The Research Process - Introduction to Social Research Methods - Lecture Slides, Slides of Research Methodology

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The Process of Social Research

One model of the social research

process looks like this:

CHOOSE A GENERAL TOPIC ➔ FOCUS PROJECT ON AREA OF INTEREST WITHIN A THEORY ➔ DESIGN A STUDY ➔

COLLECT DATA ➔ ANALYZE THE DATA ➔ INTERPRET FINDINGS AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS ➔ WRITE A REPORT.

Some Dimensions of Social Research

• The GOAL: Descriptive vs. Explanatory
• The UNIT OF ANALYSIS
• The USE: Basic vs. Applied
• The TIME DIMENSION
• The ANALYTIC TECHNIQUE
• The Degree of OBTRUSIVENESS
• The Approach to VERIFICATION: Classical/Deductive or Grounded/Inductive

So… why can’t we just rely on

“common sense”?

• “Common Sense” is almost never defined, but might refer to - Authority - Tradition - Personal Experience - Media Representations - Myths and “Urban Legends”

…but all of these sources of “knowledge” are biased. Among other issues, sources of error include the following:

• Premature Closure
• Subjectivity
• Inappropriate Sampling

“Science” allows for:

• Findings that are Objective
• A Neutral Pursuit
• Findings that can be Generalized