Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie...
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Transcript of Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie...
![Page 1: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Chapter 6
The Nature of Quantitative Research
Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e
Authored by Susie Scott
![Page 2: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
The stages of quantitative research
• Theory/hypothesis• Research design• Devise measures of concepts• Select site and sample• Collect data• Code and analyse data• Write up
See pages 140-141
![Page 3: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Concepts and their measurement
• concepts = “categories for the organisation of ideas and observations” (Bulmer, 1984: 43)
• may provide explanations of social phenomena
• may represent things we want to explain
• measurements – delineate fine differences between people/cases– consistent and reliable– more precise estimates of the degree of relatedness
between concepts
See page 143
![Page 4: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Indicators of concepts
• produced by the operational definition of a concept
• less directly quantifiable than measures
• common sense understandings of the form a concept might take
• multiple-indicator measures– concept may have different dimensions
See page 144
![Page 5: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Reliability
• Stability over time– test-retest method (correlation between measure on different
occasions)
• Internal reliability– split-half method (correlation between measures on two
halves of a scale)– Cronbach’s alpha
• Inter-observer consistency– agreement between different researchers
See pages 149-150
![Page 6: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Validity
• Measurement validity:– Face validity
– Concurrent validity
– Predictive validity
– Construct validity
– Convergent validity
• Validity presupposes reliability
(but not vice versa)
See pages 151-155
![Page 7: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers
• 1. Measurement– can a concept be quantified?– comparisons between measures– changes in a variable over time
• 2. Causality– explanations of social phenomena– causal relationships between independent and
dependent variables– inference only in cross-sectional designs
See pages 155-156
![Page 8: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers
• 3. Generalization– can the results be applied to individuals beyond the sample?– aim to generalize to target population– requires representative sample (random, probability sample)
• 4. Replication– detailed description of procedures allows other researchers
to replicate study– low incidence of published replications
See pages 156-158
![Page 9: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Criticisms of quantitative research
• failure to distinguish between objects in the natural world and social phenomena
• artificial and spurious sense of precision and accuracy– presumed connection between concepts and
measures
– Cicourel (1964) ‘measurement by fiat’
– respondents make different interpretations of questions and other research tools
See page 159
![Page 10: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Criticisms of quantitative research
• lack of ecological validity– reliance on instruments and measurements– little relevance to participants’ everyday lives– variation in the meaning of concepts to each individual
• static view of social life– relationships between variables– ignores processes of human definition and
interpretation (Blumer, 1956)
See page 160
![Page 11: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Is it always like this?
• quantitative research design is anideal-typical approach
• useful as a guide of good practice
• but discrepancy between ideal type and actual practice of social research
• pragmatic concerns mean that researchers may not adhere rigidly to these principles
See page 160
![Page 12: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Reverse operationism
Bryman (1988)• quantitative research is usually deductive
(operational definition of concepts)• but measurements can sometimes lead to
inductive theorising• example: factor analysis
– groups of indicators cluster together and suggest a common factor
– e.g. personality trait research
See page 160
![Page 13: Chapter 6 The Nature of Quantitative Research Bryman: Social Research Methods: 3e Authored by Susie Scott.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022082315/56649ed95503460f94be79b4/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Reliability and validity testing
• published accounts of quantitative research rarely report evidence of reliability and validity (Podsakoff & Dalton, 1987)
• researchers are primarily interested in the substantive content and findings of their research
• running tests of reliability and validity may seem an unappealing alternative!
• but researchers remain committed to the principles of good practice
See pages 161-162