Social Research: Purpose, Process & Alternatives

• The purpose of social research is to learn about the social world, understand phenomena, and produce knowledge for policy and further studies.
• Social research is a systematic process that combines theories, principles, and practices to produce knowledge, requiring ethics, creativity, and clear communication.

Alternatives to Social Research

• Authority relies on knowledge from experts, teachers, media, and authoritative publications.
• Authority can be limited by overestimated expertise, conflicting sources, misuse to push agendas, and ideological bias.
• Tradition is knowledge passed down through generations, based on "the way things have always been done."
• Tradition can distort over time, perpetuate stereotypes, and resist change despite evidence.
• Common sense relies on everyday reasoning.
• Common sense is prone to logical fallacies, contradictions, and subjective interpretations.
• Media myths are information from TV, movies, news and social media.
• Media is driven by entertainment value, which can perpetuate stereotypes and distort reality.
• Personal experience is knowledge from direct observations.
• Personal experience is susceptible to cognitive biases like overgeneralization and the halo effect.

How Different Sources of Knowledge Address Vaccine Safety

• Authority emphasizes rigorous testing and safety protocols.
• Tradition includes the historical eradication of deadly diseases through vaccines since the 18th century.
• Common sense entails the belief that pharmaceutical companies invest heavily in vaccine development, implying safety.
• Media myths refers to celebrities spreading anti-vaccine rhetoric.
• Personal experience refers to anecdotal stories such as "My family was vaccinated, and we're fine" that do not reflect broader trends.
• Scientific findings include empirical studies debunking vaccine myths.

How Science Works

• Natural science studies the physical world.
• Social sciences study human behavior, beliefs, interactions, and institutions.
• Science is a social institution that produces knowledge through systematic inquiry, peer review, and replication.
• Quantitative data is numerical data used for statistical analysis.
• Qualitative data refers to non-numerical data to provide in-depth insights.
• Empirical evidence refers to observations gathered through the senses.
• The scientific community consist of researchers, academic institutions, government bodies, and private sector organizations.
• The scientific method and attitude emphasizes professionalism, ethical integrity, rigor, diligence, and openness.

Steps in the Research Process

• Select a general area of interest.
• Narrow down to specific, researchable questions.
• Develop a detailed plan, including methodology and data collection.
• Gather empirical evidence systematically.
• Identify patterns, trends, and relationships within the data.
• Draw conclusions based on the analysis.
• Communicate results through reports, publications, or presentations.

Purpose of a Study

• Exploratory research investigates new topics to develop initial ideas and hypotheses.
• Descriptive research provides a detailed account of social phenomena, outlining "what" is happening.
• Explanatory research seeks to understand the "why" behind social behaviors, testing theories and identifying causal mechanisms.

Time Dimensions in Research

• Cross-sectional research examines data at a single point in time for descriptive or correlational analysis.
• Longitudinal research follows subjects over multiple time points to observe changes and trends, useful for studying causality and long-term effects.

Qualitative Data Collection Techniques

• Qualitative interviews are in-depth, semi-structured interviews exploring participants' experiences.
• Focus groups are discussions with small groups to explore collective views and social dynamics.
• Field research is immersive observation in natural settings.
• Historical research analyzes past events to understand social change and continuity.
• Content analysis examines symbolic meaning in texts to identify patterns and themes.

How Social Scientific Theory Works

• Explains recurring social patterns and general trends, rather than isolated events.
• Focuses on aggregates, such as groups, organizations, or societies, rather than individuals.
• Emphasizes probabilities and tendencies, acknowledging variability and exceptions.

What is Theory?

• Social theory is a framework of interconnected ideas that organizes knowledge about the social world and guides research.
• Theories explain social phenomena, identify patterns, and predict outcomes.
• Social theories are systematically developed, tested, and refined through empirical research.
• The inductive approach starts with specific observations, identifying patterns, and developing general theories from the data.
• Grounded theory is rooted in detailed empirical observations.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Qualitative Approaches

• Qualitative provides detailed insights and gives voice to participants.
• Qualitative can have validity and reliability issues, is subjective, limited in scope, difficult to replicate, labor intensive, and lacks transparency.

