Research Methods in Social Sciences Notes

Research Method in Social Sciences

Week 1: Introduction

• Social Sciences Research Methods
• Relationship between Research Methods and Knowledge Generation

Preparing Your Final Year Project

• Chapter 1 – Introduction
• Chapter 2 – Literature Review
• Chapter 3 – Methodology
• SEM 1 SSF3103
  • Fieldwork and Data Collection
• Semester Break
• Chapter 4 – Data Analysis
• Chapter 5 – Recommendation and Conclusion
• Appendices
• Sem 2 SSF3034
  • Proceed only when student PASSED SSF3103

Final Year Project Structure (FYP1)

• Chapter 1 Introduction
  • Background of the Study
  • Problem Statement
  • Research Questions
  • Research Objectives
  • Significance of Research
• Chapter 2 Literature Review
  • Literature Review
  • Operating the concepts
  • Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
• Chapter 3 Methodology
  • Research Philosophy
  • Research Design
  • Sampling
  • Data Collection & Data Analysis
  • Ethic
  • RESEARCH PROPOSAL

What is Research?

• Characteristic of research
• Purposes of research
• What is Science?
• Scientific Method

What is Research?

• Research refers to a systematic and organized process of inquiry, aimed at discovering, interpreting, and expanding knowledge.
• A systematic search for an answer to a question or a solution to a problem
• The most important process for advancing knowledge for promoting progress and to enable us to relate more effectively to our environment to accomplish our purpose and to solve our conflicts.

Definition of Research

• The term research consist of two words, ‘Re’ + ‘Search’.
  • ‘Re’ means again and again while ‘Search’ means to find our something.
  • Therefore, the research is a process of which a person observes the phenomena again and again and collects the data and on the basis of data he draws some conclusions.
• Research seeks to find out explanations to unexplained phenomena to clarify the doubtful propositions and to correct the misconceived facts.
• It simply means a search for facts, answer to questions and solutions to problems.

Definition of Research

• A way of thinking: a habit of questioning what you do a systematic examination to find answers.
• Search for knowledge via systematic investigation.
• Investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws
  • in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws.
• Social research is research on, and with, real people in the real world, one of social research’s exciting elements.
• ‘A careful and diligent search’ (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992: p. 4)
• ‘Social research is about exploring, describing, understanding, explaining, predicting, changing, or evaluating some aspects of the world’ (Blaikie, 1993: p. 4)

Characteristic of Research

• Research is a systematic and critical investigation to a phenomenon
• Researcher went through a sequence of steps (systematic order) consisting of methods and procedures
• Its aims at interpreting and explaining a phenomenon
• It adopts scientific method
• It is based on empirical evidences and observable experience
• It develops generalizations, principles or theories
• It is directed towards finding answer to the questions and solutions to the problems

Purposes of Research

• To discover new knowledge on human beings' social life and environment
• To develop, verify and test existing facts and theory/ies
• To establish generalizations and general laws and contribute to theory building in various fields of knowledge
• To ‘test’ the application of theory / to improve our knowledge and ability to handle situation
• To inform practice / general laws developed through research may enable us to make reliable predictions of events
• To analyze inter-relationship between variables and to derive causal explanations, which help us to better understanding of the world in which we live
• To finding solutions to the problem e.g. socio-economic problems, health problems, organizational and human relation problem etc.

Purposes of Research

• To develop new tools, concepts and theories for better understanding to unknown phenomena
• To evaluate programs and services
• To formulate policy / to provide functional data for rational decision making and formulation of strategies and policies
• To lift up the voices of the marginalized
  • Not only to study the world … but to help make it a better place
  • Knowledge gained from research has application value

What is Science?

• Science - ‘an objective, logical, and systematic methods of analysis of phenomena, devised to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge’.
• Science is a mode of investigation rather than a body of knowledge.
• Science has an empirical component.
  • Empirical data are data which are based on factual information, observation, or direct sensory experiences.

