social research in developing nations

Methods For Social Researchers In Developing Countries

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Focus group: Dar ElSalam Camp, near Omdurman, Sudan This site has been prepared specifically for beginning researchers in developing countries. It is based on a book by the same title published by The Ahfad University for Women.. We have created this Web site to make the contents of Methods for Social Researchers in Developing Countries available free to researchers in developing countries, where books are too expensive for faculty, students, or even for libraries to buy. Of course, we hope this site may be useful to researchers in other areas of the world as well. All material on this site may be freely downloaded or copied. There are no restrictions on use of what we present. Restrictions on use, however, may apply to the contents of some of the sites we refer to. To help you get started, we suggest you read the Overview, which provides the structure of the site and briefly describes the content of each of its 20 chapters. The Help section will also help you get started. This section describes how you can move from one page or section of the site to another pages or sections; ways you can find specific information and different ways you can read the contents of the site; and, for those who are not familiar with the Internet, a brief introduction to the Internet and Web sites.

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Methods For Social Researchers In Developing Countries

In addition, we call your attention to some Web sites that provide a wealth of information and links to additional and alternative approaches to conducting social research. Email: Adjunct Professor The Ahfad University for Women (AUW) Omdurman, Sudan

Executive Director The Sudan-American Foundation for Education, Inc. and the Ahfad University for Women

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Contact Us

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Contact Us We hope you will find the contents of this site useful. If you have, we would like to hear what you liked or found particularly helpful. If any part is not clear or helpful to you, we want to know about that too. We also welcome suggestions of links we might add to this site, as a way of further helping other researchers find useful information. We also want to know about any link we provide that that no longer works. We will use your feedback as we update and revise this site. Just send an email to the address below. Thank you. Dr. Lee G. Burchinal Executive Director Sudan-American Foundation for Education, Inc. 4141 N. Henderson Road, Suite #1205 Arlington, VA 22203 USA E -mail:

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Contact Us

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Table of Contents

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Table of Contentsr r r

Overview Selected Social Research Methods Web Sites Helps s s s s

Introduction Navigating this site Reading this site Internet searching Aids

Part One: Thinking as a Researcher Chapter 1. Understanding Scientific Inquirys s s s s s

Introduction Alternatives to Scientific Inquiry Scientific Inquiry Limits of Scientific Inquiry The Research Process Aids

Chapter 2. The Sudan Fertility Survey: An Introduction to Researchs s s s s s s s

Introduction The Research Question Designing the Study Collecting the Data Analyzing the Data Interpreting the Results Generalizing the Results Aids

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r r r r r r r

Introduction Concepts and Variables Theory Hypotheses Logic of Scientific Inquiry Cause and Effect Aids Part Two: Planning Research

Chapter 4. Selecting a Question to Investigates s s s s s s s

Introduction Your initial research question Reviewing the literature Preparing references Refining your list of references Searching the Internet Your final research question Aids

Chapter 5. Creating a Research Designr r r r

Design and the purpose of the research Quantitative and qualitative data Design alternatives Aids

Chapter 6. Developing Measuresr r r r r r r r r

Overview Steps in measurement An illustration Level of measurement Validity Reliability Relationship between validity and reliability Reactivity Ethical considerations

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Aids

Chapter 7. Constructing Composite Measures: Scales and Indexesr r r r r r r r r r

Introduction Scales Likert scales Bogardus social distance scales Guttman scales Indexes Additional considerations Typologies Measurement error Aids

Chapter 8. Selecting a Sampler r r r r r r r r r r r

Introduction Probability sampling Simple random sample Systemic random sample Stratified random sample Cluster sample Creativity in sampling Weighted samples Problems to watch for Nonprobability sampling Sample size Aids Part Three: Creating Data

Chapter 9. Designing Experimentss s s s s s

Introduction Seeking causal relationships Alternative explanations Internal validity The classical experiment Quasi-experimental designs


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External validity Further variations Strengths and limitations Aids

Chapter 10. Surveys and Questionnaire Constructionr r r r r r r r r r r

Introduction Characteristics of surveys Planning a survey Questionnaire construction The final questionnaire Qualitative surveys Internet-based surveys Response rate Strengths and limitations Improving survey results Aids

Chapter 11. Interviewingr r r r r r r r

Introduction Steps in interviewing Conducting interviews Completing post interviewing tasks Telephone interviews Validity and reliability issues Sources of error Aids

Chapter 12. Using Available Datar r r r r r r

Introduction Sources Analyzing available records Secondary analyses Content analysis Strengths and limitations Social indicators


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Chapter 13. Observing Behaviorr r r r r r r r r r r

Introduction Causal observation Participant observation: Overview Conducting a participant observation study Establishing validity Generalizing Personal requirements Case studies Focus groups Strengths and limitations Aids

Chapter 14 Performing Evaluation Researchr r r r r r r r

Introduction Illustration Distinctive features Conducting an evaluation Qualitative evaluations Problems to watch for Ethical concerns Aids

Chapter 15. Using a MultiMethod Design and Conducting Rapid Rural Appraisalsr r r r r

Multimethod approach Rapid rural appraisal Strengths and limitations Ethical issues Aids Part Four: Analyzing Data

Chapter 16. Preparing Data for Analysisr

Introduction


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Hand versus compute analysis Coding Data entry Aids

Chapter 17. Conducting Univariate Analysesr r r r r r r r

Frequency distributions Analyzing single variables Presenting univariate data Central tendency Variability Standard deviation and the normal distribution Computer analysis reminder Aids

Chapter 18. Tabular Bivariate and Multivariate Analysesr r r r r

Introduction Bivariate analysis: nominal variables Bivariate analysis: ordinal variables Statistical tests for association Aids

Chapter 19. Performing Inferential Statistical Analysesr r r r r r r r r r r

Samples and populations Probability theory and statistical inference Inferring a population mean Tests of statistical significance Tests of differences between means Coefficient of correlation Caution with association Chi square Other tests of significance Caution in using statistical test results Aids Part Five: Telling What You Did


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Chapter 20. Reporting Your Researchr r r r r r r r r r r

Introduction Improving your writing Guidelines for clear writing Writing your report Final checking Oral presentations Using the mass media Aids

Glossary Web Site Index References


SRMDC Overview

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help

OverviewThis section provides an outline of the contents of the site. The site has five main parts. Part 1, "Thinking Like a Researcher," introduces you to social research and the way researchers look at the world around them. Part 2 describes what you need to know to plan a research project. In Part 3 you will learn about ways of collecting data. Ways of analyzing data are described in Part 4. The last step in a research project presenting your results is covered in Part 5. Part 1 introduces you to scientific inquiry and the research process. Scientific inquiry is the focus of Chapter 1. Chapter 1 also describes the steps in the research process. Chapter 2 describes social research as it was carried out in the form of the Sudan Fertility Survey and presents some of the important findings from this study. Becoming a social researcher also requires learning the language of social research. Chapter 3 will give you a basic research vocabulary. Together, the three chapters of Part 1 will give you a foundation for planning and conducting your own research. Part 2, "Planning Research," describes how to plan a research project, beginning with the selection of a problem to investigate. Chapter 4 discusses this important step. Also included in Chapter 4 is a closely related step in the research process that of reviewing the research literature on the topic you choose to investigate. The other four chapters of Part 2 describe how to design a research project. These include decisions you need to make in preparing an overall design for your project (Chapter 5), developing measures for the data you will collect (Chapter 6 and Chapter 7), and preparing a plan for selecting the persons from whom you will collect data (Chapter 8). Alternative ways of collecting data are described in Part 3, "Creating Data." These are: conducting experiments (Chapter 9); constructing questionnaires for use in surveys (Chapter 10); conducting interviews (Chapter 11); analyzing available data (Chapter 12); observing behavior (Chapter 13); and conducting evaluation studies (Chapter 14). Chapter 15 presents the multi-method approach to data collection. One specific multi-method of research, called Rapid Rural Appraisal, is also described in Chapter 15. One or a combination of the methods described in these chapters should meet your immediate and most future research needs. Part 4 contains four chapters on how to organize and analyze data. Chapter 16

