Lec 2 research socio

Research

It is the whole complex of activities that results to the generation of new knowledge and/or technology,

which may or may not have an immediate impact on human lives.

A process by which raw materials are obtained and transformed into products which take the form of knowledge.

- Cynthia Bautista (1986)

Research

One must follow the scientific method and observes certain procedures.

One can deviate from the procedure, if deemed necessary.

Social Research

The Research Process

1. Stating the Problem Has to be selected from the broad range

of topics that must be researchable. General questions about societies or

social behavior have to be stated in such a way that responses produce measurable meaningful data.

Specific questions should be answered in an empirical manner.

1. Stating the Problem It must be clearly stated , and the

rationale or objectives of the research given.

The source of a research problem may be one’s individual experience or hunches, or from other research findings.

Concepts have to be defined clearly.



Research Problem

Explanatory (aims to find out why things are

as they are or to note the cause-

effect relationship

between variables)

Descriptive (aims to

discover what is there)

2. Review of Literatures One must review what has already

been written about the subject and be familiar with the previous studies on the topic.

Consult the literature written on similar studies.

***To avoid duplication of a previous study.


3. Formulating the Hypothesis Hypothesis – is an educated guess Used to state the relationship between

two or more empirical variables to explain the occurrence of a certain phenomenon.

This is what is to be proven or what we expect to know in a research process.

Shows the relationship between two variables: dependent and independent.


3. Formulating the Hypothesis Example:

“The use of Filipino in the teaching of social science heightens the nationalism of the students.”


Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Causes changes in another variable

The one affected by the independent variable

4. Planning the Research Design One should decide on the method or

methods to be used in conducting the actual research.

Methodological design delineates the logical way by which data are to be collected, analyzed and evaluated in order to test the validity of the hypothesis.


4. Planning the Research Design


For Sociologists:* Surveys* Participants Observation* Experiments* Secondary Analysis

For Anthropologists:

* Participants Observation* Field Study

4, Planning the Research DesignA. Participant Observation researchers enter into a group or community

and observe its members.

- researchers acquaint themselves with the members of the group being studied over an extended period of time.

Purpose: to learn the language, study the customs and values, & see the world from their perspective


4. Planning the Research DesignA. Participant Observation Selected informants of the group are chosen and

interviewed. Researcher keeps a detailed record of whatever he/she

has observed. Researcher should keep himself/herself detached from the

group. Success: depends on the relationship established between

the researcher and the informants. Disadvantage: it is based on a single group or community

only; hence, it is difficult to make generalizations based on the study.


4. Planning the Research DesignB. Field Study ((Ethnographic Method) One makes use of direct observation, participant

observation, interviewing and comparison. Thus, the method is both information and observation-oriented.

Ethnographers make an in-depth analysis of a society through the study of first-hand information.

Researcher has to review the literature as well as archival materials about the community he/she intends to study.


4. Planning the Research DesignB. Field Study ((Ethnographic Method) Researcher has to contact first the anthropologists

and other social scientists who have done work in the area.

Researcher has to study the language of the place or else look around for reliable interpreters.

Researcher has to inform the mayor of the town or the chairman of the barangay and other key informants about the study and plan strategies for entry into the community.


4. Planning the Research DesignB. Field Study ((Ethnographic Method)

Disadvantage: it is too-time consuming as the researcher stays long, sometimes a year, in the field.


4. Planning the Research DesignC. Participatory Research It entails the people’s conscious reflections on

what action and goals they consider possible and how they can mobilize their resources to attain these ends. (Hollnsteiner, 1984)

A process by which the people, together with the researcher, examine, analyze the problem, analyze the results in a broad structural context, and make long-range and short-term action plans to solve the problems. (Bautista, 1981)


4. Planning the Research DesignC. Participatory Research It is an attempt to develop people’s

science so that the researcher becomes relevant not only as a way of affecting socio-economic development but also as a learning process for those being studied.


4. Planning the Research DesignD. Experiments Not extensively used by sociologists for

moral and ethical reasons Social scientists usually make use of

CONTROLLED and FIELD experiments to test public policies. (Kronblum, 2002)


4. Planning the Research DesignD. Experiments CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS

- done in the laboratories.

- utilize an independent and dependent variables.

- two groups are formed: experimental group and control group.

- experimental group – subject for change in an independent variable.

- control group – remains normal & will not experience any change.


4. Planning the Research DesignD. Experiments FIELD EXPERIMENTS

- is used in evaluating public programs that are related to specific social problems such as a school, business establishments, hospital, park, factory, or prison.

- researcher put up a “treatment group” of people that participates in the program and a control group that does not participate.


4. Planning the Research DesignE. Survey Research Is the method used most commonly by

sociologists. It makes a well-worded questionnaire on

certain specific facts. People may be asked about their behavior,

attitudes, beliefs, etc. It uses either the whole population or a

sample of the population.


4. Planning the Research DesignE. Survey Research Sample – is a set of respondents

selected randomly from a specific population.

Example: national census & voting preference


4. Planning the Research DesignE. Survey ResearchAdvantage: it allows the researchers to make

conclusions about a large number of people on the basis of a much smaller number of interviews; thus, enables one to save time and money.

Disadvantage: the responses are somewhat superficial as the close-ended questionnaire calls for brief responses.


4. Planning the Research DesignF. Interview Is a widely-used method by cultural

anthropologists. One first prepares an interview schedule for

gathering data before setting out. A list of possible significant questions or topics to

discuss has to be prepared. An interviewer can get the census and other

basic information about a person or a community.


4. Planning the Research DesignF. Interview One can gather data on family type,

political party, religion, jobs, income, expenditures, diet, possessions, etc.


4. Planning the Research DesignF. Interview It can be structured or unstructured.

Structured Interview – the interviewer follows a relatively more definite order of questions, & from the respondents’ answers’ he/she can acquire greater data.

Unstructured Interview – the interviewers prepares a set of possibly significant questions or topics to ask whenever the opportunity occurs. The interviewer motivates the respondents to talk so that he/she can get important information.


4. Planning the Research DesignG. Secondary Analysis It is used in studying data that have

been collected earlier by other persons for a new study and for a different purpose.

Example: Study on migration; study on crime


4. Planning the Research DesignG. Secondary Analysis

Advantage: It is useful form analyzing historical and

longitudinal data. It saves time & money for then there is

no use for making a new study.

Disadvantage: there may be biases or errors in the data.


5. Analyzing the Data and Formulating the Conclusion

Data must be interpreted to bring out the meaning.

Analysis uncovers meaningful links between the facts that have been gathered.

Accepted: if the data support the hypothesis Rejected: if data does not support the

hypothesis.



Data gathered are either quantitative or qualitative.

For Anthropologists: more on qualitative For Sociologists: more on quantitative



Techniques:Study of commonalities and key features

which reveal what members of the group or category share: identified through observation & interviews.

Examination of tools, such as historical documents, autobiographies, biographies, editorials, videotapes, etc.



Techniques: Search for themes or regularities. The data are

explored either by hand or with the use of a computer.

Conclusion is made relating to it to the existing body of theory.

Theory is a body of logically related hypotheses or statements and concepts which center on a certain theme---the relationship and interaction between human beings.


6. Checking and Reformulating Conclusions

Verifications of facts Fact – is an observable event that can

be repeated and verified.


7. Communicating the Result to Others

Must be published either in the special journal or in books, newspaper, or magazines.

May also be presented in a professional meeting or convention.

Purpose: to add a larger understanding of the social world.


The End!

Technology

Lec 2 research socio