Chapter 3

Methods and Research

Research = Theory and Data

To collect data, we do research; but
doing research is not an activity that is
independent of the theoretical
approach we have.
The knowledge of science is organized in terms of
theories. Social theory helps people to understand
better the complex world and explain why things
happen, how they can change, etc..
Scientists gather data, empirical evidence to
develop and advance theories. Data are gathered
using specialized techniques. Data can be
quantitative (numerical) or qualitative (verbal.)

Concepts, Models and Theories

Concepts, models and theories are the

tools of social analysis. They help us to
understand complex social relationships.
Concepts are building blocks of theories.

Concept
A concept is a general idea about
something. Think of the example of a cat:
there is a difference between talking about
an existing cat, a particular cat and the
idea of a cat, the concept of a cat, which
is something in our minds as a furry small
domesticated mammal.

Concept
It is through these ideas these concepts
we perceive the external world. In a
sense, concepts are a way of generalizing.
We see many cats on the street and we
developed the concept of a cat. We put
all the cats we saw on the street in one
category and called it the concept cat.

Concept
Concepts are the tools with which we
think, criticize, argue, explain and analyze.
Concepts help us to understand the
complex reality because we can grasp a
more complex concept with the help of two
or more concepts.

The problem with concepts

Concepts are constructed by singling out
certain basic or central features of the
phenomenon in question, which means
that other features are ignored. Hence,
reality is more complex than the concepts
describe to us. Concepts may conceal
vital differences and distort understanding.
E.g. cat
7

Models
Models and theories are broader than
concepts; they comprise a range of ideas
rather than a single idea.
Think of models as constructs that explain
the relationship between concepts.
8

theory
Theories are true generalizations that

explain the relationship between concepts.

The main difference between models and
theories is that theories should have been
subject to empirical verification and have
come to be accepted as true by the
scientific community.
9

Qualitative and Quantitative

Orientations toward Research
All social researchers systematically
collect and analyze empirical data and
carefully examine the patterns in them to
understand and explain social life.
One of the differences between the two
styles comes from the nature of the data.
Qualitative researchers use soft data: data in
the form of impressions, words, sentences,
photos, symbols and so forth.
Quantitative researchers use hard data: data
in the form of numbers.

Qualitative and Quantitative

Orientations toward Research
Another difference is that qualitative and
quantitative researchers often hold
different assumptions about social life and
they have different objectives.
We should not judge on with the standards
and objectives of the other. It is best to
appreciate the strengths each style offers.

Qualitative research
Qualitative researchers often rely on
interpretative or critical social science.
The research questions originate with the
standpoint of the people being studied, not that
of outsiders. Hence, the aim of the qualitative
researchers is to remove false beliefs and
prejudices held about those being studied.
They treat people as creative and
compassionate beings, not as objects. They
often question power or inequality and view
social relations as the outcome of willful action
rather than as laws of human nature.

Qualitative research
Qualitative researchers speak a language
of cases and contexts. They emphasize
conducting detailed examinations that are
sensitive to specific social historical
contexts. They place issues in a larger
socio-historical context, observe everyday
processes close up and understand the
viewpoints of those involved.

Qualitative research
Those who do qualitative research apply logic in practice and they
follow a nonlinear research path. Their research path is relatively
messy; it is tied to specific cases and oriented toward the practical
completion of a task. It has fewer set of rules. Qualitative research
relies on the informal wisdom that has developed from the
experiences of researchers. Many qualitative researchers learned
how to do research by reading many reports, by trial and error and
by working with an experienced researcher.
In quantitative research, the research question is set, preplanned
whereas in qualitative research it emerges during the research
process. Topic narrowing occurs as the research is carried out, as
data are collected. Developing a focused research question is part
of the data collection process, during which the researcher actively
reflects on and develops preliminary interpretations.

Quantitative research
Quantitative researchers on the other
hand, generally rely on a positivist
approach to social science.
In positivism, the goal of the research is to
discover and document law-like
generalizations.

Quantitative versus Qualitative

Research
Quantitative researchers stress objectivity
whereas qualitative researchers avoid distancing
themselves from the people or events they
study.
This does NOT mean that qualitative
researchers arbitrarily interject personal opinion,
that they are sloppy about data collection or that
they use evidence selectively to support
personal prejudices. It means taking advantage
of personal insight, feelings and human
perspectives to understand social life more fully.

Quantitative Research
Quantitative researchers speak a language of variables and
hypotheses.
A variable is a concept that varies. Variables take on two or more values.
Examples: Gender , married status, type of crime committed , a persons attitude
towards abortion
Attributes are different than variables, male is not a variable but and attribute.
Likewise robbery is an attribute of the variable type of crime. Variables vary and take
on a range of values. Types of variables : Independent variable, Dependent variable
Intervening variable. In a research that aims to understand the relationship between
smoking and cancer, the dependent variable would be being cancer and the
independent variable would be the number of cigarettes smoked each day.

