It describes the basic concept of research methods and methodology in social research..

1. Prof. Sohan R. Yadav
Professor of Sociology, BHU
1

2.  Research is a movement.
 from
2

3. curiosity
curiosity
We are with
DUE TO THIS WHEN THE UNKNOWN
CONFRONTS US, WE WONDER AND OUR
CURIOSITY MAKES US PROBE AND
ATTTAIN TOTAL UNDERSTAINDING TO
3

4. RESEARCH IS A systematized effort to
gain new knowledge.
4

5. IN A TECHNICAL SENSE
RESEARCH COMPRISES
 DEFINING AND REDEFINING PROBLEMS
 FORMULATING HYPOTHESIS OR SUGGESTED
SOLUTIONS
 COLLECTING, ORGANIZING AND EVALUATING DATA
 MAKING DEDUCTIONS AND REACHING
CONCLUSIONS AND
 AT LAST CAREFULLY TESTING THE CONCLUSIONS TO
DETERMINE WHETHER THEY FIT THE FORMULATING
HYPOTHESIS.
5

6. RESEARCH IS AN ORIGINAL
TO THE EXISTING STOCK OF KNOWLEDGE
MAKING IT MORE ADVANCES.
HUNT
 IT IS THE OF TRUTH WITH THE
HELP OF STUDY, OBSERVATION, COMPARISON
AND EXPERIMENT.
6

7.  THE MAIN AIM OF RESEARCH IS TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH WHICH IS
HIDDEN AND WHICH HAS NOT BEEN DISCOVERED AS YET.
 BUT WE MAY POINT THE FOLLOWING AS MAIN FOCUS
OF RESEARCH:
 TO GAIN FAMILIARITY WITH A PHENOMENON OR TO ACHIEVE NEW
INSIGHTS INTO IT. (EXPLORATORY OR FORMULATIVE RESEARCH
STUDIES)
 TO DESCRIBE ACCURATELY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PARTICULAR
INDIVIDUAL, SITUATION OR A GROUP. (DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
STUDIES)
 TO DETERMINE THE FREQUENCYWITHWHICH SOMETHING OCCURS
OR WITH WHICH IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH SOMETHING ELSE.
(DIAGNOSTICRESEARCHSTUDIES)
 TO TEST A HYPOTHESIS OF A CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
VARIABLES.(EXPLANATORYRESEARCHSTUDIES).
7

8. As a concept, ‘research ethics’ refers to a complex set of values,
standards and institutional schemes that help to constitute and
regulate scientific activity. Ultimately, research ethics is a
codification of ethics of science in practice.
In other words, it is based on general ethics of science, just as
general ethics is based on commonsense morality.
There are several reasons why it is important to follow the ethical
norms in research.
1. Norms promote the aims of research, such as knowledge, truth,
and avoidance of error.
2. research often involves a great deal of cooperation and
coordination among many different people in different disciplines
and institutions, ethical standards promote the values that are
essential to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability,
mutual respect, and fairness.
8

9.  Many of the ethical norms help to ensure that researchers
can be held accountable to the public.
 Ethical norms in research also help to build public
support for research. People more likely to fund research
project if they can trust the quality and integrity of
research.
 Many of the norms of research promote a variety of other
important moral and social values, such as social
responsibility, human rights, compliance with the law, and
health and safety.
Ethical lapses in research can significantly harm students,
and the public.
9

10. The following is a rough and general summary of some
ethical principals such as:
Honesty
 Strive for honesty in all scientific communications.
Honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and
publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent
data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the
public.
Objectivity
 Strive to avoid bias in experimental design, data analysis,
data interpretation, peer review, personnel decisions, grant
writing, expert testimony, and other aspects of research
where objectivity is expected or required. Avoid or
minimize bias or self-deception. Disclose personal or
financial interests that may affect research.
10

11. Integrity
 Keep your promises and agreements; act with
sincerity; strive for consistency of thought and action.
Carefulness
 Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and
critically examine your own work and the work of your
peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as
data collection, research design, and correspondence
with agencies or journals.
Openness
 Share data, results, ideas, tools, resources. Be open to
criticism and new ideas.
11

12. Confidentiality
 Protect confidential communications, such as papers
or grants submitted for publication, personnel records,
trade or military secrets, and patient records.
Responsible Publication
 Publish in order to advance research and scholarship,
not to advance just your own career. Avoid wasteful
and duplicative publication.
12

13. Responsible Mentoring
 Help to educate, mentor, and advise students. Promote
their welfare and allow them to make their own
decisions.
Respect for colleagues
 Respect your colleagues and treat them fairly.
Social Responsibility
 Strive to promote social good and prevent or mitigate
social harms through research, public education, and
advocacy.
Non-Discrimination
 Avoid discrimination against colleagues or students on
the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, or other factors that are
not related to their scientific competence and
integrity.
13

