Lect 1.

The nature and scope of

social research

1.1 Characteristics of scientific

research
1.2 Methodology and research
paradigms
1.3 The scientific research
process
 Identify research question

Definition of terms: What is research?

■ Research = A detailed study of a subject,
esp in order to discover new information or
reach a new understanding. Details:
■ Closely reading and studying specific documents.
■ Gathering preexisting information from academic
journals or official government sources and making
sense of it [How?]
■ A process of applying accepted techniques and
principles.
■ Applying critical thinking & adopting an orientation.
 What is method?
■ The Scientific METHOD or Methodology
provides a systematic, organized series of
steps that insures maximum objectivity
and consistency in researching a problem.
■ Provides a shared basis for discussion and
analysis, and helps to promote reliability
and validity (consistency and accuracy).
■ Note: Theory directs research and research
informs theory [TBE in section C]
Flexibility of the method
 Social Sciences
■ All include various aspects of
human society and behavior.
■ Sociology, political science,
anthropology, economics,
history, geography, psychology,
and criminology.
■ What is social?
 Definition of “social”
■ “Social” refers to the relation
between and among persons,
groups (families, neighborhoods,
or bridge club), institutions
(schools, communities,
organizations, prisons etc) and
large environments (countries,
cultures, or continents).
What is social research?
■ The study of any of these
relationships with an EMPIRICAL
rather than a philosophical
(speculative) orientation, is
called Social Research.
What is scientific research?

■ Results stated in terms of

probabilities (statistical) or
likelihoods
■ Evidence based [PTO]
■ Constantly changing
What is evidence?

■ Quantitative Data = Evidence

in the form of numbers.
■ Qualitative Data = Evidence
in the form of visual images,
words or sounds.
Book: Gender and the South China Miracle
 Gini Coefficient Hong Kong

https://www.socialindicators.org.hk/en/indicators/economy/11.6
Date: 29/09/2022
Venue: Festival Walk
In sum,

■ Scientific research is a process that

results in a product
■ The product is knowledge or

information.
■ Research results are answers to

questions.
■ Good research raises new

questions.
Source: A. Giddens
 Intersubjectivity -> understand others’ subjective interpretation

However, according to the qualitative tradition,

■ Social research involves the interaction
between ideas and evidence.
■ Ideas help social researchers make sense of
evidence, and researchers use evidence to
extend, revise and test ideas / theories.
■ In other words, social research attempts to
create or validate theories (hypothesis)
through data collection and data analysis,
and its goal is exploration, description and
explanation [TBE in sections B & C].
 1.1 Characteristics of scientific
research

A. Aims and scope

i) Theoretical – Knowledge for
knowledge sake, and
ii) Practical – Solve social problem
■ Scope: Any relationship at any

level – From interpersonal to

societal level.
 Basic vs. Applied Research?
■ Basic Research = Research to extend
basic understanding and fundamental
knowledge about the world by creating
and testing theories.

■ Applied Research = Research to

answer a specific practical question and
give usable answers in the short term.
POINTS 6 & 7
Which is more important?
■ B or A
- Basic Pragmatic
- Pure Applied
- Theoretical Practical
 Scope of research:

Sociological Imagination:
Link with the ind level to social level?
Intra and Inter
 B. Types of social research
1. Exploratory - For purpose of definition,
conceptualization, e.g. Case studies
(Exploration). First one to talk about (globalisation)
2. Descriptive - For purpose of measurement
and description, e.g. Surveys (Description)
and quasi-experiments (Prediction).
3. Causal / Explanatory - For purpose of causal
explanation and manipulation of
phenomenon (Explanation), e.g. Experiment
Purposes of research types
POINT 1
POINT 5
POINT 6
source: https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2022/WHR+22.pdf
Fit the question you want to answer with a
type of social research
 C. The relationship of research and
theory
■ What is theory? Reason why you conduct this research
■ Def: A theory is a set of interrelated
constructs (concepts), definitions,
and propositions that presents a
systematic view of phenomena by
specifying relations among variables,
with the purposes of explaining and
predicting the phenomena [Kerlinger].
Theories describe, explain & predict

cause effect

Independent Dependent
variable variable

heat water to water boils

100 centigrade (at sea level)
 Theories describe, explain &
predict, cont’d

Absence of
Juvenile
Broken family parental
delinquency
control/care
Two major approaches to knowledge
building and empirical methods
■ Deductive / classical approach / theory-
then-research strategy (Karl Popper) !
(Research is used to test theories/
hypotheses).
■ Inductive model / research-then-theory
strategy (Robert Merton) !
(Theories/hypotheses are developed from
the analysis of research data).
 RECALL: What is method?
■ Provides a shared basis for
discussion and analysis, and helps
to promote reliability and validity
(consistency and accuracy).
■ Note: Theory directs research and
research informs theory
(Reflexivity)
 1.2 Methodology and research
paradigms