Science and Scientific Method

• Sains – ‘khazanah ilmu pengetahuan yang telah terkumpul melalui proses yang tersusun dan teruji’ (Ahmad Mahdzan, 1985:5).
• ‘Sains bertujuan menerangkan kejadian alam melalui pemerhatian, pengamatan dan pemikiran yang berdasarkan logik menurut akal manusia’ (ibid, p. 5).

Scientific Method

• All scientists use common methods for their enquiry. But their materials differ.
• E.g. A biologist is studying the structure of some flowers; a chemist is studying chemical properties of the flowers; and a sociologist is studying the indigenous knowledge from the community related to usage of the flowers in everyday live.
• Therefore, they use different techniques of investigation for their study.
• They observe the phenomenon and analyze them to find out their sequences this is called scientific method.
• Thus, scientific method is a systematic step-by-step procedure (three steps: observation, hypothesis and verification) following logical process of reasoning.
• Two elements of scientific method are:-
  • a) Procedural components
  • b) Personal Components

Procedural components

• Observation, hypothesis and verification are the three procedural components.
• Observation helps to collect data and help to build hypothesis.
• The second step is formation of one or more hypotheses. A hypothesis is tentative conclusion. It guides collection of data.
• The third stage is verification of hypothesis. It is done by analytical tools.

Personal Components

• The researcher needs imagination, analytical ability resourcefulness, skill, capacity to find out the hearts of the problem.
• Researcher’s ability and attitude are more important than the method of approach.
• Ambitions interest and perseverance are very much required to go on successfully with research.
• Researcher should have an objective scientific and professional qualification and personal quality and interest.

Difference Between Everyday Research and Scientific Research

• Scientific research is systematic inquiry into a ‘problem’ and attempt to describe, explain or predict phenomena based on data carefully collected.
• How about everyday research? Can you think of an example?

Meaning and Essentials of Scientific Method

• Scientific method is a way in which one can test opinion, impressions or guess by examining available evidences for and against them. So, it is controlling lot of things and establishing stable belief.
• Essentials of scientific method are:-
  • Scientific method aims at discovering facts.
  • It is itself corrective in nature.
  • It is itself based on systematic doubts.
  • Scientific theories are abstract in nature.

Basis of Scientific Method

Following are the major basis of scientific method:-

• (a) Reliance on empirical evidence:-
  • Scientific method involves a systematic process. The answer to a question is not decided by intuition or imagination.
  • Relevant data are collected through observation and experimentation. The validity and the reliability of data are checked carefully, and the data are analyzed thoroughly using appropriate methods of analyses.
• (b) Use of concepts:-
  • We use concepts to deal with real facts. Concepts are logical constructs or abstractions created from sense impressions. They are the symbols representing the meaning that we hold.

Basis of Scientific Method

• (c) Commitment to objectivity:-
  • Objectivity is the hallmark of the scientific method. It means forming a judgment upon facts unbiased by personal impressions. The conclusion should not vary from person to person. It should be the same for all persons.
• (d) Ethical neutrality:-
  • Science does not pass normative judgment on facts. It does not say they are good or bad. Science aims nothing but making true and adequate statements about its object.
• (e) Generalization:-
  • Scientist tries to find out the commonality of a series of event. They aim at discovering the uniformity. Assumed a discovered uniformity a logical class and it’s observed pattern, a descriptive generalization is formulated.

