Understanding Social Science Research: Research Methods

Summary

This video distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative social science research methods. Qualitative research, which is inductive and focuses on understanding people's experiences in depth, often involves small sample sizes and data collection through interviews, observations, and focus groups. Quantitative research, on the other hand, is deductive, aiming to test hypotheses with large sample sizes and using statistical methods for analysis. Tools like NVivo for qualitative and R for quantitative analysis are recommended for researchers.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Social science research involves gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about human behavior across disciplines like education, anthropology, psychology, and economics.
• 📊 Research methods in social sciences are primarily divided into qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• 🌟 Qualitative research is inductive, focusing on understanding the meaning of people's experiences within specific cultures or settings, often with smaller sample sizes.
• 🔢 Quantitative research is deductive, starting with a hypothesis that is tested through data analysis, typically involving larger sample sizes for more generalizable results.
• 🎯 Qualitative data is descriptive, sourced from interviews, observations, and focus groups, and often requires the researcher to identify patterns manually.
• 📈 Quantitative data is numerical and analyzed using statistical methods, with findings presented in statistical reports.
• 💻 Tools like NVivo support qualitative researchers in organizing and analyzing textual data.
• 📊 For quantitative research, software such as Excel, Stata, SPSS, and R are used for data management and statistical analysis, with R being recommended for its free availability and programming capabilities.
• 🔧 Mixed methods research combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the research topic.
• 📝 Qualitative research reports are often narrative, while quantitative research reports are presented in a more statistical format.

Q & A

What is social science research?

Social science research is the activity of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information related to human behavior across various disciplines such as education, anthropology, psychology, and economics.

How are social science research methods classified?

Social science research methods are classified into two main categories: qualitative and quantitative.

What is the focus of qualitative research?

Qualitative research focuses on exploring the meaning of people's experiences in particular cultures or settings, emphasizing in-depth information on relatively few individuals or within a limited setting.

What is the methodological approach of qualitative research?

The methodological approach of qualitative research is inductive, starting with particular cases and arriving at a general conclusion.

How does quantitative research differ from qualitative research?

Quantitative research focuses on specific behaviors that can be quantified and uses a deductive method, starting with a hypothesis that is then tested through data analysis.

What is the typical sample size in quantitative research?

Quantitative research often includes very large samples to achieve more accurate results.

Can you provide an example of a mixed methods study in social science?

A mixed methods study combines both qualitative and quantitative research approaches to study issues related to human behavior.

What types of data does qualitative research typically collect?

Qualitative research collects descriptive data from interviews, observations, and focus groups, often taking the form of long written notes.

How does the data collection method change in qualitative research?

In qualitative research, the method may change during the same research as different kinds of data may be decided to be collected based on the evolving understanding of the research.

What is a popular tool for supporting qualitative data analysis?

NVivo is a popular computer software that allows researchers to store, organize, and categorize qualitative data.

How is data analyzed in quantitative research?

Data in quantitative research is analyzed using statistical methods, with findings usually presented in a statistical report.

What are some software tools recommended for quantitative data analysis?

Excel is great for data management and simple analysis, but for more complex analysis, specific statistical software like Stata, SPSS, and R are recommended, with R being a free option that allows saving data analysis programs.