3.

Steps of Social Research Research Process

A pre-determined action plan for execution of a research project.

Step 1
Identity problem Read Newspapers, Journals, Articles, Books, Identify universe/ Target universe

Hypothesis Frustration leads aggression Chocolate may cause pimples.

Step 2
Literature review Existing Material Leading Researchers findings

Step 3
Construction of hypothesis (Relationship between two variables) Observation Concept Operationalization Research questions

Step 4
Design Content analysis Discourse analysis Survey Field research Case study Peer group research Libratory research controlled variable film gage reaction Interview Panel discussion

Sampling Time, place, type of events, subjects, husband and wife, only children Random Stratify

Step 5
Data Collection Primary sources Secondary sources

Data coding
SPSS MANUAL Sanative work Punch cards Coders Coder training sheet Reliability/validity Reliability R = N1+N2/2N

Step 6

Data interpretation
Qualitative discourse wordage method, tone, textual study Quantitative tables chats, percentages numerically

Findings
% method Test theory Model justification

Replication Cyclic process Budget Availability Conclusion Future agenda

Choose Topic Inform Others

Interpret Data

Focus Research Questions

Design Study Analyze Data

Collect Data

Theory construction Process to

Hypothesis construction Concepts, variables, relations, hypothesis Concepts are the elementary blocks of the theory Constructing a theory is the goal of many methodologists. A theory is a set of systematically tested and logically interrelated propositions that have been developed through research and that explain social phenomena. Concept A unit of thought. The semantic content of a concept can be re-expressed by a combination of other and different concepts, which may vary from one language or culture to another. Hypothesis A tentative explanation for a set of facts which can be tested by further investigation a proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations a tentative theory about the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena; "a scientific hypothesis that survives experimental testing becomes a scientific theory"; Guess: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
A concept is an abstract idea or a mental symbol, typically associated with a corresponding representation in language or symbology, that denotes all of the objects in a given category or class of entities, interactions, phenomena, or relationships between them. Concepts are abstract in that they omit the differences of the things in their extension, treating them as if they were identical. They are universal in that they apply equally to every thing in their extension. Concepts are also the basic elements of propositions, much the same way a word is the basic semantic element of a sentence. Unlike perceptions, which are particular images of individual objects, concepts cannot be visualized. Because they are not,

themselves, individual perceptions, concepts are discursive and result from reason. They can only be thought and designated by a name. Concepts are bearers of meaning, as opposed to agents of meaning. A single concept can be expressed by any number of languages. The concept of DOG can be expressed as dog in English, Hund in German, as chien in French, and perro in Spanish. The fact that concepts are in some sense independent of language makes translation possible - words in various languages have identical meaning, because they express one and the same concept 1. Formulating the Research Question 2. Formulating Research Hypotheses 3. Establishing a Background Background for research consists of everything a researcher knows about a topic: Informal-personal experiences, and everything you pick up in life Formal-education and training in your particular professional area

Choosing a Topic Two factors influence the choice of a research topic: the researcher's interest in the topic and the feasibility of carrying out research on the topic Interest: Choice of a topic because the researcher is inherently interested in something. Choosing a topic of personal interest to the researcher generally leads to better quality research as the researcher is generally more invested in the topic than if it were a topic of less interest. Feasibility: Has to do with whether the researcher will actually be able to conduct the research; resources and access to the population are of particular importance Ask yourself: "Do I want to do research on this topic?" AND "Can I do the research on this topic?" Formulating the Question There are three aspects of question formulation: refining a broad topic into a specific, researchable question; the characteristics of a good research question; and sources of ideas for research questions. Refining a Topic into a Question: narrowing down a topic into a more specific research question for which data can be collected

You've refined your topic into a researchable question when you can phrase the question in terms of the relationship between two operationally defined variables (we'll discuss operationalization further) Characteristics of a Good Research Question: has the potential to expand our knowledge base (3 characteristics affect a research question's potential for increasing knowledge) 1) How well grounded the question is in the current knowledge base (the problem must have a basis in theory, research, or practice (we need to know what is already known so that we can judge how much it can add to the knowledge base; gives us an anchor) 2) How researchable it is (how easy it is to formulate clear operational definitions of the variables involved and clear hypotheses about the relationships between the variables) 3) Importance: the more information the answer to a research question provides, the more important it is

