Research design and methodology

Notes from Bryman (2008)

Research day @ BDRA 22 Oct 2010

Dr Palitha Edirisingha University of Leicester, UK

Key reference

Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, 3rd Edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Social research: some considerations

Theory and research Epistemological considerations Ontological considerations Research strategy Influences on the conduct deductive (theory guides research) inductive (theory as an outcomes of research)

positivism (a natural science epistemology)

interpretivism

Objectivism
constructivism quantitative and qualitative

values practical considerations

The connection between theory and research

The connection between theory and research

what form of theory are we talking

about...

whether the data are collected to test or

to build theory...

Types of theory
Grand theories Middle range theories (Merton 1967)
labour process theory educational attainment assessment theories? Approaches to learning? fall somewhere between grand theories and empirical findings represent an attempt to understand and explain a limited aspect of social life.

social capital cultural capital symbolic interactionism critical theory too abstract and general offer few indications to researchers as to how they might guide or influence the collection of empirical evidence.

Theory as something that ...

Guides and influences the collection and

analysis of data - deductive theory

Occurs after the collection and analysis

of some or all of the data associated with a project - inductive theory

Deductive theory

a hypothesis based on what is known about in a particular domain --- subject to empirical investigation usually middle-range theory principally ... to guide empirical inquiry (Merton, 1967, p. 39) hypothesis -- concepts -- researchable entities / questions hypothesis translated into operational terms --- specify how data can be collected in relation to the concepts that make up the hypothesis implications of findings for the theory findings fed back into the stock of theory and knowledge in the domain of inquiry.

Inductive theory

theory an outcome of research drawing generalisable inferences out of observations. iterative. once the phase of theoretical reflection on a set of data has been carried out, the researcher ..collect[s] further data in order to establish the conditions in which a theory will and will not hold (p. 12)

weaving back and forth between data and theory. ... particularly evident in grounded theory. (p. 12).
very often what one ends up with can often be little more than empirical generalisations (p. 12).

Grounded theory

Epistemological considerations

Epistemological considerations

what is regarded as acceptable knowledge in a discipline whether the social world can and should be studied using the methods and the procedures of the natural sciences

Epistemological considerations

Positivism
Advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to study the social reality and beyond.

Interpretivism
Subject matter of the social sciences people and their institutions - is fundamentally different from that of the natural sciences. the job of the social scientist to gain access to peoples common-sense thinking and, to interpret their actions and their social world from their point of view.

Researchers conceptualisation of reality ... reflects that reality

Ontological positions

Ontological positions

Objectivism
Social phenomena confront us as external facts that are beyond our reach or influence. e.g., organisation, culture has the characteristics of an object and hence of having an objective reality. (p. 18).

Constructionism / Constructivism

social objects and categories are socially constructed.

Research strategy

Research strategy

the general orientation to the conduct of social research quantitative and qualitative striking differences in terms of role of theory, epistemological issues, and ontological concerns

Quantitative
role of theory deductive, testing theory

Qualitative
inductive, generation of theory

epistemological practices and norms of the orientation natural science model (positivism) ontological orientation

preference for an emphasis on how people interpret their world (interpretivism)

social reality as an external, social reality as constantly objective reality shifting emergent property of (objectivism) individuals creation (constructionism) quantification in the collection and analysis of data words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data

Influences on the conduct of social research

Influences on the conduct of social research

Values Practical considerations

Values

personal beliefs and the feelings of the

researcher

develop affection or sympathy ... for

the people being investigated

difficulty of disentangling researchers

stance as a social scientist from their subjects perspective

Practical considerations

While practical considerations may seem rather mundane and uninteresting compared with the lofty realm inhabited by the philosophical debates surrounding such decisions about epistemology an ontology, they are important ones. All social research is a coming-together of the ideal and feasible. ... there will be many circumstances in which the nature of the topic or of the subjects of an investigation and the constraints on a researcher loom large in decisions about how best to proceed (p. 27).

Criteria for assessing the quality

Criteria for assessing the quality

Reliability
adequacy of measures are the measures that are devised for concepts (poverty, racial prejudice, deskilling, religious orthodoxy) are consistent?

Replicability

can other researchers replicate the findings?

Validity

the integrity of the conclusions that are generated from a piece of research (p. 32). Credibility - how believable are the findings? Transferability - do the findings apply to other contexts Dependability - are the findings likely to apply at other times? confirmability - investigators values intruded to a high degree?

Trustworthiness

Triangulation (conceptualised by Webb et al, 1966).

1. originally, to use more than one method to develop measures, resulting in greater confidence in findings. associated with quantitative strategy. 2. using more than one method or source of data in the study of social phenomenon on methods of investigation and sources of data. 3. ethnographers checking out their observations with interview data to determine whether they might have misunderstood what they had seen. [p. 379].

Research designs and research methods

Research design

Research method

provides a framework for the a technique for collecting data. collection and analysis of data a structure that guides the execution of a research method and the analysis of subsequent data. reflects decisions about the priority involve specific instruments: being given to the range of -self-completion questionnaire dimensions of the research process -a structured interview schedule -participant observation (to listen to and watch others).

