Research

Techniques
DATA COLLECTION
Data??
Basic definitons: facts and statistics collected for analysis; OR, raw
information that consists of basic facts and figures
It can …
• be spoken or written
• be non-verbal (pictures, gestures, sounds), later expressed as
words.
• be structured in different ways
• be constructed or produced by individuals and by groups
• include factual statements and value statements
• include what people say and the language they use
• include the researcher’s own thoughts and reflections
We need to consider …

• The validity of the data collection tool: tool is designed

in a way to best collect data that can ‘stand in’
• Less structured data: how to manage large amounts of
‘raw’ data (interview transcripts, video recordings,
documents)
• Different data collection skills: depending on the way
the data production is structured
What type of researcher?

• Present/absent researcher:
• clear instructions if absent
• hard to get good/deep information if absent
• impact of present researcher (formal/informal, gender or
etnic background etc.)
• if virtual contact, clarify type of communication
Data
collection
skills
• Which skills do you
need for the
research?
• Which skills do you
have?
• Which skills do you
need to improve?
 telling people about the research;

asking them to take part or to give you access to their data;

assuring them of confidentiality and other ethical issues;

Communication
during data making arrangements for them to participate;

collection
collecting the data;

thanking them for taking part;

telling them what will happen next.

Taking notes for yourself/reflective
skills
• Provide a record of the researcher’s thoughts and ideas through the
research process (ideas about theories, ideas to come back to later in
the process, changes in thinking or plans etc.)
• Provide a dated record of each stage in the research: decisions,
activities, literature searches, coding systems, analyses.
• Provide a record of the researcher’s own observations (what has
worked well and why; what needs changing)
• Provide a record of the researcher’s own learning: identification of skills
or limitations; feelings about the research and progress; learning from
mistakes and from good and not-so-good experiences; identifying how
to improve skills and performance
Questionnaires

• Definition: a list of questions each with a range of answers; a format

that enables standardized and structured data to be gathered about a
large number of cases
• Participants asked same questions, same order, same wording, set of
answers to choose from (structured); open questions possible
• Some early examples: censuses, conditions of people etc. usually by
public bodies
Types of questionnaires:
• Evaluate people ideas by Likert scale to collect data on values and
opinions (American psychologist 1903–81) along a five-point scale
(‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’)
• Market research to find out about people’s opinions and wishes
Questionnaires in social research
• Design of questionnaire needs to be carefully planned: data can be counted
and worked with as coded or numerical data
• Validity: ensuring that you are gathering the data you think you are gathering
• Why questionnaires: to gather data within a cross-sectional or longitudinal
research design, where the data from a sample of a larger population, aim
may be to compare the characteristics and experiences of different groups or
to look for relationships between different characteristics and experiences
• Usually used when a random sample has been drawn from a population, or
using a quota sample (also possible with all the people participating)
• Size: if random sample, consider size and ensure that small groups are
represented; if not, amke sure groups are included in sufficient numbers
• Ethical issues: no inclusion of names and identification, inclusive (depending
on the research), language etc.
• The British Crime Survey
• The British Crime Survey has been carried out at intervals since 1982 (and annually since 2001). It is one of the
largest cross-sectional surveys in England and Wales. It is currently carried out by the British Market Research Bureau
for the Home Office. The survey is designed to find out the extent and nature of crime in England and Wales
(occasional similar surveys are carried out in Scotland and Northern Ireland) and asks people about their experiences
of crime (including crimes against property and against the person) during the previous year. This includes crimes
that have not been reported to the police, and it has come to be regarded as a good estimate of the real extent and
nature of crime. Questions are also included that elicit the views of the respondents on current government and legal
policies on crime.
• The sample
• About 40,000 people aged over 16 years are included each year.
• The questionnaire
• The survey questionnaire is administered by interviewers who ask most of the questions. The answers are entered
into a laptop computer during the interview. A self-completion section is given to the respondents for them to answer
themselves on the computer. This section includes questions about the respondents’ own behaviour, including
whether they have taken illegal drugs and how much alcohol they drink.
• The advantages of using questionnaires to gather this data
• Data to be gathered is in a standardised format.
• A large-scale survey is needed to ensure that a wide range of people and experiences
• are included and that results can be generalised to the whole population.
• Most of the information gathered is factual.
• Using the same questions year on year enables comparisons to be made longitudinally
• as well as cross-sectionally.
• Data can be entered into a computer and be ready for statistical analysis.
Designing a questionnaire

