Social Research Methods 4th Edition PDF

Social Research Methods This page intentionally left blank Social Research Methods Alan Bryman Fourth edition 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, schola...

Social Research Methods This page intentionally left blank Social Research Methods Alan Bryman Fourth edition 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Alan Bryman 2012 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First edition 2001 Second edition 2004 Third edition 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Library of Congress Control Number: 2011938966 Typeset by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in China by C&C Offset Printing Co. Ltd ISBN 978–0–19–958805–3 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Sophie and Daniel This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements Many people have helped me with this book, many edition were developed in conjunction with her. I also of them unwittingly. Generations of research methods wish to thank Alan Radley, Darrin Hodgetts, and Andrea students at Loughborough University and the University Cullen for their permission to include two photographs of Leicester have plied me with ideas through their ques- from their study of images of homelessness and to tioning of what I have said to them. I wish to thank Sarah Pink for her permission to use an image from her several people at or connected with OUP: Tim Barton for research on women and bullfighting. I also wish to thank suggesting to me in the first place that I might like to the Nottingham Evening Post for their kind permission to think about writing a book like this; Angela Griffin for reproduce two newspaper articles in Chapter 13. The her editorial help during the passage of the first edition photograph in Plate 19.5 is Copyright DaimlerChrysler of this book; Patrick Brindle and Katie Allan for their help Corporation and is used with permission. I wish to thank and suggestions during the preparation of this revised the students who completed the questionnaires that were edition; Angela Adams for her constant support and used for preparing the ‘Student experience’ features of encouragement with the revised and third edition; Kirsty this new edition. I also wish to thank the reviewers who Reade for copious support and suggestions in the course prepared helpful comments on the previous editions for of preparing the fourth edition; Hilary Walford for her Oxford University Press. Finally, I would like to thank Sue attention to detail when copy-editing the typescript; for all the hard work she has put into proof-reading this Philippa Hendry for steering the production of the book; and earlier editions of the book. I rely very much on her and Sarah Brett and Lucy Hyde for help with earlier attention to detail. editions. I also wish to thank Alan Beardsworth for his As usual, Sue, Sarah, and Darren have supported me helpful and always constructive comments on drafts of in many ways and put up with my anxieties and with my the first edition of the book and Michael Billig for valu- sudden disappearances to my study. When Sarah became able comments on part of the first edition. I would like to a university student herself, she gave me many insights say a big thank you to Emma Bell who worked with me on into a consumer’s perspective on a book like this, for the first, revised, and third editions of the business school which I am grateful. Everyone except me is, of course, adaptation of this book, Business Research Methods. Many absolved of any responsibility for any of the book’s sub- of the changes that have been incorporated in the present stantive deficiencies. This page intentionally left blank Brief contents Detailed contents xi About the author xxiv Introducing the students xxv Guide to the book xxxi Guided tour of textbook features xxxvi Guided tour of the ORC: lecturer resources xxxviii Guided tour of the ORC: student resources xxxix Abbreviations xl Part One 1 1 The nature and process of social research 3 2 Social research strategies 18 3 Research designs 44 4 Planning a research project and formulating research questions 79 5 Getting started: reviewing the literature 97 6 Ethics and politics in social research 129 Part Two 157 7 The nature of quantitative research 159 8 Sampling 183 9 Structured interviewing 208 10 Self-completion questionnaires 231 11 Asking questions 245 12 Structured observation 269 13 Content analysis 288 14 Secondary analysis and official statistics 310 15 Quantitative data analysis 329 16 Using IBM SPSS for Windows 353 Part Three 377 17 The nature of qualitative research 379 18 Sampling in qualitative research 415 19 Ethnography and participant observation 430 20 Interviewing in qualitative research 468 21 Focus groups 500 22 Language in qualitative research 521 23 Documents as sources of data 542 24 Qualitative data analysis 564 25 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo 590 x Brief contents Part Four 611 26 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 613 27 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and qualitative research 627 28 E-research: Internet research methods 653 29 Writing up social research 683 Glossary 709 References 718 Name index 744 Index 750 Detailed contents About the author xxiv Introducing the students xxv Guide to the book xxxi Guided tour of textbook features xxxvi Guided tour of the ORC: lecturer resources xxxviii Guided tour of the ORC: student resources xxxix Abbreviations xl Part One 1 Chapter 1 The nature and process of social research 3 Introduction 4 What is meant by ‘social research’? 4 Why do social research? 5 The context of social research methods 5 Elements of the process of social research 8 Literature review 8 Concepts and theories 8 Research questions 9 Sampling cases 11 Data collection 12 Data analysis 13 Writing up 14 The messiness of social research 15 Key points 16 Questions for review 16 Chapter 2 Social research strategies 18 Introduction 19 Theory and research 20 What type of theory? 21 Deductive and inductive theory 24 Epistemological considerations 27 A natural science epistemology: positivism 27 Interpretivism 28 Ontological considerations 32 Objectivism 32 Constructionism 33 Relationship to social research 34 Research strategy: quantitative and qualitative research 35 xii Detailed contents Influences on the conduct of social research 39 Values 39 Practical considerations 41 Key points 42 Questions for review 42 Chapter 3 Research designs 44 Introduction 45 Criteria in social research 46 Reliability 46 Replication 47 Validity 47 Relationship with research strategy 48 Research designs 50 Experimental design 50 Cross-sectional design 59 Longitudinal design(s) 63 Case study design 66 Comparative design 72 Bringing research strategy and research design together 76 Key points 77 Questions for review 77 Chapter 4 Planning a research project and formulating research questions 79 Introduction 80 Getting to know what is expected of you by your institution 80 Thinking about your research area 81 Using your supervisor 81 Managing time and resources 82 Formulating suitable research questions 85 