Lecture 2 of Sociology

Social Research
Social Research
• Definition:
• Social research refers to the structural observation of social behaviour
• Wallace & Wallace
• social research is a systematic method of explorng, analyzing and
conceptualizing social life in order to extend, correct or verify knowledge.
• Pauline V. Young

• Purpose:
• To diffuse knowledge into existing knowledge
• To verify theoretical observations
• To discard flawed theories
Types of social research (by Ranjit Kumar)
1. Application of the research study
A. Pure Research
B. Applied Research

2. Objective of the research study

A. Exploratory
B. Descriptive

C. Explanatory
D. Correlative
Types of social research (by Ranjit Kumar)
3. Inquiry of the research study
A. Qualitative
B. Quantitative
By Application
• Pure Research
• Conducted to add new knowledge to existing knowledge of research method
• Concerned with development of examination verification and refinement of
research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that form the body of
research methodology.

• Applied research
• It is the research techniques, procedures and methods that form body of
research methodology.
• It is applied to collect information about society, its problems and social life.
By Objective
• Exploratory research
• Conducted to find new indicators.
• The researcher does not know the problem or subject of research
• It helps in other researches

• Descriptive research
• Conducted to find descriptive information
• Explanatory research
• Conducted to find causes or reasons behind a social event or problem.

• Correlational research
• Attempts to establish link/ relation/ interdependence between two or more
situations or factors.
By Inquiry
• Qualitative Research
• It is unstructured
• It is used to find soft data such as impressions, sentences or words

• Quantitative Research
• It is structured
• It is used to find hard or numerical data that can be used to evaluate
something in discrete form
Features of a good research
• Clear and precise
• Clearly defined scope, importance and limitations of research
• Based on review of relevant literature and grounded theory
• Clear representation of facts and figures
• Proper steps are taken for data collection, analysis and interpretation
Research Process
1. Define problem
2. Review Literature
3. Formulate Hypothesis
4. Choose research design
5. Collection of data
6. Analysis of Result
7. Draw conclusion
Methods and Techniques of Social Research
• Observation
• Questionaire
• Interview
• Social Survery