Research Methods II

Dr. Vaishali Raghuvanshi

Paper XXII: Research Methods in Social Sciences-II

1. Measurement and Scaling

2. Data Collection- Observation, Questionnaire and Interview
3. Qualitative Research- Case Study and Content Analysis
4. Data Analysis and Processing
5. Research Report Writing
Measurement in Research
• Measurement is defined as a process of associating numbers or
symbols to observations obtained in a research study. These
observations could be qualitative or quantitative.
• Classification of Measurement Scales- 1) Nominal scale, 2) Ordinal
Scale, 3) Interval scale and 4) Ratio scale.
• Qualities of Measurement Scale- 1) Validity, 2) Reliability, 3)
Practicality and 4) Accuracy.
• Possible sources of error in measurement- 1) Respondents, 2)
Situation, 3) Measurer and Instrument.
Scaling
• Scaling describes the procedures of assigning numbers to various
degrees of opinion, attitude and other concepts. This can be done in
two ways viz., (i) making a judgement about some characteristic of an
individual and then placing him directly on a scale that has been
defined in terms of that characteristic and (ii) constructing
questionnaires in such a way that the score of individual’s responses
assigns him a place on a scale.
• The number assigning procedures or the scaling procedures may be
broadly classified on one or more of the following bases: (a) subject
orientation; (b) response form; (c) degree of subjectivity; (d) scale
properties; (e) number of dimensions and (f) scale construction
techniques.
Q Sort Scaling
Non Comparative Scales
• Continuous Rating Scale- A type of non-comparative scale that offers
respondents a form of continuum (such as a line) on which to provide
a rating of an object according to a criterion.
• Itemized Rating Scale – 1) Likert Scale
2) Semantic Differential Scale
3) Staple Scale
Likert Scale
• Likert scale, rating system, used in questionnaires, that is designed to
measure people’s attitudes, opinions, or perceptions. Subjects choose
from a range of possible responses to a specific question or
statement; responses typically include “strongly agree,” “agree,”
“neutral,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.”
• Often, the categories of response are coded numerically, in which
case the numerical values must be defined for that specific study,
such as 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, and so on.
• The Likert scale is named for American social scientist Rensis Likert,
who devised the approach in 1932.
Semantic Differential Scale
• A semantic differential scale is a survey or questionnaire rating scale
that asks people to rate a product, company, brand, or any 'entity'
within the frames of a multi-point rating option. These survey
answering options are grammatically on opposite adjectives at each
end.
• Charles Egerton Osgood, a famous American psychologist, invented
the semantic differential scale so that this 'connotative meaning' of
emotional attitude towards entities can be recorded and put to good
use.
• Osgood conducted this research on an extensive database and found
that three scales were commonly useful, irrespective of race or
culture or difference in language:

1) Estimate: Combination similar to good-bad.

2) Authority: Pairs on the lines of powerful-weak.
3) Activeness: Combos like active-passive.
Staple Scale
• Stapel scale is defined as a rating scale that is close-ended with a
single adjective (unipolar), developed to gather respondent insights
about a particular subject or event. The survey question is comprised
of an even number of response options without a neutral point.
• This scale was named after its developer, Jan Stapel. Since this is a
non-comparative and categorical scale, it makes it very similar to a
semantic differential scale with the sole difference being the presence
of only adjective in between a positive and negative category rather
than having two opposing adjectives.
• Respondents must indicate the relevance of each characteristic to an
object in the question.
Unit 2: Data Collection- Observation,
Questionnaire and Interview
Observation Method
• The observation method is the most commonly used method
specially in studies relating to behavioural sciences.
• Observation becomes a scientific tool and the method of data
collection for the researcher, when it serves a formulated research
purpose, is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to
checks and controls on validity and reliability.
• The main advantage of this method is that subjective bias is eliminated, if
observation is done accurately.
• Secondly, the information obtained under this method relates to what is
currently happening; it is not complicated by either the past behaviour or
future intentions or attitudes.
• Thirdly, this method is independent of respondents' willingness to respond
and as such is relatively less demanding of active cooperation on the part
of respondents as happens to be the case in the interview or the
questionnaire method.
• This method is particularly suitable in studies which deal with subjects (i.e.,
respondents) who are not capable of giving verbal reports of their feelings
for one reason or the other
• Observation method has various limitations.
• Firstly, it is an expensive method.
• Secondly, the information provided by this method is very limited.
Thirdly, sometimes unforeseen factors may interfere with the
observational task.
• At times, the fact that some people are rarely accessible to direct
observation creates obstacle for this method to collect data
effectively.
• Participant and Non-participant types of observation in the context of
studies, particularly of social sciences.
• If the observer observes by making himself, more or less, a member
of the group he is observing so that he can experience what the
members of the group experience, the observation is called as the
participant observation.
• But when the observer observes as a detached emissary without any
attempt on his part to experience through participation what others
feel, the observation of this type is often termed as non-participant
observation.
Interview Method of Data Collection
• An interview is generally a qualitative research technique which
involves asking open-ended questions to converse with respondents
and collect elicit data about a subject.
• Interviews are conducted with a sample from a population and the
key characteristic they exhibit is their conversational tone.
• Fundamental Types of Interviews in Research-
• A researcher has to conduct interviews with a group of participants at
a juncture in the research where information can only be obtained by
meeting and personally connecting with a section of their target
audience.
Structured Interviews

