research method by lena

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SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH DESIGN

AND DATA ANALYSIS

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Introduction

2. Social Science Research Strategies

3. Research Ethics

4. Conclusion

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SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

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Social science research is concerned with people

and their life contexts in unpredicted fashion.

Examples:

A study of the socio-economic and environmentaleffects of kerosene lanterns.

Food safety assurance in the Ghanaian food

manufacturing value chain.

Assessing the knowledge and practices of wayside

auto electricians in Ghana3


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SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

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The purpose of this unit is to introduce participants to the empirical

social science research.

Objectives of the unit:

Identify some of the research strategies available to researchers in

the social sciences;

Know the factors that affect the effectiveness of these research

designs; and

Operationalise these research approaches in ways that the

weaknesses do not limit the credibility of the research findings.

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Social Science Research Strategies

1. Survey Research

2. Case Study3. Archival Analysis

4. Experiment

5. Action Research

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SURVEY RESEARCH DEFINED Suited to research problems in which the researcher aims to

investigate the incidence and prevalence of a phenomenon orwhen there is the need to be predictive about an outcome.

Allows for the drawing of a sample from a population of interest,

with the aim of generalising to the final population

It aims to collect information from a sample within a certaindegree of error.

Surveys tend to be quantitative in nature and usually usesstructured and standardized questionnaires.

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SURVEY RESEARCH PROCESS1. Clarify the purpose of the research

2. Resource assessment

3. Take a decision on the methods and procedures

4. Design the questionnaire

5. Pilot test the questionnaires

6. Prepare the sample

7. Train interviewers

8. Data collection

9. Process the data

10. Analyse the results11. Interpret and disseminate results

12. Take action

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DETAILED STEPS FOR CONDUCTING A SURVEY

RESEARCH

Step One: Clarify the Purpose of the Research

It spells out the reasons for conducting the survey.

It is necessary because clarity of the research purpose helps to know if

the survey is the most appropriate approach to use.

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RESEARCH CONTD

Step Two: Resource Assessment

Evaluation of the adequacy of in-house resources to:

design a survey that is within the budget line.

know which resources one needs to contract out.

The resources include:

Staff availability and skills;

logistics (materials and equipment, etc).

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RESEARCH CONTD

Step Three: Decision on the Methodsand Procedures

Should it be:Administer face-to-face questionnaires?

Mailed and e-mailed questionnaires? or

Telephone and computerized telephone

interviews?Administer Online?

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RESEARCH CONTD

Step Four: Design the Questionnaire Questionnaires are designed to address the research objectives or

questions.

Guidelines:

Language wording

Bias

Order of the Questions

Length of the Questionnaire

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Step four - contd

Type of Questions:Structured Questions:Structured questionnaires consist of closed or

prompted questions with predefined answers. The researcher has to anticipate all

possible answers with pre-coded responses

Unstructured Questions:Unstructured questionnaires are made up

of questions that elicit free responses. These are guided conversations rather than

structured interviews and would often be referred to as a topic guide.

Contingency questions:Questions that are limited to a subset of

respondents for whom they are relevant are called "contingency questions

Matrix Questions:Identical response categories are assigned to

multiple questions

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DETAILED STEPS FOR CONDUCTING ASURVEY RESEARCH CONTD

Step Five: Pilot Test the Questionnaires

The pilot testing of survey instruments helps to:

Know if each question addresses the research questions;

Know if the questions are interpreted in a similar vein byrespondents;

Identify if options provided for close-ended questions are exhaustive;

Assess clarity and understandability of the questions;

Evaluate the time taken to administer a questionnaire; and Know respondents reactions to some questions.

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RESEARCH CONTD

Step Six: Preparation of the Sample Representativeness of the sample is most relevant.

Guided questions:

How many will be included (the sample size)?

How will the survey respondents be selected?

Determining the Sample Size

Some relevant questions to consider:

What is the size of your target population? What can the budget allow?

How confident do you need to be with the results?

Do you need to look at any subgroups?14


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Step Six: contd

Sampling Methods

Two methods:

1) Probability sampling every units has a known and non-zero

chance of being selected.

2) Non-probability Some units are selected while others are not.

There are several types of probability and non-probability sampling:

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Sampling methods contd

Probability sampling Non probabilitysampling

Random sampling Snowball sampling

Stratified Sampling Quota sampling

Cluster Sampling Purposive Sampling

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Merits and Demerits of the SamplingTechniques

Technique Brief Descriptions Advantages Disadvantages

Simplerandom

Random sample fromwhole population

Highly representative if allsubjects participate; the ideal

Not possible without complete listof population members;

potentially uneconomical to

achieve; can be disruptive to

isolate members from a group;

time-scale may be too long.

Stratifiedrandom

Random sample fromidentifiable groups

(strata), subgroups,

etc.

Can ensure that specific groupsare represented, even

proportionally, in the sample(s)

(e.g., by gender), by selecting

individuals from strata list

More complex, requires greatereffort than simple random.

