RESEARCH METHODS AND

ANALYSIS
KERALA STATE CIVIL SERVICE ACADEMY
 RESEARCH METHODS
• Quantitative and qualitative methods – based on nature of data and information
• Micro and macro methods – based on scope of research
• Methods based on Primary data and Secondary data

• Research design follows certain basic steps – choice of topics, collection of facts,
representation of facts, hypothesis making, testing and validation
 EXPLORATORY RESEARCH DESIGN
• It is used in the initial stages of the research to acquire some preliminary information
– to narrow down on possible alternatives.
• Gives useful direction for further research
• General methods – a) Survey of existing literature
b) Survey of experienced individuals
c) Analysis of selected case studies
 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
• Aimed at providing accurate descriptions of variables relevant to the problem
under consideration.
• It may involve both qualitative and quantitative information
• Longitudinal Research and Cross sectional Design
• Longitudinal Research – information collection from same sample of respondents
over time.
• Cross sectional Design – Give the picture of the situation at a given point of time
(Different people at one time)
 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN
• The researcher actively tries to change inputs like the situation, circumstances, or experience of
participants, which may lead to a change in behaviour or outcomes for the participants of the
study.
• Objective is to establish the causality between dependent and independent variables and test a
hypothesis.
• Mostly used for Positivist research – high objectivity, hence more reliable
• Tests the way in which an independent variable affects a dependent variable
• Ex: Hawthorne studies of Elton Mayo
• Factors affecting – Sample size, experimenter bias.
• Limitations – Ethical consideration, people behave differently in presence of researcher,
researcher may not be aware of significant number of variables.
 COMPARATIVE METHOD
• Used to compare the social phenomenon to arrive at generalized
conclusions.
• Durkheim’s theory of suicide.
• Ginsberg used this method in study of primitive societies.
• Particular social phenomenon is studied in different social contexts and the
causes are found out, then a cause and effect relationship can be established.
QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

• Joint family/ Nuclear family – census / survey

• Status of Women – Participant observation

Quantitative methods – Positivist – employ a systematic scientific

investigation of quantitative properties of a phenomenon.
Examples – Survey, Structured Interviews, Close ended Questionnaires
Objectivity, Validity and Reliability
Cannot be used for non- observable attributes
 QUALITATIVE METHODS
• Discovering underlying meanings and patterns of relationship
• Non-Positivist favour such methods
• Human beings have Subjective consciousness – non measurable through quantitative
methods
• Ex: Participant Observation, Unstructured Interview, Case studies, Focus Group
Discussion
• Advantage – helped in widening the scope of sociology, complete understanding of reality,
data collection is flexible.
• Disadvantage- Requires expertise, trained investigator, difficult to use if sample is large
 TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION
• Ethnography, Participant Observation and Field study –
Ethnography as the production of highly detailed accounts of how people in social
settings lead their lives, based on systematic and long term observation of, and
conversation with informants.
Study of life of the subjects in research.
Malinowski – one of the pioneers
Participant observation and field studies as its tool of investigation
 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
• Learn about the whole way of life of a community.
• Acceptability among Subjects, gaining trust
• Ex: Clifford Geertz on Bali, Radcliffe Brown on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Village Studies by Srinivas, S C Dube
• In-depth and holistic view of the social phenomenon
• Issue of validity, reliability
• William Whyte – approach of a researcher is unique to that researcher and cannot be replicated by any
other researcher – observer may develop sympathy for the group.
• Nigel Fielding – lead to several ethical issues – while studying vulnerable groups.
• Observer may be accustomed to behaviour of group
• Narrow in scope as focus area is too small
• Quasi Participant Observation – degree of involvement is less
• Non – Participant Observation – observer keeps aloof and observes the
subjects as they act. Researcher exerts minimal impact on the situation.
 FOCUS GROUP TECHNIQUE
• Non- Positivist research
• Bringing together a group of people to have an extensive, free flowing discussion
relating to their experiences or opinions on a particular focus issue.
• Researcher may act like a moderator – initiates the discussion and keeps it on the
desired focus.
• Studying of participants in a more natural manner
• If moderator becomes too active – distract group to respond as per his likings –
Participants may also restrain themselves.
 CASE STUDY

• Complete and detailed account of a single social phenomenon

• Considers all aspects – antecedent and consequence of an event in details
• Study of one single event – lacks external validity
• Riots, disasters, conflicts can be studied more appropriately by this method
• Poor scope of generalization and cannot be applied even to similar events in
future
 CONTENT ANALYSIS
• Analysis of the content of communication
• The study of recorded human communications such as books, websites,
paintings and laws
• Subjective judgements
• Output of content analysis is as good as the quality of the input documents
used.
• It can decipher only the manifested meanings of the communication and the
latent meanings are ignored.
 PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

• Qualitative techniques to measure the attitude.

