1. The Uses of Social Research
Chapter 1

2. Introduction Research question
A question about one or more topics or concepts that can be answered through research

3. Is almost everyone in the country married with children or are they living alone?

4. Introduction Research question example Start by looking at Census data
Is almost everyone in the country married with children or are they living alone?
Start by looking at Census data

5. Introduction

6. Introduction Revised research question
Are more young people planning to marry without having children, to marry and have children, or to live alone?

8. Introduction STOP AND THINK
Can you think of a better way of finding how young people plan to live in the future than with the Census data about the year 2006?

9. Introduction Unit of analysis
The unit about which information is collected

10. Introduction STOP AND THINK
Identify the units of analysis for each of the following studies
Southgate and Roscigno’s (2009) study that found that involvement in music is associated academic performance for both young children and adolescents
Cooney and Burt’s (2008) finding that in American counties where a particular crime occurs frequently the average punishment for that crime will be less severe than in counties where it occurs rarely

11. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
Research is a way of knowing
How do we “know” things?
We collect data in a number of ways

12. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
Knowledge from authorities
Socially defined sources of knowledge
Mom, Census Bureau, social institutions (religion, schools, news media)
When we rely on physicians, clergy members, and elected officials for information, we are putting our faith in their knowledge in those positions of authority.
Problems
Inappropriate
Misleading
Incorrect

13. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
Knowledge from personal inquiry
Inquiry that employs the senses’ evidence for arriving at knowledge
Example
If the flu has been going around and your friends and family have been ill and you begin to feel sick, observing them to see what they are doing to get better and what is working is an example of personal inquiry
Problems
Overgeneralize
Perceive Selectively
Premature Closure

14. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
The Scientific Method
A way of conducting empirical research following rules that specify objectivity, logic, and communication among a community of knowledge seekers, and the connection between research and theory

15. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
The Scientific Method
Positivist view of science
A view that human knowledge must be based on what can be perceived
Objectivity
The ability to see the world as it really is

16. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
The Scientific Method
Post-positivist view of science
A view that knowledge is not based on irrefutable observable grounds, that it is always somewhat speculative, but that science can provide relatively solid grounds for these speculations
Intersubjectivity
Agreements about reality that result from comparing the observations of more than one observer

17. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
The Scientific Method
Strengths
The promotion of skepticism and intersubjectivity
The extensive use of communication
Teaching ideas factually
The use of logic
Theoretical explanation

18. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
STOP AND THINK
Suppose I submit a research report to a journal and the journal’s editor writes back that the journal won’t publish my findings because expert reviewers don’t find them persuasive.
Which of the strengths of the scientific method is the editor relying on to make his or her judgment?

19. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing
The Scientific Method
Theory
An explanation about how and why something is as it is.

20. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Uses of social research
Basic research
Research designed to add to our fundamental understanding and knowledge about the social world

21. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Uses of social research
Applied research
Research intended to be useful in the immediate future and to suggest action or increase effectiveness in some area

22. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Uses of social research
Social theory
Explanations about how and why people act in certain ways

23. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Exploratory research
Ground-breaking research on a relatively unstudied topic or in a new area
Tends to be inductive
The researcher starts with observations about the subject and tries to develop tentative generalizations about it

24. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Qualitative data analysis
Analysis that tends to involve the interpretation of actions or the representations of meanings in words

25. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Descriptive research
Descriptive study
Research designed to describe groups, activities, situations, or events

26. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Quantitative data analysis
Analysis based on the statistical summary of data

27. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Explanatory research
Research designed to explain why subjects vary in one way or another
Tends to be deductive
Often uses preexisting theories to decide what kinds of data should be collected
Example
Let’s say that there is a well-known theory that we can call “The General Attraction Theory” and that it suggests that people who are physically attractive get more of society’s rewards than less attractive people. If we have a hypothesis that people who are physically attractive are more likely to be hired for certain jobs than their less attractive peers and wanted to test this theory in a specific industry – we would be conducting explanatory research

28. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
Evaluation research
Research designed to assess the impacts of programs, policies, or legal changes

29. The Uses and Purposes of Social Research
STOP AND THINK
Suppose you’ve been asked to learn something about the new kinds of communities that have arisen out of people’s use of tweets and twitter.
Of the four kinds of research outlined above (exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, evaluation), what kind of study have you been asked to do?

30. Summary Professional and practical benefits
Creation of usable theories about our social world
Social research methods can help us explore, describe, and explain aspects of the social world, as well as evaluate whether particular programs or policies actually work.

31. Why are you in this class?
Learn to be an informed consumer of research
A statistic by itself is only one piece of information
You have to be accountable for your work
You have ethical responsibilities

32. Quiz – Question 1
If we are presenting a detailed picture of a population, in terms of gender, age, income, residence, we have most likely conducted
evaluation research.
exploratory research.
explanation research.
descriptive research.

33. Quiz – Question 2 In many ways, the scientific method
compensates for the shortcomings of other approaches to knowledge.
relies exclusively on the word of “authorities” and “personal inquiry”.
emphasizes the value of communities of scientists and critical skepticism.
both A and C
all of the above

34. Quiz – Question 3
Which of the following statements is factually testable?
All extra-terrestrials have large skulls.
Individuals with more education earn more than less educated individuals.
The death penalty is less moral than first-degree murder.
War should be outlawed.
None of the above