Samenvatting - Class notes - Social Research Methods

• 1509490800 Social research methods week 44

• 4 types of theories

  Grand Theories, middle- range theories, background literature and empirical generalization.
• Grand Theories

  Theories on a high level of abstraction, these theories refer to general ideas. These theories are often difficult to grasp in social research.
  
  Example: Structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism
• Middle- range theories

  Attemps to understand/explain more limited aspects of social life and focus on empirical inquiry. Middle- range theory is still difficult and a quite big theorie.
  
  Example: Conflict theory, the conflict theory states that the more time two ethnic groups spend together, the more conflicts will arise.
• Background literature

  Different theories and ideas that have been established as a proxy for theorie
  
  Example: early research on emotional labour are forming the basis for conducting and interpreting new research
• Empirical generalization

  An isolated proposition (voorstel) about a relationship, between two or more variables.
  
  Example: higher educated people are more likely to vote left- wing parties than low educated
• Deductive approach (theory vs observations/findings)

  Theory --> observations/findings
• Inductive approach (theory vs observations/findings)

  Observations/findings --> theory
• Iterative process

  A process for getting to a decision or desired result by repeating rounds of analysis or a cycle of operations. Each repetition should bring you closer to the desired result. Weaving back and forth between induction and deduction.
• Paradigm

  A set of models and theories that form the outlines of what is considered reality
• Quantatative data is in general:
  Deductive/inductive
  Positivism/interpretivism
  Objectivism/constructionism

  Deductive
  Positivism
  Objectivism
• Qualitative data is in general:
  Deductive/inductive
  Positivism/interpretivism
  Objectivism/constructionism

  Inductive
  Interpretivism
  Constructionism
• People base their (non scientific) knowledge on the following 5 things

  - Belief/intuition
  - Consensus (majority agrees on a certain thing to be true)
  - Authority (opinion of political leaders, scientists, experts etc.)
  - Casual observation
  - informal logic
• We need scientific methods for valid knowledge. A scientific method should contain the following 6 criteria:

  1. Hypothesis is empirically testable
  2. Replicable (if you repeat it you get the same data)
  3. Objective: research should be possible without the researcher (independently)
  4. The research must be replicable by anyone and transparant to the public
  5. Research hypothesis should be falsifiable (contradiction must at least be imaginably possible)
  6. Logically consistent. Hypothesis must be internally coherent and conclusion logically consistent
• What criteria are part of the scientific attitude

  - Open/transparant
  - Critical
  - If there's a better argumentation, you should let go of your old hypothesis
  - Accepting critique
• What is more interesting, an accurate or inaccurate observation.

  Accurate observation is not interesting (open deur in trappen)
  Inaccurate observation is interesting
• When does a observation become useful?

  When it contradicts or confirms a hypothesis
• Supported (certain) Hypothesis

  Hypothesis is based on multiple other studies
• Unsupported (uncertain) hypothesis

  Relatively new and untested hypothesis
• Law

  Very precise description of relations or patterns. Laws are uncommon in social sciences because we can't be that precies
  
  Example: Law of gravity
• Theory

  Broad overarching explanation of many phenomena
• Theory is build up out of hypothesis that are strongly supported by many observations. Is this natural and behavior sciences or social sciences?

  Natural and behavior sciences
• Theory is highly plausible when it has withstood attempts to reform it. Is this natural and behavior sciences or social sciences?

  Social Sciences
• True or false
  
  In science there is no certainty only a provisional best explanation

  True
• Analytical statement

  A statement that doesn't depend on the state of the world, they don't require observations to be verified. They're verifiable through formal logic
  
  Example: Definitions, math etc
• Synthetic statement

  A statement that depends on the state of the world, they require observations to be verified. These statements should be publicly accessible.
• Ontology

  What is there to know (what is real, what exists)
• Epistomology

  How can we know it? (what knowledge is accessible? how do we access it?)
• Epistomology Rationalism

  Knowledge through reasoning (they're born and innate)
• Epistemology Empiricism

  Knowledge through sensory experience (tabula rasa)
• Idealism

  A phylisophical view that states that reality, as we perceive it, exists entirely in our mind. Reality is a mental construct.
• Materialism

