Methodology and methods provide a better understanding of how to collect and analyse data. It allows us to pick the most suited method in relation to our research and topic question. 

 

Method

-        The procedure, system or way of doing something systematically (technique)  

-        What and how we conduct the research 

 

Different research methods: surveys, interviews…

 

Methodology

-        The logic behind the method being chosen and used (the strategy) 

-        Why we have chosen that one specific method

 

Methodologies include: quantitate, qualitative and mixed methods of research, 

 

The methodology will outline our research process and give us an overview into how the research will be carried out. 

 

Quantitative research deals with numerical data in the form of surveys or questionnaires for example. It is a more logical approach of collecting data and follows a scientific method.

 

The  scientific method

1)     Observation: observation and description of phenomena 

2)     Hypothesis: develop a hypothesis to explain the phenomena 

3)     Prediction: use the hypothesis to predict other phenomena or results of future observations 

4)     Testing: test the predictions using observations and experiments 

 

Qualitative research collects information by understanding a member of society’s way of thinking through their beliefs, attitudes and experiences. It focuses more on understanding why an individual behaves and feels a certain way in a particular situation. This is all expressed in words rather than numbers in comparison to quantitative data.

 

Examples: interviews, focus groups and observations. 

 

Mixed methods methodology 

Mixed methods research design combines and integrates qualitative and quantitive methods in the same study. It uses both quantitative and qualitative data. However,  it is more expensive and requires more work and time. The researcher must also be equipped with the right skill set to use this methodology for their research. 

 

*structured (yes and no/ closed questions; quantitative)  and unstructured interviews (open questions; qualitative) 

 

 

The first and the most important part is informed consent, it must be done before the research and data collection, and its level and form may be changed depending on types or requirements.

The second part is reasonable deception, which is the process of hiding the real purpose of the research, lying to the participants, or giving false information. It’s useful to reduce bias in results and data. And deception could only be used in particular cases without special vulnerability.

The third part is privacy, which means the conditions of being hidden, to keep participants’ personal information safe.

The fourth part is confidentiality, it could be defined as a protection of privacy especially for those groups of vulnerable people, such as children, old generations, believers of certain religions. Specifically, the participants are only known to the researcher

The fifth part is anonymity, which is similar to confidentiality, both of them are established to protect the privacy of test takers . Nevertheless, the only difference is that the basic information of participants who take part in the research are unknown, even for the social researchers. 

The sixth part is about coercion. In research, sometimes researchers will give rewards to participants for collecting more data, but there is a limitation on the value of rewards. As research ethics, small rewards are ok (e.g. Amazon voucher, remuneration for time), and too large a gift is banned because it may pressure participants to make coercion. In addition, the rewards must be honest.

The seventh part is storing data safely. It means researchers must take charge to limit access to data, and they must know who regards sensitive information (e.g. safeguarding leader, supervisor, etc.) in order to protect data from being stolen or used improperly.

The final part is about the special vulnerability that there are 3 kinds of people who can't participate in research for providing data because they may be easily hurt in research. The first kind is people who have health or psychological issues (e.g. anxiety). The second kind is people who live in places with environmental factors (e.g. homeless, living in a war-torn country, sex workers, etc.). The third kind is children and teenagers, because they are underage and don’t have a mature mind to protect themselves.

All the considerations or guidelines are applied to make sure that the social researchers are able to conduct experiments or research without doing harm, so as to reach more conclusions. 

Social science is the use of scientific methods to study the overall or any of the various disciplines of human society and oral phenomena. It is a subject that studies various social phenomena

Sociology studies human society (mainly contemporary), political science studies political policies and activities, and economics studies resource allocation.        

The disciplines covered by social sciences mainly include economics, politics, law, ethics, history, sociology, psychology, education, management, anthropology, folklore, journalism and communication.

A systematic study and careful consideration of materials and sources regarding a particular concern or problem in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Social research is people focused. It may be centered on individuals, groups or societies, and it is also conducted by people.

This has both advantages and disadvantages:

• People are not passive objects. They respond and interact with the researcher, which can both affect the results and the subjects. Therefore, study needs to be carefully designed.

As a fellow human, a researcher has an insight into the way people think, feel and experience. Their capacity to understand others is due to them being human, too.