Criteria for evaluating research questions 90 Writing your research proposal 92 Preparing for your research 92 Doing your research and analysing your results 93 Checklist 94 Key points 95 Questions for review 95 Chapter 5 Getting started: reviewing the literature 97 Reviewing the existing literature 98 Getting the most from your reading 98 Systematic review 102 Narrative review 110 Searching the existing literature 113 Electronic databases 113 Keywords and defining search parameters 118 Referencing your work 120 The role of the bibliography 123 Avoiding plagiarism 124  Detailed contents xiii Checklist 127 Key points 127 Questions for review 128 Chapter 6 Ethics and politics in social research 129 Introduction 130 Ethical principles 135 Harm to participants 135 Lack of informed consent 138 Invasion of privacy 142 Deception 143 Ethics and the issue of quality 143 The difficulties of ethical decision-making 148 New media and difficult decisions 149 Politics in social research 149 Checklist 153 Key points 154 Questions for review 154 Part Two 157 Chapter 7 The nature of quantitative research 159 Introduction 160 The main steps in quantitative research 160 Concepts and their measurement 163 What is a concept? 163 Why measure? 164 Indicators 164 Using multiple-indicator measures 166 Dimensions of concepts 167 Reliability and validity 168 Reliability 168 Validity 170 Reflections on reliability and validity 173 The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers 175 Measurement 175 Causality 175 Generalization 176 Replication 177 The critique of quantitative research 178 Criticisms of quantitative research 178 Is it always like this? 179 Reverse operationism 180 Reliability and validity testing 180 Sampling 181 Key points 181 Questions for review 182 Chapter 8 Sampling 183 Introduction to survey research 184 Introduction to sampling 186 xiv Detailed contents Sampling error 188 Types of probability sample 190 Simple random sample 190 Systematic sample 191 Stratified random sampling 192 Multi-stage cluster sampling 193 The qualities of a probability sample 195 Sample size 197 Absolute and relative sample size 197 Time and cost 198 Non-response 199 Heterogeneity of the population 200 Kind of analysis 201 Types of non-probability sampling 201 Convenience sampling 201 Snowball sampling 202 Quota sampling 203 Limits to generalization 205 Error in survey research 205 Key points 206 Questions for review 206 Chapter 9 Structured interviewing 208 Introduction 209 The structured interview 209 Reducing error due to interviewer variability 210 Accuracy and ease of data processing 211 Other types of interview 212 Interview contexts 213 More than one interviewee 213 More than one interviewer 214 In person or by telephone? 214 Computer-assisted interviewing 216 Conducting interviews 217 Know the schedule 217 Introducing the research 217 Rapport 218 Asking questions 219 Recording answers 219 Clear instructions 219 Question order 220 Probing 223 Prompting 224 Leaving the interview 225 Training and supervision 225 Problems with structured interviewing 227 Characteristics of interviewers 227 Response sets 227 The problem of meaning 228 The feminist critique 228 Key points 229 Questions for review 230  Detailed contents xv Chapter 10 Self-completion questionnaires 231 Introduction 232 Self-completion questionnaire or postal questionnaire? 232 Evaluating the self-completion questionnaire in relation to the structured interview 233 Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over the structured interview 233 Disadvantages of the self-completion questionnaire in comparison with the structured interview 234 Steps to improve response rates to postal questionnaires 236 Designing the self-completion questionnaire 237 Do not cramp the presentation 237 Clear presentation 237 Vertical or horizontal closed answers? 237 Clear instructions about how to respond 239 Keep question and answers together 239 Diaries as a form of self-completion questionnaire 239 Advantages and disadvantages of the diary as a method of data collection 243 Key points 243 Questions for review 243 Chapter 11 Asking questions 245 Introduction 246 Open or closed questions? 246 Open questions 246 Closed questions 249 Types of questions 253 Rules for designing questions 254 General rules of thumb 254 Specific rules when designing questions 255 Vignette questions 261 Piloting and pre-testing questions 263 Using existing questions 264 Checklist 265 Key points 266 Questions for review 267 Chapter 12 Structured observation 269 Introduction 270 Problems with survey research on social behaviour 270 So why not observe behaviour? 272 The observation schedule 275 Strategies for observing behaviour 276 Sampling 277 Sampling people 277 Sampling in terms of time 278 Further sampling considerations 278 Issues of reliability and validity 279 Reliability 279 Validity 280 Field stimulations as a form of structured observation 282 xvi Detailed contents Criticisms of structured observation 283 On the other hand... 284 Checklist 285 Key points 285 Questions for review 286 Chapter 13 Content analysis 288 Introduction 289 What are the research questions? 291 Selecting a sample 293 Sampling media 293 Sampling dates 293 What is to be counted? 295 Significant actors 295 Words 295 Subjects and themes 297 Dispositions 298 Coding 298 Coding schedule 298 Coding manual 299 Potential pitfalls in devising coding schemes 303 Advantages of content analysis 304 Disadvantages of content analysis 306 Checklist 307 Key points 308 Questions for review 308 Chapter 14 Secondary analysis and official statistics 310 Introduction 311 Other researchers’ data 312 Advantages of secondary analysis 312 Limitations of secondary analysis 315 Accessing the Data Archive 316 Official statistics 320 Reliability and validity 322 Condemning and resurrecting official statistics 324 Official statistics as a form of unobtrusive method 325 Key points 327 Questions for review 327 Chapter 15 Quantitative data analysis 329 Introduction 330 A small research project 331 Missing data 333 Types of variable 335 Univariate analysis 337 Frequency tables 337 Diagrams 337 Measures of central tendency 338 Measures of dispersion 339 Bivariate analysis 339 Relationships not causality 341  Detailed contents xvii Contingency tables 341 Pearson’s r 341 Spearman’s rho 344 Phi and Cramér’s V 344 Comparing means and eta 344 Multivariate analysis 345 Could the relationship be spurious? 345 Could there be an intervening variable? 345 Could a third variable moderate the relationship? 