This presentation contains notes from Bryman (2008) on key aspects of research design and methodology.

2. Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods, 3rd Edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Key reference

3. Social research: some considerations Theory and research deductive (theory guides research) inductive (theory as an outcomes of research) Epistemological considerations positivism (a natural science epistemology) interpretivism Ontological considerations Objectivism constructivism Research strategy quantitative and qualitative Influences on the conduct values practical considerations

4. The connection between theory and research

6. Types of theory Grand theories Middle range theories (Merton 1967) social capital cultural capital symbolic interactionism critical theory labour process theory educational attainment assessment theories? Approaches to learning? too abstract and general offer few indications to researchers as to how they might guide or influence the collection of empirical evidence. fall somewhere between grand theories and empirical findings represent an attempt to understand and explain a limited aspect of social life.

11. Epistemological considerations

13. Epistemological considerations Positivism Interpretivism Advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to study the social reality and beyond. Subject matter of the social sciences - people and their institutions - is fundamentally different from that of the natural sciences. Researcher’s conceptualisation of reality ... reflects that reality the job of the social scientist to gain access to people’s ‘common-sense thinking’ and, to interpret their actions and their social world from their point of view.

14. Ontological positions

15. Ontological positions Objectivism Constructionism / Constructivism Social phenomena confront us as external facts that are beyond our reach or influence. e.g., organisation, culture has ‘the characteristics of an object and hence of having an objective reality’. (p. 18). social objects and categories are socially constructed.

16. Research strategy

18. Quantitative Qualitative role of theory deductive, testing theory inductive, generation of theory epistemological orientation practices and norms of the natural science model (positivism) preference for an emphasis on how people interpret their world (interpretivism) ontological orientation social reality as an external, objective reality (objectivism) social reality as constantly shifting emergent property of individuals creation (constructionism) quantification in the collection and analysis of data words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data

19. Influences on the conduct of social research

23. Criteria for assessing the quality

24. Criteria for assessing the quality Reliability adequacy of measures are the measures that are devised for concepts (poverty, racial prejudice, deskilling, religious orthodoxy) are consistent? Replicability can other researchers replicate the findings? Validity the integrity of the conclusions that are generated from a piece of research’ (p. 32). Trustworthiness Credibility - how believable are the findings? Transferability - do the findings apply to other contexts Dependability - are the findings likely to apply at other times? confirmability - investigator’s values intruded to a high degree?

26. Research designs and research methods

28. Research designs Experimental Cross-sectional Longitudinal Case study Comparative

37. Research strategy and research design together [ref pp. 61, 62 (Table), 64)

38. Research design Research strategy Quantitative Qualitative Experimental Cross-sectional Longitudinal Case study Comparative

39. Ethical issues [ref p. 133]

40. Methods of data collection

41. Methods structured interviewing self-completion questionnaires structured observation content analysis secondary analysis of official statistics ethnography and participant observation qualitative interviews focus groups conversation analysis documents as sources of data ????

42. Quantitative Qualitative Mixed structured interviewing self-completion questionnaires structured observation content analysis secondary analysis of official statistics ethnography and participant observation qualitative interviews focus groups conversation analysis documents as sources of data

43. Data analysis Quantitative univariate analysis bivariate analysis multivariate analysis statistical significance Qualitative analytic induction Grounded theory thematic analysis narrative analysis

44. Quantitative research

46. Qualitative research

47. Interviewing in qualitative research qualitative interviews - different from interview used in quantitative research less structured than interviews used in survey research two main types: unstructured and semi-structured flexible ... can accommodate respondents’ views [Ref. types of interviews - key concept 8.2. p. 196].

48. Differences between the structured and qualitative interviews Quantitative Qualitative To maximize the reliability and validity of measurement of key concepts. interviewees’ own perspectives clearly specified research questions to be investigated greater generality in the formulation of initial research ideas interview reflects researcher’s concerns greater interest in interviewee’s point of view rambling discouraged rambling / going off at tangent encouraged (to seek insight, what interviewee sees as important no departure from questions. no new questions. compromise standardisation. interviewers can depart from the schedule / guide. new questions based on responses. inflexible because of the need to standardise. flexible. adjusting the interview direction depending on the emerging issues. answers that can be coded and processed quickly. researcher wants a rich, detailed answers. unless longitudinal, interview on one occasion only. more than one interview.

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