Consider: What do you want to know? Who will be able to answer the questions? Will they
understand the questions? How will they answer the questions? Will they be able to give
the answers they want to give?
Types of data typically includes:
• facts – about people or events
• descriptions – people’s descriptions about something
• knowledge – what people know about something
• opinions – what their opinion is about something they have experienced or know about
• attitudes/values – their attitudes towards other people, institutions, ideas and so on
• background information about the respondent which may be linked to the research
topic
Designing a questionnaire
Types of answers:
• quantity – number of times, number of brothers, etc.;
• category – age category, e.g. 16–25 years; job
category, e.g. manual worker;
• answers chosen from a list of possible answers, e.g.
yes/no/don’t know;
• position on a scale – for example, from ‘very satisfied’
to ‘very unsatisfied’;
• rank position – for example, your first choice, your
second choice, etc.;
• open data – answers in respondents’ own words.
Types of questions:
• Yes/No
• Which category?
• Choose from a list
• Agree/Disagree
• Rating scale
• Open questions
• Filter questions
Designing a questionnaire
• Order of questions:
• Each question shoul lead on to the next or there is an introduction
• General questions followed by a number of more detailed sub-questions.
• Start with descriptive and factual questions, then opinion (brings their own experience to mind
before being asked their opinions)
• If covers sensitive topics, usually placed in the middle or end (have a better of reasons for asking
these questions)
• A general question at the end: gives opportunity to add anything else they want to say
Layout:
• Introduction to the research, a note about the confidentiality, a contact number for people who
may have questions
• Instructions on the completion of the questionnaire and instructions within the questionnaire
• Clear and attractive layout using a legible typeface
• Consider needs of all the groups completing the questionnaire; e.g. visually impaired, with reading
difficulties, who speak other languages etc.
• Be as short as possible.
 Interviews
• Data collection method; facilitates direct
communication between two people
(face to face or at a distance via
telephone or the internet); enables the
interviewer to elicit information, feelings
and opinions from the interviewee using
questions and interactive dialogue.
• Used later in academic research (One of
the earliest explicit uses of interviews to
gather data was by the nineteenth-
century social reformer Charles Booth
who attempted to survey the nature and
extent of poverty in London.)
• Interviews are one of the main data
collection methods used by social
researchers, providing the opportunity
for direct interaction between the
researcher and the research participant
Characteristics of interviews