346 Statistical significance 347 The chi-square test 348 Correlation and statistical significance 349 Comparing means and statistical significance 350 Checklist 350 Key points 351 Questions for review 351 Chapter 16 Using IBM SPSS for Windows 353 Introduction 354 Getting started in SPSS 355 Beginning SPSS 355 Entering data in the Data Viewer 356 Defining variables: variable names, missing values, variable labels, and value labels 357 Recoding variables 359 Computing a new variable 359 Data analysis with SPSS 361 Generating a frequency table 361 Generating a bar chart 363 Generating a pie chart 363 Generating a histogram 363 Generating the arithmetic mean, median, standard deviation, the range, and boxplots 363 Generating a contingency table, chi-square, and Cramér’s V 366 Generating Pearson’s r and Spearman’s rho 368 Generating scatter diagrams 368 Comparing means and eta 372 Generating a contingency table with three variables 372 Further operations in SPSS 373 Saving your data 373 Retrieving your data 374 Printing output 374 Key points 374 Questions for review 374 Part Three 377 Chapter 17 The nature of qualitative research 379 Introduction 380 The main steps in qualitative research 384 Theory and research 387 xviii Detailed contents Concepts in qualitative research 388 Reliability and validity in qualitative research 389 Adapting reliability and validity for qualitative research 389 Alternative criteria for evaluating qualitative research 390 Recent discussions about quality criteria for qualitative research 393 Between quantitative and qualitative research criteria 394 Overview of the issue of criteria 397 The main preoccupations of qualitative researchers 399 Seeing through the eyes of the people being studied 399 Description and the emphasis on context 401 Emphasis on process 402 Flexibility and limited structure 403 Concepts and theory grounded in data 404 The critique of qualitative research 405 Qualitative research is too subjective 405 Difficult to replicate 405 Problems of generalization 406 Lack of transparency 406 Is it always like this? 407 Some contrasts between quantitative and qualitative research 407 Some similarities between quantitative and qualitative research 409 Feminism and qualitative research 410 Key points 412 Questions for review 413 Chapter 18 Sampling in qualitative research 415 Introduction 416 Levels of sampling 417 Purposive sampling 418 Theoretical sampling 418 Generic purposive sampling 422 Snowball sampling 424 Sample size 425 Not just people 427 Using more than one sampling approach 427 Key points 428 Questions for review 429 Chapter 19 Ethnography and participant observation 430 Introduction 431 Access 433 Overt versus covert ethnography 433 Access to closed settings 435 Access to open/public settings 436 Ongoing access 439 Key informants 439 Roles for ethnographers 440 Active or passive? 446 Field notes 447 Types of field notes 450  Detailed contents xix Bringing ethnographic research to an end 452 Can there be a feminist ethnography? 453 The rise of visual ethnography 455 Writing ethnography 462 The changing nature of ethnography 464 Key points 466 Questions for review 466 Chapter 20 Interviewing in qualitative research 468 Introduction 469 Differences between the structured interview and the qualitative interview 470 Asking questions in the qualitative interview 471 Preparing an interview guide 472 Kinds of questions 476 Recording and transcription 482 Telephone interviewing 488 Life history and oral history interviewing 488 Feminist research and interviewing in qualitative research 491 Qualitative interviewing versus participant observation 493 Advantages of participant observation in comparison to qualitative interviewing 493 Advantages of qualitative interviewing in comparison to participant observation 494 Overview 496 Checklist 497 Key points 498 Questions for review 498 Chapter 21 Focus groups 500 Introduction 501 Uses of focus groups 503 Conducting focus groups 504 Recording and transcription 504 How many groups? 505 Size of groups 507 Level of moderator involvement 508 Selecting participants 509 Asking questions 511 Beginning and finishing 513 Group interaction in focus group sessions 513 Limitations of focus groups 516 Checklist 519 Key points 519 Questions for review 520 Chapter 22 Language in qualitative research 521 Introduction 522 Conversation analysis 522 Assumptions of conversation analysis 523 Transcription and attention to detail 525 xx Detailed contents Some basic tools of conversation analysis 525 Overview 527 Discourse analysis 528 Uncovering interpretative repertoires 531 Producing facts 533 Critical discourse analysis 536 Overview 538 Key points 540 Questions for review 540 Chapter 23 Documents as sources of data 542 Introduction 543 Personal documents 544 Diaries, letters, and autobiographies 544 Visual objects 546 Official documents deriving from the state 549 Official documents deriving from private sources 550 Mass-media outputs 552 Virtual documents 554 The reality of documents 554 Interpreting documents 556 Qualitative content analysis 557 Semiotics 559 Hermeneutics 560 Checklist 561 Key points 562 Questions for review 562 Chapter 24 Qualitative data analysis 564 Introduction 565 General strategies of qualitative data analysis 566 Analytic induction 566 Grounded theory 567 Basic operations in qualitative data analysis 575 Steps and considerations in coding 576 Turning data into fragments 577 Problems with coding 578 Thematic analysis 578 Narrative analysis 582 Secondary analysis of qualitative data 586 Key points 587 Questions for review 588 Chapter 25 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo 590 Introduction 591 Is CAQDAS like quantitative data analysis software? 591 No industry leader 592 Lack of universal agreement about the utility of CAQDAS 592 Learning NVivo 593 Coding 595  Detailed contents xxi Searching text 603 Memos 607 Saving an NVivo project 607 Opening an existing NVivo project 607 Final thoughts 608 Key points 608 Questions for review 609 Part Four 611 Chapter 26 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 613 Introduction 614 The natural science model and qualitative research 615 Quantitative research and interpretivism 617 Quantitative research and constructionism 618 Research methods and epistemological and ontological considerations 618 Problems with the quantitative/qualitative contrast 619 Behaviour versus meaning 620 Theory and concepts tested in research versus theory and concepts emergent from data 621 Numbers versus words 621 Artificial versus natural 621 The mutual analysis of quantitative and qualitative research 622 A qualitative research approach to quantitative research 622 A quantitative research approach to qualitative research 623 Quantification in qualitative research 624 Thematic analysis 624 Quasi-quantification in qualitative research 624 Combating anecdotalism through limited quantification 624 Key points 625 Questions for review 625 Chapter 27 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and qualitative research 627 Introduction 628 The argument against mixed methods research 629 The embedded methods argument 629 The paradigm argument 629 Two versions of the debate about quantitative and qualitative research 631 Approaches to mixed methods research 631 A content analysis of articles based on mixed methods research 633 Approaches to combining quantitative and qualitative research in mixed methods research 635 Reflections on mixed methods research 649 Checklist 650 Key points 651 Questions for review 651 xxii Detailed contents Chapter 28 E-research: Internet research methods 653 Introduction 654 The Internet as object of analysis 654 Using the Internet to collect data from individuals 658 Online ethnography 659 Qualitative research