September 7, 2023 that social researchers have about how
the world operates.
Research Fundamentals: The Language of
Research
YIN AND YANG IN RESEARCH
To be a good researcher
● Be able to work well with a wide variety
of people
● Understand the specific methods used to
conduct research
● Understand the subject that you are
studying
● Be able to convince someone to give
you the funds to study it
● Stay on track and on schedule
● Speak and write persuasively
RESEARCH VERSUS OTHER WAYS OF
KNOWING
Language Of Research
THEORETICAL
● Social research is theoretical: much of
it is concerned with developing,
exploring or testing the theories or ideas
EMPIRICAL
● Social research is also empirical: it is
based on observations and
measurements of reality -- on what we
perceive of the world around us.
NOMOTHETIC
● Social research derives laws or rules that
pertain to the general case (nomos in
Greek)
● Contrasted with "idiographic" which
refers to laws or rules that relate to
individuals.
● We study individuals, but usually we are
interested in generalizing to more than
just the individual.
PROBABILISTIC
● The inferences in social research have
probabilities associated with them --
they don’t cover all cases.
● The field of statistics allows us to
estimate probabilities for the social
situations we study.
CAUSAL, CORRELATIONAL
● Most social research is interested (at
some point) in looking at cause-effect
relationships.
● Contrasted with correlation, which
looks at the association between
variables.
● If we want to change the world
(especially in an organized, scientific
way), we are automatically interested in
causal relationships -- how our causes
(e.g., programs, treatments) affect the
outcomes of interest.
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Types of Questions
DESCRIPTIVE
- When a study is designed primarily to
describe what is going on or what exists.
- Public opinion polls that seek only to
describe the proportion of people who
hold various opinions are primarily
descriptive in nature.
Example: What percent of the population would
vote for a man or a woman in the next
presidential election?
RELATIONAL
- When a study looks at the relationships
between two or more variables.
Example: What proportion of males and females
would vote for an administration or an
opposition candidate in the next presidential
election?
(relationship between gender and voting
preference).
CAUSAL
- When a study is designed to determine
whether one or more variables (e.g., a
program or treatment variable) causes or
affects one or more outcome variables.
Example: Does commercial advertising
featuring some ‘presidentiables’ change the way
you will vote?
[whether commercial ads (cause) would affect
the proportion of voters who would otherwise
prefer a particular candidate (effect)]
NOT INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER
- The three question types – descriptive,
relational, causal --can be viewed as
building blocks.
- A relational study assumes that you can
first describe (by measuring or
observing) each of the variables you are
trying to relate.
- A causal study assumes that you can
describe both the cause and effect
variables and that you can show that
they are related to each other.
Time in Research
CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
- Takes place at a single point in time (a
'slice' or cross-section of whatever it is
we're observing or measuring).
LONGITUDINAL STUDY
- Takes place over time -- we have at least
two (and often more) waves of
measurement.
● If you have two or a few waves of
measurement, you are using a repeated
measures design.
● If you have many waves of
measurement over time (at least 20?),
you have a time series
● A data set containing observations on
multiple phenomena observed over
multiple time periods is called panel
data.
● Whereas time series and cross-sectional
data are both one-dimensional, panel
data sets are two dimensional.
Example: when there is a sample of groups,
such as siblings or families, and several
observations from every group, the data set is
panel data.
Types Of Relationships
RELATIONSHIP
- correspondence between two variables.
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 - Types of relationships can be understood
in 2 senses: the nature of the
relationship or the pattern of it.
NATURE
- Correlational relationship: two things
perform in a
- synchronized manner.
PATTERNS
- No relationship: If you know the values
on one variable, you don't know
anything about the values on the other.
- Length of the lifeline on your hand and
your grade. If I know your grade, I can’t
conclude anything about your lifeline.

Example: When inflation is high, ❖ POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP

unemployment also tends to be high. When
inflation is low, unemployment also tends to be
low. (does not tell us whether one causes the
other).

● Suppose we can perhaps establish a

correlation between the number of roads
built in Luzon and the number of
children born in Mindanao. ❖ NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP
● Absurd implications: If we want fewer
children in Mindanao … If we can’t
build enough roads in Luzon ….
● Third variable problem:It may be that
there is a third variable causing both the
building of roads and the birthrate.
● Perhaps the Philippine economy is
responsible for both. When the economy
is good more roads are built in Luzon. ❖ COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP
But economic growth may be inducing
more inequality, which is responsible for
more children being born among the
poor in Mindanao.
● Key lesson: be careful when you
interpret correlations.
● If you observe a correlation between the
number of hours students use the
computer to study and their grades (with
VARIABLES
high computer users getting higher
- Is any entity that can take on different
grades)…
values. Anything that can vary can be
● The third variable might be
considered a variable.
socioeconomic status – richer students
- Variables aren't always 'quantitative' or
who have greater resources at their
numerical. ‘Sex' consists of 2 text
disposal tend to both use computers and
values: 'male' and 'female'.
do better in their grades.