Hypothesis: A model may suggest one or more hypotheses that should be

examined with empirical evidence.
A hypothesis is a suggested relationship between two or more factors that
can be tested against evidence. E.g. the relationship between low levels of
education, unemployment and poverty. The hypothesis may suggest: as one gets
more education, his/her chances of unemployment and being poor decrease
substantially.

Quantitative researcher emphasize measuring variables and testing

hypotheses that give causal explanations of social phenomena.
They use reconstructed logic, which means that the logic of how to
do research is highly organized and restated in an idealized, formal
and systematic form.
It is a cleansed model of how good research should proceed.

Qualitative research
In quantitative research, the research question is
set, preplanned whereas in qualitative research
it emerges during the research process. In
qualitative research, topic narrowing occurs as
the research is carried out, as data are
collected.
In qualitative research, developing a focused
research question is part of the data collection
process, during which the researcher actively
reflects on and develops preliminary
interpretations.

A note
Researchers who use one style alone
(either quantitative methods or qualitative
methods) do not always communicate well
with those using the other.

Steps of the research process

1. select topic
2. focus question
3. design research
4. collect data
5. analyze data
6. interpret data
7. inform others

Research Design
A sociological research has to be planned in
advance. This planning is called research
design. While designing a research you
translate general ideas and concerns into
specific and researchable topics. E.g.
general topic: deviance,
research topic: violent street crime in urban areas.
(eventually, you need to narrow your research topic
further, for example: violent street crime in Tarlabasi,
Istanbul.

Research design involves decisions about many

different aspects of the research process:
1. Research purpose
2. Research strategy

1. Research purpose

There may be different purposes of research, three broad scientific

purposes can be identified:
1. Exploration: the researcher wants to find out something in a new or
under-researched area to understand what is going on here?. The
project aims to map out the area in order to generate ideas and further
questions to examine. E.g. exploration of shuttle trade (bavul ticareti)
between Russia and Laleli, Istanbul. (Generally, qualitative methods are
used if the research purpose if exploration)
1. Description: the researcher tries to construct a clearer and more
comprehensive picture of what is going on based on the literature and
other theories developed on the issue. E.g. description of how the
health care system in Turkey evolved from the establishment of the
Republic to the AKP government. (Generally, documentary
3. Explanation: the aim of the researcher is to understand the reasons and
influences that cause a particular social phenomenon. why is this
happening?, what is the most important factor in producing this?.
The theory that the researcher uses will suggest certain factors to
study. E.g. determining the factors that explain a persons occupational
choice. (Generally, quantitative methods are used if the research
purpose if exploration)

2. Research strategy
Research strategy: logic of investigation that specifies the way in
which the researcher uses his or her subject matter.
Case study / comparative study
Longitudinal study / cross-sectional study
Case study: a detailed exploration and / or description of the case to
explain how things work in that case. Case studies are in-depth
studies of one case; the findings of the research cannot be
generalized.
Comparative study: investigates similarities and differences between
cases. E.g. Durkheims study of suicide, different social groups have
different suicide rates.
Longitudinal study: investigates changes over time. For example,
you can look at how women homicides increase or decrease since
the beginning of the second wave feminist movement.
Cross-sectional study: investigates how things work at a particular
period of time. Historical change is ignored, time is out of the
picture. For example, you can compare years of education of girls
in different countries but you do not take into account the element of
time in such a study.

3. Research Methods
The researcher can choose between different research
methods:

Collection of data through use of questionnaires

Collection of data through participant observation
Collection of data through interviewing
Collection of data through archives, published material
Sometimes some of these methods are used all together.

There are 3 principle styles of research:

Survey research: formal and standardized method for
asking questions (uses quantitative research methods)
Ethnographic research: observational and conversational
methods are used to highlight the qualitative aspects of
the social world (qualitative)
Documentary research: use of written texts of all kinds,
from government reports to mass media broadcasts.

Research MethodsQuantitative : Survey research

Survey research requires systematic collection of standardized information

about a population through the use of comprehensive lists of questions.
Through survey research, sociologists gather information on divorce
(divorce rates, reasons..), experiences of crime or attitudes towards political
parties, etc.
There are also commercial surveys, inquiring about the use of a certain
product by consumers, for example: how often the product is used, why it is
preferred, how can it be improved? Etc..
The list of questions is called a questionnaire. The person responding to
the questions is called a respondent.
Important concepts to learn: population and sample (SEE YOUR BOOK)
Selection and Sampling: A sample is a selection drawn from the
population that is being studied.
If a sample is representative of the population, you can generalize the
results.
2 types of samples (SEE YOUR BOOK)
Probability samples are representative of the population you are studying
while non-probability samples are not representative.
Probability samples: simple random (sampling frame) / systematic
random / stratified random/ cluster/multi-stage
Non-probability samples: convenience / purposive / snowball / quota

