Qualitative & Quantitative approach

Quantitative Qualitative

Measure objective facts Construct/interpret/understand social

reality
Focus on measurable variables Focus on interactive processes, events

Reliability as key Authenticity and transparency as key

Value free (assumed) Value explicit

Independent of context (assumed) Context dependent

Many cases, statistical analysis Fewer cases, content-based analysis

Researcher assumed neutral/detached Bias made explicit

Steps in research process
Quantitative
1) Topic selection (broader area of interest, e.g. religion and racial
attitude)
2) Focused questions (research questions, e.g., does the culture of white
evangelical Christians adopt non-supportive attitude towards African
Americans)
3) Approach to the study (how to answer research questions, e.g. large
sample survey in US)
4) Collect data (method, e.g., data collected via telephonic interview of
2081 adults)
5) Analyze data (method, e.g. statistical analysis)
6) Interpret results (findings in the context of research questions, e.g.,
conservative protestant Christians more supportive of individualistic
explanations of black inequality)
7) Share results (implications, e.g., published in an academic journals)

Source: Penny Edgell and Eric Tranby (2007), cited in Neuman (2015)
Qualitative
1) Topic selection (broader area of interest, e.g. gangs in urban
housing projects)
2) Acknowledge self and context (why interested in this area,
e.g., personal interest towards gangs in urbans housing
context)
3) Socio-cultural context (a graduate student in Chicago, drug
dealing gangs, high poverty in urban areas occupied by
African Americans)
4) Design & collect data (method, e.g., first quantitative and
then qualitative – ethnography- observations for 8 years)
5) Interpret results (findings in the context of research questions,
e.g., explanations of how gang culture affects local
community, problems faced by poor, economics of drug
dealing)
6) Share results (implications, e.g., a book published)

Source: Sudhir Venkatesh (2008), cited in Neuman (2015)

Social research types, theory
& research and methodology
Classifications of social research
• Based on use and audience
Basic research (for knowledge/scientific community)
Applied research (for practical solutions, e.g., evaluation,
action & impact/for respective users)

• Based on purpose
Exploratory (focus on exploring new subject/phenomenon)
Descriptive (focus on description of subject/phenomenon)
Explanatory (focus on explaining the subject/phenomenon)
Classifications continued…
• Based on single or multiple points in time
Cross-sectional (one time, no repetition)
Longitudinal (more than one instance, e.g., time series,
panel, cohort)
Case study

• Based on data collection techniques/tools

Quantitative (experiments, surveys, quantitative content
analysis)
Qualitative (ethnographic, social constructivist, grounded
theory)
Classifications further…
• Based on within or across cases
Single case study (focus on only one case)

Small-n comparison study (focus on small number of cases, say 8 to 12)

Large-n comparison study (comparison of large number of cases, say

30)
Theory and research
• Multiple definitions of theory
“Logically connected set of general propositions,
establishing a connection between two or more
variables.”

“Explanation of a specific social phenomenon,

identifying a set of causally relevant factors or
phenomenon”

“An entire worldview, or a way of seeing, interpreting

and understanding events in the world”
Theory…
• Working definition of theory:
“A system of interconnected ideas about the social world”
• Primary purpose of theory is to explain
• Few characteristics of social theory
Parsimony
Dynamic & Open knowledge system
Entertains ambiguity
Assumptions based on open, informed debates and discussions
Example of a social theory
• “Tragedy of commons” by Garrett Hardin: Till the 1980s, explained
collapse of common resources unless government or private property
was enforced.

• “Drama of commons” by Elinor Ostrom and others: After mid 1980s,

explained the possibility of successful collective action in
communities under certain conditions.
Classical theories in development
• Rostow’s five stages of growth: 1) subsistence society, 2) pre-
conditions of take-off, 3) take-off, 4) maturity and 5) stage of high
consumption as stages that each country goes through.
(criticized for being euro-centric and lacking context in consideration
of development)
• Structural change theory: W. Lewis two sector model proposed the
trajectory of development being movement from rural areas with
surplus of labor towards industrial urban areas that will employ the
labor.
(criticized for faulty assumption of surplus labor in rural/agrarian
areas, among other things).
• Dependency theory: as a reaction to faulty assumptions in previous
theories about the uniform model of growth; considers the entire
world into a set of core (developed western countries) and periphery
countries (developing, colonial countries) where the periphery
countries feed the core and contribute to its development.
Parts of theory
• Assumptions (conditions in which it holds good)

• Concepts (abstract ideas that define the theory)

• Relationships (propositions, hypothesis based on concepts)

• Units of analysis (the unit of application)

Concepts, constructs & variables
• Concepts: abstract idea, but it can be observed and
generally accepted, like agrarian distress, community
cohesiveness/solidarity.

• Constructs: specific way in which the concept is

defined with the purpose of measuring or observing
the concept, like poverty & social capital.

• Variables provide the means to measure the constructs,

like income poverty/food poverty & bonding/bridging
social capital.
Working of theory in social research
• Theory explains relationship between concepts (e.g.,
positive-negative; direct-indirect; necessary-sufficient)
• Relationships are explained via propositions and
hypothesis in quantitative research
⮚Propositions: “a theoretical statement that two or more
concepts are related and the type of relationship”
⮚Hypothesis: “empirically verifiable proposition”
A major purpose of theory is to offer propositions, and
hypothesis that can be verified with empirical data.
How to theorize?
• 2 major approaches to theory building and testing in
social research.

⮚Deductive: testing theoretical propositions via

hypotheses using empirical data; common in
quantitative research.
⮚Inductive: using empirical data to arrive at theoretical
propositions and hypotheses; common in
qualitative/interpretive research.
Example of theory and its parts at work
• Theory
Commonly held natural resources, unless held by the government or private
property, will face depletion as individuals’ self-interest to benefit will
dominate over the collective interest to conserve the resource.

• Theoretical propositions
a) The ownership of natural resources determines its survival.
b) Self-interest to extract common resources conflicts with the collective
interest to co-operate and conserve.

• Hypotheses
H1: Government control over the forests leads to better forest conditions.
H2: Privately owned forests have a better forest cover than community—
managed forests.
 Methodology in social research

• Methodology
Not to be confused with methods;
A larger concept capturing the entire research philosophy and its
actualization (design, assumptions, data collection methods, data analysis and
interpretations)
❑Philosophical foundations of research affect and determine the
methodology

• Ontology: world view, the nature of reality (out there objective reality or
individually experienced and social constructed reality)

• Epistemology: nature of knowledge (can be measured or can be interpreted)

Major philosophical approaches to social research
Positivism
Social realities can be
discovered as natural laws
Rational human beings
Value-neutral research
Objective of discovering
and predicting patterns and
trends
Detached researcher
Interpretivism Critical
Social realities can be The hidden inequalities in
interpreted, dependent on social realities need to be
experience, no pre-existing brought out, no pre-existing
natural laws natural laws
Social human beings Social human beings
affected by powerful
Value-laden research Value-laden research
Objective of explaining Objective of transformation
how individuals and groups of existing patterns of
make sense of the world inequality and exploitation
Involved researcher Involved researcher
Caution on plagiarism!
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdsjNGCGz4

• Be original!

• Cite the source of idea, data, argument etc. that you use in your work!
(link given in course outline)

• Follow APA citation in your assignments (link given in course ouline)

 References
• Edgell, P., & Tranby, E. (2007). Religious influences on understandings of racial inequality in the United
States. Social Problems, 54(2), 263-288
• Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods (International edition). Oxford University Press: New York. 
• Lawrence, N.W. (2015). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (7 th edition). Allyn
and Bacon: Noida..