Basis of Scientific Method

• (f) Verifiability:-
  • The findings of a research should be verifiable. Scientist must make know to others, how he arrived at his conclusion. He should thus expose his own methods and conclusions to critical scrutiny.
  • When others test his conclusion under the same conditions, then it is accepted as correct.
• (g) Logical reasoning process:-
  • The scientist method involves the logical process of reasoning. This reasoning process is used for drawing inference from the finding of a study or for arriving at conclusion. This logical reasoning process consists of inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

Basis of Scientific Method

• Induction:
  • It begins with pure observations; generalizations or theories are then produced from the observations.
  • It involves two processes-observation and generalization.
• Deduction:
  • It begins with a tentative theory (hypothesis) which is expected to explain some observable phenomenon.
  • Observations are then made to test whether the theory can be accepted. Thus the reasoning is from the general to the particular.
  • It begins with pure observations, generalizations or theories are then produced from the observation.
  • This reasoning establishes a logical relationship between a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion.
  • E.g. major premise: - All men are mortal
  • Minor premise: - A is a man
  • Conclusion: - A is mortal

Inductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning involves drawing general conclusions from specific observations or evidence. Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to broader generalizations.

1. Observation: The process begins by observing specific examples - through experimentation, empirical data, or everyday experiences.
2. Pattern Recognition: Through repeated observation, patterns or regularities may emerge - serve as the basis for forming hypotheses or generalizations.
3. Formulating a Hypothesis: Based on the observed patterns, a hypothesis or generalization is formulated. This hypothesis represents a tentative conclusion about the observed phenomena.
4. Testing the Hypothesis: The next step involves testing the hypothesis to determine if it holds true for additional observations or cases. This testing may involve further experimentation, gathering more data, or conducting additional observations.
5. Revising or Confirming the Hypothesis: Depending on the results of the testing, the hypothesis may be revised, refined, or confirmed.
6. Generalization: Finally, if the hypothesis continues to hold true across a wide range of observations, it may be generalized into a broader theory or principle. This generalization represents a higher level of certainty about the observed relationship or pattern.

Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning moves from general principles or premises to specific conclusions. It is often described as "top-down" reasoning, as it starts with general principles and applies them to specific situations to derive specific conclusions.

1. Start with General Principle: Deductive reasoning begins with one or more general principles or premises that are assumed to be true - established through observation, experimentation, or previous deductions reasoning.
2. Application of the Principle: The next step involves applying general principles to a specific situation or case.
3. Deriving a Conclusion: By applying the general principles to the specific situation, a specific conclusion can be derived. This conclusion follows from the premises and the rules of logic.
4. Validity Checking: Once the conclusion is derived, it is important to check its validity to ensure that it follows logically from the premises. This often involves scrutinizing the logical steps used.
5. Certainty of Conclusions: If the premises are true and the logical steps are valid, the conclusion is considered certain or necessarily true.

Research Approach

The Wheel of Research

• Patterns (Deduction)
• Theory
• Observations/data (Induction)
• Hypotheses

Research Classification

Research Classification Continued

Can the method of natural science be used in social sciences?

Two schools of thoughts

• Yes – Positivism or positivistic school of thoughts
• No – Interpretivism or interpretivistic school of thoughts

Positivism

• Sociologist August Comte coined the term positivism
• Holds the view that social sciences research can model itself on natural sciences in conducting research
• Adopt the same methods, the same strategies that are used for generating and testing theories
• Positivism emphasizes the existence of an objective reality that can be studied through empirical observation and measurement. It assumes that knowledge can be derived through systematic observation and experimentation, aiming for objectivity and generalizability.
• Positivism states that if something is not measurable in this way it cannot be known for certain.
• Scientific knowledge is derived from the accumulation of data obtained from observation.
• This suggests that anything that cannot be observed and thus in some way measured (that is quantified), is of little or no importance.
• Positivism is closely associated with quantitative methods of data collection.

Interpretivism

• Social life and human beings do not lend itself to any kind of scientific investigation
• Human beings are capable of making decisions and have free will
• Human potentials and capabilities do not allow for prediction
• Interpretivism emphasizes the subjective nature of reality and the importance of understanding the meanings and interpretations of individuals within their social and cultural contexts.
• It acknowledges the role of the researcher's subjectivity and values, highlighting the need for reflexivity and sensitivity to context.
• That is to say we can only understand someone’s reality through their experience of that reality, which may be different from another person’s shaped by the individuals’ historical or social perspective.
• Interpretive approaches rely on questioning and observation in order to discover or generate a rich and deep understanding of the phenomenon. This is closely associated with qualitative methods of data collection.