using online focus groups 663 Qualitative research using online personal interviews 668 Online social surveys 670 Email surveys 670 Web surveys 671 Mixing modes of survey administration 672 Sampling issues 673 Overview 679 Ethical considerations in Internet research 679 The state of e-research 681 Key points 681 Questions for review 681 Chapter 29 Writing up social research 683 Introduction 684 Writing up your research 685 Start early 685 Be persuasive 685 Get feedback 686 Avoid sexist, racist, and disablist language 686 Structure your writing 686 Writing up quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research 692 Writing up quantitative research 692 Writing up qualitative research 695 Writing up mixed methods research 699 Academic writing 704 Checklist 706 Key points 707 Questions for review 707 Glossary 709 References 718 Name index 744 Index 750 This page intentionally left blank About the author Alan Bryman was appointed Professor of Organizational and Social Research in the School of Management at the University of Leicester in August 2005. He was head of the School during 2008 and 2009. Prior to his move to Leicester, he was Professor of Social Research at Loughborough Univer- sity, where he had worked for thirty-one years. His main research interests are in leadership, especially in higher education, research methods (particularly mixed methods research), and the ‘Disneyization’ and ‘McDonaldiza- tion’ of modern society. In 2003–4 he completed a project on mixed methods research, as part of the Economic and Social Research Council’s Research Methods Programme. This research has been used to inform Chapter 27. He also has an interest in the field of leadership and in leadership in higher education in particular. He has published widely in the field of Social Research, including: Quantitative Data Analysis with IBM SPSS 17, 18 and 19: A Guide for Social Scientists (Routledge, 2011) with Duncan Cramer; Business Research Methods (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition 2011) with Emma Bell; The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods (Sage, 2004) with Michael Lewis-Beck and Tim Futing Liao; The Disneyization of Society (Sage, 2004); Handbook of Data Analysis (Sage, 2004) with Melissa Hardy; The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Research Methods (Sage, 2009) with David Buchanan; and The SAGE Handbook of Leadership (Sage, 2011) with David Collinson, Keith Grint, Brad Jackson, and Mary Uhl-Bien. He has contributed articles to a range of academic journals including Journal of Manage- ment Studies; Human Relations; International Journal of Social Research Methodology; Leadership Quarterly; Leadership; Studies in Higher Education; and American Behavioral Scientist. He is also on the editorial board of Leadership; Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal; and the Journal of Mixed Methods Research. Introducing the students For many readers of this book one of the main reasons for using it will be to enable you to undertake a research project of your own, perhaps for the first time. With this in mind, I have included boxed features entitled ‘Student experience’, which are based on the experiences of undergraduate and postgraduate social science students who have done a research project, usually as part of their final year dissertation. The aim of these boxes is to provide insight and advice based on the experiences of real students in their own words, or in other words, to ‘tell it like it is’, as Nichols and Beynon (1977) have put it. This feature is based on a set of questionnaires completed by undergraduate and postgraduate students from a variety of different UK university social science departments. The main point of this feature is to provide you with insights into the experiences of student researchers. Profiles of each of the students are given below, and the original questionnaires can be downloaded in the form of podcasts from the Online Resource Centre at: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/orc/brymansrm4e/ I will now introduce the students who have provided input that has informed the writing of the ‘Student experience’ feature of this book. I am extremely grateful to them for being willing to share their experiences of doing a research project and hope that sharing what they have learned from this process with the readers of this book will enable others to bene- fit from their experience. A number of these students assisted on the previous edition of this book and their biographies below reflect their research interests at that time. Rebecca Barnes Rebecca Barnes was in the final stages of writing up her Ph.D. in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Nottingham. Rebecca’s thesis examined the issue of vio- lence and abuse in women’s same-sex intimate relationships. Her research is one of only a few studies on this topic in the UK. Rebecca adopted a qualitative methodology, conduct- ing semi-structured, in-depth interviews with forty women who self-defined as having been abused in a previous same-sex relationship. She carried out her interviews across England and parts of Wales, using online avenues and various forms of advertising to recruit her sample. Rebecca’s research experiences have fuelled her interest in methodo- logical issues, and, in particular, the ethical issues that are raised by ‘sensitive’ research. She has since been appointed Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Derby, where much of her teaching relates to research methods. Jez Clark Jez Clark graduated in 2007 with First Class Honours from the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Jez studied Politics with Media with a final year internship at an advertising agency at which he wrote on the evolution of political advertising. During his second year Jez undertook a ‘Methods of Social Research’ project exploring student perceptions of aca- demic provision and support during university. His report focused on the academic issues and problems that individuals may face, and examined whether the UEA advisory system was providing adequate support. The information was collected by questionnaire, using xxvi Introducing the students a combination of systematic probability and stratified random sampling. The data taken from these were collated and analysed (if answers could be coded) using the SPSS data programme; un-coded, ‘open’ responses were independently assessed. Hannah Creane Hannah Creane completed her undergraduate degree in Sociology with Law at Durham University. She finished her studies in 2007. The aim of Hannah’s research project was to explore the generational changes within childhood. Hannah had always been interested in the development of the person from child to adult, and in particular the social construction of childhood. This interest was furthered after carrying out a pilot project in 2005 explor- ing the importance of sibling relationships in the development of the child. Hannah’s project was based on the question of what makes a child a child as opposed to an adult, and to what extent this has changed across the generations. Her