• A: Standardised structured interviews

• Follow a common set of questions for each interview.
• Ask the questions in exactly the same way, using the same words, probes etc for each interview.
• Present the participant with a set of answers to choose from.
• B: Semi-structured interviews
• Follow a common set of topics or questions for each interview.
• May introduce the topics or questions in different ways or orders as appropriate for each
• interview.
• Allow the participant to answer the questions or discuss the topic in their own way using
• their own words.
• C: Unstructured interviews
• Focus on a broad area for discussion.
• Enable the participant to talk about the research topic in their own way.
Where to use interviews?
1.Exploratory 2. Explanatory 3. Evaluation:
research: research: find out what
discover what explain why people think
participants people about a social
think, find out experience or phenomenon
understand a they have
how people use
social knowledge of, for
language; phenomenon in a
typically where example, a
particular way; service, a new
there is little typically when policy or a
research (pilot researcher is proposed plan
stage) interested in
participants’
experiences,
opinions and
feelings
An example of research using semi-structured interviews: exploratory
research
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic medical condition which affects sufferers in a number of ways
that require daily therapy. The condition usually results in early death but successful management
techniques are now enabling people to live longer, to manage their own care and to live more
independently for longer. However, the management of the disease is complex and interferes with
‘normal life’. The research aimed ‘to explore the experiences of young people living with cystic
fibrosis and the impact of these experiences on their compliance to treatment regimen’.
What the researchers did
The researchers interviewed 13 individuals aged between 17 and 39 years and held seven group
interviews. They wanted to find out how the young people coped with everyday living and the
practical and social issues that their disease posed.
The findings
Most of the young people interviewed did feel that they were in control of their own care. Living a
‘normal’ life was difficult but most had attempted to have similar lives to their peers. There were
different levels of compliance to the medical care regimen and it appeared that some non-
compliance was part of trying to live a normal life. The findings from the research would be useful
to medical professionals who
treat young people with cystic fibrosis and would enable them to have a better understanding of
their experiences.
The advantages of using semi-structured interviews
-Young people had the opportunity to talk about their personal experiences of managing their own
care.
-Individual, rather than group, interviews may have provided a more confidential situation in which
An example of research using semi-structured interviews: exploratory
and evaluatory research
Earlier research had showed that women who have been sexually abused as children (termed
‘survivors’ in this research) can be affected by this in their adult lives in a variety of ways, including,
for example, their mental health and their ability to relate to others. This research was undertaken for
a large local authority to explore survivors’ experiences of seeking help as adults and to evaluate the
helping services these women used now used as adults and in particular to assess the value of the
services in terms of helping them as survivors of childhood abuse.
What the researchers did
Twenty-five women who had been sexually abused as children were identified using snowball sampling.
An interview guide was designed to enable women to talk about their adult experience. Particular
attention was given to ensuring that the participants were comfortable and well supported through the
interview which was a distressing experience for some.
The findings
Most of the women interviewed had used a range of social, health and counselling services to try to
find help with the effects of the abuse on them as adults. Different ‘routes’ through services were
identified: for example, some used services sequentially
while others used a number of services at the same time. Self-help groups of women who had been
abused and 24-hour services were seen to be most helpful. The survivors stressed the importance of
‘listening, empathising and establishing what the survivor herself wanted to do’.
The advantages of using semi-structured interviews
-Women who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse had the opportunity to talk about their
experiences of using services.
-A flexible interview guide enabled survivors to talk about their experience in their own way.
Ethical issues
• 1. Interviews are recorded and transcribed; data remains accessible for some
time; must be kept in a secure place
• 2. Ensure that research reports and dissertations do not include data about
identification of participants (also when including quotes)
• 3. With data about sensitive and sometimes distressing topics: flexible and
adaptable to the needs of the participant still, consider the wellbeing of the
participant:
• (a) make sure that the participant is aware of the research topic and the issues
you are likely to raise in the interview;
• (b) provide a comfortable, secure environment in which to hold the interview;
• (c) give the participant control of the recorder;
• (d) design the interview so you can end on a positive note;
• (e) provide the participant with a contact phone number
Interview guide (not list of
questions)
• helps the interviewer to remember the
points;
• suggests ways of approaching topics;
• reminds the interviewer about ways of
asking questions;
• includes an introduction and a way of
ending the interview;
• ensures that the interviewer covers all
the topics;
• gives a possible order of topics;
• helps the interviewer to enable people
to talk in their own way and as fully as
possible;
Conducting an interview
• The semi-structured interview is like a conversation: comfortable setting,
no distractions, researcher and participant sitand see each other’s faces
(not confrontational)
• Approach with a naïve curiosity. Leave assumptions aside and use prompts
and probes to always encourage your participant to tell you rather than
assume you know what he thinks.
• Use neutral probes to ensure that you do not lead your participant to make
‘acceptable’ comments.
• Encourage your participant with responses to let them know you are
listening,
• Be prepared for surprises: in what people say, for the recorder turning off
etc.
• Be prepared for participants to tell their story in a variety of different ways.
Be flexible and adaptable
Advantages and disadvantages
• Useful for exploring topics with research participants.
• Can explore experiences and feelings in some depth.
• Researcher is in direct contact with the participant.
• Flexibility to allow participants to talk about research topics in their own way.
• Can be combined with other data collection methods.
• Data is ‘raw’ (in participant’s own words).
• Sensitive or potentially distressing topics can be explored in a comfortable, secure environment.

