Understanding Social Research

What is Social Research?

• Social Research is research conducted by social scientists from a variety of disciplines like sociology, anthropology, education, human geography, social policy, politics, and criminology.
• It aims to understand contemporary social life, generate new knowledge, and address gaps in academic literature.
• It's often motivated by changes in society, like the rise of social media or attitudes towards migration.

Why Do We Do Social Research?

• We conduct social research because social life is complex and fascinating.
• It helps us understand how groups and individuals behave, how institutions shape them, and how people shape institutions.
• It seeks answers to open gaps in the academic literature and inconsistencies between studies.
• It explores the applicability of findings to other groups or settings and assesses representativeness.
• It is conducted to address aspects of our understanding of society that are unresolved.

Research Methods

• Research methods are tools and techniques used to explore social topics.
• Common methods include surveys, interviews, and focus groups.
• They help gather information (data) that is then analyzed.

The Context of Social Research Methods

• Social Research does not take place in isolation but is influenced by several contextual factors:
  • Theory: Explains observed regularities in the social world.
  • Existing Literature: Provides background knowledge and avoids repetition of past work.
  • Epistemology: Concerns the production of knowledge and how the social world should be studied.
  • Ontology: Examines the nature of the social world and social phenomena.
  • Values, Ethics, and Politics: Researcher values impact research, ethical considerations are crucial, and political factors influence research choices.

Theory and Its Role in Research

• Theories are sets of ideas that aim to explain the social world.
• They influence research by shaping what is studied and how findings are interpreted.
• Researchers engage in theoretical reflections, formulating and testing hypotheses in quantitative research, or exploring research questions in qualitative research.

The Main Elements of Social Research

• Literature Review:
  • Explores existing research on the topic.
  • Identifies key concepts, theories, methods, controversies, contradictions, and key contributors.
  • Provides a basis for building upon previous work.
  • Should be critical rather than descriptive.
• Concepts and Theories:
  • Concepts are labels given to aspects of the social world with common features.
  • They organize our research interests and signal them to our audience.
  • They help us be disciplined in our investigation and organize research.
  • Theories can either drive the research process (deductive) or emerge from it (inductive).
• Research Questions:
  • Guide data collection and analysis.
  • Can shift and remodel as research progresses.
• Sampling:
  • Used in quantitative research, especially with survey methods.
  • Aims to secure a representative sample of the wider population.
• Data Collection:
  • Often considered the core of research projects.
  • Can be structured (with pre-determined questions) or unstructured (more open-ended).
• Data Analysis:
  • Involves applying statistical techniques to collected data.
  • Alternative approaches are also possible.
• Writing Up:
  • Allows research to be shared with others.
  • Includes introduction, literature review, research methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.

Stages in the Research Process

• Literature review
• Concepts and theories
• Research questions
• Sampling cases
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Writing up

The Messiness of Social Research

• It's crucial to acknowledge challenges, limitations, and any messy aspects of your research.
• This allows for honest reflection and encourages future research to address those issues.