Semi-Structured Interviews

Unstructured/In-depth Interviews
Structured Interviews:
• Structured interviews are defined as research tools that are extremely
rigid in their operations are allows very little or no scope of prompting
the participants to obtain and analyze results.
• It is thus also known as a standardized interview and is significantly
quantitative in its approach.
• Structured interviews are excessively used in survey research with the
intention of maintaining uniformity throughout all the interview
sessions.
Advantages
• Structured interviews focus on the accuracy of different responses
due to which extremely organized data can be collected.
• They can be used to get in touch with a large sample of the target
population.
• Since the structure of the interview is fixed, it often generates reliable
results and is quick to execute.
• Replication across multiple samples becomes easy due to the same
structure of interview.
Disadvantages
• Limited scope of assessment of obtained results.
• The accuracy of information overpowers the detail of information.
• Respondents are forced to select from the provided answer options.
• The researcher is expected to always adhere to the list of decided
questions irrespective of how interesting the conversation is turning
out to be with the participants.
Semi-Structured Interviews:
• Semi-structured interviews offer a considerable amount of leeway to
the researcher to probe the respondents along with maintaining basic
interview structure. Even if it is a guided conversation between
researchers and interviewees – an appreciable flexibility is offered to
the researchers.
• Keeping the structure in mind, the researcher can follow any idea or
take creative advantage of the entire interview.
Advantages
• Questions of semi-structured interviews are prepared before the
scheduled interview which provides the researcher with time to
prepare and analyze the questions.
• It is flexible to an extent while maintaining the research guidelines.
• Researchers can express the interview questions in the format they
prefer, unlike the structured interview.
• Reliable qualitative data can be collected via these interviews.
• Flexible structure of the interview.
Disadvantages
• Participants may question the reliability factor of these interviews due
to the flexibility offered.
• Comparing two different answers becomes difficult as the guideline
for conducting interviews is not entirely followed. No two questions
will have the exact same structure and the result will be an inability to
compare are infer results.
Unstructured Interviews/ In-depth Interviews
• Usually described as conversations held with a purpose in mind – to
gather data about the research study.
• These interviews have the least number of questions as they lean
more towards a normal conversation but with an underlying subject.
• The main objective of most researchers using unstructured interviews
is to build a bond with the respondents due to which there are high
chances that the respondents will be 100% truthful with their
answers.
• There are no guidelines for the researchers to follow and so, they can
approach the participants in any ethical manner to gain as much
information as they possibly can for their research topic.
Advantages:
• Due to the informal nature of unstructured interviews – it becomes
extremely easy for researchers to try and develop a friendly rapport
with the participants. This leads to gaining insights in extreme detail
without much conscious effort.
• The participants can clarify all their doubts about the questions and
the researcher can take each opportunity to explain his/her intention
for better answers.
• There are no questions which the researcher has to abide by and this
usually increases the flexibility of the entire research process.
Disadvantages:
• As there is no structure to the interview process, researchers take
time to execute these interviews.
• The absence of a standardized set of questions and guidelines
indicates that the reliability of unstructured interviews is
questionable.
• In many cases, the ethics involved in these interviews are considered
borderline upsetting.
Collection of Data: Questionnaire
• Quite popular, particularly in case of big enquiries.
• It is being adopted by private individuals, research workers, private and
public organizations and even by governments.
• In this method a questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons
concerned with a request to answer the questions and return the
questionnaire.
• A questionnaire consists of a number of questions printed or typed in a
definite order on a form or set of forms.
• The questionnaire is mailed to respondents who are expected to read and
understand the questions and write down the reply in the space meant for
the purpose in the questionnaire itself.
Merits:
1. There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widely
spread geographically.
2. It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in
respondents’ own words.
3. Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers.
4. Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached
conveniently.
5 Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made
more dependable and reliable.
Demerits:
1. Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due to no-
response is often indeterminate.
2. It can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating.