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SRMDC Overview

describes the important step of preparing data for analysis. The next two chapters describe ways of analyzing your data. Chapter 17 covers the analysis of data for each characteristic you want to know about. Researchers refer to the characteristics they study as variables. Ways of analyzing of two or more variables are covered in Chapter 18. Chapter 19 presents the logic and methods for using statistical tests in data analysis. Finally, Part 5, with only one chapter, Chapter 20, describes how to prepare for and write a report describing your research project. Part 5 also discusses additional ways you can report your research results through publication in a professional journal, by giving talks based on your research, by preparing a newspaper or magazine article, or by appearing on a radio or television program. To help you get an idea of what each chapter contains, we list the main topics covered in the chapter in a column on the left side of each page of each chapter. By clicking on any topic, you can go directly to that topic. Also, figures and diagrams are used to show the sequence of steps in completing a research task. As mentioned earlier, key words used in research are shown in italics when they are first used and are defined in the Glossary. When you discover a term that you are not sure about, you can find its meaning in the Glossary. In addition, a list of "Main points" is included as a summary at the end of each chapter. Throughout the book, we emphasize the important roles of decision-making and creativity in research.Research does not just happen.The direction and success of any research project depends on the decisions you make at each step in your project. To help you make intelligent decisions, we show the choices that frequently have to be made and give you bases for making them. We also try to show that research is a creative process. By your choices, you create the data you will use to answer your research question. Also, you decide how to analyze, present, and interpret your research results. Each of these steps offers an opportunity to creatively apply what you will have learned. As you read, we hope you will see that research is a demanding process as well; one that requires knowledge, skill, and careful decision-making. We also hope you will see that research is an exciting, creative, and rewarding activity. We hope you will find the contents of this site useful. If you do, we would like to hear what you liked or found particularly helpful. If any part is not clear or helpful to you, we want to know about that too. You can send comments, suggestions, and criticisms to us by clicking on Contact Us on any page where it appears. We also welcome your suggestions of links we might add to this site, as a way of further helping other researchers find useful information. Click on Contact Us and send us the address of any Web site you think we should add. We also want to know about any link we provide that that no longer works. We will use your feedback as we update and revise this site. Best wishes in any research you undertake. NEXT TOC


SRMDC Overview



Part One: Thinking Like a Researcher

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Part One: Thinking Like a Researcher Chapter 1 Understanding Scientific Inquiry As part of your preparation in becoming a researcher, you will need to develop a scientific perspective toward the world around you. This includes how you look at everyday social relationships. The purpose of Part One is to help you develop such a perspective.

Social research, like all other scientific research, is based on scientific inquiry. This special way Chapter 2 of looking at the world began about 500 years ago as a way of understanding the natural universe. The Sudan Since then, methods of scientific inquiry have spread to all fields of human knowledge. Today, Fertility Survey: methods of the scientific inquiry are accepted throughout the world as the most reliable way of An Introduction understanding events and processes in the natural world. This includes how social behavior to Research occurs and changes. Chapter 3 Learning the Language of Research Chapter 1 presents the origins of scientific inquiry and its application in social research. Chapter 1 also describes the assumptions underlying scientific inquiry and the norms that guide researchers in their work. Both are combined in the steps of the research process. Chapter 1 outlines these steps. The rest of this site fills in the details for completing each step in the research process. In your own research, you will repeat these steps. Another way to learn how researchers think is to follow the course of a research project from start to finish. Chapter 2 will allow you to do this. In this chapter, we present a brief description of one study, known as the Sudan Fertility Survey. (Fertility is a measure of the number of children born to some group of women). The Sudan Fertility Survey provided the most accurate information available on fertility among women in northern Sudan at the time of the survey. It also provided important information about conditions that may affect fertility and, therefore, the size of the future population of Sudan. Our brief description of the Sudan Fertility Survey should help you understand how an investigation is planned and carried out. We also hope you will see the value of the social research, as shown in this one study, and how research results can help explain the processes of social change. Becoming a researcher also requires learning the language of social research. In Chapters 1 and 2 you will begin to acquire a research vocabulary. Chapter 3 continues your introduction to the language of social research. This chapter presents the conceptual basis for research, how hypotheses are developed and used, the forms of reasoning used in research, and the criteria for judging whether one condition might be the cause of change in something else. When you complete Part One you will be ready to take the first step in the research process that of selecting a question to investigate. PREV NEXT TOC

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Part One: Thinking Like a Researcher


Part Two: Planning Research

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Part Two: Planning Research In Part One, we introduced you to how researchers think. In Part Two, we show how researchers plan research projects. The first step is to decide what you want to study. Chapter 4 deals with this important step. Part of the process of selecting a problem to investigate is learning about existing research on the problem. In research, this process is known as reviewing the literature. Chapter 4, therefore, includes details on how to plan and conduct a review of the literature. With the growing importance of the Internet and Web sites as sources of social research information, Chapter 4 also provides an introduction to Internet searching and provides some selected social research Web sites. After you know what you want to study, you can begin to plan how you are going to carry out your study. This is the second main step in research and consists of formulating a design or plan for the project. Four chapters are devoted to this process. Chapter 5 addresses the main decisions that have to be made in preparing a research design, including the definition of the concepts or variables you intend to study. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 describe ways of measuring concepts and variables. The important topic of selecting a sample, including different kinds of samples you might want to use, is discussed in Chapter 8. After you finish Part Two you should have a pretty good idea of how to select a question to investigate and how to prepare a research design to provide data for answering your research question. PREV NEXT TOC

Chapter 4 Selecting a Question to Investigate Chapter 5 Creating a Research Design Chapter 6 Developing Measures Chapter 7 Constructing Composite Measures: Scales and Indexes Chapter 8 Selecting a Sample


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Part Three: Creating Data

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Part Three: Creating Data Chapter 9 Designing Experiments Chapter 10 Surveys and Questionnaire Construction Chapter 11 Interviewing From the beginning of this book, you have read about the collection of data. Part Three, with its seven chapters, presents the main ways data are created and used in social research. The idea of creating instead of collecting data may strike you as odd. Most researchers use terms like collecting or gathering data. In fact, we have throughout this book. Why, then, do we speak of creating data? Simple. As the researcher you create your research project. You decide which variables to study. You also decide how to measure each of these variables, and which method or methods you will use to obtain these measurements. In addition, you will choose how to analyze your data and what conclusions you will draw from your analyses. We hope you approach the following chapters with this view in mind. With this perspective, you may appreciate even more your own vital role in how your data are created and, therefore, how your decisions and actions affect the outcome of your research.