research was based on nine semi-structured interviews; she chose this research method in order to avoid limiting the response of the people she was interviewing. She created three distinct age brackets: 0–29, 30–59, and 60+, and then interviewed three people from each age bracket in order to ensure an equal representation for each generation. Mark Girvan Mark is a 2011 graduate of the University of Strathclyde, where he studied BA Politics. In his third year he was part of a team that carried out quantitative research with regard to voting behaviour prior to the 2010 UK general elections. Using an experimental research design, the group compiled two separate questionnaires that differed in terms of question structure and wording. Respondents were asked how they would vote in a referendum on Scottish independence. The aim was to determine the effect upon the respondents’ vote by varying the number of options available to them. The effect of emotive language upon voter response was also examined by varying question wording between the questionnaires. Cornelius Grebe Cornelius did a Ph.D. in Social Policy and Administration at the University of Nottingham. His thesis used qualitative research to analyse German reconciliation of paid employment and care work policy. Cornelius combined a contextual social constructionist paradigm of enquiry with a feminist point of view analysing parental leave, childcare, anti-discrimination, and working-time policies. He was interested in how policy ‘solutions’ shape our under- standing of the social ‘problem’ of the incompatibility of paid employment and care work. Cornelius employed documentary analysis concentrating on enacted and proposed legislation. Amy Knight Amy Knight graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2010 with an Upper Second Class in Politics and Sociology. In her third year Amy completed primary research concerning the recycling patterns of males and females. The main objective of Amy’s research project was to identify gender differences regarding individuals’ recycling habits and understand the reasons why differences occur. Amy designed and completed inter- views and questionnaires, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. The data was inputted and predominantly analysed using SPSS. ‘Open-ended’ questions from the interview were assessed independently. Sarah Hanson In 2006 Sarah completed a three-year BA Honours degree in English and Sociology at the University of Derby. In her final year Sarah focused her dissertation on the sociological  Introducing the students xxvii impact of women’s magazines, through a combination of contextual and coded analysis. By using a system of content analysis that was fair and unbiased, Sarah was able to discover other meanings behind the structure of the magazines’ front covers. Well-documented theories of feminism and the construction of gender and stereotypes allowed Sarah to decode the results, and she was thus able to break down the magazine covers to disclose their true meaning. Sophie Mason Sophie Mason studied at the University of East Anglia undertaking a three-year course for a BA in Society, Culture and Media. In 2005–6 she carried out a research project, which formed an integral part of her course. Her project was based on the views and experiences of students at the University of East Anglia. The project involved both qualitative and quan- titative research on an individual and group scale, which required excellent organizational skills. Sophie felt it was important to consider the views of students from all demographics in order to gain a reliable understanding of individuals’ university experiences. The project spanned three months from initial proposal to completion. William J. Mason William J. Mason began his undergraduate studies in sociology at the University of Sheffield in 2005. During his final year he secured funding to continue onto postgraduate study via the 1+3 ESRC quota studentship award. He then completed a Master’s degree in Sociological Research Methods and graduated with a 2:1. He is currently in the second year of his Ph.D. William’s doctoral research focuses on young people’s risk behaviours and resilience thereof. These topics are considered with reference to concepts of ethnicity, interaction, and identity. Here an ethnographic approach is employed in order to generate data that reflect the mundane experiences of youth workers and young people within two areas of an industrial city in the north of England. This is a voice that has been largely neglected within previous research concerning the areas in question. Information of this nature will highlight the role/impact of community-led organizations in terms of providing a protective environment for young people, alongside considering the conceptualization of, and motivations underlying, risk taking, thus contributing to sociological understand- ings of risk, ethnicity, identity, and health. Gareth Matthews Gareth completed a BA in Sociology at the University of Nottingham in 2002, and then went on to complete an MA in Research Methods. Over this time he developed an interest in industrial sociology and, more specifically, Marxist approaches to labour process ana- lysis, both of which stemmed from his personal experience in a variety of work settings. At present he is writing a thesis on the employment of migrant workers in the UK’s hospitality industry, drawing on data from in-depth interviews held with employers and managers of hotels, bars, and restaurants in the Brighton and Hove area. The research seeks to chal- lenge many of the connections that have recently been forged between the theoretical, ana- lytical, and methodological approach to the study of the labour process, with a particular emphasis on the potential role of economic-geographical perspectives in reasserting the notion of ‘place’ into a revitalized empirical agenda. Alice Palmer Alice graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Sheffield in 2009. Alice studied Sociology and continued to complete a Masters in International Childhood Studies with Distinction. Alice’s research topics include the changing role of stay-at-home mothers, young people’s understanding of their rights under the United Nations Convention on the xxviii Introducing the students Rights of the Child, and children’s embodied experiences. Alice has worked as a researcher for the Policy Evaluation Group and is currently studying for a Ph.D. funded by the Uni- versity of Sheffield. Alice’s research methods reflect her feminist political stance and belief in creating reciprocal relationships between researcher and subject. Research methods used in studies so far include in-depth unstructured and semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Isabella Robbins Isabella embarked on her first degree following the birth of her third child, and a twenty- five-year career as a professional nurse. She studied Sociology in order to help her make sense of her world. Having obtained a BA Hons in Sociology at the University of Nottingham, she took up an ESRC 1+3 studentship at the University of Nottingham. Her research