14. Competence
 Maintain and improve your own professional
competence and expertise through lifelong education
and learning; take steps to promote competence in
science as a whole.
Legality
 Know and obey relevant laws and institutional and
governmental policies.
Human Subjects Protection
 When conducting research on human subjects,
minimize harms and risks and maximize benefits;
respect human dignity, privacy, and autonomy.
14

15. There are various methods to classify the research.
Like;
On the basis of basic nature of research (Pure and
applied research) or on the basis of data dealt
(Qualitative and Quantitative research)
Main purposes of social research are:
•To explore
•To describe
•To explain
In this way, we may illustrate three types of research
15

16. Research
DESCRIPTIVE
RESEARCH
answer
question of
who, what,
when and
how
EXPLORATORY
RESEARCH
attempts to gain
better
understanding of
different
dimension of
research
EXPLANATORY
RESEARCH
explains
causes of
problems
16

17.  Descriptive research provide answer to questions of who,
what, where and how associated with a particular research
problem.
 A descriptive study cannot conclusively establish answer to
why.
 Descriptive research is used to obtain information
concerning the current status of the phenomena and to
describe “what exists” with respect to variables or
conditions in a situation.
 In such a study subject is being observed in a completely
natural and unchanged natural environment.
 It yield rich data that lead to important recommendations.
Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to more
quantitatively research designs.
17

18.  An exploratory research is conducted about a
research problem when there are few or no earlier
studies to refer to.
 The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for
later investigation or undertaken when problems
are in a preliminary stage of investigation.
 It is a useful for gaining background information
on a particular topic.
 Exploratory research is flexible and can address
research questions of all types (what, why, how).
18

19.  Explanatory research may be thought as understanding a
phenomenon in terms of conditional statements in form, if ‘X’
then ‘Y’.
 It is mainly concerned with causes or ‘why’ factor about some
phenomenon.
 The hypothesis in an explanatory research that expresses
relationship between two or more variables, i.e. not only
hypothesized that X is related to Y but rather that X has some
particular effect on Y.
 In other words, we say that Y is the consequence of X.
 Explanatory research focuses on ascertaining the ‘why’ aspect of
correlation.
 This kind of research helps researchers understand why the
world works the way it does through the process of proving a
causal link between variables and eliminating other possibilities.
19

20. Research
FUNDAMENTAL
RESEARCH
concern with
understanding
of social world
with
developing
hypothesis and
theories
APPLIED
RESEARCH
concern with
solving specific
problem
20

21.  PURE RESEARCH is
also called basic
research, is concerned
with quest for knowledge
and knowing more about
the phenomenon
without concern for its
practical use and also
with developing and
testing hypothesis and
theories.
 APPLIED RESEARCH is
concerned with search
for ways of using
scientific knowledge to
solve practical problems.
It focuses on analyzing
and solving social and
real-life problems.
21

22. Research
EXPERIMENTAL
RESEARCH
One variable
(independent)
is manipulated
and its effect
upon another
variable
(dependent) is
measured
EVALUATION
RESEARCH
study of
effectiveness of
an action
program
22

23.  It is a research in which some of the variables
being studied are manipulated or which seek to
control condition within which persons are
observed.
 Here ‘control’ means holding one factor
constant while other are free to vary in the
experiment. One variable (independent) is
manipulated and its effect upon another
variable (dependent) is measured, while other
variable which may confound such a
relationship are eliminated or controlled.
23

24. Research
QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH
Aims at discovering
underlying motives and
desires
Word Association Test,
Sentence Completion Test Or
Other Projective Technique
QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH
Concern with
measurement of
quantities
24

25.  QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH employs
quantitative
measurement and use of
statistical analysis. This
kind of research is based
on the methodological
principles of positivism
and follows the
standards of strict
sampling and research
design.
 QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH presents
non-quantitative type of
analysis. It describes
reality as experienced by
the groups,
communities, individuals
etc.
25

26. Research
LONGITUDINAL
RESEARCH
Study of problem over a
period of time or cross-sectional
study
COMPARATIVE
RESEARCH
Study of similarities or
differences between
different units
26

27.  LONGITUDINAL
RESEARCH involves the
study of the problem or
the same body of
phenomena over a period
of time. For example
prevalence of AIDS
among males and
females in India in 1979,
1989, and 1999
 COMPARATIVE
RESEARCH the
similarities and
differences between
different units or cultural
or social groups are
studied.
27

28.  There are some other types of research
too like:-
 Field setting research or laboratory research
or simulation research
 Clinical or diagnostic research
 Historical research
 Conclusion-oriented research
28

