Social research strategies: quantitative research and qualitative research
The constructionist ontological position suggests that:
Social phenomena and their meanings are constantly being accomplished by social actors
Individuals are born into a world of rules and structures that they cannot change
Building and construction work presents an ideal opportunity to exercise the sociological imagination
Social facts and objects have an external reality, independently of the people who perceive them
Social phenomena and their meanings are constantly being accomplished by social actors
The two main ontological positions in the social sciences are ‘objectivism’ and ‘constructivism’. Whereas the first considers social phenomena to exist independent of people somehow, the second position considers them as a product of social interaction, in a constant state of revision. Answers (b) and (d) state the objectivist viewpoint and answer (a) gives the constructionist position. Both positions have merit when we come to a consideration of how concepts can be operationalized. In more recent times, researchers have come to question their own impact on the development of meaning in a social sense, to the point that research of any type can be argued to affect the nature of the research object, so that we can never research a social phenomenon without altering it. This kind of thinking has come to symbolise the ‘post-modernist’ approach.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 29
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 29
Social phenomena and their meanings are constantly being accomplished by social actors The two main ontological positions in the social sciences are ‘objectivism’ and ‘constructivism’. Whereas the first considers social phenomena to exist independent of people somehow, the second position considers them as a product of social interaction, in a constant state of revision. Answers (b) and (d) state the objectivist viewpoint and answer (a) gives the constructionist position. Both positions have merit when we come to a consideration of how concepts can be operationalized. In more recent times, researchers have come to question their own impact on the development of meaning in a social sense, to the point that research of any type can be argued to affect the nature of the research object, so that we can never research a social phenomenon without altering it. This kind of thinking has come to symbolise the ‘post-modernist’ approach.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 29
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 29
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The qualitative research strategy places a value on:A. Using numbers, measurements and statistical techniques
B. Generating theories through inductive research about social meanings
C. Conducting research that is of a very high quality
D. All of the above
What is the epistemological position held by a positivist?
A. There is no substitute for an in-depth, hermeneutic understanding of society
B. Scientific research should be based on value-free, empirical observations
C. Events and discourses in the social world prevent us from having direct knowledge of the natural order
D. It is important to remain optimistic about our research, even when things go wrong
Which of the following is an ontological question?
A. Should I use questionnaires or interviews in my project?
B. What can (and should) be considered acceptable forms of knowledge?
C. How long is it since I last visited the dentist?
D. Do social entities have an objective reality, external to social actors?
What does an empiricist believe?
A. We should not apply natural science methods to social science research
B. It is the sociologist’s aim to understand the meaning of social action
C. Knowledge, in the form of ‘facts’, should be gained through sensory experience
D. Research conducted within the British empire was biased and unreliable
What is a ‘grand theory’?
A. One that was proposed by one of the major theorists in the sociological tradition
B. One that is highly abstract and makes broad generalizations about the social world
C. An intermediate level explanation of observed regularities
D. A particularly satisfactory theory that makes the researcher feel happy
Which of the following is an example of value-free research?
A. Conscious partiality
B. Sympathy for the underdog
C. Unstructured interviewing
D. None of the above
An inductive theory is one that:
A. Involves testing an explicitly defined hypothesis
B. Does not allow for findings to feed back into the stock of knowledge
C. Uses quantitative methods whenever possible
D. Allows theory to emerge out of the data
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