Accepting the idea that you create your data also means that you and you alone are responsible Chapter 12 for the accuracy of your data. We hope this sobering thought will increase your interest in Using Available learning how to create, record, and analyze your data as well as possible. Data Part Three provides detailed descriptions and step-by-step guidance for applying the most frequently used methods of conducting social research. We begin with a discussion of the Chapter 13 experiment the most rigorous form of scientific inquiry. Chapter 9 describes how experiments Observing are planned and conducted in the social sciences. The following two chapters are devoted to Behavior conducting surveys. Chapter 10 describes how to construct a questionnaire. Chapter 11 describes how to conduct interviews using a questionnaire. Not all research, however, depends on Chapter 14 collecting new data. Creative researchers find ways to reanalyze available data to answer new Performing research questions. This approach to research is covered in Chapter 12. Observation is mankind's Evaluation oldest technique for learning about our environment. Observation as a scientific process is Research described in Chapter 13. Social scientists are frequently asked to conduct evaluations of medical, educational, or other social development efforts. Chapter 14 describes ways of planning and Chapter 15 Using a Multi- conducting evaluations of programs. Part Three ends with Chapter 15, which has two main parts. Method Design The first part compares the strengths and limitations of each of the research methods presented in and Conducting the preceding chapters and discusses the advantages of using a multimethod approach to collecting data. The second part of this chapter describes how to plan and conduct a Rapid Rural Rapid Rural Appraisal, a specific form of multimethod research. Appraisals After you complete Part Three, you will be ready to prepare a research design and, using that design, to collect data to answer your research question. Part Four, which follows, describes how to organize and analyze the data you will collect. PREV NEXT TOC

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Part Three: Creating Data


Parts Four: Analyzing Data

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Part 4. Analyzing Data After you have collected your data, you are ready to analyze it. But first, you have to prepare your data for analysis. In Chapter 16, "Preparing Data for Analysis," we describe ways of preparing data for analysis by hand or with the help of a statistical analysis package. After the data are prepared, analysis begins by describing each key variable, one at a time. In statistics, this process is known as univariate analysis; "uni" means one and "variate" refers to variable. Techniques of univariate analysis are covered in Chapter 17. After completing univariate analyses, researchers frequently move on to the simultaneous analysis of two or more variables or what is called bivariate analysis. "Bi" refers to two and, with variate, means two variables. The simultaneous analysis of three or more variables is called multivariate analysis. "Multi" means many, but in research done by a lone researcher, such as you may be, typically only three or four variables are analyzed together. Chapter 18, "Conducting Bivariate and Multivariate Analyses," shows how to conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results of univatiate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses are frequently reported in the form of tables or graphs. Therefore, we also show how to construct and "read" tables and graphs. Chapter 19, "Performing Inferential Statistical Analyses," explains the logic behind using data from a sample to estimate or infer characteristics of the population from which the sample was selected. Two frequently used forms of inference are explained and illustrated. These are: (1) estimating the value of a population mean, using data from a sample; and (2) conducting a statistical test of significance for a relationship between two or more variables in a population. Each is based on probability theory. Chapter 19, therefore, includes an introduction to probability theory and its use in making statistical inferences. This chapter also describes how to conduct some frequently used tests of statistical significance. PREV NEXT TOC

Chapter 16 Preparing Data for Analysis Chapter 17 Techniques of Univariate Analyis Chapter 18 Conducting Bivariate and Multivariate Analyses Chapter 19 Performing Inferential Statistical Analyses



Part Five: Writing Your Report

Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Part 5. Writing Your Report You have spent a lot of time and effort in conducting your research and analyzing your data. Now it is time to write your report. Chapter 20 Reporting Your Experienced researchers often use multiple ways to communicate their results to various Researchs audiences. These include preparing a manuscript for submission to a journal, giving an oral report, and reporting your results through the mass media. We offer some suggestions for reporting your results in these additional ways. We wish you success in writing your report and in sharing your result findings with others. PREV NEXT TOC In Chapter 20, the last chapter on this site, we provide some guidance on how to prepare for and to write your result. We also provide links to some Web sites that you might find useful.



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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Chapter 1: Understanding Scientific Inquiry Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids Introduction Social research is based on the methods of scientific inquiry. This way of looking at the world around us is relatively new, beginning only about 500 hundred years ago. Previously, people followed other paths to what was accepted as true. Their beliefs about nature and mankind were based mainly on traditions passed down from one generation to the next and the unquestioned acceptance that what they were taught was true. Scientific inquiry began in Europe in the 16th century when a few men challenged the traditional and authoritarian beliefs of their time and began analyzing what they observed about nature. Their early research led to what we now call scientific inquiry. All scientific research, including social research, is based on the assumptions underlying scientific inquiry and the norms scientists use in conducting and evaluating research. Much of this chapter is devoted to an examination of the assumptions and norms of scientific inquiry. Scientific inquiry, however, has limits. It cannot be used to discover everything we would like to know. Scientific inquiry, for example, cannot answer questions about what is right or wrong in a moral sense; nor can it settle differences in religious or philosophical beliefs. Its use is limited to answering questions only about things we can observe with our senses. Gaining an understanding of scientific inquiry and its limits is essential for planning and conducting research. Alternatives to scientific inquiry Humans, with brains and feelings much like ours, have roamed the earth for perhaps 100,000 years or longer. Through all this time, humans have lived in social groups - families, tribes, and now nations - and, over time, have developed a large number of different beliefs about the natural world and how social life should be organized. These beliefs, common to all societies, include how the universe and our world were created; why the sun, moon and stars move as they do; how mankind came to exist; why crops grow or fail to do so; on what basis leaders of the group should be selected; and thousands of other things that each society accepts as true and proper. Some of the beliefs from these earlier times still persist and can influence our ability to conduct scientific inquiry. Two forms of beliefs, in particular, can undermine a scientific approach to discovering new information. These are the acceptance of traditional beliefs and those based on the authority of persons. As researchers, we have to guard against accepting either form of beliefs without testing them to see if they are true. Unquestioned acceptance of traditional and authoritarian beliefs can influence your thinking as you prepare to do research. Also, each of us, even with research training, can make certain errors in reaching conclusions from what we observe. One kind of error is the uncritical acceptance of traditional beliefs. PREV NEXT

