QQM Topic 1

• The four most important goals of social research are:

  • Descriptive research
  • Exploratory research
  • Explanatory research
  • Evaluation research
• Descriptive Research

  • Research in which social phenomena are defined and described.
  • Findings simply describe differences or variations in social phenomena.
  • Describes the characteristics of the studied population or phenomenon.
• Exploratory Research

  • Explores questions that have not previously been studied in depth. It is often used when the issue under study is new, or the data collection process is challenging in some way.
  • Seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them.
  • It might be said the goal is to learn “What is going out here?”
• What is a Research Study?

  • Research is an organized, planned process of collecting and analysing information to increase our understanding of something.
  • A research study tries to answer a specific question by collecting and studying information (also called data) using a specific method, or organized approach.
  • Scientific research only uses methods that have been tested to provide trustworthy answers.
• Explanatory Research

  • Seeks to identify causes and effects of social phenomena and to predict how one phenomenon will change or vary in response to variation in another phenomenon.
  • Responsible for finding the why of the events by establishing cause-effect relationships.
  • Deals with the determination of causes and effects through hypothesis testing.
• Evaluation Research

  • Research that describes or identifies the impact of social policies and programs.
  • Understand whether a process or strategy has delivered the desired results.
  • Form of disciplined and systematic inquiry that is carried out to arrive at an assessment or appraisal of an object, program, practice, activity.
  • Systematic analysis that evaluates whether a program or strategy is worth the effort, time, money, and resources spent to achieve a goal.
• Data Analysis

  • A credible amount of data has to be collected to allow for a substantial analysis.
  • Information collected must be described, analysed and interpreted.
  • One has to look beyond the raw data to ask important questions about what the results mean and whether they are significant.
  • One has to check the data to ensure that it is “clean” and look for inconsistencies.
• The methodology is an outline of the overall data collection and analysis strategy that will be used to implement the research cycle. The methodology should:

  • Be compatible with the preliminary data analysis plan.
  • Be designed in a way that ensures the intended scope of the study (i.e. objectives and study questions) can be feasibly achieved to the required quality, given the available time, resources and access.
• Categories of Research Methods:

  • Quantitative
  • Measure prevalence of issues, verify hypotheses and establish causal relations.
  • Large samples, structured data collection, and predominantly deductive analysis.
  • Qualitative
  • Explore and discover themes, develop theories, rather than verify hypotheses and measure occurrences.
  • Smaller samples, semistructured data collection, inductive analysis.
  • Mixed Methods
  • Combines both qualitative and quantitative to collect and analyse both types of data and use both approaches in tandem.
• The research method you choose depends on:

  • The research questions
  • The underlying philosophy of research
  • Researcher preferences and skills
• • Type of data collection
  • Quantitative → Structured, close-ended data collection tools
  • Qualitative → Semi-structured (not unstructured) data collection tools
  • Type of analysis
  • Quantitative → Measuring prevalence, quantifying issues, and primarily involves deductive analysis
  • Qualitative → Exploratory, and primarily involves inductive analysis
  • Type of sampling strategy
  • Quantitative → Can use both probability or non-probability sampling - generalisation to the wider population possible
  • Qualitative → Non-probability sampling - generalisation to the wider population not possible
• Quantitative approaches

  • Attempts to explain phenomena by collecting and analysing numerical data.
  • Tells whether there is a “difference” but not necessarily why.
  • Collected data are numerical and analysed using statistical methods.
  • Variables are controlled as much as possible, so interference can be eliminated and measure the effect of any change.
  • Randomisation to reduce subjective bias. If there are no numbers involved, it's not quantitative.
  • Some types of research lend themselves better to quantitative approaches than others.
• Qualitative approaches

  • Any research that does not involve numerical data.
  • Instead it uses words, pictures, photos, videos, audio recordings, field notes, peoples’ own words...
  • Tends to start with a broad question rather than a specific hypothesis.
  • Develop theory rather than start with one
  • Inductive rather than deductive