inter- est concerns contemporary motherhood and the particular issue of how mothers account for their vaccination decisions. Her interest in this stems from her own experience of motherhood and the inherent contradictions and challenges of mothering. In order to explore this issue, she undertook a qualitative research study. She has just submitted her Ph.D. thesis. Erin Sanders Erin recently completed her M.Sc. in gender and politics at Birkbeck College, University of London. She became interested in how women were affected by development politics, and began investigating how sex workers were impacted by policies implemented in various developing countries. Her thesis research project focused on Thai NGOs that were working with female sex workers, investigating to what extent the organizations were representing women’s interests. Her study was qualitative and incorporated feminist methodologies; semi-structured interviews were carried out with NGO representatives and sex workers in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Erin is now working on her Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham, exploring female tourism in Thailand. Jack Sayers Jack Sayers is a student at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he is studying Philosophy and Politics BA. In his second year of the programme he studied the unit Methods of Social Research, in which he created his report. The group focused on student satisfac- tion with university accommodation—interviewing those staying in halls of residences to attain their results. Jack’s report focused on the services provided by the university, both within the halls of residences and within the university itself. He compared the satisfac- tion levels of male and female participants to find out whether there was any deviation in their views. Alexandra Scherer Alexandra is in the second year of her Ph.D. at the University of Surrey, currently collecting data through interviews with children in a London primary school. Alexandra’s research is concerned with minority children reading picture books. Prior to starting her ESRC-funded 1+3 studentship, Alexandra was a primary school teacher. She became fascinated by the deeper readings children made of picture books. Alexandra’s first degree was in English Literature at Manchester University, where she also took a Masters in Children’s Literature and Illustration. Jonathan Smetherham Jonathan was awarded the John Westergaard Prize from the University of Sheffield in 2009 for his final year dissertation in Sociological Studies (BA). The research was a seven-week  Introducing the students xxix ethnographic study in rural Guatemala, investigating the implications of Western develop- ment agendas for local populations and focusing on the role of non-governmental organ- izations. After graduation, Jonathan worked for the Office for National Statistics, where his first post involved coordinating government input into key longitudinal studies, providing support to the Virtual Microdata Laboratory, and facilitating the transition of the Secure Data Service. During this time he also completed an M.Sc. (part-time) in Social Research Methods with the Open University. Emma Taylor Emma Taylor is a student at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where she is studying for a BA Honours degree in Politics. In her third year Emma participated in a ‘Research Methods for Political Scientists’ class, which involved research methods and group project work based around a contemporary social issue of the group’s choice. Being aware of the recent changes to licensing laws in Scotland, the group decided to develop a means of assessing both student and public attitudes towards these changes. The report focused on investigat- ing whether the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 would have a profound effect on individuals’ drinking behaviour, attitudes, and support for licensing laws in general. In order to assess these assumptions, Emma and her group developed a structured survey, which was distributed through face-to-face interviews and involved accidental sampling, after which the data were analysed using PASW. Moreover, in her Honours year Emma was required to submit a dissertation. As her interests involve British political behaviour and the salience of contemporary social and political issues, Emma decided to produce a quan- titative thesis. The aim of her study was to identify whether issue salience had affected electoral turnout in both the 2005 and 2010 British general elections. More specifically, Emma focused on the perceived importance of the Iraq war for 2005, and the financial crisis for 2010, using data from the British Election Study. Lily Taylor Lily Taylor completed her undergraduate degree in 2007 from the University of East Anglia, achieving a 2:1 in Society, Culture and Media. During her time studying Lily primarily directed her units towards those focused on social research. Lily’s quantitative research project explored areas surrounding academic life at the UEA and focused in depth on student debt. The research methodology consisted of a questionnaire with a mixture of open- and closed-ended questions, conducted in university accommodation and around campus, using a random sampling technique. Exploring factors such as gender differences, living arrangements, degree courses, and part-time jobs enabled Lily to distinguish groups of people who were more likely to come out of university in debt than others, and the degree to which they were worried about this. Joe Thomson Joe Thomson studied at the University of East Anglia for a BA degree in Politics with Media. In his second year, Joe was encouraged to embark on a unit that would revolve around social research and individual project work based on the surrounding university environment. Like Jack Sayers, Joe’s project held the objective of trying to gauge and understand the perspectives of UEA students with regards to accommodation and campus facilities. His report focused upon a comparison of experiences between international and UK/EU students, which highlighted issues such as security, inter-flat relationships, and services provided by the accommodation office. In order to carry out his research, Joe used a questionnaire design, as well as a combination of sampling methods: stratified random sampling and systematic probability sampling. Data gathered from interviews that could be coded was taken, analysed, and inputted, using the SPSS data program. xxx Introducing the students Samantha Vandermark Samantha graduated in 2010 with a First Class Honours in Sociology, Culture and Media from the University of Surrey. Her dissertation was an exploratory project focused on the government’s attempt to use advertising in order to raise awareness and prompt action on the prevention of childhood obesity. Samantha used focus groups of mothers belonging to various social groups in order to gauge an understanding of how social class, childhood experiences, and deep-rooted values influenced parental techniques with regards to food. Semiotic and discourse analyses of the advertising texts added an