1 Definitions for key terms, shown in italics, are provided in the Glossary.

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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Traditional beliefs Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids Traditional beliefs are accepted as true simply because previous generations passed them on to the next generation as true. Traditional beliefs are not necessarily true or false; right or wrong; good or bad. From a social point of view, some traditional beliefs have positive results. Traditional medicines, based on local plants, have cured illnesses in many societies for generations. Scientists are now examining these "folk" remedies to find new medicines. Other traditional beliefs, however, have negative effects. In some societies, women follow the belief of "eating down" eating less than normal or, at least, not increasing their food intake during pregnancy. This practice is based on the belief that eating down will limit the size of the baby and, thus, avoids a difficult delivery (Brems and Berg, 1989; Harrison, 1992, p. 21; and El Hiday and Zumrawi, 1992, p. 31). In addition, societies have a number of beliefs about food that should be avoided during pregnancy. In many regions of India, for example, animal foods (eggs, fish, meat), which are quite nutritious for pregnant women, are perceived as harmful during pregnancy (Nag, 1994). Apart from their possible negative social effects, social scientists have serious objections to accepting traditional beliefs as true. In traditional societies, beliefs rest on the power of the group to make members of the group believe them. Where tradition prevails, there is no procedure for testing the truthfulness of beliefs: They simply have to be accepted as true. To question a belief could bring scorn or even punishment from other members of the group. As a researcher, we urge you to analyze the basis of statements you have been told are true. The fact that "everybody says" this or that is true is not a scientific basis for accepting what is true. Accepting statements based on tradition could prevent you from conducing scientifically acceptable research. In contrast, scientists base their conclusions, the statements expressing what was learned from research, only on what has been observed, and not on the basis of what is generally thought to be true. Beliefs based on authority Authoritarian beliefs rest on the fact that members of a group accept a statement as true because persons in powerful positions in the group say the statement is true. These persons may be tribal or religious leaders, elders, military officials, political leaders, teachers or scientists. Challenging a statement by a prominent authority requires courage and judgment. Some authorities, like scientists or teachers, spend a great deal of time and effort to master a field of knowledge. We rely on these specialists to provide knowledge for our use. But even scientists sometimes disagree on certain points. Further, a scientist recognized as an authority in one field may act like an expert in another field, even when the scientist has no exceptional knowledge in that field and could be plain wrong! To prevent or correct errors scientists demand evidence in support of any statement about our natural world, regardless of who says it is true. In The Nature of Inquiry, Professor Darden, University of Maryland, United States, shows how even highly respected scientists can be wrong. She provides a readable and thoughtful essay in response to the question: "Are there cases of famous scientists who did good work but also made


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honest mistakes?" In answering this question, Professor Darden also illustrates the self correcting processes of science. Relying on experience Each of us has a variety of personal experiences as we grow up and interact daily with others. We not only learn from these experiences, but we also develop our own unique ways of processing these experiences in our brains. Through these processes, we reach conclusions about events all the time. To illustrate, based on your experiences with family members, friends and others, you have probably decided that most people are fair and honest. The expansion of your conclusion from the limited experience you have had with a relatively small number of persons to "most" persons is an example of forming a broader more general statement or what scientists call drawing a generalization. The purpose of social research is to produce generalizations about people and their interactions in groups. In forming generalizations from the data they collect, social scientists guard against making errors that we all sometimes make in drawing conclusions from everyday experiences. The names of authors and dates of publications are used in research reports to identify publications. The full reference for these and other publications we cite are listed in the list of References. See Chapter 4 for details on how to prepare and cite references. PREV NEXT

1 The names of authors and dates of publications are used in research reports to identify publications. The full reference for these and other publications we cite are listed in the list of References. See Chapter 4 for details on how to prepare and cite references.


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help One form of error is over-generalizing. This occurs when we arrive at some conclusion or make a generalization based on limited information. Let's say you meet some fellow students from a certain area of your country and all said they came from large families. On this basis, you might be tempted to tell others that all families in that area have large numbers of children. If you did, you would be over-generalizing because you don't have data about all or even a large number of the families in that area. Some families might include only a few or even no children. Researchers limit their conclusions to what their data clearly support. Another kind of common error is to reach a conclusion before all the data are examined. This is called premature closure. Let's go back to the example of family sizes. Suppose you decided to investigate the actual sizes of the families living in a certain area. Let's say you asked the heads of 20 families out of several hundred living in the area how many persons reside in their households. You find that most have large numbers of members, but some do not. If you stopped collecting data at that point and concluded that, indeed, most families are large you would probably be making the error of premature closure. In effect, you closed your mind to new information. To safely generalize about sizes of families in the area, you would need to collect data from a much larger number of families representing the entire group of families. We are also prone to selective observation, another common error in forming conclusions based on experience. As the name implies, we select certain experiences and ignore others. Often, the experiences we select are ones that agree with our values or prejudices. We look for what we expect to find. Using the family size example yet again, suppose you had been told repeatedly that people living in the area in question all want to have many children. You meet a few students from the area and find they also want to have large families, which reinforces what you expected to hear. In addition, suppose you also meet an equal number of students from the area who say they want only a few children. Without being consciously aware of it, you might disregard the reports that are contrary to your expectation and form your conclusion based on only on the reports that agreed with what your expected to hear. As researchers, we have to guard against generalizing beyond the data we have; closing our minds to additional data; or selecting only certain findings and ignoring other data when we are forming generalizations. In later chapters, you will learn how to avoid these kinds of errors. Scientific inquiry Origins of the scientific approach Beginning in about the 16th century in Europe, a small number of men began to question traditionally accepted beliefs about the natural world. One of these early scientists was Galileo Galile, an Italian. As students, men like Galileo and others before him, learned what educated persons had been taught for over a thousand years. Beliefs about the natural world were then based on what Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, had written about 1,000 years earlier. One of these "truths" was that the earth was the center of the universe; another was that the sun revolved around the earth. But the early scientists began to question these beliefs. Based on their observations of the

Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids


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movements of the sun, planets, and other bodies in the universe, they saw a different pattern. Their observations convinced them that the earth was not the center of the universe and that the earth circled the sun and not the other way around. Instead of accepting the traditional beliefs of their age, they reported their observations and conclusions. Other scientists, at great risk from religious authorities who defended the traditional beliefs, repeated the studies of earlier scientists and came to similar conclusions. Based on the agreement among their observations, these early scientists gained confidence in their methods and, after a struggle lasting several centuries, succeeded in establishing a new way of inquiring about the natural world. In several centuries, the scientific method of inquiry spread from the study of the physical things, to biology and later to the study of the human mind and human behavior and, lastly, to the investigation of social life. Today, the scientific approach is accepted worldwide as the best way of establishing knowledge about what we can observe. This includes understanding how social relationships develop and are carried out. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help The scientific approach to knowledge Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids At this point in your education, you are no doubt familiar with the "scientific method." We put scientific method in quotation marks because there is no single scientific method. There is no single way of describing the scientific approach to establishing knowledge. We present one way. In addition to our description, you may want to look at other descriptions. Go to google.com or some other search engine and do a search on "scientific inquiry" or "scientific method" and you will find that there are literally millions of sites with views on these topics. Or, you may wish to visit three sites we recommend. These are: Introduction to the Scientific Method describes steps in the scientific method, discusses hypothesis testing, identifies common mistakes in applying the scientific method, and addresses other topics related to scientific inquiry. An Introduction to Science provides a definition of science, discusses scientific and critical thinking in terms of three central elements; empiricism, use of empirical or observational evidence; rationalism, the practice of logical reasoning; and skepticism, possessing a questioning attitude. The Scientific Method defines the scientific method, the difference between a fact, theory, and hypothesis, how science established truth, and other issues related to establishing scientific knowledge. By comparing what we say with the discussions on these sites and others you may find, you will gain a clearer idea of how scientific inquiry is carried out. Although scientists may describe the process of scientific inquiry in different ways, all scientific research is based on a way of answering questions about the natural world. Scientific inquiry is based on a set of assumptions about how knowledge is established and a set of norms for guiding how research is conducted. First, let's examine the assumptions underlying scientific inquiry. Assumptions underlying scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry is based on certain assumptions about the natural world we live in and how we learn about it. Although the following assumptions cannot be "proved" as true, scientists accept them as reasonable bases for conducting scientific inquiry. There is an objective reality. Science assumes there is an objective reality outside of what we experience through our senses. Each of us develops some idea of this reality from our daily experiences. We see the sun rise each day. We do not imagine this. It is a real event. So are the many other things we experience daily. They are real and external to us. Nature is orderly. Natural events and processes occur in an orderly, predictable manner. Long before scientific research began, humans saw orderly processes in nature - in the movement of the sun, moon, and planets; in the recurring seasons; in the cycle of life, growth, and death; and in so many other ways. Scientists seek to discover orderly processes in nature and to describe them as precisely as possible. In the physical sciences, description takes the form of mathematical