Positivism or Interpretivism?

• The debate between the two requires further discussion on philosophical issues related to research
• It requires an understanding of the relationship between research method, methodology, epistemology and ontology.

Philosophical Issues Related to Research

• How do we know ?
• What is knowledge ?
• What is the nature of social reality?
• The two schools have different views of the above. They stem from assumptions about different ways of knowing and different theories of knowledge (epistemology) as well as different perception of the nature of social reality (ontology)

Different Ways of Knowing

• By reading or hearing about the information
• Past experience
• Socialization
• How do we know things we do not know?
  • Through sensory experiences and logical thinking
• But are there other ways of knowing?
  • …knowing by feeling, intuition, ‘sixth sense’, by praying…?
• How about by consulting the mystical? Can we consider it as scientific ways of knowing?

What is the nature of social reality?

• Is there an objective reality out there?
• Can knowledge about this reality be verified empirically?
• OR, is reality dependent on individual’s subjective interpretation?
• Is knowledge about reality ‘filtered’ or interpreted differently dependent on context, culture, values and beliefs?

Positivism or Interpretivism

• Positivism and Interpretivism hold different epistemological and ontological positions.
• The different positions give rise to different methodologies which underpin different research methods.

Research Perspectives

• Qualitative
• Quantitative
• Mixed

Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Research

Methodology and Methods

• Method: the techniques or procedures used to gather and analyze data e.g. interviewing as a data collection method
• Methodology: the philosophical questions behind the research methods used.
  • Issues related to how the method we use are able to generate the knowledge we seek;
  • discussion on how the method enable us to know what we want to know

Understanding Qualitative and Quantitative Pathways in Research

• Paradigm/ Philosophy
  • Interpretivist
    • Qualitative
      • Subjective
        • Inductive Approach
          • Method Choice of Research
            • Focus Group
            • Interview
            • Observation
  • Positivist
    • Quantitative
      • Objective
        • Deductive Approach
          • Method Choice of Research
            • Experiment
            • Survey
            • Discussion

Difficulties in the Use of Scientific Methods in Social Science Research

The following are the major difficulties:-

• a) Human behavior is different. It is very difficult to categorize.
• b) When human behavior is studied and analyses by another human, there may be personal problems.
• c) Psychological nature of human behavior cannot be measurable.
• d) Human behavior is not uniformed and predictable. Uncertainty exist.
• e) Difference in choice and decision.

Social Science Research

• Meaning and Scope:
  • Sciences are broadly divided in to natural (physical) sciences and social sciences.
  • Social sciences include various disciplines dealing with human life, human behavior and institutions. E.g. Anthropology, History, Economics, Education, Commerce, Demography etc,.
  • Human nature and environment are so complex, that it is more difficult to comprehend and predict human behavior.
• Social science research is a systematic method of exploring, analyzing and conceptualizing human life in order to extend, correct or verify knowledge of human behavior and social life.
• The main idea behind social research is to discover new inter relations, new knowledge, new facts and also to verify old ones.

Characteristics of Social Research

• Social research deals with social phenomena. It studies human behavior and their feelings.
• Social research is carried on both for discovering new facts and verification of the old ones.
• Social research tries to establish casual connection between various human activities.

Objectives of Social Research

The major objectives of social research are listed as follows:-

• a) The aim of social research is to discover new facts and verifying or testing old facts.
• b) It tries to understand the human behavior and its interaction with the environment.
• c) It tries to find out the casual connection between human activities and natural laws governing them.