29. Research methodology is a way to systematically
solve the research problem.
 It may be understood as a science of studying how
research is done scientifically.
 In it we study the various steps that are generally
adopted by a researcher in studying his research
problem along with the logic behind them.
29

30.  When we talk of research methodology we not only
talk of the research methods but also consider the
logic behind the methods we use in the context of our
research study and explain why we are using a
particular method and why we are not using others so
that research results are capable of being evaluated
either by researcher himself or by other.
30

31.  Methodological and philosophical orientations govern
the choice of methods. It helps us to identify
appropriate methods and techniques of data
collection.
Ex.
 Positivistic orientation : observational method
 Phenomenological model : interviews
 Post-modern model : multidimensional
methods
 Action research : multiple methods and
multiple investigators.
31

32.  Research methods may be understood as all those methods that
are used for conduction of research.
 In other words, all those methods which are used by the
researcher during the course of studying his research problem
are termed as research methods.
 It can be put into the following three groups:
 In the first group we include those methods which are
concerned with the collection of data. These methods will be
used where the data already available are not sufficient to
arrive at the required solution;
 The second group consists of those statistical techniques
which are used for establishing relationships between the
data and the unknowns;
 The third group consists of those methods which are used to
evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained.
32

33. Field study method:-
 in this method subject are observed under their usual
environmental condition of life rather than under
laboratory conditions. The subject may or may not be
aware of being observed. Often interviews are used in
this method.
Experimental methods:-
 in which variables being studied are controlled by the
investigator. In other words, the effect of one variable
is observed while other relevant variables are held
constant.
33

34. Survey methods:-
 in which a systematic study of a particular community
or a group or an institution is made for analyzing the
problem/ issue/ event.
Case study method:-
 in which phenomena is studied through thorough/
intensive/in-depth analysis of the cases, i.e. an
individual, group, community, episode or any other
unit of social life. Variety of facts is related to a single
case.
34

35. Statistical method:-
 in which data is collected quantitatively or by
statistics. A statistics may be a measure of central
tendency of dispersion of correlation of difference
between two samples.
Historical method:-
 in which information is collected about the past
from written records of all types, reports,
documents, newspapers, diaries, travelers’
accounts etc.
35

36. Evolutionary method:-
 in which changes is studied in stages through time
from earlier and generally simpler forms through a
long series of small changes. Each changes results in
minor modification but the cumulative effect of many
changes over a long period of time in the emergence of
more complex forms.
 Non-participant direct observation method: in this
method researcher observe the phenomena but not
participate in the phenomena. For example:
Observational behavioral scales, use of score cards,
etc.
36

37.  Participant observation method: in this method
researcher observe the phenomena with participating
in the phenomena. . For example: Interactional
recording, possible use of tape recorders, photo
graphic techniques etc.
 There are other various methods used in social
sciences like mass observation, mail questionnaire,
opinionnaire, personal interview, focused interview,
group interview etc.
 The selection of methods broadly depends on nature
of research and universe.
37

38.  Questionnaire method
 Interview method
 Schedule method
 Observation method
 Case study method
 Content analysis
 Projective techniques
 Scaling techniques
38

39.  Research process consists of a number of closely
related activities.
 These activities overlap continuously rather than
following a strictly prescribed sequence. At times, the
first step determines the nature of the last step to be
undertaken.
 One should remember that the various steps involved
in a research process are not mutually exclusive; nor
are they separate and distinct. They do not necessarily
follow each other in any specific order and the
researcher has to be constantly anticipating at each
step in the research process the requirements of the
subsequent steps.
39

40.  VARIOUS STEPS OF RESEARCH PROCESS
Defining research problem
Reviewing the literature
Identifying the universe
and unit of study
Formulating hypothesis
and identifying variables
40

41. Selection of research
techniques and methods
Standardization of
research
Pilot study/ use of statistical
and other methods
collecting data
Analyzing data
Interpretation and report writing
41

42.  The first step is to select and clearly define the
problem to be researched. You need to find the
problem and formulate it so that it can be subjected to
research.
 Specifying the problem/ topic to be studied on the
basis of one’s interest and idea of research. The idea
might come from a theory, a sponsored research or
one’s own interest in specific field.
42

43.  Give as much emphasis to the area of research as
the topic. To some extent, the choice of the area
determines the success of your research.
 For instance, a study on communal relations
cannot be carried out in tribal village.
43

44.  A good researcher needs to be fully aware of the limits
of your resources and also clearly define the time
frame while designing your research. Unless you draw
up a schedule of the different steps of your research, it
is likely to become a long drawn process, which is bad
for both quality and relevance.
 Ex. Cholera epidemics….
44

