SSH 301-mid term

Research

doesnt exist in vacuum, can arise from a variety of motives

Theory

an explanation of observed regularities or patterns

Paradigm

beliefs and assumptions that influence views on what should be studied, how research should be done and how research should be interpreted

positivism

true knowledge is scientific knowledge obtained through rigorous scientific methods

empiricism

only knowledge obtained through the senses is acceptable

deductive

starts with the statement of a theory from which hypothesis may be derived and tested

inductive

starts with data which are then used to develop theories, hypotheses and concepts

objectivity/subjectivity

two or more observers of the same phenomenon are in agreement with what was observed

critiques of positivism

lack of context and exploration, narrow in scope, generalized ability

interpretivism

requires social scientists to grasp subjective meanings that people attach to their actions and behaviours

critical theory

intent in doing the research

constructivism

issues believed to be socially produced/ constructed

epistemology

concerned with what constitutes knowledge and how knowledge is to be acquired

ontoloy

branch of philosophy concerned with nature of reality

methodology

go about gathering information

quanlitative research

uses words, images, no #s, it tends to be inductivist, constructivist and interpretivist

values

scientists should be completely value free

practical considerations

choice of research orientation, design or method has to match the specific research question being investigated

iterative

going back and forth between deductive and inductive

indicator

something employed to measure a concept when no direct measure is avaliable

criteria for evaluating social research (quantitative research)

reliability, replicability, validity

reliability

consistency of your measurement

replicability

whether others can repeat part or all of a study

validity

determines whether the research truly measures that which it was intended to measure

criticism of quantitative research

relationships between variables promotes a view of social life that is remote from everyday experience

qualitative

see the world through the eyes of the respondent

qualitative research

intent to explore complex set of factors surrounding the central phenomenon

criteria for evaluating social research (qualitative research)

credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability

credibility

has to be true for those observed

transferability

generalizable (thick data)

dependability

have to outline how you approached data

confirmability

try not to impose personal values

leads to trustworthiness

credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability

critiques of qualitative research

too subjective, difficult to replicate, problems of generalization, lack of transparency

variable

characteristic or attribute that varies

independent variable

a variable you can manipulate

dependent variable

something you measure

4 prominent research designs

classic experimental, cross sectional, longitudinal, case study

purpose of control group

to see if change occurred

classic experimental design

2 groups: experimental (given something) and control group (does something)

cross sectional design

observations are taken at one point in time, quantitative

longitudinal design

examined at a particular time and again at later time(s) without manipulation of an independent variable that characterizes experiments, qualitative and quantitative

case study design

basic case study design entails a detailed and intensive analysis of a single case or multiple cases, qualitative

manipulation

experiment manipulates independent variable to determine its influence on a dependent variable

sample

subset of population selected by either probability or purposive sampling methods

probability sample

a sample selected at random where every unit has a known probability of being selected

4 kinds of probability sampling

simple random, multi-stage cluster, systematic, stratified

simple random sample

each unit of the population has an equal probability of inclusion in the sample

systematic sample

selected directly from sampling frame without using random numbers

stratified random sample

units are randomly sampled from a population that has been previously divided into sub-groups (strata)

multi-stage cluster sample

primary sampling unit is not the individuals or units of the population to be studied but an aggregate of them known as a cluster

best approach to quantitative research sampling

probability sampling

best approach to qualitative research sampling

purposive sampling

3 kinds of purposive sampling

representative/comparative, special/unique case, sequential

5 kinds of strategies for representative/comparative sampling

typical case sampling, extreme case sampling, intensity sampling, maximum sampling, homogeneous sampling

3 kinds of strategies for special/unique case sampling

revelatory case sampling, critical case sampling, criterion case sampling

3 kinds of strategies for sequential sampling

opportunist, snowball, theoretical sampling

Opportunistic

opportunity emerges

snowball

researcher makes contact with a small group who are relevant to research topic then use them to establish contact with others

theoretical sampling

meant to be an alternative strategy used in order to discover categories and their properties and suggest interrelationship into a theory

content analysis sampling

approach to analysis of documents and texts that seeks to quantify content in terms of predetermined categories in a systematic and replicable manner

sampling problems

quota samples and probability samples are biased, rare to end up with perfectly representative sample

balancing in ethics in social research

rights of participants vs. knowledge of theory

types of harm

physical, psychological, legally, other

included in consent form

risk, purpose, methods, exact procedures, who is doing the study

rapport

close and harmonious relationship

2 types of qualitative interviews

unstructured, semi-structured

unstructured

researcher uses only a brief set of points to introduce topics, informal, like a conversation, short interview guide

semi-structured

researcher has a list of questions or topics to be covered, general, longer interview guide

kinds of questions

introducing, follow up, probing, specifying, direct, indirect, structuring, silence, interpreting, open-ended questions, intermediate and ending questions

topics included in an interview

values, emotions, beliefs, behaviours, formal and informal roles, relationships, encounters, stories

grounded theory

derived from data systematically gathered and analyzed through the research process. Aims to generate, discover or construct a theory

Barney Glaser

positivist tradition, theory is out there and you come up with it

Anselm Strauss

constructivist tradition, theory isnt out there and you cant come up with it

3 main coding procedures

open coding (codes), axial coding (categories), selective coding

open coding

breaks down, examines, compares, conceptualized and categorizes data

axial coding

making connections between categories

selective coding

selects core category, relates it to other categories, validating relationships and filling it in categories that need further refinement and development

substantive theory

pertains to a particular empirical instance

formal theory

more abstract, applicable to various different settings

criticisms of grounded theory

practical difficulties, observation and data gathering may not be as theory neutral as claimed, it may not result in theory, coding may result in fragmentation

thematic analysis

does not include selective coding, what is said rather than how it is said

performative analysis

analyzes narrative as a performance

structured analysis

emphasizes the way a story is told

interactional analysis

looks at dialogue between teller of story and listener