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relations among things. Social scientists also seek to discover recurring patterns in social behavior, although we are not able to summarize these patterns as precisely as physical scientists do. Nature is an interactive, closed system. To scientists, nature is not only orderly, but it is an interactive system. Each part or each event is connected to other parts and events. Weather systems illustrate this point. We see the changes coming, often in the form of changes in cloud formations and wind directions. Heavy clouds generally bring rain. It doesn't rain without clouds. The clouds form because of changes in temperature, pressure, humidity, or wind directions at points far away. Although far from perfect, scientific understanding of what causes changes in weather patterns helps us predict and prepare for future weather conditions. Our description of the assumptions of science is adapted from the work of Merton (1968, pp. 607-615); Nachmias & Nachmias (2000, pp. 5-7); and Williams (2000): See the List of References. PREV NEXT

1 Our description of the assumptions of science is adapted from the work of Merton (1968, pp. 607-615); Nachmias & Nachmias (2000, pp. 5-7); and Williams (2000): See the List of References.


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Social scientists make similar assumptions about social behavior. We look for the regularities the recurring patterns in what people, say, do, and think. Repeated forms of behavior are expressions of the norms and values of a society. Changes in norms of a group are linked to changes in other social conditions of the group. Changes in roles of women, for example, from working only in the home as mothers and wives to assuming employment outside the home, don't just happen. These kinds of changes generally result from changes in the overall economic system of a society followed by changes in views about women working outside the home. Social scientists look for these kinds of relationships and seek to explain why they occur. Mankind can understand nature, including human behavior. Social scientists also assume that the human mind can comprehend our external world. Although we are part of the world's biological system, we also possess several unique abilities. Only humans, as far as we know, can record what we experience and use these observations to construct a description of our external world. Further, our capacity extends to knowing ourselves and understanding the minds of others. On this basis, social scientists are able to discover regularities of social life and develop explanations for social behavior. Agreement about reality is possible. For years the scientific community believed it was possible to do objective research. With proper methods and careful research, scientists thought they could provide an objective description of the natural world, devoid of human error. With advances in understanding of how human sensory and intellectual systems work, we now recognize that absolute objectivity is impossible. Research is conducted by human beings: None of us, no matter how well trained and disciplined in conducting research, can completely overcome basic human limitations in perception and ways of thinking. We all bring at least traces of our personal interests and our own way of perceiving and thinking to whatever we study. All observation, which includes all data collection, therefore, is subject to error. This being the case, how do scientists agree on what is believed to be true based on the results of scientific inquiry? While recognizing that absolute objectivity is impossible, scientists assert that it is possible to construct an approximation of the real conditions we seek to understand. Our nearest approximation to reality is based on the extent of agreement among competent scientists about what is accepted as a true description of some aspect of nature. Scientists in a given field, in effect, agree to accept certain conclusions as true when they are supported by a large amount of verified data. Agreement comes after a rigorous process of criticism and review by fellow scientists. Still, the truth of statement always remains open to question, subject to change based on new discoveries. Box 1.1 below summarizes the assumptions of science.



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Box 1.1. Assumptions of Scientific Inquiry 1. There is an objective reality apart from our perceptions of things. 2. Natural events and processes occur in an orderly, regular manner. 3. The natural events and processes we observe are part of larger, closed, interactive systems. All events have natural causes within these systems. 4. Humans can comprehend how natural systems function. 5. Scientific inquiry provides a basis for reaching agreement of what is true about things we observe what really exists. Norms of scientific inquiry Scientists seek to apply the norms and values listed in Box 1.2 in all their work. These are the ideals. In practice, individual scientists and even scientific organizations do not always live up to these norms. When scientists fail to. PREV NEXT

1 Our description of the norms of science is based mainly on the work of Merton (1968, pp. 607-615); and Zucherrman (1988, pp. 515-16).


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Universalism. Ideally, the scientific community recognizes no advantages or distinctions among scientists other than the merit of their research. Research is judged by its scientific quality, not by who did the research or where it was done. Whether the investigator was a male or female, from one country versus another, or what their previous research record is should not matter: Only the quality of research being reported is considered. Science strives to be a true international effort. Reliance on observation. Science relies on evidence derived from observations. In doing research, scientists record what they observe through their senses - seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, or tasting. Relying on human senses to establish knowledge is known as empiricism. Scientific knowledge rests on empirical discovery and logical analysis of what is observed. Scientists accept no other basis for establishing knowledge. All conclusions or generalizations must be based on empirical evidence. Box 1.2. Norms of scientific inquiry 1. Science is universal. It is based on the same rules, norms, and criteria for judging quality of research for scientists anywhere in the world. 2. Science relies on empirical observation, derived from use of the human senses. 3. Every research report is open to critical review by other scientists. 4. Scientists accept unexpected or contrary results equally with expected findings. 5. Scientists seek to be as objective as possible in all their work. 6. Scientists expect absolute honesty by researchers in conducting and reporting scientific research. 7. The scientific community is committed to communicating research results for scientific and public use. 8. Scientists are expected to be open-minded and be ready to accept new knowledge that emerges from the worldwide scientific community. Skeptical review of all research. Every scientific report is subject to criticism. Nothing is accepted as self evident. Criticism focuses on how important the topic is, how the study was designed, descriptions of protections that were taken to ensure collection of valid data, how the data were analyzed, and the validity of the conclusions or generalizations that are offered. Scientific criticism serves to weed out results that do not meet the stringent criteria of scientific research and to recognize results that have scientific merit. Scientists expect and accept this criticism as part of the way the scientific community works. They also recognize that criticism, no matter how much they may dislike it, is not personal. When your research advisor criticizes your research proposal, design, analysis, or conclusions, remember this is simply the way the scientific community seeks truth. Maintaining a disinterested attitude. Scientists are trained to accept what their data tell them. Ideally, scientists are open to unexpected findings or even look for data that are contrary tohttp://www.srmdc.net/chapter1/6.htm (1 of 2) [2/11/2008 8:40:21 AM]