Cluster Random samples of

successive clusters of

subjects (e.g., by

institution) until small

groups are chosen as

units

Possible to select randomly when

no single list of population

members exists, but local lists do;

data collected on groups may

avoid introduction of confounding

by isolating members

Clusters in a level must be

equivalent and some natural

ones are not for essential

characteristics (e.g., geographic:

numbers equal, but

unemployment rates differ)

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Merits and Demerits of the SamplingTechniques contd

Purposive Hand-pick subjects on the basisof specific characteristics

Ensures balance of groupsizes when multiple groups

are to be selected

Samples are noteasily defensible as

being representative

of populations due to

potential subjectivity

of researcher

Quota Select individuals as they come

to fill a quota by characteristics

proportional to populations

Ensures selection of adequate

numbers of subjects with

appropriate characteristics

Not possible to prove

that the sample is

representative of

designated population

Snowball Subjects with desired traits or

characteristics give names of

further appropriate subjects

Possible to include members

of groups where no lists or

identifiable clusters even

exist (e.g., drug abusers,

criminals)

No way of knowing

whether the sample is

representative of the

population

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Step Seven: Train Interviewers

This involves providing them with the skills needed to

undertake successful interviewing.

Interviewers have a tremendous amount of influence on the

quality of the research.

A good interviewer can make all the difference in the world to

the usefulness of the data collected.

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Step Eight: Data Collection Describes how the information is gathered from respondents.

This is an important step, that must be done right in order to ensure

the integrity of the information collected.

The following procedures are to be observed in data collection:

Face-to-face Interviews

Using Telephone Surveys Using Mail Surveys

Online

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RESEARCH CONTD

Step Nine: Processing the Data This involves preparing and translating the data for analysis.

Involves putting the completed questionnaires into a format

that can be summarized and interpreted.

The procedure includes:

Coding Data Entry

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Step Ten: Analysis of Results A crucial step in ensuring that the findings reflect

the opinions and views of respondents.

Both quantitative and qualitative methods areused.

The qualitative inquiries capture areas where in-depth information is required for better

understanding of issues.

The quantitative analysis is can be done usingSPSS, STATA or any other statistical software.

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Step Eleven: Interpret and DisseminateResults

It is important to feed back the results of thesurvey to management, staff, interested

participants and other stakeholders.

This is to keep them informed and establish buy-infor implementing any changes resulting from the

survey.

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Step Twelve: Take Action This refers to implementing the changes suggested

by the results of your survey.

It is important to take action and implementchanges in order to make improvements tosubjects understudied.

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CASE STUDY RESEARCH

A case study is an in-depth investigation of an individual,group, institution or phenomenon.

It is better suited to enquiries into a phenomenon in its

natural context.

Case studies are often based on the premise that locating

one case is enough to make a conclusion for other casessince a case can be typified for similar other cases.

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Purpose of Case Studies

The primary purpose of case study is todetermine factors that have resulted inthe behaviour understudy.

The investigation involves a detailedexamination of a single subject, group orphenomenon.

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TECHNIQUES FOR SELECTION OFCASES IN CASE STUDY RESEARCH

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Context

Context

Context Context

Context Context

Context Context

Case

Case

Case Case

Case Case

Embedded Unit ofAnalysis 1










Type 1 Type 2

Type 3 Type 4

Single-case designs Multiple-case designs

Holistic(Single-unitof analysis)

Embedded(Multiple

unitsof analysis)

Case Case

Context Context


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Data Collection

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Interviews

Surveys

Observation

Archived data or institutional reports


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Data Analysis

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Coding data & and aggregating it

Pattern identification

Trend Identification

There are software packages for qualitative data analysis, e.g. Atlas


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ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Informed Consent

Competence

Privacy Sensitivity of information Settings being observed

Dissemination of the information

Anonymity and Confidentiality

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Tell participants who is conducting study

Why was subject singled out for participation?e.g. random sample

e.g. recently given birth to 1st child etc.

What is the time commitment?e.g. 45 minutes to complete the survey

Any benefits for the participant to be expected?Realistically, there are often few direct benefits.

Any potential risks, and how have these been managed?

ETHICS IN RESEARCH: INFORMED

CONCENT


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Informed Consent

Explain the study and offer to answer questions

Participation is always voluntary.

Provide participants with copy of informed consent form (ifrelevant).

Confidentiality(Anonymity, on the other hand, means that no one,

including the researcher, will know the subjects identity).


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Sometimes Consent is not Possible

Fake an assault in the street to gauge reaction of bystanders e.g. who willintervene and who will do nothing.

Element of surprise is essential.

Problem with the preceding:

witnessing such an attack may be very disturbing to some.

Those who do not intervene may be upset and suffer feelings of lowworth.

Those who do intervene may be injured.

Debriefing is mandatory.


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SUMMARY

Research in the social sciences dealdirectly with the human being.

Several approaches can be used toinvestigate the subject.

The onus is on the researcher to use themost appropriate method by clarifyingthe purpose of the research.

It is important to observe the code ofethics in research.

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Thank you

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