• The techniques of social research are common across humanities/social science disciplines, because people are at the heart of their studies.

Characteristics of a strong research question

Specific, Feasible, Original, Relevant, Complex and arguable, Researchable, Focused

Primary and Secondary Social Research:

Primary Research:

Purposeful generation (gathering/discovering) of new data and information (e.g. via interviews, observations).

Secondary Research:

Exploration, collation, synthesis and evaluation (or reevaluation) of existing research data, collected by others.

Functionalism is a theoretical perspective, based on the idea that social institutions perform different functions that contribute to stability and wellbeing of a society.

Functionalism emphasizing the importance of social structure and function,
Each part of the social structure has a specific function, and these parts together constitute an organic whole.

Functionalist theory says,
Social structures exist to meet people's basic needs,this includes the production and distribution of resources, the provision of security and protection, the provision of social identity and belonging, and so on.
In this theoretical framework, social change is seen as a gradual and orderly process, achieved through gradual improvements in the structure and functioning of society.It is common to compare the functioning of society to that of the human body, where the various parts of society work together, just as the various parts of the human body, for the good of society

Functionalists believe that a society is held together by rules, norms and values and that different social institutions work together for the benefit of the society as a whole. Critics of the theory argue that functionalists take for granted that stability and social order are good and should be maintained, and ignore the importance of conflict, abuse, dominance of the powerful and oppression of the powerless.

 

It aims to explain how the unequal distribution of resources leads to conflict

 

-        Conflict theory also highlights the importance of social structures however rejects the idea of consensus and beliefs that there are contrasting interests between social groups. 

-        Different conflict theories include: feminism, Marxism, race theory, queer theories…

-        Does not believe in ‘stability’ and focuses on conflict within society (unlike functionalism) 

 

Marxism 

-        Named after Karl Marx 

-        Focuses on the oppression of the ruling capitalist class on the working class

-        Capitalism: seen by Marxism as a exploitive system 

-        Exploitation: being taken advantage of (the working class in relation to Marxism) 

-        Oppression: relates to the economic oppression of workers 

-        Communism: a class of society that will not have a government or private property, and the means of production will be controlled by the public collectively.

Feminism 

-        Focuses on gender inequality and domination- where men have more positions of power and other privileges 

-        Explores both micro and macro scale

-         Seek gender equality across education, government and politics as well as the legal and criminal systems

 

Other conflict theories would focus on different bases of oppression. 

They share the common idea that society is not one.

 

Different types of feminism: radical feminism, liberal feminism…

 

All Marxists don’t necessarily agree*

 

Common criticisms of conflict theories include:

·         Underestimating social institutions and stability
Critics believe that conflict theorists ignore how different social institutions come together to provide much needed stability.

·         Overestimating conflict
Another criticism is the exaggerated focus on the negative aspects of human interaction (including economic activity), and underestimating human ability and willingness to cooperate.

·         Criticisms of economic determinism

Critics have also emphasised that Marxist ideas assume that economic relationships are the primary or sole explanation of all social and political interactions and behaviours.

 

Symbolic interaction is like a circle, social gives symbols different meanings, and the meaning helps people develop their views to communicate, and more communication back to promote development of society. Symbolic interactionism also focuses on meanings attached to human interaction, both verbal and nonverbal, and to symbols, and communication is believed to be the way that people make sense of their social worlds.

There are three basic points of view of symbolic interactionism. First of all, the school of researcher believes that things existing in our society do not have any objective meanings, except people interact with them. Taking China  for example, the colour red is defined as auspicious stuff for proceeding something. In other words, it could mean a nice beginning for doing something. Secondly, people have ‘the self’, i.e.  the ability to view oneself, as it arises through social progress. Under such a circumstance, they would form their own cogenitive and personalities,  and have distinctive reactions to respond to the materials  with special meanings to them. Thirdly, the meanings that people have already had and believed are not perpetuated, it could not only be changed over time, but also influenced by social interactions (e.g. the process of globalisation promotes cultural diversities fostering multiculturalism). What is more, symbolic interactionism emphasises the dynamics of the society consisting of continuous communication and interaction.

And there are some criticisms for symbolic interactionism - vagueness, downplaying social structures, and too subjective for testing.