STEPS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH

Ms. Swaroop Waghmare

M.A, NET (Sociology)
SOCIAL RESEARCH
Definition (Pauline Young)
Social research may be defined as a scientific undertaking which, by means of logical and
systematized techniques aims to-
1. Discover new facts or verify and test old facts;
2. Analyze their sequences, inter-relationships, and causal explanations and the natural laws which
govern them;
3. Develop new scientific tools, concepts and theories which would facilitate reliable and valid
study of human behaviour.
Social research involves the application of scientific method for the understanding, studying, and
analyzing of social life in order to modify, correct or verify the existing knowledge as a system.
Steps in Social Research
1. Formulation of research problem

2. Formulation of hypotheses

3. Methods or techniques of data collection

a. Observation
b. Interview
c. Questionnaire: i) Open ended ; ii) Close ended
d. Schedule

4. Analysis and Interpretation of data collected

5. Generalizations
Formulation of research
problem
- The first step in SR process is observing the situation and sensing problem.
- New problems keep on emerging in the social environment.
- Then focus on problem or singles out the problem for the study.
- Problem defining stage.
- Research problem should be specific.
Formulation of Hypotheses
- Hypotheses – profound hunch or a guess; assumptions about a problem under study
- It is a tentative answer to a question.
- It is subjected to the process of verification or disconfirmation.
- It is a relationship between two or more variables expressed in the form of testable statements.
Methods or techniques of
data collection
- At this stage, the researcher has to collet data as expected.
- Data can be obtained from primary source or secondary source.
- This step is also called fieldwork.
- Visit to field to administer techniques to collect data.
- Observation, interview, questionnaire and survey are major techniques to collect data.

Let us look at each of these techniques:

- Observation: recording events or aspect of the phenomenon under study.
- Interview: oral method; one person asks another person questions designed to obtain answer pertinent to
the research problem.

………… .CONTD
- Questionnaire: set of questions. i) Open ended; ii) Close ended
- Schedule: collect facts about the social aspects of a community like public
opinion, attitude of people towards a social phenomenon ie; National Sample
Survey, Census etc
Analysis and Interpretation of
data collected
- It is statistical analysis that has been collected, edited, coded and tabulated.
- Data analysis means the classification, categorizing, ordering, manipulating and summarizing data
to obtain answers to research questions.
- Reduce data to interpretable form.
- Interpretation takes the result of data analysis; makes inference; draws conclusion.
Generalizations
- It is the act of giving general form to these conclusions.
- Logical principles can be formulated.
- Abstract from them a certain significance which is representative of a whole class of events, or
patterns, or traits.
- Constructive study of the accumulated sorted facts.
THANK YOU!!!!