Primary and Secondary Sources Quiz

Types of Research

• Research is defined as a systematic search for information on a specific topic. It's the art of scientific investigation.
• Basic types of research include:
  • Descriptive vs. Analytical
  • Applied vs. Fundamental
  • Quantitative vs. Qualitative
  • Conceptual vs. Empirical
  • Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional

Historical Research Method

• History documents changing processes within social structures.
• It's the meaningful record of human achievement, not just a list of events.
• Social scientists study the past to understand the present.
• It examines the relationship between people, events, times, and places.
• Key figures in historical research: John W. Best, F.N. Kerlinger, Whitney, and Redcliff Browne.
• Historical method applies scientific inquiry to historical problems.
• It seeks to find explanations for current issues by studying the past.
• Fields like economics, politics, sociology, education, and psychology often use a historical approach.

Purpose of Historical Research

• Historical research provides information about past events and practices.
• It explains the "how" and "why" of certain theories and practices.
• It aids in understanding the significance of a phenomenon or event.

Sources of Historical Research

• Sources include autobiographies, diaries, confessions, memories, letters, documents, newspapers, literature, books, magazines, cultural/analytical history materials, artistic materials, historical paintings, portraits, charts, etc.
• These sources are categorized as Primary or Secondary.

Primary Sources

• Primary sources are original documents that form a solid basis for historical research.
• Examples include documents or records—kept by participants in events.
• Other examples of primary sources include: constitutions, charters, laws, court decisions, diaries, deeds, genealogies, etc.
• Remains or relics are also primary sources, ex: fossils, skeletons, tools, weapons, clothing, buildings, coins, pictures, and paintings, etc..
• Oral testimony is a spoken account of witness or participant experiences in an event, often recorded or transcribed.

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources are accounts of historical events, often reports from someone who wasn't present.
• Most history books and encyclopedias are secondary sources.

Characteristics of Historical Method

• Historical method is universal.
• It involves intense investigation of existing materials.
• Historical facts are singular; they cannot be repeated.
• It focuses on problems evident from historical records.
• It applies scientific methods to historical problems.
• Hypotheses may or may not be formulated, depending on the research.
• Data interpretation depends on the specific research topic.

Approaches to Historical Research

• Perspective Approach: Studying events from the past towards the present.
• Retrospective Approach: Studying events from the present to the past.

Types of Historical Research

• Approach: Arranging facts to support a concept.
• Subject: History of an individual, town, state, or civilization.
• Technique: Based on documents or relics.

The Steps of Historical Research

• Defining the problem, including its historical significance and available data.
• Collecting data through various means (artifacts, documents, etc.).
• Critically evaluating data based on authenticity and content.
• Interpreting data by considering a hypothesis or theory, putting data into context, and identifying overall significance.

Limitations of Historical Research

• Difficult to establish cause-effect relationships.
• Potential obstacles to objectivity.
• Requirement for a historical perspective.
• Declining importance in fields that employ scientific methods heavily.

Guidelines of Historical Research

• Use primary sources extensively.
• Avoid personal bias.
• Acknowledge the interrelationship of institutions and educational forces.
• Interpret words and expressions in their historical context.
• Synthesize and integrate various facts.
• Distinguish significant facts from those not pivotal to the subject.

Descriptive Research

• Descriptive research involves measuring variables as they exist naturally.
• Focuses on individual variable descriptions, not relationships between variables.
• Useful in preliminary research and understanding new phenomena.
• Helps researchers capture naturally occurring behaviors.

Survey Method

• Surveys gather data through observations and interviews, often when other methods aren't feasible.
• Important for examining social problems through a sampled or broader population.
• Used for understanding the prevailing opinion and attitudes of people.

Objects of Social Survey

• Direct contact between researcher and phenomenon under study.
• Collection of general information.
• Development of hypotheses.
• Explanation of cause-effect relationships.
• Understanding of people's opinions and attitudes.

Purposes of Social Survey

• Provides necessary information for decision-making.
• Provides foresight for future improvements.
• Interprets, synthesizes, and integrates data.
• Provides a realistic approach to investigation in a natural setting.
• Allows researchers to collect opinions and suggestions for improvement.
• Aids in the design and use of research tools.

Types of Descriptive Methods

• Survey Studies
  • School/college surveys
  • Job analysis
  • Documentary analysis
  • Public opinion survey
  • Social surveys
• Inter-relationship Studies
  • Case study
  • Causal-comparative studies
  • Correlation studies
  • Prediction studies
  • Comparative studies
• Developmental Studies
  • Growth studies
  • Follow-up studies
  • Trend studies
• Content Analysis
  • Developing and modifying curriculum
  • Developing standardized tests
  • Differentiating writing styles

Characteristics of Survey Method

• Focuses on specific current social problems (e.g., poverty, unemployment).
• Aims to predict relationships between variables.
• Deals with large, dispersed populations (unlike lab experiments).
• Relies on various methods (observations, interviews, attitude scales, etc.).
• Collects data that can inform further social research.

