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CHAPTER 2: DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH

CHAPTER 2: DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH. DIMENSION: A VARIABLE PROPERTY OR QUALITY FOR EXAMPLE, PHYSICAL OBJECTS HAVE HEIGHT, WIDTH, DEPTH; WEIGHT; MOMENTUM; ETC. DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH. USE OF RESEARCH: BASIC OR APPLIED PURPOSE: EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, EXPLANATORY

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CHAPTER 2: DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH

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  1. CHAPTER 2: DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH • DIMENSION: A VARIABLE PROPERTY OR QUALITY • FOR EXAMPLE, PHYSICAL OBJECTS HAVE HEIGHT, WIDTH, DEPTH; WEIGHT; MOMENTUM; ETC.

  2. DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH • USE OF RESEARCH: BASIC OR APPLIED • PURPOSE: EXPLORATORY, DESCRIPTIVE, EXPLANATORY • TIME: CROSS-SECTIONAL, LONGITUDINAL, CASE STUDY • DATA COLLECTION: QUALITATIVE, QUANTITATIVE

  3. USE OF RESEARCH • BASIC: GENERATE NEW KNOWLEDGE, THEORY • APPLIED: SOLVE PROBLEMS • IN PRINCIPLE, THEY ARE • C0MPLEMENTARY • OVERLAPPING • IN PRACTICE, BASIC RESEARCH IS MORE PRESTIGEOUS

  4. BASIC RESEARCH • DEVELOPS OR TESTS KEY TOOLS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE: • THEORIES • CONCEPTS • METHODS

  5. APPLIED RESEARCH • FOCUS ON SOLVING PROBLEMS • TYPES • SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: WHAT ARE THE LIKELY CONSEQUENCES OF A PLANNED POLICY OR PROGRAM? • EVALUATION: OF A POLICY OR PROGRAM – HOW WELL DOES IT WORK? • ACTION:EMPOWERS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY AND SOLVE PROBLEMS

  6. PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY Engages sociology in conversation with society about values, vision, analysis, direction Types traditional – writing or speaking for broad but thin audience grassroots – working with groups in the community May combine basic and applied

  7. Grassroots Public Sociology and Action Research • Goals are similar: empowerment, social change • Action research often focuses on solving specific problems • Public sociology also creates larger, critical conversations about social vision, values, analysis, and strategies for change

  8. PURPOSES OF A STUDY • EXPLORATORY – LEARN ABOUT A NEW TOPIC OR QUESTION • DESCRIPTIVE – PROVIDE QUALITATIVE AND/OR QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTION • EXPLANATORY – DEVELOP OR TEST THEORY SEE BOX 2.2 ON PAGE 29 NO NEED TO MEMORIZE, BUT BE FAMILIAR WITH BASIC IDEAS OF EACH PURPOSE

  9. THE TIME DIMENSION • CROSS-SECTIONAL - SNAPSHOT • LONGITUDINAL – SERIES OF SNAPSHOTS • TIME-SERIES –SAME “UNITS OF OBSERVATION” EACH TIME • PANEL – SAME INDIVIDUALS, GROUPS, ETC. • COHORT – SAME LIFE EXPERIENCES SHARED BY MEMBERS

  10. THE TIME DIMENSION, continued • CASE STUDIES – ‘CONTINUOUS’ VIDEO • EXAMINE A GROUP, EVENT, ORGANIZATION, ETC. OVER TIME • COMPARATIVE CASE STUDIES

  11. DATA COLLECTION • QUANTITATIVE • EXPERIMENTS • IN LAB OR IN ‘REAL LIFE’ • USUALLY INVOLVES COMPARING EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS, BEFORE AND AFTER ‘TREATMENT(S)’ GIVEN TO EXPERIMENTAL GROUP(S)

  12. DATA COLLECTION, CONTINUED • QUANTITATIVE, CONTINUED • SURVEYS • THE MOST COMMON FORM OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH • INVOLVES ADMINISTERING A QUESTIONNAIRE TO A POPULATION OR SAMPLE • CONTENT ANALYSIS – OF ‘SYMBOLIC MATERIAL’ • EXISTING STATISTICS – ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUSLY-COLLECTED DATA

  13. DATA COLLECTION, CONTINUED • QUALITATIVE DATA • FIELD RESEARCH (OR PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION) • GROUNDED THEORY APPROACH • RECONSTRUCTION APPROACH • HISTORICAL-COMPARATIVE RESEARCH • DATA: ARCHIVES (MEETING NOTES, MINUTES, LETTERS, ETC.), MEMOIRS, BOOKS, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, ETC.

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