Theory-confirmation, refutation, comparison, merger Practical Problems-problem definition, solution seeking, validating Practitioners' assumptions Prior Research-case studies, conflicting findings, overlooked variables, setting and expanding boundaries, testing alternative explanations Logical Analysis-analogy, looking at things backwards Everyday Experience

Reviewing the Literature

Purposes of the Literature Review: (1) to provide a scientific context; (2) avoid duplication of effort (if a question has been addressed in numerous ways and the answer is always similar then it might not be worth pursuing further; or, you might want to try to examine the question in a new way (new setting, new population, etc); (3) identify potential problems in conducting the research (knowing in advance the potential problems that can arise in the research can help you to avoid them)

Types of Information: (1) look for relevant theories (be sure you know all relevant theories than can explain a phenomenon); (2) look for information on what has been previously done on your research question (you want to know what has been done, what has not been done, and what still needs to be done); (3) look form information concerning methodology (can borrow from methods previously used and can make changes in your design based upon what did not work well in the past); (4) look for information on data analysis (need to know how you are going to analyze your data to be sure that you can actually answer your research question-analytic techniques must match the data that you collect)

Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Primary sources are original research reports whereas a secondary source summarizes primary sources. Designing the Study Need to answer the following five questions: (1) How will the study be conducted? a. Choose a research strategy and a specific design within the chosen strategy (2) What will be studied? a. Choice of operational definition for the hypothetical constructs you're studying (3) Where will the study be conducted? a. Lab or field setting? Location? (4) Who will be studied? a. What population and what sampling technique? (5) When will the study be conducted? a. Time factors? Cross-sectional or longitudinal? Formulating Hypotheses Each hypothesis should take two forms-a research hypothesis and a statistical hypothesis

Research Hypotheses: states an expectation about the relationship between two variables; this expectation derives from and answers the research question, and so is grounded in prior theory and research on the question

Statistical Hypotheses: transforms the research hypothesis into a statement about the expected result of a statistical test (directional); must accurately represent the research hypothesis

The conclusions about a research hypothesis are correct if and only if the statistical hypothesis is congruent with the research hypothesis. That is, the validity of all tests of theory depends on the congruence between the research hypothesis and the statistical hypothesis. The more specific the research hypothesis, the easier it is to formulate a congruent statistical hypothesis. Research Proposal Should lay out the answers to each of these questions and includes an introduction and a methods section. (See handout). Operationalization and Levels of Measurement What is operationalization? Operationalization occurs when we take a hypothesis, e.g. violence causes further violence, and develop a procedure, or operation, for identifying instances of the critical terms, here, violence. Our operation should give us answers to questions like: 1. How can we recognize violence? 2. What is or isn't a case of violence? 3. How will we determine if violence has increased or decreased? Consider the hypothesis, "Watching depictions of violence on TV makes kids more violent." Trying to operationalize the critical terms here might bring us to ask: 1. What is watching TV? Need a child be paying close attention to it, or would just having it on in the background count? How do we determine how much TV a child is watching? 2. What counts as violence? Football? Mighty Mouse? A depiction of an assault? Documentary footage from a war?

3. How are we to determine if kids have become more or less violent? From their playacting? From their actual fighting? From their arguments or threats? In its strongest sense, operationalization occurs when we define variables so as to make them measurable.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Operationalization Operationalization has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is specificity. After operationalization, we should be able to determine whether there is evidence for or against a given hypothesis. A disadvantage is that operationalization necessary involves interpretation and a narrowing down from broad, though less clear, concepts, to sharper and often less generally agreed to specifications. It is possible to arrive at competing operationalizations of the same term and thus provoke disagreement about which is "best". The greater the specificity, the more likely a complaint that the defined variable is "too narrowly interpreted." Such disagreements are not settled by further operationalization, but by philosophical, moral, political or pragmatic argument. Steps in Operationalization a. Identify/specify the hypothesis b. Identify/specify the variables c. Specify the identity criteria for each variable (what components make up the particular variable; need to be mutually exclusive and exhaustive) d. Specify a measurement procedure for each variable (how will you measure or quantify this particular variable) e. Indicate what would count as evidence for or against the hypothesis (if your hypothesis were to be confirmed (or disconfirmed) what would you expect to find in terms of each variable) Content Analysis According to Burleson (1952) Content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systemic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication (p.18) Hansen, et al., (1998) pointed out that content analysis is a method for analyzing texts (Hansen, et al., 1998, p.99).