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 - We can, if it is useful, assign
quantitative values instead of (or in
place of) the text values, but we don't
have to assign numbers in order for
something to be a variable.
- In much social research and in program
evaluation, we consider the treatment or
program to be made up of one or more
variables.
Example: An educational program can have
varying amounts of 'time on task', 'classroom
settings', 'student-teacher ratios', and so on.
● Examples of composite variables: GNP,
HDI.
ATTRIBUTE
- a specific value on a variable.
Example: the variable sex has 2 attributes: male
and female.
● The variable agreement may have 5
attributes:
1 = strongly disagree
2 = disagree
3 = neutral
4 = agree
5 = strongly agree
Independent and Dependent Variable
- Relevant when investigating cause effect
relationships
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
- Is what you (or nature) manipulates -- a
treatment or program or cause.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
- Is what is affected by the independent
variable -- effects or outcomes.
Example: if you are studying the effects of a
new subsidy program on poverty …
Exogenous and Endogenous Variables
EXOGENOUS VARIABLE
- A factor in a causal model whose value
is independent from the states of other
variables in the same model or
determined by factors outside the model.
ENDOGENOUS VARIABLE
- A variable is endogenous if it is
explained within the model in which it
appears.
Example: in a supply and demand model of an
agricultural market, changes in the weather or in
consumer tastes would be exogenous; the price
and quantity of trade would be endogenous.
● Each variable should be exhaustive:
should include all possible answerable
responses.
Example: if the variable is "religion" and the
only options are "Protestant", "Jewish", and
"Muslim“, the list does not exhaust all
possibilities. On the other hand, you might have
too many responses.
● The way to deal with this is to explicitly
list the most common attributes and then
use a general category like "Other" to
account for all remaining ones.
● Each variable should be mutually
exclusive, no respondent should be able
to have two attributes simultaneously.
● Obvious, but tricky. Example: Is
"Employment Status" represented by the
two attributes "employed" and
"unemployed“?
● These attributes are not necessarily
mutually exclusive -- a person who is
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 looking for a second job while
employed would be able to check both
attributes!

HYPOTHESES
● A specific statement of prediction
involving 2 or more variables. It
describes in concrete (rather than
theoretical) terms what you expect will
NULL HYPOTHESIS
happen in your study.
- The hypothesis that describes the
● Not all studies have hypotheses.
remaining possible outcomes.

Example: exploratory inquiries (perhaps the

Null hypothesis, HO: As a result of the XYZ
purpose of the study is to explore some area
company employee training program, there will
more thoroughly in order to develop some
either be no significant difference in employee
specific hypothesis that can be tested in future
absenteeism or there will be a significant
research).
increase.

● Setting up the hypothesis test:

CONVENTION
formulate 2 hypothesis statements, one
- The notation HA or H1 represents the
that describes your prediction and one
alternative hypothesis. H0 represents the
that describes all the other possible
null case.
outcomes with respect to the
hypothesized relationship.
CAUTIONARY NOTE
● If your prediction is that variable A and
- Your prediction might very well be that
variable B are related (you don't care
there will be no difference or change. In
whether it's a positive or negative
this case, you’re supporting the null and
relationship), the only other possible
are opposed to the alternative.
outcome is that A and B are not related.
ONE-TAILED TEST
ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS
- The null is the no difference prediction
- The hypothesis that you support (your
and the prediction of the opposite
prediction).
direction
- The null is the no difference prediction
Alternative hypothesis, HA: As a result of the
and the prediction of the opposite
XYZ company employee training program, there
direction
will be a significant decrease in employee
absenteeism.
Example: If you are investigating the effects of a
new employee training program and that you
● The alternative hypothesis -- that the
believe one of the outcomes will be that there
program will decrease absenteeism -- is
will be less employee absenteeism.
shown. The figure shows a hypothetical
distribution of absenteeism differences.