3. The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.
4. There is inbuilt inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the
approach once questionnaires have been dispatched.
5. There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of replies
altogether to certain questions; interpretation of omissions is difficult.
6. It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative.
7. This method is likely to be the slowest of all.
• Researcher should note the following with regard to these three main
aspects of a questionnaire:
• 1. General form:
• 2. Question sequence:
• 3. Question formulation and wording:
Qualitative Research : Case Study and
Content Analysis
• A case study involves an up-close, in-depth, and detailed examination
of a particular case or cases, within a real-world context.
• A case study can highlight nearly any individual, group, organization,
event, belief system, or action.
• Case study research has been extensively practiced in both the social
and natural sciences.
• Case study method is the most widely used method in academia for
researchers interested in qualitative research (Baskarada, 2014).
• Qualitative case study is a research methodology that helps in
exploration of a phenomenon within some particular context through
various data sources, and it undertakes the exploration through
variety of lenses in order to reveal multiple facets of the phenomenon
(Baxter & Jack, 2008).
• Case study research, through reports of past studies, allows the
exploration and understanding of complex issues.
• A case study may be understood as the intensive study of a single
case for the purpose of understanding a larger class of cases (a
population).
• An observation is the most basic element of any empirical endeavor.
• A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the
application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often
resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving
existing conditions.
• The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case
study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to
reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so
doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from
previous studies.
• In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work,
public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal
best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting
aspects of professional work.
Content Analysis
• Content analysis is a research method used to identify patterns in
recorded communication. To conduct content analysis, you
systematically collect data from a set of texts, which can be written,
oral, or visual:
✓Books, newspapers and magazines
✓Speeches and interviews
✓Web content and social media posts
✓Photographs and films
• Content analysis can be both quantitative (focused on counting and
measuring) and qualitative (focused on interpreting and
understanding).
• In both types, you categorize or “code” words, themes, and concepts
within the texts and then analyze the results.
• Researchers use content analysis to find out about the purposes,
messages, and effects of communication content. They can also make
inferences about the producers and audience of the texts they
analyze.
• Content analysis can be used to quantify the occurrence of certain words,
phrases, subjects or concepts in a set of historical or contemporary texts.
• It has various possible goals:
I. Finding correlations and patterns in how concepts are communicated.
II. Understanding the intentions of an individual, group or institution.
III. Identifying propaganda and bias in communication.
IV. Revealing differences in communication in different contexts.
V. Analyzing the consequences of communication content, such as the flow
of information or audience responses.
Advantages of content analysis
• Unobtrusive data collection- analyze communication and social
interaction without the direct involvement of participants, so your
presence as a researcher doesn’t influence the results.
• Transparent and replicable- When done well, content analysis follows
a systematic procedure that can easily be replicated by other
researchers, yielding results with high reliability.
• Highly flexible- Researcher can conduct content analysis at any time,
in any location, and at low cost – all you need is access to the
appropriate sources.
Disadvantages of content analysis
• Reductive- Focusing on words or phrases in isolation can sometimes
be overly reductive, disregarding context, nuance, and ambiguous
meanings.
• Subjective- Content analysis almost always involves some level of
subjective interpretation, which can affect the reliability and validity
of the results and conclusions.
• Time intensive- Manually coding large volumes of text is extremely
time-consuming, and it can be difficult to automate effectively.
How to conduct content analysis
• 1. Select the content you will analyze
• 2. Define the units and categories of analysis
• 3. Develop a set of rules for coding
• 4. Code the text according to the rules
• 5. Analyze the results and draw conclusions
Data Analysis and Processing
• Data processing: A series of actions or steps performed on data to
verify, organize, transform, integrate, and extract data in an
appropriate output form for subsequent use. Methods of processing
must be rigorously documented to ensure the utility and integrity of
the data.

