Type author names here Social Research Methods Chapter 2: Social research strategies Alan Bryman Slides authored by Tom Owens

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Student experience page 20 A valuable feature of the text is the ‘Student experience’ boxes with links to the Online Resource Centre

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Theory and research What type of theory? - explanation of observed regularities Merton (1967) –grand theories highly abstract Butler and Robinson (2001) – Bourdieu’s concept of social capital – gentrification of areas of London –middle range theories useful for empirical research - limited domain »Moral panic; elite effects; hysteria page 22 page 21

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Theory and research Middle range theories - unlike grand ones, operate in a limited domain, whether it is juvenile delinquency, racial prejudice, educational attainment or the labour process Moral Panic (Cohen, 1967) Mods and Rockers, Football Fans, Ecstasy, Bull Terriers Propaganda Model (Hermann & Chomsky, 1989) Iraq War, Trades Unions, Peace Movements Elite Effects (Davis, 1996) City Brokers, Doctors, Teachers, Journalists page 23

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Empiricism - Philosophical approach to theorising - Only knowledge gained through sensory experiences is acceptable - Rigorous scientific testing of theories - Positivist epistemology - Accumulation of ‘facts’ as data - Naïve empiricism? page 23

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Empiricism Robertson, JW (2009) ‘Informing the Public? UK Newspaper Reporting of Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome’, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs: Media Special Edition. 9(1): Virtually all medical, criminological, economic, political, historical, scientific research reported in UK media. pages 23,24 Five-fold rise seen in UK landslides By Simon Redfern Reporter, BBC News, Newcastle The direct and indirect economic costs of last year's landslides are as yet un-quantified UK 'losing fight' against internet crime, warn MPs David Edmundson-Bird successfully proved he was the victim of e-crime. The UK must do more to stop online fraud and deter state-sponsored cyber-espionage or risk losing the fight against e-crime, MPs have warned. Five-fold rise seen in UK landslides By Simon Redfern Reporter, BBC News, Newcastle The direct and indirect economic costs of last year's landslides are as yet un-quantified UK 'losing fight' against internet crime, warn MPs David Edmundson-Bird successfully proved he was the victim of e-crime. The UK must do more to stop online fraud and deter state-sponsored cyber-espionage or risk losing the fight against e-crime, MPs have warned.

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Deductive and inductive theory Deductivism: –theory --> data –explicit hypothesis to be confirmed or rejected –quantitative research Inductivism : –data --> theory –generalizable inferences from observations –qualitative research /grounded theory pages 24, 25

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Deductive and inductive theory Fig.2.1 page 24

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Deductive and inductive theory Fig.2.2 page 26

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Deductive and inductive theory Deductive: Kelley and De Graaf (1997) - Factors that impact upon individuals religious beliefs Inductive: Charmaz (1997) - Chronic illness study Males preserving self pages 24-26

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Epistemological considerations What is (or should be) considered acceptable knowledge? Can the social world be studied ‘scientifically’? Is it appropriate to apply the methods of the natural sciences to social science research? Positivist and interpretivist epistemologies page 27

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Positivist epistemology Application of natural science methods to social science research Phenomenalism: knowledge via the senses Deductivism: theory testing Inductivism: theory building Objective, value-free researcher Distinction between scientific and normative statements page 28

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Realist epistemology Similarities to positivism: - natural science methods appropriate -external reality exists independently of our perceptions Empirical (naive?) realism - close correspondence between reality and terms used to describe it -direct knowledge of the social world Critical realism - theoretical terms mediate our knowledge of reality - underlying structures generate observable events page 29

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Interpretivist epistemology Subject matter of the social sciences (people) demands non- positivist methods Positivism vs hermeneutics (Von Wright 1971) - concerned with the theory and method of the interpretation of human action Hermeneutic-phenomenological tradition Verstehen: interpretative understanding of social action (Weber 1947) Attempts to see world from the actor’s perspective: subjective reality (Bogdan and Taylor 1975) Influenced by Symbolic Interactionism page Symbolic constructions and differing perceptions.

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Ontological considerations Social ontology: the nature of social entities What kind of objects exist in the social world? Do social entities exist independently of our perceptions of them? Is social reality external to social actors or constructed by them? page 32 Deviance, mental health, citizenship, gender, poverty?

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Objectivist ontology Social phenomena confront us as external facts Individuals are born into a pre-existing social world Social forces and rules exert pressure on actors to conform e.g. culture exists independently of social actors who are socialized into its values pages 32,33

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Constructionist ontology Social phenomena and their meanings are constructed by social actors Continually accomplished and revised Researchers’ accounts of events are also constructions - many alternative interpretations e.g. Strauss et al (1973) negotiated order in a psychiatric hospital Language and representation shape our perceptions of reality pages 33,34

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Research strategy: quantitative and qualitative Useful way of classifying methods of social research Two distinctive clusters of research strategies: quantitative and qualitative These strategies differ in terms of their: –general orientation to social research –epistemological foundations –ontological basis page 35

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Quantitative research Measurement of social variables Common research designs: surveys and experiments Numerical and statistical data Deductive theory testing Positivist epistemology Objectivist view of reality as external to social actors page 35

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Quantitative research Table 2.1 page 36

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Qualitative research Understanding the subjective meanings held by actors (interpretivist epistemology) Common methods: interviews, ethnography Data are words, texts and stories Inductive approach: theory emerges from data Social constructionist ontology page 35

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Mixed methods research Both quantitative and qualitative research Poortinga et al (2004) - Foot and Mouth Disease – public trust of government and perceived associated risks Beck (1992) – Notion of the ‘risk society’ page 37

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Influences on the conduct of social research Values –personal beliefs or the feelings of researcher –all ‘preconceptions must be eradicated’ (Durkheim 1938) –affect every stage of research process –some advocate value-laden research: Becker (1967) sympathy with ‘underdog’ groups feminist research encourages reciprocity (Oakley 1981) and ‘conscious partiality’ (Mies 1993) pages 39-41

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Influences on the conduct of social research Fig.2.3 page 39

Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4 th edition Influences on the conduct of research Practical considerations –time –cost/funding available –how much prior literature exists (theory testing or theory building?) –topic (deviant activities/sensitive issues may be more suited to qualitative research) –all social research is a compromise between the ideal and the feasible page 41