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TWO-TAILED TEST
- When your prediction does not specify a
direction.
- “Two-tailed" refers to the tails of the
distribution for the outcome variable.
2. The testing of these so that one is
necessarily accepted and the other
rejected
The Right and The Left

❖ Quantitative Research
- numbers, numbers, numbers

❖ Qualitative Research
- words, words, words

Types of Data

Example: let's assume you are studying a new

QUANTITATIVE DATA
drug treatment for depression. You believe that
- in numerical form
the drug will have an effect, but you are not
confident enough to hypothesize a direction.
QUALITATIVE DATA
- could be much more than just words or
❖ HO - As a result of 300mg./day of the
text. Photographs, videos, sound
ABC drug, there will be no significant
recordings and so on
difference in depression.
❖ HA - As a result of 300mg./day of the
THE DEBATE
ABC drug, there will be a significant
● The quantitative types argue that their
difference in depression.
data are 'hard', 'rigorous', 'credible', and
'scientific'.
● When the study analysis is completed,
● The qualitative types counter that their
choose between the two hypotheses.
data are 'sensitive', 'nuanced', 'detailed',
● If your prediction was correct, then you
and 'contextual'.
would (usually) reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternative.
THE REALITY
● If your original prediction was not
● Qualitative and quantitative data are
supported in the data, then you will
intimately related to each other.
accept the null hypothesis and reject the
● All quantitative data are based upon
alternative.
qualitative judgments; and all
qualitative data can be described and
Recap:
manipulated numerically.

The logic of hypothesis testing is based on 2

Example: self esteem scale (a very common
basic principles:
quantitative measure in social research).

1. The formulation of two mutually

● The researchers make countless
exclusive hypothesis statements that,
judgments in constructing instrument:
together, exhaust all possible outcomes
● How to define self esteem;

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 ● How to distinguish it from other related
concepts;
● How to word potential scale items;
● How to make sure the items would be
understandable to the intended
respondents;
● What kinds of contexts it could be used
in;
● What kinds of cultural and language
constraints might be present; and on and
on.
● The researcher who decides to use such
a scale in a study has to make another
set of judgments:
● How well does the scale measure the
intended concept;
● How reliable or consistent is it;
● How appropriate is it for the research
context and intended respondents; and
on and on.
● The respondents make many judgments
when filling out such a scale:
● What is meant by various terms and
phrases;
● Why is the researcher giving this scale
to them;
● How much energy and effort do they
want to expend to complete it, and so
on.
● The consumers and readers of the
research will make lots of judgments
about the self esteem measure and its
appropriateness in that research context.
● What may look like a simple,
straightforward, cut-anddried
quantitative measure is actually based
on lots of qualitative judgments made by
lots of different people.
● On the other hand, all qualitative
information can be easily converted into
quantitative.
Simplest way: divide the qualitative information
into units and number them.
Example: if we had ten statements and we
grouped these into five piles, we could describe
the piles using a 10 x 10 table of 0's and 1's.
● If two statements were placed together
in the same pile, we would put a 1 in
their row-column juncture. If two
statements were placed in different piles,
we would use a 0.
● The resulting matrix or table describes
the grouping of the 10 statements in
terms of their similarity. The data
consists of qualitative statements (one
per card), yet the result (grouping
similar excerpts into the same piles) is
quantitative.
● Once we have the data in numerical
form, we can manipulate it numerically.
Example: We could have 5 different judges sort
the 10 excerpts and obtain a 0-1 matrix like this
for each judge. Then we could average the five
matrices into a single one that shows the
proportions of judges who grouped each pair
together. This proportion could be considered an
estimate of the similarity (across independent
judges) of the excerpts.
UNIT OF ANALYSIS
- It is the analysis you do in your study
that determines what the unit is.
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Examples: if you are comparing the children in
two classrooms on achievement test scores, the
unit is the individual child because you have a
score for each child.
If you are comparing the two classes on
classroom climate, your unit of analysis is the
group, in this case the classroom, because you
only have a classroom climate score for the class
as a whole and not for each individual student.
The following could be a unit of analysis in a
study:
1. Individuals
2. Groups
3. Artifacts (books, photos, newspapers)
4. Geographical units (town, census tract,
state)
5. Social interactions (dyadic relations,
divorces, arrests)
2 RESEARCH FALLACIES
FALLACY - an error in reasoning, usually
based on mistaken assumptions.
ECOLOGICAL FALLACY
- occurs when you make conclusions
about individuals based only on analyses
of group data.
Example: assume that you measured the math
scores of a particular classroom and found that
they had the highest average score in the region.
Later you run into one of the kids from that class
and you think "she must be a math whiz.“
EXCEPTION FALLACY
- the reverse of the ecological fallacy.
- It occurs when you reach a group
conclusion on the basis of exceptional
cases.
Example: The stereotype is of the guy who sees
a woman make a driving error and concludes
that "women are terrible drivers."
More research fallacies
SELECTIVE OBSERVATION
- when our attention is drawn to answers
or observations that confirm our
preexisting beliefs. (It's a lot like
selective hearing.)
Example: The poor are more likely to commit
crime than the rich. Pays less attention to the
poor who don’t commit any crime. Class or
economic status may turn out not to be related to
crime incidence.
OVERGENERALIZATION
- generalizing to others who are different
from one's research population.
Example: An anti-poverty program works in one
community, so planners automatically assume it
will work in theirs.
MADE-UP INFORMATION
- when one fills in details without a
scientific basis for doing so.
- As researchers, we have to fill in details
(inferring).
Problem: some inferring is based on stereotype
and speculation.
Example: An attractive young woman was
sitting alone in a bar when a man walked in. The
two talked briefly, then left together smiling.
What happened in that situation?
EX POST FACTO HYPOTHESIZING
- when a researcher decides what
happened after it happened and after the
study was done. (In research, we have to
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 decide what will happen before we do PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
our study, not after). RESEARCH

