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Introduction to Social Research - Module I

• Research is an important and successful tool for propelling mankind forward, and without it, little development could occur
• John W. Best stated cultural development relies on research to discover truths, leading to advancement.
• Research is no longer limited to science; it's also used in sociology, anthropology, economics, education, and more
• Empirical evidence validated by experience is combined social research with the scientific method and interpretive frameworks

Definition of Research

• C.C. Crawford defines research as a systematic and refined technique of thinking that employs specialized tools and procedures to solve a problem
• Webster defines research as careful examination or inquiry in seeking facts or principles.
• Francis Bacon: "Research is a power of suspending judgement with patience of meditating with pleasures of asserting with caution, of correcting with readiness of arranging thought with scrupulous plan."

Meaning, Scope, and Significance of Social Research

• Social science studies society and relationships within it, covering economics, sociology, commerce, and demography
• Social science research offers scientifically proven information and identifies solutions to social issues by determining root causes
• Social science's involvement ranges from healthcare to business, assisting in social welfare, theory formulation, forecasting, and control
• Social scientists tackle pressing issues like cyber-security and disease prevention, while nations seek their assistance.
• Social scientists collaborate with diverse organizations, including the field of medicine

Social Science in Business

• In business, social science provides data on travel patterns and service usage, enabling industries to enhance customer satisfaction, growth, and earnings.
• Businesses use customer knowledge gained from social science to predict consumer habits, design products, and strategically plan marketing.
• Technology assists profits, however, social science research adds a layer of value.

Social research and unity

• Social research facilitates social unity by offering solutions to social groups identifying the source of problems.
• Research results in a positive shift in society by affecting lives structurally and informing about social circumstances, and attaining targets by studying behavior.
• Social research contributes to social growth by improving innovation
• Sociological perspective aids in development of new hypotheses for societal behavior improvement.

Examination of society

• Social research examines society, aiding law creation, smooth operation through social order, looks at past and forecasts trends.
• Government makes future trend-conscious laws and companies design approaches.
• Social science aids various subject areas, significantly impacting every field.

Significance of Social Research

• Source of Knowledge: Valuable for learning, providing new facts and direction, reducing ignorance.
• Informative research offers verified, genuine information, benefiting researchers and public with trustworthy conclusions.
• Social unity: Achieves cohesion by revealing causes and offering solutions in difficult areas.
• Social planning: Builds growth if someone wants growth and development
• Resolving Social Issues: Identifies and resolves causative factors through solving an existing social problem.
• Structural Changes: Responsible for social changes, bringing about social and cultural change to a situation.
• Social Welfare: Helps eradicate social evils possible through methodological studies
• Social Prediction: Aids law development and understanding the influences of social laws, predict outcomes
• Social Control: Required for a smooth operation, brings society under social order
• Social Development: Improves living standards and evolves society through new approaches.
• New Techniques: Introduces current approaches, provides with learning tools

Conceptualization and Formulation of Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a prediction of what will be discovered at the conclusion of a research project that centers on the link between two investigated variables.
• A hypothesis is based on theoretical ideas of how things work and scientific evidence
• Social science hypothesis forms: predicting no relationship (null hypothesis) or forecasting variable relationships (alternative hypothesis) exist.
• Independent variable: It is thought to affect/not impact the outcome and the dependent variable: thought to be impacted/not impacted.
• Researchers want to know if their hypotheses are correct, so investigations determine if a hypothesis is true.

Research Steps in Hypothesis

• Hypothesis testing uses statistics to investigate views, commonly used by scientists
• Step 1: "Restate a research prediction as a null and alternate hypothesis, and this is testable quantitatively
• Step 2: Collect information in a method tailored to assessing the hypothesis
• Step 3: Perform a statistical test comparing within-group versus between-group variance.
• Low p-values suggest disparities unlikely by chance, high p-values mean chance is not the cause
• Data determines which statistical test you use, like a t-test for comparing the average height of men and women, based on information
• Step 4: Determine whether the null hypothesis is supported.
• Base judgment on the p-value of results to determine cutoff point of null hypothesis is supported
• Step 5: Present all findings in sections

Conceptualization of Hypotheses

• The research proposal allows the researcher to accomplish three goals.
• Offers systematic framework for organizing thoughts and turning ideas into investigation
• Serves as public declaration and provides feedback.
• Basis to obtain permits and conduct under regulations
• Lays foundation for funding: Must persuade that research is worthwhile, feasible, and the researcher is right person
• Considers how a student can propose a research project as mini research, include: project title, literature review, issue definition, goals, objectives, procedures, timing, special features, references
• Gardiner, and Hughes (2000) created the guidelines on research
• The headings mirror mirrors from the Australian Research Council