Research designs

Experimental

Cross-sectional

Longitudinal

Case study

Comparative

1. Experiments

the touchstone ... considerable confidence in the robustness and trustworthiness of causal findings used as a yard-stick against which to assess the nonexperimental studies strong in terms of internal validity. manipulating independent variable(s) to determine whether it does in fact have an influence on the dependent variable.

one or more experimental groups, each representing different types or levels of independent variable.

Experiments

establish how far the differences between the groups are responsible for variations in the levels of dependent variable.
the vast majority of the independent variables cannot be manipulated, e.g., gender, social class. might involve social engineering. can be unethical. laboratory experiments in a lab, in contrived settings

field experiments in real-life, natural settings

[[Ref. page 36, 37, 41, 42]

2. Cross-sectional designs

the collection of data on more than one case (... a lot more than one) and at a single point in time in order to collect a body of quantitative or quantifiable data in connection with two or more variables (... many more than two), which are then examined to detect patterns of association (p. 44). often called survey design methods ..................................................... key features ................................................

survery. research that employs a cross-sectional research design and in which data are collected by questionnaire or by structured interview (p. 45).
[[Ref. page 44 - 48]

3. Longitudinal design(s)

an extension of survey research based on a selfcompletion questionnaire or structured interview research a sample is surveyed and surveyed again on at least one further occasion allows some insight into the time order of variables more able to allow causal inferences to be made

two types: panel study and cohort study

[[Ref. page 49 - 52]

4. Case study design

the detailed and intensive analysis of a single case concerned with the complexity and particular nature of the case in question (Stake, 1995).

a single community, a single school, a single family, a single organisation, a person (often ... life history or biographical approach), a single event

emphasis on intensive examination of the setting. reserve the term for studies where the case is the focus of interest in its own right (p. 53).

4. Case study design

ask the questions:

is the case, or the location, organisation just the backdrop to the findings rather than a focus of interest in its own right?
is the case the unit of analysis or is it the sample the unit of analysis?

the case should be an object of interest in its own right, and the researcher aims to provide an in-depth elucidation of it. unless a distinction of this or some other kind is drawn, it becomes impossible to distinguish the case study as a special research design, because almost any kind of research can be considered as a case study. (p. 54). [Ref. pages 52 -

4. Case study design

The critical case. The extreme or unique case. The representative or typical case. exemplifying case. The revelatory case.

The longitudinal case.

5. Comparative design

studying two contrasting cases using more or less identical methods

to understand social phenomenon better by comparing them in relation to two or more contrasting cases...
multiple case studies?

[Ref. page 58 - 61]

Research strategy and research design together

[ref pp. 61, 62 (Table), 64)

Research design
Experimental

Research strategy
Quantitative Qualitative

Cross-sectional

Longitudinal

Case study

Comparative

Ethical issues
[ref p. 133]

Methods of data collection

Methods
structured interviewing
self-completion questionnaires structured observation content analysis secondary analysis of official statistics ethnography and participant observation qualitative interviews

focus groups
conversation analysis documents as sources of data ????

Quantitative Qualitative
structured interviewing self-completion questionnaires structured observation content analysis secondary analysis of official statistics ethnography and participant observation qualitative interviews focus groups conversation analysis documents as sources of data

Mixed

Data analysis

Quantitative
univariate analysis
bivariate analysis multivariate analysis

Qualitative
analytic induction
Grounded theory thematic analysis

statistical significance

narrative analysis

Quantitative research

Quantitative research

The main steps (p. 141).

Concepts and their measurement (p. 143)

Reliability and validity (p. 149) The critique of quantitative research (p. 159)

Qualitative research

Interviewing in qualitative research

qualitative interviews - different from interview used in quantitative research less structured than interviews used in survey research

two main types: unstructured and semi-structured

flexible ... can accommodate respondents views

[Ref. types of interviews - key concept 8.2. p. 196].

Differences between the structured and qualitative interviews

Quantitative
To maximize the reliability and validity of measurement of key concepts.

Qualitative
interviewees own perspectives

clearly specified research questions to be investigated greater generality in the formulation of initial research ideas

interview reflects researchers concerns

rambling discouraged no departure from questions. no new questions. compromise standardisation. inflexible because of the need to standardise. answers that can be coded and processed quickly. unless longitudinal, interview on one occasion only.

greater interest in interviewees point of view

rambling / going off at tangent encouraged (to seek insight, what interviewee sees as important interviewers can depart from the schedule / guide. new questions based on responses. flexible. adjusting the interview direction depending on the emerging issues. researcher wants a rich, detailed answers. more than one interview.

Preparing an interview guide

1. starting with research questions.. asking yourself the question Just what about this thing is puzzling me? (Lofland and Lofland, 1995: 78)
2. formulate questions in a way that help you answer research questions 3. ordering questions according to topic are so your questions about them follow well

Observations and notes

1. specify key dimensions of what you are going to observe

2. starting point - research questions...

3. detailed summaries of events and behaviours and the researchers initial reflections of them.

4. write down notes, however brief, as quickly as possible after seeing or hearing something interesting
5. write up full field notes at the ... end of the day and include full details as location, who is involved, what prompted the exchange (or whatever), data and time of day.. 6. take copious notes, so, if in doubt, write it down [p. 417].

Thank u!
pe27@le.ac.uk