Lecture Note

Research Methods and Techniques

1st Week: Introduction

Course Structure
1. Theoretical foundations of scientific research
2. Social research strategies & different research designs
3. How to formulate a research question
4. Quantitative research in 3 weeks – sampling, data collection and analysis methods
5. Qualitative research in 3 weeks - sampling, data collection and analysis methods
6. Discussion about scientific research ethics and academic writing

2nd Week: The nature and process of social research

• What is Social Research? - the systematic investigation of human behavior, social interactions, and societal
phenomena using scientific methods. The goal of social research is to generate knowledge and insights that can
inform policies, address social issues, and contribute to a better understanding of human society.
• Usage of social sciences – 1. To formulate research topics, 2. To interpret the findings
• How are the research topics formulated?
o from social scientists’ attitudes to prevailing social theories
o from the researcher’s existing knowledge
o the researcher’s orientation to theory as something to be tested in research or to emerge from research
o whether research is regarded as apart from the social world studied, or as an integral part of that world
• Which come first Theory or research?
o Inductive reasoning - involves drawing general conclusions or making predictions based on specific
observations or evidence
▪ An example of inductive reasoning: "Every time I've eaten strawberries, they've been sweet.
Therefore, I conclude that all strawberries are sweet."
o Deductive reasoning - starts with a general premise or statement and derives specific conclusions from
it.
▪ An example of deductive reasoning: "All humans are mortal. Socrates is a human. Therefore,
Socrates is mortal."
o Epistemological considerations - refer to the examination and analysis of how knowledge is acquired,
justified, and evaluated. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, scope, and
limitations of knowledge.
• Elements of the social research process
o Literature review - summarize and analyze what others have written about a topic
o Concepts and theories - Concepts are like building blocks of ideas. They're basic thoughts or notions we
use to understand the world. For example, "friendship" is a concept we use to describe the bond
 between people. Theories, on the other hand, are explanations or ideas that try to make sense of how
things work. They're like stories we tell to explain why something happens the way it does.
o Research questions - the key queries we ask when we want to learn more about something. They're like
the guideposts that help us explore and understand a topic better.
o Sampling - like taking a bite of pizza to know how tasty the whole pie is. It's a method where we select a
small group, called a sample, from a larger population to learn about everyone.
o Data collection - It's the process of collecting information or facts about a topic using different methods,
such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments.
o Data analysis - It's the process of examining and making sense of the information you gathered during
data collection. Picture yourself sorting through a pile of puzzle pieces to find where each one fits.
Similarly, in data analysis, you organize, compare, and look for patterns in your data to uncover insights
and answers to your questions.
o Writing up the research - like telling a story about your investigation. It's the process of putting all your
findings, thoughts, and conclusions into a document or report. Imagine you're writing a detailed diary
entry about a camping trip, describing what you did, what you found, and how you felt. Similarly, in
writing up research, you explain what you studied, how you did it, and what you discovered.

3rd Week: Social research strategies

• Identifying research questions – Open-ended research is risky. Research questions help to focus > literature
searches, data collection, analysis and writing. Research questions should have clear, social-scientific angle.
• Sources of research questions – opposition, social problems, personal experience, counter-intuitive, new
methods/theories …
• Steps in selecting research questions
o Identifying your interests
o Reviewing existing literature
o Refining your focus
o Formulating clear and specific questions
• Checklist for a research proposal
o What is the topic? What are the objectives?
o Why is the topic important?
o What are your research questions?
o What does the literature say?
o How will you collect the data?
o Why are these methods appropriate?
o Who will your research participants be, and how will they be selected?
o Is access required to an organization?
o What resources will you need?
o What is the timetable?
o What problems do you foresee?
 o Are there any ethical problems?
o How will you analyses the date?
• Searching the Literature
o What is already known about this area?
o What concepts and theories are relevant?
o What research methods and strategies have been used in this area?
o Are there any controversies?
o Are there any inconsistencies in findings?
o Are there unanswered questions?
• Two main approach
o Systematic review – A systematic review is like a super organized treasure hunt in the library. It's a
detailed and structured way of searching for all the relevant books and articles about a specific topic.
Just like using a map to find buried treasure, researchers follow a strict plan to find, gather, and evaluate
all the available studies on their topic. They carefully examine each piece of evidence to see if it fits their
puzzle. Systematic reviews help researchers find the most trustworthy information and draw solid
conclusions about their topic, making their research stronger and more reliable.
o Narrative review - A narrative review is like telling a story about a topic using lots of different books and
articles. Instead of following a strict plan, researchers explore various sources to understand the big
picture. It's like reading a bunch of adventure books to learn about pirates, but there's no map to guide
you. You gather information from different sources and share what you've learned in your own words.
Narrative reviews help give a broad overview of a topic and explore different ideas and perspectives.
They're like weaving together stories to create a colorful tapestry of knowledge.

