Research Methodology

    Getting started: reviewing the literature
    To read critically means:
    “Developing a critical approach [to your reading] is not necessarily one of simply criticizing the work of others”. Not all of what you read will be relevant to your task, so you must have a clear focus on your research questions as you read. Taking notes of your reactions is advised, in addition to recording content. Most reading is uncritical by nature, meaning that things are accepted just because they are written somewhere. Even reading these comments critically would mean referring back to the text for confirmation or elaboration. Critical, in that sense, really just means using your intelligence and judgement. It also implies openness, so beware of “judging the book by its cover”!
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 95
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Qualitative data analysis
    What do advocates of narrative analysis prefer to study?
    Narrative analysis shifts the focus of attention from the content of people’s accounts to the structures, forms and mechanisms they use to construct them. This can involve studying either the “storied nature” of everyday life as recounted by participants, or the idea that life story data take the form of a jointly produced narrative that emerges from the interview as a situated encounter. It is, at least in part, a reaction to the coding problem (among others) of grounded theory research.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 589-593
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Asking questions
    The UK Data Archive is a useful resource for:
    Studying questions that have been asked in previous research helps to understand the manner of phrasing questions for best effect. If you find these questions in a research report, you may well find a discussion on the reliability and validity testing that was carried out. Sometimes, you may be able to ask the same questions to attempt a replication study, although it is usually a good idea to contact the original researchers first.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 262
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide
    What does the term “quasi-quantification” refer to?
    Quasi-quantification is just one of the ways in which the division between characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research can be challenged. This term refers to the way in which qualitative researchers may use terms that imply numbers or quantities in their reports, for example in a sentence that begins “Many of the respondents thought thatÂ…”. Since these expressions only make allusions to quantity, they are frustrating. Either they should not be there at all, or an attempt should be made at ‘proper’ quantification to reinforce the qualitative argument.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 630,631
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Documents as sources of data
    Why can it be difficult to establish the authenticity of virtual data?
    “Virtual data” from the Internet, email and other forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC), provide a wealth of opportunities for documentary research. However, the unregulated nature of most CMC, together with the lack of visual clues to a writer’s identity, combine to make it easy for people to assume an alternative identity when they publish on the Internet. The ‘authenticity’ criterion asks if the evidence is genuine. Unfortunately, with much internet data the answer can only be “we don’t know”. Furthermore, since many websites are of a commercial nature, we cannot be sure about the credibility issue either.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 556
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Self-administered questionnaires
    When using a Likert scale with a long list of items, it is usually better to:
    However, bearing the previous question’s discussion in mind, when we present longer lists of items (like attitude statements, perhaps), we should set out the range of responses for each sub-element of the question horizontally. Following the rule of making our questions as clear and as unambiguous as we can, we find that Likert-scale questions work better when they are set out horizontally. Instructions must be given for the provision of responses for these, as for other types of question and it does not make a great deal of sense to have the questions section separated from the answers section for self-completion questionnaires.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 227,228
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Writing up social research
    What is rhetoric?
    It is sometimes argued that writing about social science research is inevitably rhetorical, as writers aim to persuade or convince readers of the legitimacy of their knowledge claims. Key concept 28.1, p662, points out that although writing is often criticised negatively as being “mere rhetoric”, rhetoric itself is an essential feature of writing. We should try to avoid sweeping statements and common expressions like “as everyone knows”, for example, in order to concentrate the reader’s attention on what it is we actually claim for our research findings.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 662
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Structured interviewing
    Why is it important for structured interviews to follow a standardized procedure?
    The structured interview and the self-completion questionnaire are the two main ways of gathering quantitative data for social research. The same rules apply to each, with the obvious difference that interviews are conducted on a face-to-face basis. The procedure to be followed must be identical for each individual interview, so answer (a) cannot be correct. Far from increasing validity, this suggestion would destroy it! In-depth exploration of topics requires an unstructured interview, in which the respondent has the opportunity of expanding on particular points of view. It is probably easier to understand this by reflecting on the fact that structured interviews are frequently referred to as ‘standardized’ interviews. The questions, their ordering, and their accompanying instructions are standardized so that we can be sure that variation detected in the responses is credibly derived from the same instrument stimulus.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 198
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Writing up social research
    The mixed methods used by Poortinga et al (2004) were:
    Poortinga et al (2004, cited on page 678) wished to investigate the foot and mouth disease crisis in the UK while it was actually being experienced, rather than after the event as had been the case for most risk perception studies. They used a quantitative survey at the height of the epidemic, followed by focus groups made up of people who had participated in the survey. They believed this mixture of methods could give a more comprehensive view of risk issues than just using one method alone.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 678-679
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Getting started: reviewing the literature
    What is self-plagiarism?
    Plagiarism if not just taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. When a person lifts material that they have previously written and pass it off as their own work.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 115
    Author: rikazzz Comment