Graduate School for Social Research Autumn 2015 Research Methodology and Methods of Social Inquiry socialinquiry.wordpress.com Irina Tomescu-Dubrow and Kazimierz M. Slomczynski

Course Objectives – Develop a research design that is methodologically feasible and relevant to the social sciences; – Formulate research questions and corresponding hypotheses that can be answered using empirical observations; – Identify the qualitative and/or quantitative data that will allow them to address their project’s research questions and hypotheses; – Identify the strengths and weaknesses that specific types of data and specific methods of analyses carry with them. – Present your research ideas, research questions and/or results to a scholarly audience in writing and orally

Course Requirements readings critical assessment paper assignments (2) group assignment on filed methods Grades: 15% on class participation 40% on the critical assessment paper 45% on the individual & group assignments

I. The Nature of Science Epistemology: part of philosophy which studies the foundations of knowledge and understanding Goal of (social) science: to now and understand the social world around us by: (a) asking Scientific Research Questions (b) applying Scientific Method Critiques to the “Science” Approach Skepticism about possibility of discovering general principles of human behavior. Contrast between scientific and religious description of facts.

Terminology 1.Concepts & Constructs Names of phenomena (i.e., objects categorized into groups or categories ‘labales’). Concepts & constracts Indicators 2. Hypotheses Predicted relationship between two or more concepts/indicators E.g.: "cohesive groups have fewer suicides per capita than non-cohesive groups.“

Terminology 3. Empirical Generalizations Statements of fact(s); without explanatory power of their own; E.g.: Women are more frequently religious than men; Protestants have a higher suicide rate than Catholics.

Terminology 4. Laws Hypothesis which has received repeated confirmation over a period of time and has been accepted by the relevant community of scientists. E.g.: All highly differentiated groups are stratified in terms of power.

Terminology 5. Theories Woods and Walton (1982) in Lieberson (1992): - In order to achieve the necessary orderliness, a theory usually involves reference to somewhat abstract and idealized concepts. -A theory is a systematic and orderly organization of what is already known of a given subject matter…. A theory also articulates and exposes underlying principles. -A theory includes deductive reasoning. Parsimony Explanatory/predictive power Falsification

Logical Reasoning Deductive reasoning The process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion. “Top-down reasoning” Inductive reasoning The process of reasoning in which the conclusions are reached by generalizing or extrapolating from observations The conclusions are uncertain because its content goes beyond the evidence. “Bottom-up reasoning” -- from specific observations to empirical generalizations.

Analytical vs. empirical statements & Deductive vs. inductive statements DeductiveInductive AnalyticalMathematical & logical statements (Definitions) Ethical arguments EmpiricalTheory building with empirical assumptions Testing hypotheses and generalizing

Empirical science Empiricism - Whatever we study has to be observable and “measurable” Objectivity -Possible if it means inter-subjective testability: Independent observers are capable of agreeing about the results of observation. (Is bias-free observation possible? When and how observer changes what is observed. Unobtrusive measurment) Control - Necessity to account for bias & error in research

Science as Process Theories Empirical Hypotheses generalizations Observations (testing hypotheses)

Methods of data collection in the social sciences Interviewing – verbal contact - Surveying -In-depth interviewing -Narrative (life-course) interviewing Experimenting Observing – participant and non-participant observation Field researching (“ethnographic” case studies) Collecting available data (quantitative & qualitative) Mixed methods

II. Research Design Research design: plan that shows, through the discussion of the causal (theoretical) model & the data, how we expect to make inferences.

Stages of Social Research FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM & THEORETICAL MODEL Chose variables and specify hypothesis PREPARATION OF RESEARCH DESIGN Define population and select sample. Develop instruments MEASUREMENT SAMPLING DATA COLLECTION DATA ORGANIZATION AND PROCESSING ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION Make decisions about the fit of data and theory. Results are communicated to an audience. (Confirm or reject your initial theory)

Formulation of Theoretical Model & Research Problem Choosing the research question - researchable; ‘What ?’ questions; ‘Why ?” questions - interesting; no-surprize; „so what ?” Theory Comprehensive literature review

Researchers questions A. Whom do we study? (Units of observation) B. Which characteristics of these units do we study? (Variables) C. What are the expected relationships between the variables? (Hypotheses) D. How do we understand the results? (Interpretation)

A. Units of Observation - individuals (micro-level); - households; families; networks, organizations (meso- level); - cities; states/counties; countries; regions (macro- level) Sampling: size & representativeness Aggregate Data - data gathered at one set of units (e.g. the individual) that are combined (i.e. expressed in a summary form) to describe a larger social unit (for ex. cities). E.g.: Measure of city’s socioeconomic resources: average income and education of its inhabitants; High School performance measure : % of students who go on to college after graduation

B. Variables Characteristics of the units of observation A variable is a measurable characteristic that differs across observation units. Each variable assumes a set of some definite values

Data. Units of Variables observation Age Gender Education Political Party Case # Case # Case # Case # n

C. Hypotheses A hypothesis is a prediction about how variables relate to each other (i.e. what is the relationship btw. the variables). Relationships between variables: changes in the values of one variable are accompanied by systematic changes in the other variable(s). A hypothesis is usually based on theoretical expectations about how things work. At minimum, any hypothesis involves two variables: - the dependent variable (DV) measures the presumed effect/outcome; Y - the independent variable (IV) measures the presumed cause; X In addition: controls, intervening Variables; Z

Statistical inference Substantive and null hypotheses A substantive hypothesis is the actual expectation about the relationship between two or more variables. (E.g.: Education has positive impact on pro-democratic attitudes) To decide if a substantive hypothesis is supported by the data, it is necessary to test a related hypothesis, called the null hypothesis (E.g.: Education has no effect on pro-democratic attitudes) Spurious Associations A statistically significant association between two variables, driven by a third variable, which affects both.

Discussion 1. What specific strengths & weaknesses of the following methods can you consider with regard to your research? - survey - secondary analysis of quantitative data - archival analysis - in-depth interviewing - field observation - experimental designs 2. There is a tendency for a division of labor to emerge between (a) survey researchers who design and conduct surveys & (b) those who analyze survey data. What implications can this division of labor have for the research process?