• Presenting a person with an ambiguous (unclear or incomplete) stimulus
(picture or words) – stimulus requires interpretation from the person and
the person’s attitude is inferred from their interpretation.
• Can be used to evaluate children and adolescents for a variety of purposes.
• Lack objectivity and very much dependent on the observer
 INTERVIEW
• Guided conversation between the researcher and the respondent.
• Face to face, telephonic and group interview.
• Structured Interview – sequence of questions is pre- decided – positivist research – more
objective – facilitates easy comparison of responses between different respondents.
• Unstructured Interview – no fixed questions and supplementary questions can be asked – more
appropriate for eliciting attitudes and opinions – Flexibility of the format
• Interviews are more flexible than other tools like questionnaires.
• Cover much larger samples compared to participant observation
• Disadvantage – Interviewer bias, responder bias, situation bias – problems of validity and
reliability – social desirability bias – limited number of respondents can only be interviewed at a
time – language barrier
 QUESTIONNAIRE

• Pre set questions in a pre set order and is an organized activity of information
gathering.
• Cheapest, fastest and relatively efficient method of obtaining large amount of
information.
• Pilot study should be conducted first.
• Close ended and open ended questionnaire
• Limitations – social desirability bias – respondent may answer the questions in a way
that the researcher decides – non response bias of respondent – different members of
different social groups may attach different values to the contents of the questions
 SURVEY

• Most widely used sociological method

• Best suited for quantitative and positivist research
• Information collected can be analyzed through use of statistical techniques, mathematical models,
computer simulations.
• Close ended questionnaires and structured interviews are the common tools
• Generalize results for a large population
• Selection of sample size is a crucial exercise – sample should be representative – sub groups should
be represented in the sample – randomization( selection should be based purely on chance)
• Possibility of wide coverage – at the cost of depth of coverage
• Large number of persons involved – may ask survey questions differently and approach differently
 VARIABLES

• Variables are those parameters whose value varies as situation changes and they are
the key elements of an experiment.
• Dependent variables and Independent variables – value of dependent variables
depends upon the value of independent variables.
• Ex: while studying educational level of an area – Education level (dependent variable) –
other variables like parental income, school available, teacher’s quality ( independent
variable)
• Durkheim study of Suicide – multivariate analysis – studied the effects of independent
variables like religion, gender and marital status etc. on dependent variable viz. suicide
 SAMPLING
• Process of selection of a limited number of items from a larger whole of items –
Representative set of data which stands for whole of the population.
• Probability sampling & Non Probability Sampling

• Probability sampling – every element in the sample population has equal chance of
being selected.
a) Simple Random Sampling
b) Systematic Random Sampling
c) Stratified Sampling
d) Cluster sampling
 NON – PROBABILITY SAMPLING

a) Convenience Sampling
b) Quota Sampling
c) Snowball Sampling
 HYPOTHESIS
• Hypothesis is a tentative statement, which formulates a precise and definite relation between two or
more variables.
• Hypothesis is the starting point of theorizing – states the objective of a research.
• Upon validation, a hypothesis may yield a theory or generalization.
• Ex: number of marital breakdowns & annual family income.
• Null Hypothesis (H0) : No relation between two or more than two phenomena, whose relation is under
investigation.
• Alternative Hypothesis (H1) : There is some kind of relationship between variables under observation.
• Type 1 Error – Researcher rejects a null hypothesis when it is actually true. Probability of committing Type
1 error is called the significance level – also called Alpha
• Type 2 Error – when researcher fails to reject a null hypothesis, that is false - Probability of committing
Type 2 error is called Beta - Probability of not committing Type 2 error is called the power of the test
 PRE – REQUISITE FOR GOOD HYPOTHESIS

• It should be simple in formulation – all variables should be clearly defined

• Based on sound reasoning – not be a wild guess
• Before formulating hypothesis – researcher must be aware of available instruments to measure
the variables.
• It should be specific and precise
• Function of hypothesis is to direct our research
• Able to be tested in a time bound manner
• Provide a framework for organizing and summarizing the results
• It should lead to discovery of general laws and principles and also exemplify the causal
relationships between the various variables.
 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
Reliability – Repetition of the same result – can the same result be produced again?
• Temporal reliability & Comparative reliability
• Subjects change their mind- Subjectivity of investigator
• Reliability improved by – objectivity in methods and approaches- standardization of
procedures

Validity – degree of meeting the desired goal

• A result is valid, if it achieves what it was supposed to achieve
• Internal validity, External validity, Ecological validity, Measurement validity
• Factors affecting validity – Change in time, Instrumentation, Selection bias
 UPSC PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS
• Participant observation is the most effective tool for collecting facts. Comment (2016)
• Analyze the importance of qualitative method in social research. (2016)
• What are variables? Discuss their role in experimental research (2015)
• Why is random sampling said to have more reliability and validity in research? (2015)
• Bring out the significance of Ethnography in Social research (2019)
• Explain the probability sampling strategies with example (2019)
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of social survey methods in social research (2020)
• Methodology is a system of rules, principles and procedures, which forms scientific
investigation. Comment (2020)
 UPSC PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS
• Illustrate with examples the significance of variable in sociological research (2017)
• Examine epistemological foundations of qualitative methods of social research (2017)
• Analyse the limitations of quantitative methods in social research (2013)
• Differentiate between the qualitative and quantitative methods in Research (2012)
• Discuss the challenges involved in collecting data through census method (2021)
• How do qualitative and quantitative methods supplement each other in
sociological enquiry? (2021)