Research Methods for Everyday Life

Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

Scott W. VanderStoep, Deidre D. Johnson

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Year: 2008
• ISBN:
  9780470478714
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This book offers an innovative introduction to social research. The book explores all stages of the research process and it features both quantitative and qualitative methods. Research design topics include sampling techniques, choosing a research design, and determining research question that inform public opinion and direct future studies. Throughout the book, the authors provide vivid and engaging examples that reinforce the reading and understanding of social science research. "Your Turn" boxes contain activities that allow students to practice research skills, such as sampling, naturalistic observation, survey collection, coding, analysis, and report writing.

CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understand theories, hypotheses, and where research questions come from.

• Understand the fundamental research distinctions of qualitative vs. quantitative, basic vs. applied, and traditional vs. action research.

• Understand the elements and importance of a research proposal.

• Understand the elements and importance of research ethics.

• Obtain an introduction to basic SPSS terminology and operations.

Some students do not like research. Those who pursue degrees in social sciences such as psychology, communication, sociology, anthropology, or education do so with a passion for understanding the human condition, and often with a desire to be of service to humankind. For some of these energetic students, a course in how to conduct social research is not a top priority. Why should students care about a research class, especially if they have no plans to become researchers after college?

It is crucial to remember that research is, for social scientists, the fundamental way the people in their field understand human beings. Furthermore, the practical applications of that research and those understandings by teachers, social workers, and therapists are also based on research. For example, why do facilities that treat substance abusers use one kind of therapy instead of another? Because research on the treatment of substance abuse has demonstrated that certain techniques are more effective than others (Kaminer, Burleson, & Goldberger, 2002). Why might it be ineffective for grade-school teachers to rely too heavily on rewards and reinforcements to motivate students? Because research suggests that extrinsic rewards cause children to choose less difficult academic tasks (Harter, 1978). How do parents decide whether spanking is an effective form of discipline? Most likely they read books on parenting—and it is hoped that those books are informed by research. Research suggests that spanking results in higher immediate compliance with parents’ demands, but also more aggression on the part of the spanked children in the long run (Gershoff, 2002). Such conclusions in research are not always straightforward, however; other researchers have looked at the use of spanking as a discipline technique and found it not to be as detrimental as supposed (Baumrind, Larzelere, & Cowan, 2002). As you will discover through this book, research involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and not all researchers agree on the meaning of the same research evidence.

Whether or not you ever conduct your own research study, whether you need to make crucial decisions at your place of employment, or whether you are dealing with a family member who needs psychological help, understanding and interpreting social science research is crucial to effective and informed citizenship. This book will help you develop the skills you need. It will do so in two ways.

First, this book will make you a consumer of research. Some of you may become professional social researchers, spending most of your work lives actually engaged in social science research. (Remember, though, that even the most active professional researchers only spend their time doing research on a very narrow area of social inquiry.) However, most of you will spend the majority of your professional lives reading research rather than doing it. In fact, people trained in the social sciences use their research skills in life domains other than their chosen professions. Researchers use their research skills when they read the newspaper, discuss politics, and parent their children. After reading this book, you will have the tools necessary to critically evaluate the claims of advertisers, educators, pollsters, and others who assert that statements are factually correct. Being an informed consumer of research is vital to competency in an information-rich world.

Second, this book will also teach you to be a producer of research. If your interests are in human services, you may not think you will ever conduct a research study. However, being able to conduct research will make you extremely valuable to your organization. We firmly believe that practitioners who can conduct research will be highly prized by social service organizations. In real-life employment settings, research skills are greatly needed yet underutilized; this book is an attempt to make future practitioners more comfortable with consuming and producing research. If you can market yourself as the “research person” on your staff, you will be highly valued in your workplace—and you will save your organization a lot of money in outside research services.

Many of you may also pursue advanced study in psychology, communication, education, sociology, or some other social science field. Most master’s degrees require a research-based thesis, for which the skills covered in this book are fundamental. Those who pursue terminal degrees in social science, particularly doctoral degrees, will spend a significant portion of their professional lives engaged in research. In short, this book will speak to many different students at many different levels. We hope that you find this book helpful to your current academic inquiry, but also that the skills you learn from this book will stay with you for years to come.

This chapter covers five fundamental topics essential to the research enterprise. First, we describe the traditional understanding of the research process. Second, this book focuses on both quantitative and qualitative approaches to social science research, and we discuss the basic distinction between the two methods of inquiry. Each approach is expanded upon in subsequent chapters (quantitative methods are covered in Chapters 3 through 6 and qualitative methods are covered in Chapters 7 through 10). Third, we discuss the purpose of and strategies for writing a research proposal. Planning out intentions for research prior to data collection is essential to ensuring quality. Fourth, we explore the issue of research ethics. This concept is often overlooked by the general public, but as a member of the research community it is incumbent upon you to become familiar with the ethical standards to which researchers must adhere. Finally, we introduce the elements of using a statistical-computing software package (SPSS). We will cover more advanced techniques in subsequent chapters. In this chapter we simply identify the preliminary techniques needed to get started with a research project.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

The classic research-process model involves starting with a theory, generating hypotheses, testing the hypotheses, and interpreting your results. As Figure 1.1 illustrates, the research process is cyclical, not linear. The results of one study feed back into the system and inform future research. Researchers will tell you that the process is actually not that clear-cut. Often researchers will get an innovative idea about what to study and not be very informed about what theories might support it; however, after some initial investigations, they may go back and explore what other related research says.

FIGURE 1.1. Classic research process model

For those just beginning in research, however, starting with theory and hypothesis generation is probably the most secure method for starting a research project. Having a good idea is important, but it is just as important to know how your idea fits in with other related ideas and research that has been done previously in the area. An idea that is not grounded in a previous theory is often not very useful to the larger research community.

