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Researching Society

and Culture

Week 3

Designing research: whichmethods

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Structure of lecture

Key readings

Ontology and epistemology revisited

Objectivism positivism and empiricism !nterpretivism"constructivism

#uantitative versus $ualitativeresearch methods

%i&ed methods

'alues in research

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Key readings

(ryman )* +,,- Social ResearchMethods. O&ford .ni /ress* O&ford*01hapter 2 14

%ay 5* +,22* Social research (e-book)

Duneier chapter and Wilding articlefor seminar plus download /earsonarticle*

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What can we know and how can we

know it6

Ontology7 5he 8what9 0(eing refersto theories concerning what e&ists tobe known*

Epistemology 7 the 8how90methodrefers to theories about the ways inwhich we perceive and know our

social world including the tools used*

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Ontological position 2:Objectivism

5hat there is an e&ternal knowablereality out there that we can denecode investigate and record*

5his e&ists independently of thesocial actors and their interpretationof what is going on*

;inked to epistemological positions ofpositivismand empiricism.

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4pistemological position 2:

/ositivism"empiricism

)dvocates the application of themethods of the natural sciences to thestudy of social reality*

)ssumes neutrality of the researcher*

1an establish correlations" cause ande

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Ontological position +: constructionism"interpretivism

/eople are di

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4pistemological position +:!nterpretivism"constructivism

We cannot really know the socialworld only how people name andinterpret 0construct it*

=esearch studies the meanings andinterpretations of social actors*

=esearchers themselves of coursehave interpretations and applymeanings to the social world they arestudying*

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4pistemological position 3:

01ritical=ealism

)ccepts that there is a reality outthere which can be studied*

(ut this reality is not necessarilydirectly 8observable9 but isgenerated by other mechanisms>thus domestic violence is generated

by patriarchy*

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What does all of this mean6

What we research and how weresearch it are all in?uenced by ourontological and epistemological

positions*

(ut remember we are alsoin?uenced by other considerations

e*g* our e&periences and values*

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#uantitative research

4mphasises $uantication in thecollection and analysis of data

.sually entails a deductiveapproach to the relationship betweentheory and research 0testingtheories

/ractices and norms of the naturalsciences

Social reality as e&ternal and

objective

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#ualitative research

/redominantly an inductive approachin which research generates theory

=ejects practices of natural science and

positivism

@ocus on how individuals interpret theirsocial world

'iews social reality as unstable andconstantly changing and as thecreation of social actors

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Strengths and weakness

Quants =esearch and the data

are statisticallyreplicable

)re generally largescale projects and sorepresentative

8Scientic9

BUT:

Does not really answerthe why or how$uestions

Quals

!n depth understandingof people9s lives

1an give a voice tooppressed groups andchange the world

But:

/ossible researcherbias so not replicable

Small scale so notrepresentative

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%i&ed methods

5he previous discussion implies that $ualsand $uants are incompatible*

(ut some researchers argue that it possible

to combine 7 triangulation* 4*g* large scale survey and focus groups

But: only if relevant to the research$uestion0s

Some argue that it is not possible to mi&di

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'alues in research

)s researchers we bring our ownvalues to our research* 5his impactson:

2 our choice of research area

+ what our research $uestions are

3 our choice of method

A research design and datacollection methods

B the analysis and presentation ofthe data

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=e?e&ivity

!n order to deal with these issues weshould 8recognise and acknowledgethat research cannot be value free9

0(ryman )* +,,-: +B

So we should forewarn our readersof our attitudes and positioning so

that they can judge for themselves* 4specially prevelant in feminist

research

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What ne&t6

@or seminar:

=ead one of (ryman 0+,,- or %ay0+,22

)nd read intro to Duneier 014 andWilding 0online and download/earson article*

NET !EE": QU#NT$T#T$%E&ET'O(S )*+