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tentative conclusions. The great British biologist, Charles Darwin, for example, kept notebooks in which he recorded every report or observation contrary to the theory of evolution that he was developing. He used contrary reports to test the strength of his own observations and interpretations of his data. Being objective. Closely related to remaining disinterested in the results of a study is the norm of being objective. Being objective or showing objectivity means we examine a problem or set of data with no preconceived ideas or personal bias. Ideally, a scientist's objectivity will allow the person to see something like it really is, as it exists in its natural form, without any distortion or error. As we said earlier, complete objectivity is not possible, but social scientists try to be as objective as possible. The opposite of objectivity is subjectivity. Being subjective about something means that we show an obvious bias or unfounded personal preference for one idea or conclusion over others. Using methods of scientific inquiry helps protect against subjectivity and increases our capacity to be more objective in research. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Being completely honest. Scientists are not unique in stressing honesty in their profession. This norm, however, is particularly strong in scientific research. Researchers are expected to be honest in what they report. A research report provides only a brief description of the many actions that occur in the course of an investigation. Data are almost always presented in summarized form. Other scientists reading the report assume that what they read presents an honest, accurate description of the methods used and how the data were collected and analyzed. Any cheating or misrepresentation, when discovered, is viewed as a major violation of the scientific ethic. Commitment to communicate. Scientists are expected to share their results with other scientists in their area of interest and for broad public use. Reporting on research is most often done by publication of short articles in scientific and professional journals. Articles, however, are not accepted in most journals until reviewed and accepted by other qualified scientists. This process of peer review applies the norm of skepticism and helps assure publication of only quality research. Today, research results are often made available over the Internet, a worldwide means of electronic communication. Results published in this way or in books are also subject to peer review by other scientists. Keeping an open mind. Finally, scientists remain open-minded. As we mentioned earlier, all knowledge is considered tentative, subject to change as new findings emerge from the international scientific community. Periodically, new results emerge that are contrary to what scientists in some field had accepted as established knowledge. One example occurred a few decades ago when researchers began to discover that young children had greater intellectual abilities than was commonly accepted. When these results were first announced, they created a controversy among researchers who study early childhood development. Additional research was conducted; the results of various studies were compared; in time, the results clearly indicated that young children are capable of more advanced intellectual processes than had been earlier believed. These debates can go on for years until one side of the argument builds up a convincing set of data. The outcome may be acceptance of a new view, as was the case of the early learning ability of children. But when additional studies fail to produce similar results, the new findings remain questionable or may be rejected. By this process, science produces an open, growing, changing body of knowledge. The scientific method of inquiry has proved to be the most powerful, reliable way of establishing knowledge about the natural world. There are, however, limits to the kind of questions that can be answered by scientific inquiry. Limits of scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry and the research process can be applied only to things we can observe. Scientific inquiry cannot be used to answer questions for which we cannot obtain observations. Questions regarding ultimate existence, whether there is life after death, or whether a certain behavior is morally right or wrong, cannot be answered by scientific inquiry. The reason is that questions like these cannot be stated in a way that observations can be made to answer them. Persons can argue about them and offer reasons for one answer versus others, but there is no way to offer empirical evidence that one answer is more truthful or correct than another.



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Also, scientific inquiry cannot be used to answer questions based on value judgments. These are statements that simply assert that one thing is "better" or "preferable" to something else. As the name implies, these judgments are based on one's values - what we think is "right" or "wrong" or "good" or "bad." There is no way, for example, to test the statement: "Men are more important than women." This is simply a judgment made on the belief that men are more important than women. Persons believing in such a position can argue it; persons with contrary views can argue back, but there is no objective way of settling the issue. Whether one thing or group is more important than another depends on how "important" is defined and this usually depends on who is offering the definition of importance. When this kind of issue is argued, however, one side or the other will frequently give reasons for their position. Many times, these reasons offer a basis for scientific inquiry. If, for example, a person says men are more important because they are more intelligent, we now have a statement that can be tested by observation. We can subject this statement to scientific inquiry. We could have a large number of men and women take a standardized intelligence test and compare the results to see if, in fact, men score higher than women. Adding the "because" pointed to something that could be measured and compared. This little change makes the statement a basis for scientific inquiry. When the statement or question can be answered by obtaining data of some sort, it can become the basis of scientific inquiry; if not, the statement or question remains in the realm of philosophy, religion, or plain argument. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help

Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids Stages in the research process

The research process

Scientific inquiry combines the set of norms just described with a method for observing events and processes in the world about us. Figure 1.1 shows the research process in terms of eight inter-related stages. In Chapter 2, we show how a group of researchers went through these steps in conducting a large research project in the Sudan. For now, we want to point out three important characteristics of the process. A sequence of actions First, research generally follows the sequence of stages shown in Figure 1.1. A researcher begins by stating the problem or research question he or she intends to investigate and then proceeds through each of the remaining stages. The review of the literature, generally the second stage, consists of identifying and analyzing research reports bearing on the research question. After becoming familiar with other research on the question being investigated, the researcher may formulate a hypothesis, but this step is not required. All research, however, requires a plan or design for the collection and analysis of data. The design is a very important part of any study. At this stage, the researcher selects and defines the specific characteristics for which data will be collected and decides how to measure these characteristics. Identifying who the data will be collected from, called constructing a sample, is part of the design phase. The next step consists of data collection, using the measuring instruments developed in the design phase. A nalysis follows, which produces the results or findings of the study. Based on the results obtained, a researcher then provides an interpretation of what the results mean. The interpretation of the findings leads to presentation of the conclusions of the investigation. The final stage consists of writing a report that describes the decisions and actions taken throughout the entire process. An iterative process Second, notice that the arrows connecting the stages are bi-directional: They point in both directions. Although an investigation normally proceeds from the definition of the research question to the review of the literature and on to the next stage, unexpected problems almost always come up. Some of these may be serious enough to require going back to an earlier stage for rethinking some earlier decisions. For example, a researcher may select a certain problem and move on to the review of the literature only to discover that the planned research has already been done. Then, the researcher has to start over. At the design stage, researchers sometimes find that additional measures are needed for the variables they wish to investigate. This too can lead the researcher back to the literature for new ideas. This kind of back and forth movement occurs at all stages of research. As a beginning researcher, you may have a false start or have to abandon your initial idea after you get into your project. If this happens, don't despair. Consider it as a learning experience. Also, be assured that this back and forth process is common in research. All researchers, even


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those with a lot of experience, go through this iterative process. With experience, however, the process becomes easier. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Reliance of emerging knowledge Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aids Third, Figure 1.1 also illustrates that at each stage of the research process, researchers draw on the relevant scientific body of knowledge. At each stage of research, you will need to search for and apply knowledge related to the tasks you are doing at that stage. At the beginning, you will want to review the research literature so you can place your research in the context of previous research; at the design stage, you will want to look at how previous researchers designed their research. When you analyze your data, you will want to see how others did analyses similar to the ones you are planning to do. The same point holds when you prepare to interpret your findings and develop your conclusions. What did other researchers on topics similar to yours find? How did they interpret their findings? What conclusions did they draw? In this way, researchers constantly review and draw upon the accumulating body of social science information.

Figure 1.1. Stages in the research process Professor Trochim presents an alternative way of viewing the research process. In the Structure of Research, he describes the process of research as resembling the shape of an hour glass; researchers start with a broad question, narrow the focus to a specific problem or question, convert this to an hypothesis which further restricts the inquiry, and then develop measures and collect data for testing the hypothesis; following analysis of the data, the focus broadens again with the formulation of conclusions and generalizations from the investigation Aids Internet Resources Previously in this chapter we referred to three Web sites containing alternative and additional information on scientific inquiry and the application of the scientific method. Web sites accessible through the Internet are now a valuable source of information on many social researchhttp://www.srmdc.net/chapter1/9.htm (1 of 2) [2/11/2008 8:40:37 AM]

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topics. You can copy, download, or printout what you want. For researchers in developing countries, where libraries have limited collections of books and journals, the Internet can provide immediate, free access to valuable information that otherwise would not be available. Also, information on millions of valuable Web sites is free. If you don't know how to use the Internet, go to Help Internet for help in searching the Internet. If you know how to move around the Internet, you might want to view some additional sites that discuss scientific inquiry and the scientific method, using www.google.com of some other search engine. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Key Termsc Introduction Alternatives to scientific inquiry Scientific inquiry Limits of scientific inquiry The research process Aidsq q q q q q q q q q q q q q

Analysis Conclusion Copy Data collection Design Download Empirical Empiricism Findings Generalization Hypothesis Internet Interpretation Objectivity

q q q q q q q q q q q q q

Over-generalizing Premature closure Print-out Results Review of the literature Sample Scientific inquiry Scientific method Search engine Selective observation Subjectivity Value judgement Web site

