HHS4UConducting Social Science Research

February 20th, 2015

CONDUCTING SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

The ________ of the social sciences in the study of individuals and families are: To ________ and _________ the behaviour of

individuals and families; ________ how individuals and families will _______

in response to their environments Suggest ways of __________ their behaviour

Social science research methods are used to ask _________, to gather _________, to __________ the information, and to draw ____________

RESEARCH SKILLS CONT’D

Developing social-science research _______ will enable you to evaluate the _________ of the information in this textbook and in other sources

You will also be prepared to __________ your own investigation of _______ regarding individuals and families

The research question to consider is: How can _______, __________, and ________

research be conducted in the social sciences?

USE THE SOCIAL-SCIENCE RESEARCH PROCESS

The social-science research process is __________ Procedures:

________ the topic of study by asking questions to determine the __________ of the topic, define the terms, and set the limits of the topic

Identify the specific research _________ to be investigated so that the study has _________

Valid and __________ research starts with a review of the available literature, including _______, periodicals, media, and electronic ________ to find out what information is already ________. Sources that analyze research and provide evidence are best – these are SECONDARY sources because they present someone else’s _______ second-hand

__________ the literature review. This often leads to a thesis that answers your question

FORMULATE A RESEARCH QUESTION

A research question establishes the ________ of the research

In family studies, a good research question indicates the __________ between a topic and ___________ and/or families

Preliminary _________ will reveal whether a topic is _________ enough for there to be sufficient sources of information and will help _______ which aspect of a topic to investigate

Develop a clearly ________ research question about a ________aspect of the topic to guide you in selecting information from secondary sources

TWO BASIC TYPES OF QUESTIONS

Example of a specific research question: “Why do males in contemporary Canadian society

typically earn more money for the same amount worked, than their female counterparts?” Specific, question, addresses a population, and it’s social

issue

There are two basic types of questions asked in the social sciences: Description questions that require ___________ of

what happens Explanation questions that require __________ to

determine how and why things happen

Description and explanation questions form the _______ of all research questions

DESIGNING AN ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION

When the ________ to the research question is not clear after a review of secondary sources – _________ your research

State a ___________ A possible __________ to your question And design an original investigation to gather

____________ evidence (these are primary sources because the information given to you will be first-hand)

INVESTIGATION CONT’D

Analyze the ________ of research This step is the most _________ because you need

to be OBJECTIVE, be skeptical of your _________, and re-check your data – leave your assumptions and predispositions aside

Finally, form __________ that indicate whether the hypothesis is _______ and whether your question was ____________(Referring back to my example, what does the data tell you about the income earned by both males and females – is there a disassociation happening?

TEXT FIGURES

Discuss figure pg. 48 Discuss figure pg. 52