4th Week: Research designs

• Research Design - A research design is like a plan for a science project. It's a roadmap that tells researchers how
to conduct their study and find answers to their questions. Just like following a recipe to bake a cake, a research
design outlines the steps researchers will take, such as what data they'll collect, how they'll collect it, and how
they'll analyze it. It helps them stay organized and make sure their study is fair and accurate.
o Expressing causal connections between variables
o Generalizing to larger groups of individuals than those actually forming part of the investigation
o Understanding behavior and the meaning of that behavior in its specific social context
o Having a temporal (that is, over time) appreciation of social phenomena and their interconnections.
• Research Method - A research method is like a tool or a way to find answers to questions. It's the way scientists
or researchers do their investigations. Imagine you're exploring a new place and you have different tools like a
 map, a compass, and a magnifying glass. Each tool helps you find different kinds of information. Similarly,
researchers have different methods like surveys, experiments, interviews, and observations.
• Criteria in social research – Reliability, replicability and validity
• Types of validity – Measurement validity, internal validity, external validity, ecological validity
• Alternative criteria in Qualitative research
o Trustworthiness – Credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability
• Variable - A variable is something that can change or vary in a research study. Imagine you're doing an
experiment on plants to see how sunlight affects their growth. The amount of sunlight is a variable because it
can change - you can have a lot of sunlight on a sunny day or less sunlight on a cloudy day. Similarly, in a survey
about favorite colors, the colors people choose are variables because they can vary from person to person.
Variables can be anything that researchers want to measure or study, like people's attitudes, behaviors, or
characteristics. They're like the pieces of a puzzle that scientists try to understand.
o Dependent Variable: This is what you're trying to find out or measure in an experiment. It's like the
result you're interested in, such as how tall a plant grows when you give it different amounts of water.
o Independent Variable: This is what you change or control in an experiment to see how it affects the
dependent variable. It's like the thing you're testing, such as the amount of water you give to the plant.
o Nominal Variable: This is a type of variable that represents categories or groups. It's like labeling things,
such as colors (red, blue, green).
o Ordinal Variable: This is a variable where the categories have a specific order or ranking. It's like rating
something from least to most, such as giving movies star ratings.
o Interval Variable: This is a variable where the distances between the values are meaningful, but there's
no true zero point. It's like measuring temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
o Ratio Variable: This is similar to interval variables, but it has a true zero point, which means that zero
really means "nothing" or "none." It's like measuring weight or height.
o Dichotomous Variable: This is a variable that has only two categories or groups. It's like flipping a coin
and getting heads or tails.
• Types of research design
o Experimental Research Design: This is like a science experiment where researchers try to figure out
cause and effect. They change something (independent variable) to see how it affects something else
(dependent variable).
o Cross-Sectional Research Design: This is like taking a snapshot at one point in time. Researchers look at
different groups of people or things to see how they're different or similar right now.
o Longitudinal Research Design: This is like watching a movie over time. Researchers follow the same
people or things over a period to see how they change or stay the same.
 o Case Study Research Design: This is like zooming in on one person or thing. Researchers deeply study a
single case to understand it better. It's like looking closely at one tree in a forest.
o Comparative Research Design: This is like comparing apples to oranges. Researchers look at different
groups or cases to see what's similar or different between them. It's like comparing different countries'
education systems to see what works best.
5th Week: Formulating research questions & Literature Review
6th Week: Quantitative Research & Sampling
7th Week: Interviews & Questionnaires & Official Statistics