Definitions for key terms are provided in the Glossary. Main points 1. Relying on traditional or authoritarian beliefs or one's own experience can lead to false conclusions. 2. Science assumes that there is an orderly, objective reality apart from our perception of nature; that events occur within natural systems; that we can understand this reality; and that we can agree on what is real or true about natural processes. 3. Scientists rely on observation for establishing what is true; seek to establish truth on a universal level; subject all new research findings to intense criticism; try to be objective and honest in all aspects of their research; remain disinterested in how research results turn out; keep an open mind toward new knowledge; and are committed to sharing the results of research with the scientific community and the public. 4. Scientific inquiry can only be used to address questions for which data can be collected. Questions for which empirical answers cannot be obtained remain in the realm of philosophy or religion. 5. The research process generally follows a sequence of steps. The typical steps are: selection of the research question; review of the literature; development of a hypothesis (optional); preparation of the design for the collection and analysis of data; data collection; analysis and interpretation of the data; formulation of conclusions; and preparation of a report describing the entire project. PREV NEXT BEGINNING TOC


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Chapter 2. The Sudan Fertility Survey: An Introduction to Research Introduction Specifying the research question Designing the study Collecting the data Analyzing the data Interpreting the results Generalizing the results Aids Introduction In Chapter 1 you learned about the scientific approach to conducting research and the typical stages in the research process. In this chapter, we show how the research process was used in conducting the Sudan Fertility Survey, a large scale research project designed to provide information on an important condition affecting the future of the Sudan its birth rate. As with all research, the Sudan Fertility Survey began with the definition of the problem to be investigated. Specifying the research question In most research, the researcher decides what to investigate, as you will have to do in your initial study. Sometimes, however, researchers are asked to investigate a question for some organization, such as a government ministry. This is how the Sudan Fertility Survey occurred. The Department of Statistics of the government of the Sudan wanted accurate, detailed information of the current and the estimated future fertility rate in Sudan. In population research, the fertility rate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing ages. The resulting investigation became known as the Sudan Fertility Survey (Department of Statistics, 1982). We describe this study for four reasons: 1. To show the value of social research - the survey was requested by the government of the Sudan to provide information for developing family planning programs; 2. To illustrate the application of social research methods to an important social problem that of high population growth; 3. To show how research is planned and carried out in practice; and 4. To give you an idea of how the results of research can be used to understand social conditions in a country. We begin by examining how the study was carried out because the value of the results depends on how information is collected and analyzed, and this depends on how well the study was planned in the first place. Designing the study All research projects require a design or plan for the collection and analysis of the data. In preparing a design for the Sudan Fertility Survey, a number of important decisions had to be made, one of which was who to study. References begin with the name(s) of the authors(s). In the case of the Sudan Fertility Survey, the author is a government organization. The full reference to this report and others we cite later are provided in the List of References PREV NEXT

1.References begin with the name(s) of the authors(s). In the case of the Sudan Fertility Survey,http://www.srmdc.net/chapter2/1.htm (1 of 2) [2/11/2008 8:40:49 AM]

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the author is a government organization. The full reference to this report and others we cite later are provided in the list of References


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Who to study? Introduction Specifying the research question Designing the study Collecting the data Analyzing the data Interpreting the results Generalizing the results Aids Given the objective the of the study, it was obvious that married women would have to be the source of the desired information. In research terms, the women became the respondents in the study. Their responses to questions they were asked became the data of the investigation. Incidentally, data are plural. No one would base a study on the answer of a single respondent to a single question, which would produce a datum or just one bit of information. In contrast, research is based on the collection and analysis of a body of data. The Sudan Fertility Survey, for example, was based on responses by more than 3,000 women to over 200 questions. That's a lot of data. With the decision made to collect data from married women, the researchers faced a new decision. This was whether to collect data from all eligible women in northern Sudan or to limit data collection to some smaller number of women. All eligible women, those who were ever married and living in northern Sudan constituted the population being studied. For the Sudan study, the population included over three million women, far too many to try to collect data from: Doing so would take too long and cost too much money. Knowing this, the researchers chose the alternative used in most social research. They selected only part of the population as the respondents for the study. This smaller set of women, called a sample, was selected so that the women in the sample were like the population in all important ways, such as being about the same ages, having the same levels of education, and having the same number of children. In Chapter 8 you will learn how samples are selected. How to collect the data? Next, the researchers had to decide how to collect the data from the sample of women. The method chosen was to conduct a survey based on personal interviews with each woman in the sample. With this decided, the investigators turned to developing the questions to be asked. Stating the questions to be asked is a critical step in a planning a research project because, as in everyday life, the answer you get to any question you ask often depends on how the question was asked. Considerable care, therefore, was taken in framing each question. This task was made easier in the Sudan study because many of the questions used were used in previous studies of fertility in other countries. Studies frequently require translation of questions into the language of the respondents. This was the case with the Sudan survey. Questions, originally in English, were translated into Arabic, the language of the women who would be interviewed. This translation was checked to make sure that the meaning of each question was not changed as a result of being translated. Checking was done by translating each question back from Arabic into English, and then by comparing the two English forms of each question. When the back translation agrees with the original language, the translation is considered safe to use. If the two forms differ, the process is checked to find the cause of the difference. In this case, English and Arabic versions of the questions were compared. Back translation, however, can be used with any set of languages. After the researchers were certain that the translated questions asked what was intended, a small


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sample of women was interviewed to make sure that the women who would be interviewed in the main study would understand the questions and be able to answer them accurately. Following this step, called a pretest, the questions were organized into a questionnaire. As the name implies, a questionnaire is the final set of questions used to collect data from a sample. Persons called interviewers were then trained to use the questionnaire to interview each woman included in the sample. In conducting interviews, each respondent was asked each question on the questionnaire and her answers were recorded by the interviewer. So far we have discussed the typical elements of a social survey. A survey is one form of social research. Generally, surveys are based on data collection from a sample using a questionnaire. Collecting the data The collection of data, in this case the process of interviewing the respondents, lasted from December, 1978, to April, 1979, and resulted in completion of 3,115 questionnaires from eligible women. Reporting the time period for data collection is expected in research reports because reports are frequently published years after data are collected. Therefore, it is important to tell when the data were collected. This is the only way readers can know how old the data are. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Analyzing the data Introduction Specifying the research question Designing the study Collecting the data Analyzing the data Interpreting the results Generalizing the results Aids Current fertility The purpose of analysis is to organize the data and see what was found. Analysis generally occurs in two phases. First, investigators summarize responses to each question. The central question of the Sudan Fertility Survey was how many children each woman had. Each woman was represented by a number, from zero for those who had not yet given birth to a child, to the maximum number born to any woman. These numbers represent the raw data for establishing the fertility rates in northern Sudan in 1978/79. The raw data were analyzed to find the average number of babies born to the women. Two averages, in fact, were calculated. One average was based on all the women in the sample from whom data were obtained. This average was 4.2 children. It summarized the number of children born to all women, regardless of their ages or how long they had been married. Another average was calculated to find out how many children had been born to women who presumably would not have any more babies. For this average, only data for women who were 45 to 49 years of age were used. This average described the completed fertility of married women in northern Sudan. As you might expect, the average for completed fertility (6.2 babies) was higher than that for all married women. This result would be expected because the first average included data for younger women, some of whom had only been married for a short time, whereas the average for completed fertility included only women who had many years to produce children. We cite these two averages to illustrate that a single research project can be used to answer more than one question. Chapter 18 and Chapter 19 you will give you some ideas of various ways you can analyze the data you will collect. Estimates of future fertility As researchers we often want to suggest how we think certain things may change in the future. The following examples show how data from the Sudan Fertility Survey were analyzed to get an idea of possible changes in fertility in northern Sudan. First, the research team compared the number of babies born to younger women with the number older women had given birth to when they were the same ages as the younger women. The analysis showed that younger women were continuing to have about the same number of babies as their older relatives had at the same ages. In addition, the researchers examined the number of children the women said they would like to have if they could have the exact number of children they wanted. For all women, the preferred number was an average of 6.4 children, which was higher than the actual completed fertility of the older women (6.2 children). Younger women between the ages of 15 and 24, however, indicated they wanted an average of 5.4 children, less than the 6.4 as reported by all women. These findings also point to continued high fertility in northern Sudan. The researchers also looked at the extent to which family planning was being practiced. The


