What is research? Why do we undertake it?

Research is the means by which we find answers to questions which we have set ourselves or which have been set for us by others

Why? Personal experience unresolved problems arising from academic

literature guiding action the need to monitor the effects of action already

taken the desire to assess the level of satisfaction with a

service

High quality of research?

It is based on the work of others It can be replicated It is generalizable to other settings It is based on some logical rationale It is doable It generates new questions or is cyclical in nature It is incremental It is an apolitical activity that should be

undertaken for the betterment of society

Language of Research

Theoretical and empirical Social research is theoretical, meaning that much

of it is concerned with developing, exploring or testing the theories or ideas that social researchers have about how the world operates.

But it is also empirical, meaning that it is based on observations and measurements of reality

Language of Research

Probabilistic Statistics become so dominant in social research is

that it allows us to estimate probabilities for the situations we study.

Causal Most social research is interested in looking at

cause-effect relationships. This doesn't mean that most studies actually study cause-effect relationships.

There are some studies that simply observe and some others that explore relationships. If we want to change the world, we are automatically interested in causal relationships - ones that tell us how our causes affect the outcomes of interest.

Types of questions

Descriptive A study designed primarily to describe what is going on

or what exists. Relational

A study designed to look at the relationships between two or more variables.

Causal A study designed to determine whether one or more

variables causes or affects one or more outcome variables.

If we did a public opinion poll to try to determine whether a recent political advertising campaign changed voter preferences, we would essentially be studying whether the campaign (cause) changed the proportion of voters who would vote left or right (effect).

Time in Research

Time is an important element of any research design. Introduce one of the most fundamental distinctions in research design:

Cross-sectional: A study that takes place at a single point in time. In effect, we are taking a 'slice' or cross-section of whatever it is we're observing or measuring.

Time series: A study that takes place over time.

Types of Relationships

A relationship refers to the correspondence between two variables.

The nature of the relationship A correlational relationship simply says that two

things perform in a synchronized manner (third variable prob.).

A causal relationship if the two variables are not only in correspondence, but that one causes the other.

Patterns of Relationships No relationship Positive relationship Inverse relationship

Types of Relationships: Variables

A variable is any entity that can take on different values. Anything that can vary can be considered a variable. Variables aren't always 'quantitative' or numerical. Another important distinction having to do with the

term 'variable' is the distinction between an independent and dependent variable. This distinction is particularly relevant when you are investigating cause-effect relationships.

the independent variable is what you (or nature) manipulates -- a treatment or program or cause.

The dependent variable is what is affected by the independent variable -- your effects or outcomes.

Hypotheses

An hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction. It describes in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in your study.

A single study may have one or many hypotheses. Actually, whenever we talk about an hypothesis,

we are really thinking simultaneously about two hypotheses.

Usually, we call the hypothesis that you support (your prediction) the alternative hypothesis, and we call the hypothesis that describes the remaining possible outcomes the null hypothesis.

Criteria for “good” hypothesis

Should be stated as a declaration not as a question

should explicitly state the expected relationship among variables

should reflect the theory or literature it is based on

should be brief and to the point

should be testable

Types and Sources of Data

Types of Data

Quantitative Qualitative

Sources of Data

Primary Secondary

Notion of Research

Structure of Research

Process usually start with a broad area of interest should be narrowed down formulate a hypothesis or a focus question now, it is possible to get engaged in

measurement or observation collection of the basic data enables the

researcher to understand the problem Even preliminary analysis of data might point out

some of the conclusions attempt to address the original broad question

Research Process