• Data Analysis involves actions and methods performed on data that

help describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test
hypotheses. This includes data quality assurance, statistical data
analysis, modeling, and interpretation of results.
• There are three ways in which you can write about your findings in
qualitative research:
• (1) developing a narrative to describe a situation, episode, event or
instance;
• (2) identifying the main themes that emerge from your field notes or
transcription of your in-depth interviews and writing about them,
quoting extensively in verbatim format; and
• (3) in addition to identifying the main themes, also quantify the main
themes in order to provide their prevalence and thus significance.
• Validation of the information by a respondent is an important aspect
of ensuring the accuracy of data collected through unstructured
interviews.
• Content analysis means analysing the contents of interviews or
observational field notes in order to identify the main themes that
emerge from the responses given by your respondents or the
observation notes made by you.
This process involves a number of steps:
• Step 1:Identify the main themes- These themes become the basis for
analyzing the text of unstructured interviews. Similarly, you need to
go through your field notes to identify the main themes.
• Step 2: Assign codes to the main themes- Write these themes and
assign a code to each of them, using numbers or keywords, otherwise
just identify the main themes.
• Step 3:Classify responses under the main themes- Having identified
the themes, the next step is to go through the transcripts of all your
interviews or your notes and classify the responses or contents of the
notes under the different themes.
• Step 4: Integrate themes and responses into the text of your report-
Having identified responses that fall within different themes, the next
step is to integrate them into the text of your report. It entirely
depends upon the way you want to communicate the findings to your
readers.
Research Report Writing
• The last step in the research process is writing the research report. Each
step of the process is important for a valid study, as negligence at any stage
will affect the quality of not just that part but the whole study.
• In a way, this last step is the most crucial as it is through the report that the
findings of the study and their implications are communicated to your
supervisor and readers.
• In addition to your understanding of research methodology, the quality of
the report depends upon such things as your written communication skills
and clarity of thought, your ability to express thoughts in a logical and
sequential manner, and your knowledge base of the subject area.
• Another important determinant is your experience in research
writing: the more experience you acquire, the more effective you will
become in writing a research report.
• The main difference between research and other writing is in the
degree of control, rigorousness and caution required.
• Research writing is controlled in the sense that you need to be
extremely careful about what you write, the words you choose, the
way ideas are expressed, and the validity and verifiability of the bases
for the conclusions you draw.
• What most distinguishes research writing from other writing is the
high degree of intellectual rigour required.
• Research writing must be absolutely accurate, clear, free of ambiguity,
logical and concise.
• Your writing should not be based upon assumptions about knowledge
of your readers about the study.
• The way findings are communicated differs in quantitative and
qualitative research.
• In qualitative research the findings are mostly communicated in
descriptive or narrative format written around the major themes,
events or discourses that emerge from your findings.
• The main purpose is to describe the variation in a phenomenon,
situation, event or episode without making an attempt to quantify
the variation.
• The writing in quantitative research, in addition to being descriptive,
also includes its quantification.
• Depending upon the purpose of the study, statistical measures and
tests can also become a part of the research writing to support the
findings.
Steps Involved-
• Developing an outline-
• Writing about a variable-
• Referencing-According to Butcher (1981: 226), there are four
referencing systems from which to choose:
1. the short-title system;
2. the author–date system;
3. the reference by number system;
4. the author–number system
• Writing a bibliography- In the social sciences some of the most
commonly used ones are (Longyear 1983: 83):
1. the Harvard system;
2. the American Psychological Association system;
3. the American Medical Association system;
4. the McGraw-Hill system;
5. the Modern Languages Association system;
6. the footnote system.