Def: Methodology means “The

study of methods” or
“The science of finding out.”
A. Three approaches to social
research
A. Three approaches to social
research
POINTS 1 & 2
POINTS 9 & 10
 Three Research Orientations in Sociology
Positive Interpretive Sociology Critical Sociology
Sociology
What is Society is an Society is ongoing Society is patterns of
reality? ordered system. interaction. People construct inequality. Reality is that
There is an reality as they attach some categories of
objective reality meanings to their behavior. people dominate
“out there”. others.
How do we Using a scientific Seeking to look “deeper” Seeking to go beyond
conduct orientation, the than outward behavior, the positivism’s focusing on
research? researcher carefully researcher focuses on studying the world as it
observes behavior, subjective meaning. The is, the researcher is
gathering empirical, researcher gathers guided by politics and
ideally quantitative, qualitative data, discovering uses research as a
data. the subjective sense people strategy to bring about
Researcher tries to make of their world. desired social change.
be a neutral Researcher is a Researcher is an
observer. participant. activist. ⾏動主義者
Correspon- Structural-functional Symbolic-interaction Social-conflict approach
ding approach approach
theoretical
40
approach
 B. Traditional classification
■ Quantitative approach
vs. Qualitative approach
Quantitative: generate the trend and no.
Limit: have some single no. occur

Qualitative limitation: cannot respect all the population

POINT 1
POINT 2
POINT 3
POINT 4
POINT 5
POINTS 6 & 7
POINT 8
 POINT 7

有效/有關 可信/可靠
POINT 9
 Quantitative examples
■ Experiment [Lect 4]
■ Survey [Lect 4]
■ Trend analysis
■ Structured interview [Lect 7]
■ Construction of indexes and scales [Lect 3]
■ Simulation
Qualitative examples
■ Case Study [Lect 6]
■ Ethnography [Lect 6]
■ Field research [Lect 6]
■ Participant Observation [Lect 6]
■ Unstructured or Intensive Interviewing
[Lect 7]
■ Grounded Theory
■ Phenomenology
Remarks:

1. Two opposite poles?

2. Don’t be so rigid in selecting
the designs as they are not
mutually exclusive.
 1.3 The scientific research process
■ 5 stages of Social Research: [Bailey]
1. Choosing the research problem, doing
literature review, and stating the
hypothesis
2. Formulating the research design
3. Gathering the data
4. Coding and analyzing the data
5. Interpreting the results so as to test
the hypothesis
What is research design?
The pre-defined logic by which you
will answer your questions or test
your hypotheses. [PTO] OR,
Plan for selecting subjects, research
sites, and data collection procedures
(i.e., who, what, where, when, how,
etc.)
*Goal is to achieve credible results!!
 Diagram of basic
experimental design
Diagram of basic survey design
 RECALL: According to the qualitative tradition,
■ Social research involves the interaction
between ideas and evidence.
■ Ideas help social researchers make sense of
evidence, and researchers use evidence to
extend, revise and test ideas / theories.
■ In other words, social research attempts to
create or validate theories (hypothesis)
through data collection and data analysis,
and its goal is exploration, description and
explanation.
What is data collection?
 A word on E-research
• Searching for material on companies or
on topics for essays and various other
uses? (E-resources)
➔ E-research: Internet can be used as:
i. WWW sites or homepages as objects
of analysis,
ii. Use the Internet or online
communications as a means of
collecting data from individuals and
organizations. [e.g.: Google Forms]
 What is data analysis?
■ After collecting data, … ➔ DATA
ANALYSIS.
■ Data analysis refers to the
processing of data in order to
yield general conclusions.
➔ Statistical analysis or qualitative
analysis
 Remarks
1. Data analysis ≠ Statistical analysis.
2. Two objectives of statistical analysis:
i) To summarize and describe the
data (Descriptive statistics)
ii) To make inferences from the data
to the population from which the
sample was drawn (Inferential /
inductive statistics).
* Remarks:

1) A simplified version (vs. detailed

ones) [PTO]
2) Steps are interrelated [PTO]
3) An ideal type [Quan? Or Qual?]
4) A spiral rather than a circle [PTO]
5) Serve as a reference for the format
of a research proposal or
research report!
Source: A. Giddens
Steps in “Quan” research process
Steps in “Qual” research process
Source: A. Giddens
Source: Bryman, A. (2016)
Social research methods, 4th
Ed., p. 92.