Also fom Polity Approaches to Social Enquiry, 2nd edition, Norman Bl Social Research: Paradigms in Action, Norman Blaikie and Jan Designing Social Research The Logic of Anticipation Third Edition Norman Blaikie and Jan Priest polityDesigning Social Research reat ito produce gnealied descriptions, iro prodvce ansvers to what research queston. Tas canbe one fo the content of «variety ef ontlogeal ‘Stunptons, No atm ib made in this eon co inceporate these vee researc pare digs. We baeve chat just concentrating hereon the four logs of nga, sd secogiing ditfenes in onooga and epinemologia! smumprces Sutin inthe contest of designing sal erctes Preparing Research Designs 2.1 Chapter Summary © A research design is ce working document chat is prepared by 2 researcher, or a research team, before a cesearch project is undertaken. It should incorporate all the that need to be made before the research ‘commences, and provide justifications for these decisions. This should ensure rated. These thatthe decisions are consistent and that they can be eriicllye decisions include © the selection of the research problem and a statement of the researcher's motives and goals for investigating © elaboration of the ontological and epistemological assumptions on which ‘of inquicy depends; of the research paradigm or paradigms within which the research ducted boration of relevant concepts and theory and how they relate to the and analysis to be used; and. © a discussion of the problems char might be encountered and the limitations fof the design in its abilry to answer the research questions ‘+ In contrast, a research propos blic document necessary approvals for the research to proceed, includ ethics committe, or for research funding applications. sed to obtain an appropriate idesses difecent16 Designing Sociol Research andiences from a research design. While it includes many of the components ipso attociated research design, some of thee may be presented ina dfeent 2.2 Introduction ‘The ultimate purpose in exploring the issues and processes covered in the fel lowing chapters is to faciitare the planning of research and the preperation of applications for approvals needed before it proceeds. Both of these requirements involve the preparation of documents, such as 2 research that is developed by one of more rescarchers and is used by them as 2 guide or plan for carrying out a research ‘project. Decisions that need t be made at the beginning, or soon after some exploratory work has been completed, are stated, justified, related and evalvated + make these decisions explicit ‘+ spell out why they have been made; sue that they are consistent with each other; and * allow for critical evaluation, In postgraduate research, a cesearch design is a working document that may be the outcome of courses in reseas a a : dialogue berwreen stent and supers point of reference and guide through hanges ar the research process, or achieve the same consistency between research design elements Research proposals have different purposes and audiences. They can be used for + aking ple pesenasos and een dtc * obtaining ofcal spproval rom appropri ivesity or oer aor including endorsement of a research ethics committee; or 74 + Spine fr reesch ans ‘While research designs involve making and reporting a range of choices about swhatis vo be studied and how ic will be studied, research proposals requie more emphasis on why the research is o be conducted, including what rganization will the researcher proceed to of action research thar helpe the members of the organiza. ch may not be ‘an eventually produce such outcomes. explicitly, most social researchers appear to have some social issue of problem in mind when they undertake rese vestion ig whether the researcher has the feeedom to define the research problem and design the ‘esearch, or whether someone ese has a significan inpu 3.7 Researcher's Stance ‘Aa important choice that all social reseazchers have to make is what € research process and participancs, determining wh: berween the researcher and the researched. Blaikie otined six possbl stance is that of the detached observer. The fa uninvolved spectator, particularly during the {is argued chat a researcher's values and preferences ‘The second position, that of the empathetic observer, stil aims to achieve this ind of objes thet i is necessary for gescarchers to be able to in the social actors’ position. Only by grasping the subjective Four Research Design Tasks 45 meanings used by the social actors ‘can chee actions be understood. This rescarcher ‘retain the integrity of the phenomenon’. This 3 faihfal to the phenomenon under investigation by only pro~ i reports in which the social actors can recognize themselves and other I, geographical and his as a researcher's interests and assumptions, have re of the account produced. Hence, detached objectivity is impossible as the author's voice will always be present in a researcher's account sere 1988) fifth positis associated with critical theory. The researcher is viewed as a reflective parAB Designing Sociol Research “teflective partner’ whose relationship is that ikie 2007: 135. ‘Another version of this ffth position is associated with feminist research and ieions and to take action against oppees- now culminated in 2 sixth, postmodern, a researcher. In this case, a researcher is regarded as another investigated. Rather than being the ‘expert, 2s that of an empathetic observer. the postmodern researcher tales elements from the positions of media reflective partmer and conscientizer, and seeks to reduce a 1 31 influence on the products of the research by allowing a vat inquiry and the three research paradigms identifed by Blaikie and Priest (20 However, before we leave ‘There is a growing acceptance of the idea tha if reflexviey is en integral part sryday social practices, then it must need to be used by social researchers. ever new knowledge s generated through a process of interaction between researcher and the researched, a social researcher will draw on the same social actors use to make their activites italligible (Giddens 1976: ion of the need for social researchers to be reflexive can be found in marchers in general, and echnographersin particular, searchers (se, for example, Stanley and W: 994). Hammersley and Atkinson have argued t I be shaped by thei them. What this represents is a rejection of , aztied out in some autonomous realm: sad from the paricular biography of the igs can be unaffected by social processes and personal characteristics ‘There seems to be a fea chat researcher means that the relative merits of which can only be established and Adkinson have argued chat 2 particular stance may bye entertained, aad on design decisions. Having said this, reflexiviy is not Four Ressorch Design Tests 4748 Designing Sociol Research really a matter of choice. ll socal researchers should be ceflexive, regardless of the stance they adopt, and reflexivity applies to the pracess of designing social research as much as tothe research process itself 3.8 Conclusion 00k adopts a different approach to research design than is usualy found earch methods texts, In some ofthese, 2 distinguishing criterion is used: fo ‘example, the degree to which they are experiment ‘experimental, Qa experimental and non-experimenta) the role that time plays (eg. cross-sectional, longina jor the kind of dace and methods used (eg quanta there is no criterion; for example, a cominion clas- Our approach 3 primary research desi stead On the important core elements of a design. These include: the (0 be investigated; the questions that will make the problem cesearch- able; che logi(s) of inquiry to be used ro answer the research questions; methods for making elections from data sources; how to collector generate data; and how to analyse data to produce che answer Just what combination of these decisions turns our to be relevant to a particu lar research problem and ser of research questions can vaty considerably. Some combinations of decisions may be more common than others, and some may be ‘unusual compared to a discipline’ traditions, ‘An important choice that underlies all these other decisions isthe scance that 4 researcher adopts towards the research process and the patticipants. Careful consideration needs to be given to choosing a stance that is cons other research design decisions, ‘After considering research ethics research design and practice, we Wi ‘questions and the purposes they se he next chapter, and 1m to 2 decaled 3.9 Further Reading de Vaus DA, (2001). Research Desi in Social Research Adopt avery different approach 2 esearch design tothe oe presented bere, de Vaus,D. A. (ed) 2006) Research Design, 4 sotprchensive set of ances on many aspects of research design fom = wide vasety of postions Four Research Design Tasks 49 ). Designing Qualitative Research ati, step-by-step guidance for developing and defending proposals for ih (2002, 2017). Qualitative Researching. No adopes a snl approach Developing fective Research Prepossie.