A Brief Introduction to Social Science Research

Disaster Research Boot Camp A Brief Introduction toSocial Science Research Havidán Rodríguez, Ph.D. Disaster Research Center University of Delaware 2005 NDMS Disaster Response Conference Orlando, Florida May 2, 2005

Everything you ever wanted to ask about research but were afraid to ask?

Behavioral Objectives • Define Research and Basic Terms of the Field • Discuss Some Data Collection Methodologies • Explore Differences Between Qualitative and Quantitative Research

“Numbers do not exist independent of people; understanding numbers requires knowing:” • Who counted what? • Why they bothered counting? • How they went about it? (Best, 2004:XIII)

Babbie, 2004 Ethical issues and your Research Agenda • Voluntary participation: Informed consent • No harm to participants • Avoid deception • Confidentiality and privacy issues • Accurate Analysis and Reporting: • Researchers must be honest about their findings and research

Social Science Research • Social Science Research explores: • What is? • What is disaster preparedness? • Why? • Why do some individuals prepare for an impending disaster and others do not? • Social regularities • Who are most likely to prepare? What are their demographic and socio-economic characteristics?

Three Purposes of Research • Exploration • Description • Explanation

Foundations of Social Science • Theory - Logic - focuses on what is and not what should be • Data collection - Observation • Data Analysis - Comparison of what is logically expected with what is actually observed

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu Research Methodology

The Wheel of Science (Walter Wallace, 1971)

Method Qualitative Use Quantitative Use Observation Fundamental to understanding other cultures Preliminary work: Before developing the questionnaire Content Analysis To understand the participant’s categories Content analysis (counting the number of concepts in categories established by the investigator) Interviews Open-ended questions to small samples Closed-ended questions to a random sample Transcription Used to understand how participants organize their conversations Rarely used to verify the reliability of the interview Qualitative and Quantitative (Silverman, 1993: 9)

Unit of analysis http://trochim.human.cornell.edu • Who or what is being studied:

Variables and Attributes Babbie (2004)

Variables • Dependent: Caused by another (independent) variable (e.g., evacuation behavior) • Independent: Impacts the dependent variable (e.g., income, gender, race, previous disaster experience)

Levels of Measurement Babbie (2004)

Hypothesis • A hypothesis is a specific statement or prediction • It describes in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in your study • Describes a provisional (but testable) relationship between two variables (i.e., white population is more likely to evacuate than minority population)

Validity vs. Reliability Babbie (2004)

Correlation vs. Causation • Correlation vis-à-vis Causation: • What’s the difference?

The Time Dimension • Cross-sectional studies • Longitudinal Studies

Sampling • In the 2000 Presidential election, pollsters came within a couple of percentage points of estimating the votes of 100 million people. • To gather this information, they interviewed fewer than 2,000 people.

Random Sampling • Based on probability theory • All elements must have same probability of selection • Sample is representative of the elements included in that sampling frame • Allows you to generalize to the population • Primarily associated with quantitative data analysis

Random Sampling http://trochim.human.cornell.edu

Random Sampling • Types of Sampling Designs • Simple random sampling (SRS) • Systematic sampling • Stratified sampling • Multi-stage cluster sampling • Probability proportional to size sampling (PPS)

Non-Probability Sampling • Are not representative of the population which it pretends to study • Ideal for qualitative studies • Some types of non-probability sampling: • Available subjects • Purposive sampling • Snowball Sampling

Strengths of Survey Research: • Useful in describing the characteristics of a large population • Flexible - many questions can be asked on a given topic • Primarily quantitative data analysis Survey Research

Weaknesses of Survey Research: • Can seldom deal with the context of social life (e.g., artificiality) • Inflexible in some ways • Weak on validity Survey Research

Survey Research • Mail Surveys: • Advantages: • Inexpensive • Disadvantages: • Low response rates • Biased samples • Multiple follow-ups are important

Telephone Surveys • Advantages: • Money and time • Control over data collection • Disadvantages: • Surveys that are really ad campaigns • People hang up on you • Answering machines • May not be representative: Use CATI with random digit dialing Survey Research

Face-to-face Interviews: • Advantages: • Control over data collection • Very high response rates • Disadvantages: • Very expensive • Labor intensive Survey Research

Babbie, 2004, Appendix G Some Questions Regarding Polls & Surveys • Who conducted the poll/survey? • Who paid for the poll/survey and why was it done? • How many people were interviewed? • How were the people chosen? What was the response rate? Sample bias?

Babbie, 2004, Appendix G Some Questions Regarding Polls & Surveys • When was the poll/survey conducted? • How were the interviews conducted (face-to-face, mail, phone)? • What is the sampling error for the poll/survey results? • What questions were asked (wording, sensitive topics)?

Data collected by other researchers or institutions: • Decennial Census • Current Population Survey • Other types of surveys or archives • Advantages: Economical; accessible; ease of use • Disadvantages: No control over data collection process; validity/reliability issues; might not include some of the variables you need Secondary Data Analysis

Ethnographic Research Ethnographic studies are designed to answer some basic questions: • What is occurring in this environment, • community or place? • 2.Who is involved or participating in what types of activities? • 3.Why is what’s being done, done? (Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic Methods, 1999)

Ethnographic Research Ethnographers use these questions to obtain basic information about social structures, social events, cultural patterns, and the definitions people give to these patterns or events

Ethnographic Research 1.It is directed by and generates theories2. Primarily qualitative 3.It is done locally (in communities)4.Ethnographic research is applied • Ethnographic studies are based on four basic principles: (Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic Methods, 1999)

Techniques to Obtain Ethnographic Information Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic Methods,1999) • Audiovisual techniques used to record behavior and communication through electronic devices • 2.Interviews using focus groups • 3.Non-structured observation • 4.Non-structured in-depth interviews • 5.Semi-structured interviews

Evaluation Research http://trochim.human.cornell.edu

Concluding Comments • The goals of social science research should be to: • Discover • Explain • Transform (Many debates on this issue)

Concluding Questions • What is the importance of the research? • What are the theoretical or applied contributions? • Do we now know more than what we did before the research? • What is the value and use of this research and how can it meet the needs of our communities?

For Additional Information • Visit the DRC facilities at: • 87 E. Main Street, Newark, DE • (302) 831-6618 • Visit the DRC webpage: • www.udel.edu/DRC/

The End Questions?

A Brief Introduction to Social Science Research