Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative ...

1 Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative ApproachesW. Lawrence NeumanSeventh EditionPearson Education LimitedEdinburgh GateHarlowEssex CM20 2 JEEngland and Associated Companies throughout the worldVisit us on the World Wide Web at: pearson Education Limited 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affi liation with or endorsement of this book by such owners.

2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Printed in the United States of AmericaISBN 10: 1-292-02023-7 ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02023-5 ISBN 10: 1-292-02023-7 ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02023-5 Table of ContentsPEARSON CUSTOM LIBRARY I1. Why Do Research ?11W. Lawrence Neuman2. What Are the Major Types of Social Research ?2525W. Lawrence Neuman3. Theory and Research5555W. Lawrence Neuman4. The Meanings of Methodology9191W. Lawrence Neuman5. How to Review the Literature Review and Conduct Ethical Studies125125W. Lawrence Neuman6. Strategies of Research Design165165W. Lawrence Neuman7. Qualitative and Quantitative Measurement201201W. Lawrence Neuman8. Qualitative and Quantitative Sampling245245W. Lawrence Neuman9. Experimental Research281281W. Lawrence Neuman10. Survey Research315315W. Lawrence Neuman11. Nonreactive Research and Secondary Analysis367367W. Lawrence Neuman12.

3 Analysis of Quantitative Data393393W. Lawrence Neuman13. Field Research and Focus Group Research431431W. Lawrence NeumanII14. Analysis of Qualitative Data477477W. Lawrence Neuman15. Writing the Research Report and the Politics of Social Research513513W. Lawrence Neuman16. Bibliography547547W. Lawrence Neuman587587 IndexAlternatives to Social Science ResearchWhat Research Involves A ScientificApproachVarieties of Social ResearchSteps in the Research ProcessWhy Learn How to Conduct SocialResearch?ConclusionWhy Do Research ?The sociologist, then, is someone concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way. The nature of this discipline is scientific. This means that what the sociologist finds and says about the Social phenomena he studies occurs within a certain rather strictly defined frame of reference. Peter Berger,An Invitation to Sociology,p. 16I wrote this text to help you learn about how socialscientists do Research and so you can conduct yourown studies.

4 I consider two main issues in this chap-ter: why you should learn about doing Social re-search and the basics of what Social science researchis all science Research is pervasive, and it af-fects your daily life as well as that of your family,friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Findings fromsocial science studies appear on broadcast news pro-grams, in magazines and newspapers, and on manyWeb sites and blogs. They cover dozens of topicsand fields: law and public safety, schooling, healthcare, personal and family relations, political issues,and business activities as well as international andsocial trends. We use the knowledge and principlesof Social science Research , directly or indirectly, aswe engage in relationships with family, friends, andco-workers, participate in community life or publicpolicy, and make daily decisions in business, pro-fessional life, and health care. Social Research is notjust for college classrooms and professors; highschool teachers, parents, business owners, advertis-ers, managers, administrators, officials, serviceproviders, health care professionals, and others useits findings and principles.

5 They use them to raisechildren, reduce crime, manage health concerns,sell products or services, digest news events, and soforth. There is little doubt about the importance andcentrality of Social science Research . Despite scat-tered criticism to the contrary, Research is highly rel-evant for understanding Social life generally and tothe decisions you make each see the practical relevance of Social Research ,let us consider a couple raising a three-year-oldchild. One study (Wrigley and Derby, 2005) foundthat paid child care is quite safe but also discoveredstriking differences in fatality rates across varioustypes of care. Center-based care is far safer thancare provided in private homes. Another study(Bridges et al., 2007) showed that center-based care significantly raises a child s reading andmath scores, but it has a negative effect on socio-behavioral measures ( , the child exhibits lesscooperation, more aggression).

6 Children who startat ages two to three get the largest benefit ratherFrom Chapter 1 ofSocial Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches,7/e. W. Lawrence 2011 by pearson Education. Published by Allyn & Bacon. All rights DO Research ?than younger or older children. Active parentalinvolvement with a child lessens any negative be-havioral consequences from child care. Anotherstudy (Love et al., 2003) showed that child carecenters vary widely in quality. Quality of caremakes a bigger difference than amount of time incare or whether parents or a care center is provid-ing the care. Another study (Sosinsky, Lord, andZigler, 2007) learned that care center quality wasgenerally higher in nonprofit, nonreligiously affil-iated centers than other types. Based on these find-ings, a couple may decide to look for a specific typeof child care center, devote time to checking intothe quality of care it offers, and make special ef-forts to encourage their child s Social skill devel-opment.

7 The studies are not only relevant forspecific parents but also have implications for pub-lic policy and how a community addresses childcare science Research yields valuable infor-mation and expands our understanding, but it is not100 percent foolproof. It does not guarantee perfectresults every time or offer absolute truth. This maybe why some people distrust Research -based knowl-edge or why some people, including a few mediacommentators, even ridicule professional re-searchers and study results. Despite some derision,in a head-to-head comparison with the alternativeways we can learn about the world and make deci-sions, Research readily wins hands-down. This iswhy professionals, educated people, and respon-sible leaders consistently turn to the methods, prin-ciples, and findings of Social Research when theywant to learn more or make important text considers both the methodology andmethods of Social science Research .

8 The terms mayseem to be synonyms, but methodology is broaderand envelops methods. Methodologymeans under-standing the entire Research process including itssocial-organizational context, philosophical as-sumptions, ethical principles, and the political im-pact of new knowledge from the Research to the collection of specific tech-niques we use in a study to select cases, measureand observe Social life, gather and refine data, ana-lyze data, and report on results. The two are closelylinked and and doing Social Research can be ex-citing: It is a process of discovery in which we learnmany new things. Doing Social science Research re-quires persistence, personal integrity, tolerance forambiguity, interaction with others, and pride indoing top-quality work. It also requires logicalthinking, carefully following rules, and repeatingsteps over and again. In the Research process, wejoin theories or ideas with facts in a systematic also use our creativity.

9 To conduct a study, wemust organize and plan. We need to select researchmethods appropriate to a specific question. We mustalways treat the study participants in an ethical ormoral way. In addition, we need to communicate toothers how we conducted a study and what welearned from this chapter, we consider some alternativesto Social science Research and why Research is pre-ferred. We next examine how the enterprise of sci-entific Research works, including the steps in doinga Research study and types of Social science TO Social SCIENCE RESEARCHIn this section, we look at four commonly usedalternatives to Social science Research that manypeople rely on to acquire knowledge and makedecisions:Personal experience and common senseExperts and authoritiesPopular and media messagesIdeological beliefs and valuesKnowledge from Personal Experience and Common SenseIf something happens to us, if we personally see itor experience it, we probably accept it as true.

10 Per-sonal experience or seeing is believing is a pow-erful type of knowledge. Unfortunately, it can alsolead us astray. Something similar to an optical illu-sion or mirage can occur. What appears to be trueactually is due to an illusion, yet the power of im-mediacy and direct personal contact is so strong thatwe easily fall for illusions without even realizing DO Research ?This is why many people insist on believing whatthey personally experience rather than what theylearn by reading a carefully conducted researchstudy that was designed to avoid the errors of per-sonal experience. This is especially true when re-search studies contradict what personal experienceor common sense tell us. Moreover, errors of per-sonal experience reinforce each other. A few peopleeven purposely use the distortions of personal ex-perience to mislead others through propaganda,cons or fraud, magic tricks, political manipulation,and advertising subfields of Research are devoted to un-covering the ways we misjudge, over- or underesti-mate, and make mistakes.