Research Methods: Survey research

4 main types of social survey:
The interview survey (face to face)
The postal survey (would not really work in Turkey)
The telephone survey
The internet survey
Designing a questionnaire

proceed to survey
Define topics define questions evaluate questions |
revise questions
When designing a questionnaire, you should be careful that your respondents
will be able to understand the questions you ask. For example, if you ask
questions such as Have you ever experienced anomie?, Do you occupy a
contradictory class position? your respondents will not understand you
because they are not sociologists.

Research Methods: Survey research

When designing a questionnaire,
Questions should be easy to understand
If you have open-ended questions, in which you expect
respondents to explain something in their own words rather than
choosing from a list of answers you prepared beforehand (like
multiple choice) then you should put such questions at the end
of the questtionnaire.
Funnelling: you should organize questions from the general to
more specific
Biography: use the respondents biography to organize the
questions
Try to have a smooth transition between questions
Questions should be as short and as attractive as possible.
You should tell respondents that their answers will remain
confidential.

Research methods
Quantitative: Content Analysis
The researcher first identifies a body of research to
analyze and then creates a system for recording the
specific aspects of the material that is analyzed, for
example, the researcher may look at how often a word or
a theme occurs in one or more newspapers over a
certain period of time.
For example, my research topic may be the
representation of domestic violence in the written media.
I may pick up three major newspapers in Turkey, go
through them between 2000 and 2005 and see whether
such news occur more frequently and whether they are
given more space in the newspapers as we move from
2000 to 2005. I may also analyze the photographs and
how the news is discussed by each newspaper, etc.

Content analysis (continued)

Another example: does positive stereotyping of AsianAmericans as a model minority occur in TV advertising? (In
the United States, there is stereotyping of Asian minorities as
being more hardworking and successful when compared with
minority groups such as blacks.
Authors selected one-hour segments during a week long
period in 1994 on 4 main national channels. They found 1313
commercials with human models. Then they analyzed all
these commercials.
Finding: Asian-Americans appeared 3 times their percentage
in the U.S. population and in one half of the commercials they
appeared they occupied major roles. They were also
overrepresented in products that suggest wealth and work life.
Hence, the researchers found that TV advertising reinforces
the model minority stereotype.

Research Methods
Qualitative: Ethnographic research
Ethnography means writing about people, it is usually understood
as exploring how people feel and experience social life.
In ethnographic studies, the researcher participates in some way in
the situation that is being studied. This involves observing what
people are doing, how they talk to each other, engaging in
conversations with them and conducting informal interviews, or all.
Ethnographic methods were developed by structural-functionalist
anthropologists who went and lived along with the peoples they
studied, learning their languages and understanding their cultures. In
other words, these researchers did participant observation. They
participated in the lives of the people they were studying and
meanwhile they did observations about the people and the
phenomena they were studying.
It is generally anthropologists who use the term ethnographic
research; sociologists and other social scientists who follow similar
research methods (such as participant observation and in-depth
interviews) prefer to use the term field work.

Research Methods
Qualitative: Ethnographic research
Qualitative researchers use conversations, or in other words, they
conduct in-depth interviews when they collect data for their
research.
Semi-structured interviews: not as formal as questionnaires. The
aim is to get more detailed and in-depth information. In most cases,
you are interested in the way in which the person you interview
explain a phenomenon, his or her way of giving meaning to events
and situations. You prepare a checklist of topics and questions to be
explored, a list of questions before you do the interview but the way
in which you ask these questions depends on the flow of the
conversation.

The topics covered in a semi-structured interview vary, sometimes you

want to uncover the development of a persons values and knowledge to
explore the causative influences on them, in so far as they are
perceived and interpreted by the subject. Or you may try to learn his/her
life history.

Unstructured interviews: are like conversations; generally

researchers who do participant observation do unstructured
interviews.
Oral history: you may be interested in recapturing the past based on
the memories of the person or you may be interested in the way in
which memories become myths and justify and legitimate the
actions in present.

Research Methods
Qualitative: Historical Comparative Research
The researcher begins with a loosely formulated topic or question.
Researchers often use multiple forms of data sources, newspapers,
books, reports, existing statistics, observations and interviews. It is
usually descriptive or exploratory.
Sources of data: letters, government reports, newspapers, diaries,
television broadcasts,
Marxs capital was based on official publications produced by the
factory inspectors and other government agencies.
Webers protestant ethic based on religious tracts and
pamphlets.
Both are examples of historical comparative research .
Durkheims study on suicide was based on existing official
statistics.