Formulation of Hypothesis and Problem Solving

• Organizations require explanations in which they have regional or regional concerns
• Must consider the connections between the proposal title, the research questions, the reasoning, and the methodology strategy
• Disintegrating topic and issuing achievable creation of an attainable project in the right manner.
• Hypothesis testing is a formal process for utilizing statistics to investigate various research issues, and can be used most often to examine predictions from theories
• Step 1 requires stating null, alternate hypotheses, quantitatively tested

Types of Hypothesis

Research Hypothesis: Simple Research and Complex

• Simple: 1 independent variable and a single dependent variable is predicted
• Complex: Relationship between two or more independent variables and two or more dependent variables
• In Directional Hypotheses they define the expected link
• Non-directional do not specify due to little to no theory
• Associative Hypotheses propose relationship changes and do not detail the cause and effect of the problem
• Casual Hypotheses propose a cause-and-effect between two or more variables, they must affect each other as well

Statistical Analysis of Hypothesis

Research hypothesis must be transformed into statistical to see if they have support

• Null Hypotheses are used when there is no association exists or no knowledge
• Can be simple, complicated, associative, and causal
• Alternative Hypotheses is statements that a test should prove

Formulating a Research Problem

A researcher's initial activity should be to write a research proposal for a concise and direct statement

• Frequently stated as objective, ranging from looking for answers to understanding complex problems.
• Outside-the-academy research often comes to halt, aiming to gain knowledge, whether about ecosystems

As a result the research must:

• Articulate genuine and justifiable problem based on research or experience, and thus worth.
• Directly link to a body of significant prior knowledge within the discipline.
• Be prepared with a clear-cut knowledge of the relevant analytical tools.
• Contribute to knowledge and theory in a potentially original way.

The Significance of the Researcher

• The significance of the researcher evaluating based on known scholarship in the field, will have more control design and proposals
• Science is taking measuring coated experts the observation of things, and this also takes account the variation of math
• the scientists must replicate accurate measuring

Important points on how to approach

• must know to prepare, expertise, and understand the discipline
• Scientific investigation divided into two categories:
  • variable collected that not been exposed experement
  • particular the regulated data

Errors In Hypotheses

• Type-I - We may reject the null hypothesis even though correct
• Type-II - We accept null despite it is incorrect
• Type-I error is denoted by alpha, known as the test's level of significance
• Type-II error is denoted by beta, the level of significance

Reducing Types of Errors

There can only be done at the expense of each other. A trade, or high threshold.

Moving towards appropriate Design Deciding a strategy, to solve issue with experimental desigh

Limits in financing can affect archaeology will conduct on as apart of the heritage impact. Testing the research.

Qualitative Research

• Disciplenary research affects process, concepts or interpretations have become prevelant
• there is a lack of social knowedge and intertwined in the environment. There all sorts of methods

Methodolpgy

• Superfiscial comparisions between the hurmainites adn sceicnes differences are easy to bequiled

Researchers:

• must knowledgeable about the discipline. Neccessiates what's permitted within that culture.

• Student might criticizve the discipline becuase inexprence

• Every rescarcher has story to be told.

Unit-1.3: Scientific Study of Social Phenomena

• You'll probably get really different answers to this seemingly harmless question.
• TV news channels do research (viewer surveys); undergrads gather knowledge assignments working on
• this not scientific without (1) adding knowledge (2) meets science method

Sciences

• "science" from Latin word scientia, (means knowledge.) Structured every field inquiry
• Natural science- objects exist in nature
• Science and Social
  • social science is study of corporations, societies, their actions
  • Psychology (human), sociology groups, economics markets

Social Science vs Natural Science

• Natural Sciences: are precise, reliable, deterministic: physics, chemistry, astronomy
• Social is less precise and deterministic, high error , science policy, fraught disagreements
• Science purpose to develop knowledge. Laws and hypotheses to describe.

Scientific Research

Since science is based on two things: theories and observations, study takes two levels: theoretical and empirical. Empirical level, the former builds absract concepts and relationships, better matches

• Scientific is always a moving, research inquiry can do one of types depending on the researcher, interests of research, indiuctive and deductive
• Research is moving in back and forth ,the theory can provide contest sighnsignficancs what we see

Inductive

A researcher's aim in inductive research is to derive theoretical principles and patterns from observed evidence. A full researcher someone that inductive or deductive

In Science, we can conclude

• Building and Testing is important
• Hypotheses should correspond to facts
• Instead of these processes circle then as circle. Better the phenomenon at interest will result from these exlpanations or theories

Understanding the Scientific Process

• Inductive research is valuable with fewer existing theories
• social sciences is uncounted variables which results in performance theory
• "know how" is common easy
• "know how" the best there is
• to be a common master theoricians