URBS 260

• Social Research is a method maintained by Comte that society can be analysed empirically just like any other subjects of scientific enquiry, and social laws and theories can be established on the basis of psychology and biology.
• Marx defined the moral and social aspects of humanity in terms of material forces.
• Durkheim argued that society develops its own system of phenomena that produce collectively shared norms and beliefs, known as 'social facts'.
• The purposes of a literature review are to summarize the results of previous research to form a foundation on which to build your own research, collect ideas on how to gather data, investigate methods of data analysis, study instrumentation which has been used, and assess the success of the various research designs of the studies already undertaken.
• Research questions should be clear, researchable, relate to established theory and research, be linked or closely related to each other, allow the researcher to make a contribution to existing knowledge, and be neither too broad nor too narrow.
• Weber maintained that in order to describe social practices adequately, we must understand what meanings the practices have for the participants themselves.
• Foucault argued that there was no progress in science, only changing perspectives, as the practice of science is shown to control what is permitted to count as knowledge.
• The answers to four important questions underpin the framework of any research project: what are you going to do, why are you going to do it, how are you going to do it, and when are you going to do it.
• A suitable research problem should be stated clearly and concisely, be of great interest to you, significant (not trivial or a repeat of previous work), delineated, obtainable, and lead to conclusions related to the problem.
• The scientific method involves identification or clarification of problems, formulation of tentative solutions or hypotheses, practical or theoretical testing of solutions or hypotheses, elimination or adjustment of unsuccessful solutions.
• Milgram's obedience experiment is a social research study that demonstrates the extent of obedience to authority figures.
• Quantitative research uses numbers and statistics in the collection and analysis of data.
• Qualitative research uses mainly words and other non-numeric symbols in the collection and analysis of data.
• The choice of research orientation, design, and method must match the question being asked.
• Quantitative research can test causal models, is deductive, has a narrowed research question to make a testable hypothesis, and is typically associated with hypothesis testing.
• In quantitative research, the research question is narrowed, deductive reasoning is used, a hypothesis is formed, and the approach is typically associated with hypothesis testing.
• Quantitative and qualitative research are different orientations in social research, but do not imply differences in methodology.
• When a researcher wants to study individuals involved in illicit activities, developing rapport with subjects is crucial, suggesting a qualitative strategy.
• In qualitative research, the research question is less specific, inductive reasoning is used, no hypothesis is formed, and the approach is typically associated with the generation of theory rather than theory testing.
• When little or no research has been done, a qualitative, exploratory approach may be preferable, typically associated with the generation of theory rather than theory testing and relatively unstructured approach to the research process.
• Politics in research can involve researchers taking sides, influencing funding, access to research subjects, and the acceptance of research findings.
• A research question states the purpose of the study in the form of a question.
• Reflexivity in research is the awareness that researchers' values and decisions have an impact on the research.
• Qualitative research is characterized by a less specific research question, inductive reasoning, no hypothesis, and is typically associated with the generation of theory rather than theory testing.
• The choice of research method should match the research question.
• Values can contribute to bias in research, influencing the choice of topic, formulation of the research question, choice of method, formulation of research design and data collection methods, actual data collection, analysis of data, interpretation of data, and conclusions.
• The form of the research question will be shaped by the qualitative or quantitative orientations of the study.