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Dimensions of Research in Social Science: The Essentials

Understand the fundamental dimensions of social research, from basic and applied approaches to data collection methods and purposes of study. Explore the key concepts like basic research, public sociology, and action research.

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Dimensions of Research in Social Science: The Essentials

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  1. CHAPTER 2: DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH • DIMENSION: A VARIABLE PROPERTY OR QUALITY • FOR EXAMPLE, PHYSICAL OBJECTS HAVE HEIGHT, WIDTH, DEPTH; WEIGHT; MOMENTUM; ETC.

  2. DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH • USE OF RESEARCH: BASIC OR APPLIED • PURPOSE: EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, EXPLANATORY • TIME: CROSS-SECTIONAL, LONGITUDINAL, CASE STUDY • DATA COLLECTION: QUALITATIVE, QUANTITATIVE

  3. USE OF RESEARCH • BASIC: GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE, THEORY • APPLIED: SOLVE PROBLEMS • IN PRINCIPLE, THEY ARE • C0MPLEMENTARY • OVERLAPPING • IN PRACTICE, BASIC RESEARCH IS MORE PRESTIGEOUS

  4. BASIC RESEARCH • DEVELOPS OR TESTS KEY TOOLS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE: • THEORIES • CONCEPTS • METHODS

  5. APPLIED RESEARCH • FOCUS ON SOLVING PROBLEMS • TYPES • SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: WHAT ARE THE LIKELY CONSEQUENCES OF A PLANNED POLICY OR PROGRAM? • EVALUATION: OF A POLICY OR PROGRAM – HOW WELL DOES IT WORK? • ACTION:EMPOWERS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

  6. PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY Engages sociology in conversation with society about values, vision, analysis, direction Types traditional – writing or speaking for broad but thin audience grassroots – working with groups in the community May combine basic and applied

  7. Grassroots Public Sociology and Action Research • Goals are similar: empowerment, social change • Action research often focuses on solving specific problems • Public sociology also creates larger, critical conversations about social vision, values, analysis, and strategies for change

  8. PURPOSES OF A STUDY • EXPLORATORY – LEARN ABOUT A NEW TOPIC OR QUESTION • DESCRIPTIVE – PROVIDE QUALITATIVE AND/OR QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTION • EXPLANATORY – DEVELOP OR TEST THEORY SEE BOX 2.2 ON PAGE 29 NO NEED TO MEMORIZE, BUT BE FAMILIAR WITH BASIC IDEAS OF EACH PURPOSE

  9. THE TIME DIMENSION • CROSS-SECTIONAL - SNAPSHOT • LONGITUDINAL – SERIES OF SNAPSHOTS • TIME-SERIES –SAME “UNITS OF OBSERVATION” EACH TIME • PANEL – SAME INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ETC. • COHORT – SAME LIFE EXPERIENCES SHARED BY MEMBERS

  10. THE TIME DIMENSION, continued • CASE STUDIES – ‘CONTINUOUS’ VIDEO • EXAMINE A GROUP, EVENT, ORGANIZATION, ETC. OVER TIME • COMPARATIVE CASE STUDIES

  11. DATA COLLECTION • QUANTITATIVE • EXPERIMENTS • IN LAB OR IN ‘REAL LIFE’ • USUALLY INVOLVES COMPARING EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS, BEFORE AND AFTER ‘TREATMENT(S)’ GIVEN TO EXPERIMENTAL GROUP(S)

  12. DATA COLLECTION, CONTINUED • QUANTITATIVE, CONTINUED • SURVEYS • THE MOST COMMON FORM OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH • INVOLVES ADMINISTERING A QUESTIONNAIRE TO A POPULATION OR SAMPLE • CONTENT ANALYSIS – OF ‘SYMBOLIC MATERIAL’ • EXISTING STATISTICS – ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUSLY-COLLECTED DATA

  13. DATA COLLECTION, CONTINUED • QUALITATIVE DATA • FIELD RESEARCH (OR PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION) • GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH • RECONSTRUCTION APPROACH • HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH • DATA: ARCHIVES (MEETING NOTES, MINUTES, LETTERS, ETC.), MEMOIRS, BOOKS, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, ETC.

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