  There is an external world, independent of our mind. Everything consists of physical matter. Everything is a result of interaction between physical stuff. (including consciousness, feelings, thoughts etc.)
• Scientific realism

  Universal like gravity, love etc. don't exist independently from our observations. Therefore scientific realism sees the unobservable universals as equally valuable as the observables
• Nominalism

  Accepts reality as independent of human thoughts but denies the existence of universals. There is no gravity, just falling objects and we only use terms like gravity to make sense of the world but these universals don't really exist
• Constructivism

  The nature of social phenomena depends on the social actors involved. This means reality is not independent and external but reality is considered primarily a mental construction that depends on the observer and the context. (it's constructed)
• Interpretevist view

  Assume that a reserachers experience or observation of a social phenomena can be very different from how the people who are involved in the social phenomena experienc them themselves. ( the focus should lay on understanding the phenomena from the point of view of the people involved)
• 3 different interpretivist views

  Hermeneutics
  Phenomenology
  Verstehen
• Phenomenology (interpretivist)

  People are not objects, they think and feel about the world around them, this influences their actions. To understand their actions it's necessary to investigate the meaning they attach to the phenomena that they experience. This means investigating how people experience the world through their perspective. It's necessary for a researcher to eliminate as many of their own preconceived notions as they possibly can.
• Verstehen (interpretivist) associated with.....

  Associated with Max Weber.
  
  It refers to the empathic understanding of social phenomena. Researchers need to assume the perspective of the researched subjects to interpret how they see the world; only then can a researcher try to explain their actions.
• Problems with constructivist interpretivist view (qualitative approach to science)

  - layered interpretation: researcher interprets the subjects interpretations and then interprets the findings again in a placed framework or related to a theory, with every layer added there's more chances of misinterpretation.
  - Lack of comparability: When a phenomenon is subjective and means different things in different cultures, you just cannot compare them. This means we can never come up with general theories or universal explanations that apply to more than just particular groups in particular periods of time
  - Difference in frame of reference: if the frame of reference of the researcher is very different, it can be hard for the researcher to assume the subjects point of view. This makes it hard to find out what the relevant aspects of the social contexts even are.
• Objectivist positivist view (quantitative approach to science)

  observations are collected which can be counted so that data can be aggregated over many researched subjects. the subjects are intended to represent a much larger group, possibly to support a universal explanation or claim. the data are analyzed using quantitative statistical techniques
• What is meant by social research and why do we do it?

  Academic research on topics relating to questions in the social scientific fields
  
  We don't understand everything yet and therefore it's interesting to do research
• 7 elements of the proces of social research

  Literature review
  Theories and concepts
  Research questions
  Sampling cases
  Data collection
  Data analysis
  Writing up
• Literature review:

  - Literature review: what is already known of the topic, what theories are there, who are big contributors, what research methods have been applied, what controversies exist etc.
• Theories and concepts

  - Theories and concepts(language, power, charisma, status etc.) what concepts or theories are there and which are you going to use
• 
  1. Difference between hypothesis and research question:
  
  
  2. Research questions are important because:
  
  3. What kind of research questions are there?

  1. hypothesis is not stated as a question and it provides an anticipation of what will be found out.
  
  2. Guide you literature search
  Guide your decisions about the kind of research design to employ
  Guide your decisions about what data to collect an from whom
  Guide your analysis of data
  Guide your writing up of your data
  Stop you from going off in unnecessary directions
  Provide your readers with a clearer sense of what your research is about
  
  
  3. 
  - Predicting an outcome
  - Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon
  - Evaluating a phenomenon
  - Describing a phenomenon
  - Developing good practice
  - Empowerment
• Sampling cases

  A case is a researched group (humans, organisation etc.) and we make a sample because we can never research everyone or everything
• Data collection
  
  Structured and unstructured

  Structured: structured interview, questionnaire (deductive)
  Unstructured: participant observation, semi structured interview (inductive)
• Data analysis
  
  Transcription

  Data analysis is fundamentally about data reduction. Transcription is coding the data.
• Writing up

  In general it goes the following way:
  - Introduction
  - Literature reveiw
  - Research methods
  - Results
  - Discussion
  - Conclusion
• Quantitative research aims to:
  Qualitative research aims to: 

  Explain
  
  Understand