Example: You discover that the birth rate is high POST-POSITIVISM

in the area you are studying. The area has no
electricity ❖ Axiology (Ethical Movement)
➢ Acceptance of privacy
ILLOGICAL REASONING is just that: ➢ Asking for consent
illogical. ➢ Fair opportunities

Example: Medical researchers in 1879 argued ❖ Ontology (reality/truth)

that insanity can be contagious if people live ➢ One reality or truth
together ➢ Can be known through a
specific level of prediction or
EGO INVOLVEMENT IN estimate
UNDERSTANDING
- when people let the human side of them ❖ Epistemology (knowledge)
dictate their findings and how they view ➢ Objectivity is important
findings by other researchers. ➢ Emotion is separated from the
research process
Example: If I've just spent 10 years developing a
new treatment program, someone else should do ❖ Methodology (systematic way of
the evaluation because I might be tempted to research)
misinterpret things in a way that is favorable to ➢ Exact and measurable
my program. (Quantitative)
➢ (Interventionist)
PREMATURE CLOSURE OF INQUIRY ➢ Without context
- when we decide that we know enough
about a topic and decide that it no longer CONSTRUCTIVISM
warrants more study. (Created or Constructed)

Example: When the Catholic Church ‘decreed’ ❖ Axiology (Ethical Movement)

that the sun revolved around the earth, even after
Copernicus discovered otherwise.
“If we knew what we were
doing, it wouldn’t be called
research, would it?”
- Albert Einstein
➢ Balanced representation of
perspectives
➢ Promotes the awareness of the
research participants
➢ Immersing with the community
❖ Ontology (reality/truth)
➢ Many realities or truth
➢ Reality is constructed by the
society

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❖ Epistemology (knowledge)
➢ Interactive relationship between
the researcher and participants
of the research
➢ Values are created
➢ Findings are constructed
❖ Methodology (systematic way of
research)
➢ Significance, value and
meanings are given
(Quantitative)
➢ Hermeneutical
➢ Dialectical
➢ Contextual elements are
described
TRANSFORMATIVE THEORY
❖ Axiology (Ethical Movement)
➢ Respect for cultural practices
➢ Promotes the rights of very
person, social justice and
cooperation
❖ Ontology (reality/truth)
➢ Against cultural relativism
➢ Believes that the version of
reality depends on social
context
➢ Aware to the effects of
privileging different versions of
reality
❖ Epistemology (knowledge)
➢ Interactive relationship between
the researcher and participants
of the research
➢ Knowledge is historical and
based on social realities
➢ Confronts the issues of power
and trust
❖ Methodology (systematic way of
research)
➢ Can be counted, measurable,
importance, values and
meanings are given
(Quantitative/Qualitative or
Dialogic)
➢ Historical and contextual
elements are described most
especially in relation to the issue
of abuse and social injustices
PRAGMATISM
(Practical vs. Theoretical)
❖ Axiology (Ethical Movement)
➢ Knowledge is obtained for the
intended results influenced by
values and politics of research
❖ Ontology (reality/truth)
➢ Believes in one reality and the
every individual has their own
interpretation of it
❖ Epistemology (knowledge)
➢ Knowledge is related to
research based on how the
researcher understands what is
appropriate to a particular study
❖ Methodology (systematic way of
research)
➢ Methodology is tailor-fitted to a
particular issue, problem or
research advocacy
➢ Mixed methodologies can be
utilized together with different
perspectives and theories
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