DIELECTRIC OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

There are different approaches of social research some of them are

QUALITATIVE APPROACHESA qualitative "approach" is a general way of thinking about conducting qualitative research. It describes, either explicitly or implicitly, the purpose of the qualitative research, the role of the researcher(s), the stages of research, and the method of data analysis. Here, four of the major qualitative approaches are introduced.

Qualitative Methods

Participant Observation

Direct Observation

Unstructured Interviewing

Case Studies

Qualitative research strategy

Focus on wordsInductive relationship between theory and researchInterpretivism (epistemology) Constructionism (ontology)

Ethos" of qualitative research:

Emphasis on content (”thick description”)Emphasis on processFlexibility and limited structureConcepts and theory grounded in data

QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES

Emphasizes quantification in the collection and analysis of dataEntails a deductive approach to the relationship between theory and research, in which the accent is placed on the testing of theoriesHas incorporated the practices and norms of the natural scientific model (today, however, connected more to critical realism)Embodies a view of social reality as an external, objective r

Quantitative research strategy:

IndicatorsReliability (the consistency of a measure of a concept) Validity (the correspondence between an indicator and the concept they are planned to measure)

Ethos" of quantitative research

MeasurementCausality(Statistical) generalizationObjectivity (vs. Researcher's subjectivity)

IDIOGRAPHIC APPROACH

Seeks to fully understand the causes of what happened in a single instanceThe Idiographic view emphasizes that each person has a unique psychological structure and that some traits are possessed by only one person; and that there are times when it is impossible to compare one person with others. This viewpoint also emphasizes that traits may differ in importance from person to person (cardinal, central and secondary traits). It tends to use case studies, bibliographical information, diaries etc for information gathering. People have unique personality structures; thus some traits (cardinal traits) are more important in understanding the structure of some people than others

NOMOTHETIC APPROACH

The Nomothetic view, on the other hand, emphasizes comparability among individuals but sees people as unique in their combination of traits. This viewpoint sees traits as having the same psychological meaning in everyone. The belief is that people differ only in the amount of each trait. It is this which constitutes their uniqueness. This approach tends to use self-report personality questions, factor analysis etc. People differ in their positions along a continuum in the same set of traits. Most contemporary psychologists tend towards a nomothetic approach (and the trait approach is often viewed solely as a nomothetic approach these days), but they are aware of how a trait may be slightly different from person to person in the way that it is expressed.Nomothetic seeks to explain a class of situations or events rather than a single one.

DEDUCTION & INDUCTION

Deductive reasoning works from the more general to the more specific. Sometimes this is informally called a "top-down" approach. We might begin with thinking up a theory about our topic of interest. We then narrow that down into more specific hypotheses that we can test. We narrow down even further when we collect observations to address the hypotheses. This ultimately leads us to be able to test the hypotheses with specific data -- a confirmation (or not) of our original theories.

Inductive reasoning

Works the other way, moving from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. Informally, we sometimes call this a "bottom up" approach (please note that it's "bottom up" and not "bottoms up" which is the kind of thing the bartender says to customers when he's trying to close for the night!). In inductive reasoning, we begin with specific observations and measures, begin to detect patterns and regularities, formulate some tentative hypotheses that we can explore, and finally end up developing some general conclusions or theories.

EXAMPLE

Andrea knows that Robin is a sophomore and Todd is a junior. All the other juniors that Andrea knows are older than Robin. Therefore, Andrea reasons inductively that Todd is older than Robin based on past observations. Andrea knows that Todd is older than Chan. She also knows that Chan is older than Robin. Andrea reasons deductively that Todd is older that Robin based on accepted statements.