45.  But in social sciences unless we not get
liberal time in our research, it will fail
because we cannot subject social
realities to overnight machine test in
the laboratory to obtain quick results.
45

46.  The purpose of reviewing the existing literature on
your research theme is to help you assess the
feasibility of the project but also to formulate an
effective methodology. You would need to consult
academic journals, conferences, government report,
books, internet, etc.
 You may review two types of literature, literature
concerning the concepts and theories, and the
empirical literature consisting of studies made
earlier. You may come across even such studies that
contain both theoretical as well as substantive aspects
of your research. A more sophisticated and clearer
statement of specific research question is likely to
emerge after the literature review.
46

47.  The hypothesis is a tentative assumption made in
order to test its logical or empirical consequences.
 You may define a hypothesis as a proposition or a
set of proposition set forth as an explanation for
the occurrence of some specified phenomena
either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture
to guide some investigation or accepted as highly
probable in the light of established facts.
47

48.  A hypothesis may have variables and it may be
looking for the nature of the relationship
between the variables.
Variables?
 Dependent variables: the variable that you wish to
explain.
 Independent variables: other variables expected
to explain the change in dependent variables
48

49. Relationship among variables:
 Positive relationship
 Negative relationship
 zero relationship
49

50.  We discussed earlier in methodology.
 Our methodological and philosophical
orientations govern our choice of methods.
 Methodological and theoretical basis of research
also help you identify appropriate methods and
techniques of data collection.
50

51.  Before starting with data collection you have to
identify the universe and the unit of study. The
identification of universe implies demarcation of the
physical area and social unit of study. The universe
consists of the population within a well-defined area
where the study is to be conducted. However such a
group is usually too large and not possible to be
covered by a single investigator.
Sample?

52.  A pilot study is an exploratory study done before
the actual work starts in the field. It is a pre-testing
of your research methods and techniques
in order to perfect them. Pilot study will ensure
that right questions have been put in the
questionnaires for making the fieldwork fruitful.
It makes you aware of difficulties beforehand and
provides you an opportunity of modifying your
techniques to suit field condition.

53.  A universe is often too large for an individual to
work upon. A sample is the smaller
representation of a larger whole. Sampling allows
the researcher to work scientifically and saves
time. A sampling frame includes all the elements
of a population from which the sample is drawn.
The determination of an error while sampling,
statistically, or qualitatively is known as sampling
error.
 Therefore a sample must be a true representative
as well as being adequate in size.

54. Portion of a population or universe which represent
the characteristics of population is called sample
and the method of selection of such sample is
known as sampling.
On the basis of nature of research and population there
are different sampling methods:
1) Simple random sampling 2) Multi-stage sampling
3) Systematic sampling 4) Stratified random
sampling
5) Cluster sampling 6) Snow-ball sampling
7) Area sampling 8) Quota sampling
54

55.  Often in social research requires the study of the
‘other’ community and researchers need to make
extensive preparations to gain entry into the
society under study.
Debate:
 Study on alien society or culture.
Or
 Study on own society or culture.

56.  There is several way of data collection:
1. Primary data: those data which are
collected by researcher himself.
2. Secondary data: data which we get by
secondary sources.

57.  After data collection, you would turn to their analysis.
Analysis requires a number of closely related operation
such as establishing categories and their application to raw
data through coding, tabulation so that you can draw
statistical inferences.
 Often the nature of data collected by you determines the
nature of analysis, yet at the stage of opting for certain
methods of data collection you would have some idea of
the analytical tools you are likely to employ.
 Keep in mind the ethics of representation, especially if the
research deals with sensitive issues. While you seek to
unravel social reality, you cannot play with the privacy of
the peoplewho are more than just the subject of research.

58.  Whatever may be the types of research works and
studies, one thing that is important is that they all
meet on the common ground of scientific method
employed by them. One expects scientific research to
satisfy the following criteria:
 The purpose of the research should be clearly defined
and common concepts be used.
 The research procedure used should be described in
sufficient detail to permit another researcher to repeat
the research for further advancement, keeping the
continuity of what has already been attained.
 The procedural design of the research should be
carefully planned to yield results that areas objective as
possible.
58

59.  The researcher should report with complete
frankness, flaws in procedural design and estimate
their effects upon the findings.
 The analysis of data should be sufficiently adequate
to reveal its significance and the methods of
analysis used should be appropriate. The validity
and reliability of the data should be checked
carefully.
 Conclusions should be confined to those justified
by the data of the research and limited to those for
which the data provide an adequate basis.
 Greater confidence in research is warranted if the
researcher is experienced, has a good reputation in
research and is a person of integrity.
59