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women were asked a number of questions about their knowledge and use of contraceptive methods. Here are some of the results: q Only 12% of the women had used contraceptive methods sometime in their lives: q Of those who had tried some method, only 9% stated they intended to do so again in the future; q And only 16% of the women wanting no more children said they were using a reliable means of contraception. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Seeking an explanation for fertility rates Introduction Specifying the research question Designing the study Collecting the data Analyzing the data Interpreting the results Generalizing the results Aids So far, the results suggest that fertility will remain unchanged in northern Sudan. Women wanted and were still producing large families and few of the couples were using reliable means to limit family size. Still, before stating a conclusion based on these findings, we need to examine fertility in light of other broad social trends in Sudan. Chief among these is the recent increase in years of schooling among girls. How might increased schooling be linked to fertility? To answer this question, the researchers analyzed the relationship between schooling and fertility. Here are some of the things they discovered: q Women with no schooling had an average of 4.2 children; q Women with 1 to 5 years of schooling had an average of 4.4 children; q Women with 6 or more years of schooling had only 3.0 children on the average. These findings indicate that completion of primary school was associated with lower fertility. The education of women was also related to use of contraceptives. As their schooling increased, so did the use of contraceptives: q Only 2.5% of the women with no schooling reported use of contraceptives; q While 15.0% of those with 1 to 5 years of schooling did so: q And an even larger percentage, 42.0%, of women with at least 6 years of schooling indicated use of contraceptive methods. Among women who wanted no more children, schooling was even more strongly associated with contraceptive use: q Only 8.5% of the women with no schooling and who wanted no more children reported use of contraceptives. q This was true for 29.5% of those with 1 to 5 years of schooling. q A much larger percentage, 63.0%, of the women with 6 or more years of school and who wanted no more children reported use of contraceptives. Interpreting the results From these findings, we could draw the conclusion that fertility in northern Sudan will not change much in the immediate future. In the long run, however, as schooling for girls continues to increase, fertility rates will probably decline. These conclusions would represent our interpretation of the findings. In a sentence or two, we say what we think the findings mean. To summarize: results are based on data; results are facts. Statements that give meaning to the facts or results represent the researcher's interpretation of the results. Generalizing the results When a proper sample is used, researchers can extend a conclusion by saying what they think ishttp://www.srmdc.net/chapter2/4.htm (1 of 2) [2/11/2008 8:41:07 AM]

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true for the population based on what was learned from a sample. Thus, the results from the sample of 3,115 married women who supplied data for the Sudan Fertility Survey could be extended to describe fertility and conditions affecting fertility among the 3 million married women living in northern Sudan at the time the data were collected. When conclusions are extended in this way they are referred to as empirical generalizations. Empirical is used because the generalizations are based on data. The process of creating a generalization is called generalizing. PREV NEXT


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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Some empirical generalizations that can be drawn from the results of the Sudan Fertility Survey are: q Fertility in northern Sudan is high, averaging slightly over 6 children per married woman. q Fertility in northern Sudan will probably remain high in the coming years. q However, in the long run, fertility in northern Sudan will probably decline as females obtain more schooling. Notice that these generalizations sound like conclusions. Often generalizations do, but remember, generalizations are offered as the broadest or most general statements one can make, based on the findings of a study. Researchers are careful in drawing either conclusions or generalizations. Sometimes, because of limited data, we have to limit conclusions and corresponding generalizations. The important thing is to be honest in what you say: Be careful not to over generalize or go beyond what your data indicate. For example, the three generalizations we stated earlier were limited to "northern Sudan." We did not try to generalize to all of Sudan because data were not available for other parts of the country. Aids Interpreting the results Generalizing the results Aids Internet resources In this chapter, we have presented an analysis of only one social research report. Thousands of additional research reports on all kinds of topics are available on Web sites or through other information services. Since this chapter dealt with a report on fertility, we did an Internet search using Google, a popular search service. Google reported about 203,000 Web sites dealing with "fertility rates." We also looked for reports of studies of fertility rates in POPLINE, an information service that covers population-related topics and issues. On February 9, 2005, POPLINE, listed 3,899 items concerned with fertility rates. Some of these were Web sites with the complete text of reports. For example, one report, Transitions in World Population, provides a comprehensive description of population changes, examines bases for future changes, and discusses other issues related to the changing characteristics of the world's population. Others provided summaries of journal articles, books, and other reports related to fertility. Chapter 4 provides explains how to construct and carry out a search of POPLINE. Either Google or POPLINE and many other information services (see Chapter 4) provide access to thousands of social research reports on all kinds of topics. Key terms

Introduction Specifying the research question Designing the study Collecting the data Analyzing the data


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Analysis Back translation Data Design Empirical generalization Generalizing Interpretation Over-generalizing

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Population Pretest Raw data Respondents Questionnaire Sample Survey

Main points 1. Information collected in an investigation is referred to as data. Data are plural; the singular of data is datum. 2. Data are analyzed to produce the results of a study. 3. Social scientists use data to establish relationships between variables. Clearly established relationships between variables provide the basis for explaining why behavior occurs as it does. 4. Findings or results are interpreted to produce the conclusions of an investigation; to interpret findings is to say what we think they mean. 5. Conclusions are statements based on findings. 6. An empirical generalization extends findings from a sample to a population. PREV NEXT BEGINNING TOC



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Home TOC Parts Glossary Links References Contact Us Help Chapter 3. Learning the Language of Research Introduction Understanding concepts & variables Theory as a way of organizing knowledge Hypothesis & research The logic of scientific inquiry The logic of scientific inquiry Cause and effect Aids Introduction In Chapters 1 and 2, you learned how social research is conducted. These chapters also introduced you to key research terms. This chapter will acquaint you with additional research terms used by researchers in their work. Understanding the terms used by researchers will help you plan and carry out your own research. Conducting research also requires the use of logic or reasoning. Two forms of reasoning, inductive and deductive logic, are used in research. We explain and illustrate each form. Also, we examine the logic used in cause and effect analyses and explain the conditions that have to exist to establish a cause and effect relationship. Two of the most frequently used terms in research are concepts and variables. We start with an explanation of concepts because this term is basic to understanding how scientists communicate and conduct research. Understanding concepts and variables Concepts With the beginning of speech, you started absorbing and using concepts without knowing you were doing so. You learned to describ

social research in developing nations

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