1. Social Research Methods
Alan Bryman
Social Research Methods
Chapter 2: Social research strategies: quantitative research and qualitative research

2. Student experience
A valuable feature of the text is the ‘Student experience’ boxes with links to the Online Resource Centre
Page 17 2

3. Theory and research What type of theory? Merton (1967)
- 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
page 18
Pages 18 and 19 3

4. Theory and research
Middle range theories - unlike grand ones, operate in a limited domain; whether it is juvenile delinquency, racial prejudice, educational attainment or ethnic relations
Conflict and contact theory: These theories are about the effects of ethnic diversity on the quality of inter-group relations.
- they offer contrasting theories (see Hughes et al. 2011; Sturgis et al. 2014)
Cohen(2010)
- postal questionnaire survey of hairstylist’s relationship with their clients
Pages 19 and 20 4

5. 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 20 5

6. Empiricism
McKeganey and Barnard (1996) - research on prostitutes and their clients
Goffman (1963) - notion of ‘stigma’
Hochschild (1983)
- concept of ‘emotional labour’
Pages 20 and 21 6

7. 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 21 and 22 7

8. Deductive and inductive theory
Fig.2.1 Page 21 8

9. Deductive and inductive theory
Fig.2.2 Page 23 9

10. Deductive and inductive theory
Deductive: Roder and Muhlau (2014)
- When migrants move from a country in which egalitarian attitudes are weak to one where they are strong
Inductive: O’Reilly et al. (2012)
- A study of interactions between customers and front-line employees
Pages 22 and 23 10

11. 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 24 11

12. 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 24 12

13. Realist epistemology Similarities to positivism:
- natural science methods appropriate
external reality exists independently of our perceptions
Empirical (naïve?) 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 25 13

14. 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
Pages 26 to 28 14

15. 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 28 15

16. 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
Page 29 16

17. 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 29 and 30 17

18. 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 31 18

19. 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 32 19

20. Quantitative research
Table 2.1 Page 32 20

21. 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 33 21

22. 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 32 22

23. 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 34 to 36 23

24. Influences on the conduct of social research
Fig.2.3 Page 34 24

25. 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 36 25