Powerpoints Flashcards
Name unique qualities of social science research
- studies human beings
- our subjects can communicate with us
- We can communicate with our subjects
- different methods can be used to get information or data
What are the 8 steps in research methods?
- Choose a topic
- Review the literature
- Formulate a research question
- Create a data collection tool
- Gather your data
- Analyze the data collected
- Interpret the data collected
- Communicate results in an academic research
What are the two main types of qualitative social science studies?
- Interviews (individual, group, F2F, phone, etc)
- Observations (full participant, semi participant, non-participant, mass observation in a public place)
What are examples of social science studies?
- interviews
- observation
-content analysis - historical analysis
- case study
- ethnography
What is the goal of a qualitative analysis?
To understand experiences, opinions and ideas. The WHY the SENSE of what we see.
Define the scientific method
- Makes systematic observations
- It is a formalized approach
- It is rigorous
- It is verifiable (by others - can be repeated and verified)
- It’s a circular process
What are the 6 fundamental principles of all social science research?
- Objective (based on logic, not subjective, clear procedures and assumptions)
- Empirical based verification (it’s testable through observations)
- Replicable ( it can be consistently repeated)
- Falsifiable hypothesis (there can be contradictory data that could be collected)
- Contributing to and building on previous research
- Transparent communication of all findings (publicly shared)
What is quantitative research?
Hypothesis driven, deductive (theory tested) - hypothesis does not change.
What is qualitative research?
“Working question” driven, inductive (observation/data), the research question changes. The destination is the same but the path to get there can evolve and change.
What are the 8 research design process
- Topic
- Research question
- Literature review
- Unit of analysis
- Population
- Sample
- Sampling method
- Ethics
How is a research question in qualitative research a “working research question “
Why? - casual relationships
When? - in time, process, settings
Who? - agency, persons, institutions, collective bodies
How? - mechanisms, the way things work
Where? - in space, setting, context, extent
What is a research question?
- it addresses a specific issue
- it is interesting, relevant, practical and ethical
- it’s a question to which you do not know the answer
- it’s clear and it’s doable
- includes context - location and population of interest
What is ethnography?
It uses full participant observation. You go into the field to live and work, write field notes, conduct interviews as follow ups ex: marriage rituals
What is grounded theory?
To determine people’s interactions, actions, experiences. Data generates theories. Ultimately creates new theories from in-depth, extensive interviews and observation data. Ex; experiences of homeless youth = construct theory
What is phenomenology?
Phenomenology makes meanings out of experiences of groups of people sharing/or who lived a circumstance or event by in-depth interviews. Ex; emotions, sense of an experience of people in a certain intimate or family relationship.
What is the structure of academic sources?
- Title, Author(s) - the name of the article, the author(s) and their affiliation
- Abstract - summarises the research, the main points of the study
- Introduction - background, summary of current state of knowledge, what the researchers addresses “the objective”
- Methods - study design, description of who, how, instruments used, measurements taken
