ch. 11.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 11.
Trochim,
W.
(2006).
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scaling.php
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Scaling.
Retrieved
8. Seminar
Presentation and discussion of the scales by the groups of students. Feedback from the
whole group: Identifying strengths and weaknesses of each questionnaire and improving
them.
9. Survey Sampling
The logic of survey sampling. Types of sampling methods: probability and
nonprobability sampling.
Probability sampling: the implications of homogeneity and heterogeneity;
conscious and unconscious sampling bias; representativeness and probability of selection.
Populations and sampling frames. Size of a sample and sampling error.
Types of probability sampling designs: simple random sampling; systematic
sampling; stratified sampling; multistage cluster sampling. Proportionate and
disproportionate sampling and weighting.
Types of nonprobability sampling designs: Accidental or convenience sampling;
purposive or judgemental sampling; quota sampling.
Examples of sample designs: Sampling university students; sampling medical
school faculty; sampling Episcopal churchwomen; sampling Oakland households.
Assignment: Students develop a complete research program including both
theoretical and procedural parts.
References:
De Vaus, D. A. (1990). Survey in Social Research (2nd ed.). London: Unwin Hyman. Ch.
5.
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 5, 6.
Newman, W. L. (2003). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (5th ed.). Boston: A&B. Ch. 8.
Trochim, W. (2006). Sampling. Retrieved
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampling.php
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10. Seminar
Discussion and analysis of different sample designs. Presentation of complete research
programs.
11. Survey Research Ethics. Pretests and Pilot Studies
The ethics of survey research: voluntary participation; no harm to respondents;
anonymity and confidentiality; identifying purpose and sponsor; analysis and reporting.
Professional code of ethics.
Conducting pretests: Pretesting the sample design; the research instrument; the
data collection; the data processing; and the analysis.
Conducting pilot studies: Pilot-study sampling; research instrument; data
collection and data processing; and finally, analysis.
Evaluating pretests and pilot studies: question clarity; questionnaire format;
variance in responses; internal validation of items; and finally, analysis and reporting.
Practice: Students pretest in class several questionnaires developed by them
(assignments 5 & 7) through performing in the roles of interviewers and interviewees.
References:
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 12, 19.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 4.
12. Data Processing - Coding
Coding: Classifying responses- precoding and postcoding. Allocating codes to
variables. Allocating column numbers to variables. Producing a codebook. Checking for
coding errors.
Preparing variables for analysis: Changing, collapsing, and reordering the
categories of variables. Creating new variables from existing ones. Standardizing
variables to enable better comparisons. Dealing with missing data.
Example of coding: CRRC Data Initiative 2007 - Individual Questionnaire.
Assignment: Students use the abovementioned questionnaire to create new
variables from the existing ones (in the groups of 3-4).
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References:
De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Ch. 9, 10.
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 11.
Oppenheim, A. N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude
Measurement. London & NY: Continuum. Ch. 14.
13. Seminar
Presentation and discussion of the assignments by the groups of students. Feedback from
the whole group.
14. Data Analysis
Analyzing data: the logic of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses.
Univariate analysis: frequency distributions; measures of central tendency; measures of
variation. Bivariate analysis: crosstabulations and scattergrams; measures of association.
Multivariate analysis: statistical control and trivariate tables.
References:
De Vaus, D. (2002). Surveys in Social Research (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Ch.
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 14.
Newman, W. L. (2003). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (5th ed.). Boston: A&B. Ch. 12.
Alreck, P. L. & Settle, R. B. (1990). The Survey Research Handbook. Homewood,
Illinois: Irwin. Ch. 10, 11.
15. Research Report
The structure of a research report, its 4 main parts: 1. Introduction - creating a
research space and “hooking” the readers; 2. Methods - process descriptions; 3. Results commenting on the data, admitting difficulties in interpretation, and citing agreement
with previous studies; and 4. Discussion/Conclusion - consolidating a research space and
identifying useful areas for further research.
Formats
for
reference
lists
using
ASA/APA
(American
Association/American Psychological Association) style of references.
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Sociological
Exercise: Matching the elements of a research report with their descriptions
producing a basic framework for a research report. Creating a reference list using
ASA/APA style.
References:
Babbie, E. (1998). Survey Research Methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth. Ch. 18.
Newman, W. L. (2003). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (5th ed.). Boston: A&B. Ch. 16.
Swales, J. M. and Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic Writing for Graduate Students. Michigan:
The Univesity of Michigan Press.
On APA style of documenting sources:
http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html
On ASA Style of documenting sources:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/01/
http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html
Assessment:
Attendance - 10%
Participation in discussions - 20%
Assignments - 40%
Final exam - 30%
Learning Outcomes:
Students are familiar with survey research as the main method of quantitative research.
They have acquired not only theoretical knowledge about each stage of survey research,
but also practical experience of undertaking its particular stages, namely, developing a
research program, constructing a questionnaire, designing a sample, and conducting a
standardized/structured interview. They are also familiar with the basic structure of a
research report and know how to document sources using ASA/APA style of references.
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