Functions of Social Research

The important functions of social science research are discussed below:-

• a) Discovery of facts and their interpretation
  • Social research provides answer to questions of what, when, how and why of man, social life and institutions. Discover of facts and their inter relationship help us to discard distortions and contribute to our understanding of social reality.
• b) Diagnosis of problems and their analysis
  • Our society has innumerable problems such as poverty, unemployment, economic inequality, social tension etc,.
  • The nature and dimensions of such problems have to be diagnosed and analyzed. An analysis of problems leads to an identification of appropriate remedial actions.
• c) Systematization of knowledge
  • The facts discovered through research are systematized and the body of knowledge is developed. It contributes to the growth of theory building.

Functions of Social Research Continued

• d) Control over social phenomena
  • Research in social science provides first hand information about the nature of social institutions. This knowledge helps us to control over the social phenomena.
• e) Prediction
  • Social research aims at finding an order among social fact and their casual relations. This affords a sound basis for prediction in several cases.
• f) Development planning
  • Systematic research can give us the required data base for planning and designing developmental schemes and programs.
• g) Social welfare
  • Social research can identify the causes of social evils and problems. It can thus help in taking appropriate remedial actions. It also provides guideline for social welfare.

Scope of Social Science Research

The fields of social science research unlimited and the materials of research are endless. Every group of social phenomena, every phase of human life and every stages of past and present development are materials for the social scientist.

The area of research in various social sciences provides vast scope for research in social sciences. The main scopes of social research are:-

• Social research provides new insight into the organized society and its social structure.
• Social research also provide new horizon in scientific explanation; advanced and tested principles of procedure and suggested new concepts.
• Another scope of social research is that exemplified by studies and attempt to test or challenge existing theories and revise them the light of new evidence.
• Social research helpful to establish new theory and established techniques of exploration.
• Social research also provides contributions to existing stone of fruitful ideas, methodology and basis understanding of social life and control of its problems.

Objectivity in Social Research

• The question of objectivity has been central to the methodological debates of the social sciences from the beginning.
• It means the willingness and ability to examine evidence dispassionately.
• It is the first condition of research.
• Objectivity means basing conclusion on facts without any bias and value judgment.
• The conclusion should be independent of one’s personal beliefs, likes dislikes and hopes.
• Both the data and the inference drawn from their analysis must be free from bias and prejudices.
• But modern feminist researchers and critical social researchers argued research is a moral-political activity that requires the researcher to commit to a value position. Value freedom is a myth.

Factors Affecting Objectivity

It is very difficult to achieve objectivity in social science research. This difficulty arises out of the adverse influences of:

• Personal prejudices and biases
  • Prejudices and biases are like fantasies to believe what is comforting to believe. It makes to believe something without considering evidence.
• Value related problem arises
  • Value related problem arises from the social context within which research occurs. A researcher’s attitudes towards socio-economic issues are influenced by his values.
• Personal preconceptions
  • Personal preconceptions of research create not only a distorting effect on the data but are also highly insidious. Research failed to examination objectivity.
• Ethical dilemmas
  • Research relation with other aspect of research creates ethical problems. E.g. Relation with sponsors, relation with source data, relation with research subject etc,.

Limits of Objectivity in Social Sciences

Objectivity in social science research has certain limitations, they are:-

• a) Social scientist is part of human society and their judgments are subjective and colored by researchers own experience.
• b) The subject matter of social science research is too complex. All propositions are limited particular social groups and contexts. Thus objectivity is a major issue in social science research.
• c) All members of the society have different values, social researcher will unconsciously influenced by their values.
• d) Social scientist fails to achieve objectivity because the respondents are human beings have certain human problems, e.g. refusal of respondent, improper understanding, reluctance etc,.
  • All these problems cause biases and invalidate the research findings and conclusions.

Paradigm

• Consisting of a set of ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions
• The entire constellation of beliefs, values and theories shared by members of a scientific community
• A world view

Paradigm Shift

• Kuhn (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolution
  • Normal science anomalies scientific revolution
  • Process of replacing the old paradigm with a new one
  • Positivist paradigm interpretivist paradigm
  • Quantitative research methodology  Qualitative research methodology