Consider one practical example of the idea of starting with theory. One dissertation advisor always gave students who had an interesting research idea the following suggestion: Go learn as much as you can about what other people have already done. Getting familiar with previous research begins the process of becoming an expert in the field and helps you figure out where your idea fits into the overall theory. It also allows you to make sure you are asking a question that is consistent with methods that others have used before.

Theories and Research Questions

Theories are sets of organizing principles that help researchers describe and predict events. When non-scientists use the word theory, they are making a claim about the knowledge they have of a particular phenomenon. Non-scientific theories usually consist of a statement or set of statements that describe something, explain why something happens, and/or predict what will happen in the future. A scientific theory has the additional feature of allowing testable hypotheses to be generated from the theory. A scientific theory must have enough specificity and clarity for the theory to be testable.

Consider an example. One theory in the field of social psychology is the theory of cognitive dissonance, which states that when we feel tension between what we believe and what we do, we will justify our actions or change our beliefs to make our attitudes and beliefs consistent (Festinger, 1957; Myers, 2008). From this theory, a researcher can make predictions about what people will do when faced with conflict between what they do and what they believe. Theories gain support if experiments, surveys, or other techniques (discussed throughout this book) provide evidence that the theory is accurate. Thus, a theory in science will survive if the evidence supports it. The viability of theories is not based on popularity contests. Rather, if the collective research evidence supports a theory, the theory will survive. If the evidence does not support the theory, the theory fades from the collective scientific dialog (or perhaps gets modified).

Students commonly ask, “Where do theories come from?” Sometimes theories come from reading the existing literature in an area of interest (as discussed earlier). Sometimes theories come from our intuitions and observations. Perhaps you are a social worker with a full client load of pregnant teenagers. You notice that those young women who function better differ from those who struggle, and you come to believe that their better functioning is a result of social support from extended family. With this intuition, you can begin to develop a theory that social support positively influences pregnant teenagers.

Theories are tied closely to a research question, which is a clearly articulated statement about the topic of interest. Some research questions come from theory. Some come from observation. Some come from intuition. In terms of specificity, a research question rests in the middle between a theory, which is very broad, and a hypothesis, which is very precise. Asking a research question serves to narrow your focus on the topic of interest. For example, you may be interested in the relationship between political beliefs and attitudes toward sexuality. Your theory might be that political beliefs inform sexual attitudes (or perhaps vice versa). Your research question, in turn, might be: “Is there a difference between people with socially conservative political beliefs and people with fiscally (money-related) conservative political beliefs with regard to attitudes toward sexuality?” The research question brings you one step closer to testing your theory. From this research question, you can construct a hypothesis to test.

Hypotheses

Whereas theories are general statements and research questions are mid-level statements, hypotheses (plural of hypothesis) are specific predictions about what will happen according to the theory. As we will learn throughout this book, a theory can be tested in several ways (which we will teach you in the book). In the preceding example of pregnant teenagers, the theory could be tested by constructing a questionnaire measuring the teens’ social support, interviewing the pregnant teenagers themselves, or interviewing the teens’ family and friends. The results of the investigation will confirm or refute the hypothesis that social support from extended family promotes healthy functioning in pregnant teens.

As another example, consider the cognitive dissonance theory discussed previously. A researcher might generate the hypothesis that when people are forced to act in a certain way, they will show more positive support for the attitude that aligns with the behavior. For example, cognitive dissonance theory would say that if you force someone to wear a seatbelt, eventually that person’s attitude toward wearing the seatbelt will become more positive. This hypothesis stems directly from the theory, but is phrased in terms that are specific enough to be tested. What distinguishes a theory from a hypothesis is that a theory is stated in general terms and a hypothesis is stated in a specific, testable form.

This proposed hypothesis, generated from cognitive dissonance theory, must be tested to determine if the evidence confirms or refutes it. Notice we say that evidence confirms or “supports” the hypothesis. The reason researchers say support (rather than prove) is because social science by its nature is a probabilistic endeavor. As you will learn in this book, we make research claims based on a belief that there is a high probability that we are correct. We never have 100% certainty in social science, but the more research studies that support a hypothesis, the more likely it is that the scientific community will accept the theory and hypothesis as true.

Even if researchers find support for a hypothesis in one research study, they are careful not to conclude that such findings will always occur. Thus, social scientists tend...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Tables
• Table of Figures
• Table of Exhibits
• ABOUT THE AUTHORS
• Dedication
• PREFACE
• Introduction
• CHAPTER 1 - UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH
• CHAPTER 2 - THE WHO, HOW, AND WHY OF RESEARCH
• CHAPTER 3 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: MEASUREMENT AND DATA COLLECTION
• CHAPTER 4 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: DESCRIPTIVE AND CORRELATIONAL DESIGNS
• CHAPTER 5 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: BASIC EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
• CHAPTER 6 - QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: ADVANCED EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
• CHAPTER 7 - WHAT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?
• CHAPTER 8 - PLANNING YOUR QUALITATIVE STUDY: DESIGN, SAMPLING, AND DATA ANALYSIS
• CHAPTER 9 - QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS: ETHNOGRAPHY, PHENOMENOLOGY, CASE ...
• CHAPTER 10 - QUALITATIVE RESEARCH TOOLS: INTERVIEWING, FOCUS GROUPS, AND OBSERVATION
• CHAPTER 11 - PRESENTING YOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A - A SAMPLE MANUSCRIPT FROM A QUANTITATIVE STUDY
• APPENDIX B - A SAMPLE MANUSCRIPT FROM A QUALITATIVE STUDY
• GLOSSARY
• INDEX