Planning a Survey Method

• Select a problem.
• Conduct preliminary or pilot studies.
• State general and specific study objectives.
• Identify variables, collection methods, and their availability/design.
• Define the population and select a representative sample.
• Design data collection methods.
• Collect data.
• Analyze data.
• Prepare the final research report.

Advantages of Survey Methods

• Direct contact between researchers and respondents.
• Objective data collection.
• Testing theory validity.
• Hypothesis formulation and testing.
• Based on actual observations.
• Broad applicability.

Limitations of Survey Methods

• Costly and time-consuming in some cases.
• Unsuitable for extremely large or geographically dispersed populations.
• Potential for personal bias.
• Limited flexibility.
• Difficulty in verifying data accuracy.
• Best for current social problems.
• Often sample-based research (with potential for inaccurate or misleading inferences.)

The Case Study

• In-depth study of an individual or small group.
• Can involve interventions or treatments (or not).
• Case histories are cases without intervention.
• Data collected via various methods: interviews, observations, surveys, archival data.

Applications of the Case Study Design

• Studying rare behaviors.
• Demonstrating new treatment methods.
• Identifying variables related to a particular outcome.
• Generating hypotheses for future research.

The Value of Case Studies

• Case studies, though descriptive, provide valuable insights into scientific inquiry.
• Case studies can provide novel theories and inspire changes.

Strengths & Weaknesses of Case Studies

• Strengths: Non-averaged perspective, detailed accounts, vivid and convincing.
• Weaknesses: Limited generalization, potential for selective bias, and subjective interpretation.

Ex-Post Facto Design

• Chosen when the variable of interest can't be ethically manipulated.
• Used to determine if relationships exist between past events.
• Works backward from an outcome to identify previous events.
• Often involves comparing groups based on independent variables.

Characteristics of Ex-Post Facto Design

• Lack of control over independent variables (already occurred).
• Retrospective in nature—examines past effects in present/future situations.
• Focuses on comparisons and associations between groups.

Applications and Importance of Ex-Post Facto Design

• Useful in fields like psychology, sociology, medicine, and economics.
• Invaluable for studying unethical phenomena (child abuse, addiction).
• Used when experimental research isn't feasible or ethical.

Strengths & Weaknesses of ex-post facto design

• Strengths: Powerful when experiments are impossible.
• Weaknesses: Inability to establish causality definitively.

Ethnographic Study

• Combining the Greek words "ethnos" (people) and "graph" (writing).
• Describing a specific social group or setting.
• Using qualitative methods to immerse in social worlds.
• Its validity in the social sciences is often misunderstood.
• Useful for comparative analysis of cultures (Ethnology/Etic).
• Useful for studying cultural history (Ethnohistory/Emic).

Elements of Ethnography

• Various forms of observation.
• Social interaction.
• Formal and informal interviews.
• Data collection through documents and artifacts.
• Visual material (photographs, video).

Types of Ethnography Design

• Life History: Describes life experiences of research participants.
• Memoir: Researcher's notes during ethnographic research.
• Narrative Ethnography: Participants describe their experiences and understanding of their culture.
• Auto-ethnography: Researchers write about their own journey.
• Fiction: Short stories, poems, novels, performances.
• Applied ethnography: Investigates social change or community involvement.

Ethnographic Decision Model

• Relating to the decision-making process of a group.
• Identifies factors that influencing a participant
• Example: Study decision-making relating to a certain disease handling method in a family.

Institutional ethnography

• Emphasizes daily life in relation to rules and systems.
• Understanding how people react to certain systems and regulations, examining effects on communities.

Organizational Ethnography

• Multi-method approach (observation, interviews, document analysis).
• Understanding daily operations of an organization.
• Involving the researcher in the organization to understand the culture and perspective.

Understanding and Using Ethnography in Psychological Research

• Challenge of establishing rapport with communities.
• Importance of recognizing the researcher's own role in the community.
• Focuses on the subjectivity of the community being studied.
• Reflects on experiences in context.
• Understanding culture is essential

Challenges to the Use of Ethnography in Psychological Studies

• Researcher self-representation (in relation to culture being studied).
• Subjectivity of the topic (and description).
• Maintaining research objectivity.
• Using third-person perspective vs. first-person perspective.

Suggestions for Applying Ethnography in Psychological Studies

• Continuous reflection by researcher and participants.
• Combining various data collection methods (interviews, archives, questionnaires).
• Choosing an appropriate ethnographic design.
• Setting up safe procedures during research.

Diagnostic Research

• Identifying underlying causes of a condition, behavior, or phenomenon.
• Answering "why" questions (e.g., why is a product sales declining?).
• Evaluating frequency of events and interactions between factors.
• Synonymous with Clinical Research.
• Used to identify causes of problems to understand people's health.
• Involves identifying factors contributing to, diagnosing, and working to ameliorate illness and conditions.

Steps of Diagnostic Research

• Defining the issue and its inception
• Identifying the cause of the issue and factors contributing to the problem.
• Determining solutions and resolving the issue

Acknowledgement

• List of relevant research methodologies and authors for this study.