• Data gathering is time consuming.

• Researcher needs to develop interviewing skills.
• Potential implications of mismatch between participant and researcher in terms of gender,
ethnicity or age.
• Large amounts of ‘raw’ data may be generated.
• Participants may focus on issues that are not of interest to the researcher.
Documents
• Written records about people and things that are
generated through the process of living (can
include films, but not oral histories).
• Produced by someone, in a specific
context/purpose; contents not fact or truth simply
because written
• Focus in social research may be on the factual
content or why and how produced in a particular
form/context
• Most documents provide a fixed record of
something that happened at a particular time.
• Types of documents: medium (printed, electronic
Documents
• news items;
• numerical data (Census of
Population, surveys);
• qualitative data (reports and
findings of research projects);
• policy (government and other
‘official’ documents);
• personal information and
interpretation (diaries, letters or
shopping lists);
• history;
• visual material (films, photographs
or video);
• audio material;
 Why documents?
• Often readily available and can
contain large amounts of
information.
• Static and present a ‘snapshot’ of
a particular time.
• Possible to research documents as
a ‘field’ of research.
• Socially constructed: they can tell
us more than just the data and
information that they contain.
• Useful to triangulate data: to get
a picture of the data already
collected for research from
different sources.
Writing your research
Planning:
Structure: Your audience?
Introduction Proper introduction and conclusion?
Literature Review Clear what you are doing?
Methodology Defined key terms?
Findings Included signposts to indicate sections?
Discussion Literature review sufficiently
Conclusion comprehensive and critical?
Appendices Established a line of argument?
References Followed a logical sequence?
Included enough information?
 Grammar

Choice of words

Rules for
writing
Verb tenses (follow one), person (third
person), voice (passive, active)

Word limits: no clear boundaries, but

article around 7000, MA thesis 20000
words and PhD dissertation 50 000
words
 Introduction: very basic, better to write final
introduction when all the other writing is
done

Conclusion: again this might be basic;

Structure (for a report or dissertation, this

Drafting would be a list of chapter headings);

All the points you need to make – if possible,

in the order you need to make them.

Revision of drafts
Plagiarism?
Closely
Using previously paraphrasing the Cutting and
published text words of a text pasting text from
‘word for word’ (book, journal the internet
etc.)

Using ideas you

Using a quote,
Copying another have read about,
but not saying
student’s work and not quoting
their origin
where

Using pictures,
graphs etc. without
acknowledging the
source
Some notes on referencing

Why Do We Reference?
• To give credit to original authors
• To support your arguments with evidence
• To help readers find the sources you used
• To avoid plagiarism
What Is APA Style?
• APA = American Psychological Association
• Commonly used in social sciences (psychology, education, sociology,
etc.)
• Provides rules for citations, references, formatting, and more
In-Text Citations and Reference List

• One author: (Smith, 2020)

• Two authors: (Lee & Kim, 2019)
• 3+ authors: (Ahmed et al., 2022)
• Direct quote: "..." (Brown, 2018, p. 45)
(Always match the in-text citation with a full reference at the end!)
• Reference: Appears at the end of your paper
• Alphabetical order by author’s last name
• Hanging indent (second line is indented)
• Double-spaced
• Only include sources you actually cite
Common Reference Formats

Book:
Last, F. M. (Year). Title of book (italicized). Publisher.
E.g.: Smith, J. A. (2020). Social research methods. Sage.
Journal Article:
Last, F. M. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages.
https://doi.org/...
E.g.: Lee, T., & Kim, S. (2019). Urban inequality. Sociology Today, 22(4),
122–135. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
Website:
Organization or Author. (Year). Title. Website Name. URL
E.g.: World Bank. (2021). Climate action.
https://www.worldbank.org/climate