extra dimension to the research, enabling comparisons between government messaging and parental beliefs. Introducing the Supervisors Nine supervisors also provided helpful feedback to inform the Supervisor experience feature of the book. They kindly agreed to share their experiences of supervising students doing research projects, and I hope this will add an interesting new perspective for readers of the book. While they provided their feedback anonymously, I would like to acknowledge their affiliations, which were Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Brunel University, University of Copenhagen, University of Leicester, University of Manchester, University of Portsmouth, University of Roehampton, and University of Sheffield. Guide to the book About the book If we do use a natural science model, does that mean that we are making certain assumptions about the Focus of the book nature of social reality? This book has been written with two groups of readers Equally, do those writers and researchers who reject in mind. First, undergraduates in subjects such as socio- such a model have an alternative set of assumptions logy, social policy, human geography, and education who about the nature of social reality? at some point in their degree take a course, and often more than one course, in the area of research methods. What kind or kinds of research findings are regarded as legitimate and acceptable? The book covers a wide range of research methods, approaches to research, and ways of carrying out data To what extent do values have an impact on the analysis, so it is likely to meet the needs of the vast research process? majority of students in this position. Should we worry about the feelings of people outside The second group, which in most cases overlaps with the research community concerning what we do to the first, comprises undergraduates and postgraduates people during our investigations? who do a research project as part of the requirement for their degree programmes. This can take many forms, but These and many other issues impinge on research in one of the most common is that a small-scale research a variety of ways and will be confronted at different project is carried out and a dissertation based on the stages throughout the book. While knowing how to do investigation is presented. In addition, students are often research—how best to design a questionnaire, how to expected to carry out mini-projects in relation to certain observe, how to analyse documents, and so on—is crucial modules. Chapter 4 has been written specifically for stu- to an education in research methods, so too is a broad dents doing research projects. This chapter thus builds on appreciation of the wider issues that impinge on the earlier discussion of research questions in Chapter 1, re- practice of social research. Thus, so far as I am concerned, inforcing a topic that is central to the whole process of the role of an education in research methods is not just doing research. The accent in the chapters in Parts Two to provide the skills that will allow you to do your own and Three is on the practice of social research and as research, but also to provide you with the tools for a critical such these chapters will be extremely useful in helping appreciation of how research is done and with what students make informed decisions about doing their assumptions. One of the most important abilities that an research. In addition, when each research method is understanding of research methods and methodology examined, its uses and limitations are explored in order provides is an awareness of the need not to take evidence to help students to make these decisions. In Part Four, that you come across (in books, journals, and so on) for Chapter 29 provides advice on writing up research. granted. In addition to providing students with practical advice on doing research, the book also explores the nature of Why use this book? social research. This means that it attends to issues relat- ing to fundamental concerns about what doing social There are likely to be two main circumstances in which research entails. For example: this book is in your hands at the moment. One is that you have to study one or more modules in research methods Is a natural science model of the research process for a degree in one of the social sciences or there are applicable to the study of society? methodological components to one of your substantive If not, why not? modules (for example, a module in organizational beha- Why do some people feel it is inappropriate to employ viour). The other is that you have to conduct an investi- such a model? gation in a social scientific field, perhaps for a dissertation xxxii Guide to the book or project report, and you need some guidelines about for substantive modules in fields such as the sociology how to approach your study. It may be that you are of work or the sociology of consumption. wondering why you need to study research methods as a The skills that a training in research methods imparts field and why people like the author of this book do social are transferable ones. Knowing about how to sample, research at all. how to design a questionnaire, how to conduct semi- structured interviewing or focus groups and so on are Why is it important to study skills that are relevant to research in other spheres (such as firms, public sector organizations, and so on). methods? Studying research methods by using this book exposes To some students, there does not seem a great deal of you to a multitude of examples from real-life research. point to studying research methods. They might take the I have always learned a lot by reading research and view that, if they have to conduct an investigation, why finding out how others have carried out research and not adopt a ‘need to know’ approach? In other words, what lessons they seem to have learned. In view of why not just look into how to do your research when this, the book is full of examples. I have tried to illus- you are on the verge of carrying out your investigation? trate most of the major points with an example and Quite aside from the fact that this is an extremely risky often more than one. Most of my examples derive strategy, it neglects the opportunities that a training from published research, and it is clearly the case that in research methods offers. In particular, you need to you will find it difficult to generate research of an bear in mind the following: equivalent level because of your limited resources, time, and experience. On the other hand, you can get A training in research methods sensitizes you to the close, and it is important to learn about the bench- choices that are available to social researchers. In other marks that good practice in published work provide. words, it makes you aware of the range of research In your own research, it may be that, to use a well- methods that can be employed to collect data and the known term devised by Herbert Simon (1960), you variety of approaches to the analysis of data. Such an will need to satisfice. (Simon devised this term to forge awareness will help you to make the