Quantitative Research Lecture PDF

Quantitative Research See Bryman’s Social Research Methods (2021) Department of Government  Quantitative Research Reality is objective and simple. Human beings are determined by their social world. They are subject to fixed patterns that are empirically observable....

Quantitative Research See Bryman’s Social Research Methods (2021) Department of Government  Quantitative Research Reality is objective and simple. Human beings are determined by their social world. They are subject to fixed patterns that are empirically observable. The objectivist approach means that social phenomena and their meaning have an existence independent of social actors Facts should be kept apart from values; social scientists should not make value judgements Department of Government  Features Natural and social sciences share common logical and methodological foundations. Social scientists ought to employ the methods of the physical sciences. Natural science approach: empiricism Behaviouralism is used more widely in political science Explanation is restricted purely to positive phenomena and is derived from experience. Takes a deductive approach: theory drives the research Department of Government  The Fundamental Idea “to establish a ‘clear’ and ‘objective’ orientation, a virogous, disciplined and systematic procedure, and a reality bound methodology, which allows scientists to arrive at a theory that will be free from vague and sloppy approaches, speculative thoughts about reality, and a theory that should be distinguished from a social philosophy, abstract speculation and everyday assumptions.” (Sarantakos, 1998: p.42) Department of Government  Strengths Quantitative research is replicable and comparable It can be used to make generalisations about a larger population Department of Government  Weaknesses It is not possible to quantify everything How do you measure non-market transactions Department of Government  Criticisms Social phenomena do not exist ‘out there’ but in the minds of people and their interpretations Quantitative measurement is wrong as it cannot capture the real meaning of social behaviour Quantification can often result in meanings that are closer to the beliefs of the researcher than to those of the respondents The use of the hypothesis is problematic because it determines the course of the study from the outset and restricts the options of qaustions and responses Department of Government  Criticisms Quantitative research fails to distinguish between the essence and appearance of social events, it neglects the essence of life, studies ‘appearance’ and assumes that appearance is reality In quantitative research, methods are considered to be the most important element of the research process The whole process is geared towards measurement and this introduces a peculiar and biased perception of the world Department of Government  Fundamentals Measurement Causality Generalisation (study sample to the population) Replication Department of Government  Methods Questionnaires Quantitative content analysis Secondary data analysis Experiment Structured observation Department of Government  Statistical Methods There are two main types of statistics: – Descriptive – measures of dispersion – Inferential – regression analysis The usefulness of statistics depends critically on the types of ‘objects’ to which they are applied The main difficulty in deploying statistical techniques in social research is that they assume a closed system. This is an unrealistic assumption and not possible in social science Department of Government