Introduction to Research Ethics

• Ethics involve the concerns, dilemmas, and conflicts that arise around proper research conduct.
• Ethics guides researchers in balancing knowledge advancement with the rights and well-being of participants.
• Ethical research depends on the integrity and responsibility of the researcher.
• Unethical behavior can lead to public humiliation, career damage, and legal action.
• Career advancement, publication, funding, and deadlines can tempt ethics shortcuts.
• Ethical conduct builds trust, ensures credible results, and upholds integrity.
• Scientific misconduct involves unethical practices that deviate from scientific standards.
• Research fraud means faking data or misreporting research procedures.
• Plagiarism is using others' work without proper credit, also known as "stealing ideas."
• Actions may be legally permissible but ethically wrong, such as in cases of plagiarism without legal repercussions.
• Unequal power between researchers and participants can lead to abuse, such that researchers must protect participant interests and prevent exploitation.
• Avoid causing any unnecessary harm.
• Harms to consider include careers, reputations, and income.
• Research should benefit society and advance knowledge.
• Participation must be voluntary.
• Deception is only permissible if essential for research integrity, with debriefing afterward.
• Participation should be voluntary and based on informed understanding.
• Key informed consent components include purpose and procedures, risks and discomforts, anonymity and confidentiality assurances, researcher contact information, and the right to withdraw without penalty.
• Ethical safeguards refers to the protective measures researchers must take when involving vulnerable populations in a study, ensure participants are not harmed or exploited, include legal guardian consent and adherence to ethical principles.
• Limited coercion means pressuring someone to do something against their will, but is acceptable if educational objectives are met or if an alternative is offered.
• Privacy protection involves limiting invasion of personal details.
• Anonymity involve keeping participants nameless where possible.
• Confidentiality involves protecting identifiable information, using data in aggregate form.
• Disclosure may be necessary for safety concerns such as self-harm.
• Core principle entails safeguarding the interests and well-being of research participants.
• Ethical guidelines consist of not harming participants, using deception only when necessary and following up with debriefing, ensuring informed consent and protecting privacy, using appropriate methods and reporting results honestly.
• Whistleblowing is when a researcher reports unethical or illegal practices within an organization.
• Sponsor influence occurs when a research sponsor tries to unethically influence the research process.
• Disclosure involves always disclosing the true sponsor in published research.
• A literature review entails examination of published studies on a research question, issue, or method to prepare for a study or summarize the "state of the field."
• Sources include scholarly journals and peer-reviewed articles accessed through college and university libraries.
• Establishing a clearly defined question, integrating literature and finalizing research question.

How to Read Journal Articles

• Identify relevance to your research question.
• Review key findings to assess significance.
• Analyze relevant articles thoroughly.
• Locate studies cited for further reading.
• Understand theoretical orientations used.
• Evaluate data collection, analysis, and methodological soundness.
• Assess interpretation of results.
• Summarize key findings.
• Explore related articles for comprehensive understanding.
• Synthesize is to combine purpose, research questions, hypotheses, methods, variables, and findings.
• Avoid quoting and plagiarism and ensure proper citation.
• Interpretive social science focuses on understanding social phenomena.
• A non-linear research path refers to a process that doesn't follow a straight step-by-step sequence, but researchers move back and forth between different research stages.
• Studying specific situations in their natural settings.
• Interpretations are influenced by historical and social contexts.
• Start with a general question, allowing topics to emerge, and refine focus as data collection progresses.
• Identify general interest.
• Specify the context.
• Define a specific group or issue.
• Research questions are the origin of social conditions, maintenance of social situations, processes of change and development, confirmation of existing beliefs, and discovery of new ideas.
• Research can be limited by time constraints, financial costs, limited access to resources, need for authority approvals, ethical considerations, and researcher expertise.
• Quantitative is linear, hypothesis-driven, focuses on variables, and uses standardized procedures.
• Qualitative is non-linear, meaning-focused, thematic concepts, and flexible procedures.
• Researchers focus on real-life cases—specific events, behaviors, or situations—and the context in which they occur by collecting data from interviews, observations, documents, or images.
• Understanding a phenomenon requires looking at the social, cultural, historical, or environmental factors.
• Emphasis is placed on case studies and the processes behind events.
• The goal is to interpret data that represents participant experiences, focusing on their perspectives and meanings.
• Qualitative measurement occurs during data collection, is abstract, and evolves.
• Conceptualization defines concepts in abstract terms.
• Operationalization links concepts to specific measurement techniques.
• A data-driven approach occurs when researchers start with data, followed by ideas.
• Reliability focuses on dependability and consistency; can be hard to replicated
• Validity focuses on authenticity and emphasizing fair representation of participants' perspectives.
• Samples are small collections that highlight key features of social life.
• Nonprobability sampling involves selection based on non-random methods and the sample size often not predetermined.
• Haphazard sampling is convenient but prone to bias.
• Quota sampling categorizes and selects fixed numbers, but may misrepresent diversity.
• Purposive sampling targets specific, informative cases.
• Snowball sampling involves referrals from initial participants to reach more cases within a network.
• Sequential sampling collects data until no new information emerges.
• Measurement in qualitative research defines concepts abstractly, develops procedures to measure concepts in context, and is an inductive process.
• Reliability ensures consistent data recording.
• Validity focuses on conveying insider perspectives.

Social research aims to understand the social world and produce knowledge. It's a systematic process involving theories, ethics, and communication. Alternatives like authority, tradition, common sense, and media can be limited.