most appropriate a contrast with the model of rational decision-making choices for your project, since you need to be aware that was pervasive in economics. He argued that, of when it is appropriate or inappropriate to employ when working in organizations, people satisfice when particular techniques of data collection and analysis. they make decisions rather than find the most appro- A training in research methods provides you with an priate means to achieve given ends. Satisficing means awareness of the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ when employing that the search for an appropriate course of action a particular approach to collecting or analysing data. is governed by the principle of looking for what is Thus, once you have made your choice of research satisfactory, rather than for what is optimal.) The im- method (for example, a questionnaire), you need to portant issue is to know in what ways you are needing be aware of the practices you should follow in order to to satisfice and what the implications are of doing so. implement that method properly. You also need to be Thus, I feel that a training in research methods has much aware of the many pitfalls to be avoided. to offer and that readers of this book will recognize the A training in research methods provides you with opportunities and advantages that it provides. insights into the overall research process. It provides a Erin Sanders, one of the students who have contrib- general vantage point for understanding how research uted to this book, herself expresses the usefulness of a is done. As such, it illuminates the various stages of knowledge of research methods for a student embarking research, so that you can plan your research and think on a research project: about such issues as how your research methods will connect with your research questions. I think students often read a good deal around their A training in research methods provides you with subject and have a working knowledge of the literature an awareness of what constitutes good and poor re- about their topic—but rarely read about methods and search. It therefore provides a platform for developing methodologies. Knowing about research methods is a critical awareness of the limits and limitations of incredibly helpful when conducting research, and too research that you read. This can be helpful in provid- often it is left out of the research process. ing a critical reading of research that you encounter  Guide to the book xxxiii Structure of the book Chapter 6 considers the ways in which ethical issues impinge on researchers and the kinds of principles Social research has many different traditions, one of the that are involved. most fundamental of which is the distinction between quantitative and qualitative research. This distinction Part Two contains ten chapters concerned with quantita- lies behind the structure of the book and the way in tive research. which issues and methods are approached. The book is divided into four parts. Chapter 7 explores the nature of quantitative research and as such provides a context for the later chapters. The next four chapters are largely concerned with Part One comprises six scene-setting chapters. It deals aspects of social survey research. with basic ideas about the nature of social research. Chapter 8 deals with sampling issues—how to select Chapter 1 is concerned to outline some of the main a sample and the considerations that are involved in stages that arise in the course of doing most kinds of assessing what can be inferred from different kinds of social research. It also aims to explore some of the ways sample. It also contains at the beginning an introduc- in which social research is located in a wider context tion to survey research that acts as a backdrop to the in which a variety of factors influence why social re- discussion of sampling and to the subject matter of the search is done in particular ways. Most of the topics following three chapters. and areas covered in this chapter are addressed in much greater detail in later chapters. The goal of the Chapter 9 is concerned with the kind of interviewing that takes place in survey research—that is, structured chapter is to provide insights into some of the ground- interviewing. work associated with thinking about social research methods and their practice. Chapter 10 covers the design of questionnaires. This involves a discussion of how to devise self-completion Chapter 2 examines such issues as the nature of the questionnaires, such as postal questionnaires. relationship between theory and research and the degree to which a natural science approach is an Chapter 11 examines the issue of how to ask questions for questionnaires and structured interviews. appropriate framework for the study of society. It is here that the distinction between quantitative and Chapter 12 covers structured observation, which is a qualitative research is first encountered. They are method that has been developed for the systematic presented as different research strategies with differ- observation of behaviour. ent ways of conceptualizing how people and society Chapter 13 presents content analysis, a method that should be studied. It is also shown that there is more provides a rigorous framework for the analysis of a to the distinction between them than whether an wide range of documents. investigation includes the collection of quantitative Chapter 14 deals with the analysis of data collected by data. other researchers and by official bodies. The emphasis In Chapter 3, the idea of a research design is intro- then switches to the ways in which we can analyse duced. This chapter allows an introduction to the quantitative data. basic frameworks within which social research is Chapter 15 presents a range of basic tools for the carried out, such as social survey research, case study analysis of quantitative data. The approach taken is research, and experimental research. These three non-technical. The emphasis is upon how to choose a chapters provide the basic building blocks for the rest method of analysis and how to interpret the findings. of the book. No formulae are presented. Chapter 4 takes you through the mains steps that are Chapter 16 shows you how to use computer software involved in planning and designing a research project —in the form of SPSS, the most widely used software and offers advice on how to manage this process. for analysing quantitative data—in order to imple- It also includes a discussion of research questions— ment the techniques you learned in Chapter 15. what they are, why they are important, and how they come to be formulated. Part Three contains nine chapters on aspects of qualita- tive research. Chapter 5 is designed to help you to get started on your research project by introducing the main steps in Chapter 17 has the same role in relation to Part Three conducting a critical review of the literature. as Chapter 7 has in relation to Part Two. It provides xxxiv Guide to the book an overview of the nature of qualitative research and Chapter 29 has been included to help with writing as such provides the context for