Introduction to social research : quantitative and qualitative approaches

340 Pages·1998·13.379 MB·English

by  Punch, Keith

Introduction
Social
Research
Quan tit a ti ve
& Qualitative
Approaches

300.72
P96
1998
Introduction to Social Research
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Introduction to Social Research
Quantitative and
Qualitative Approaches
Keith F Punch
SAGE Publications
London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi
© Keith F Punch 1998
First published 1998
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
permission in writing from the Publishers.
SAGE Publications Ltd
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London EC2A 4PU
SAGE Publications Inc
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SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7619 5812 6
ISBN 0 7619 5813 4 (pbk)
Library of Congress catalog record available
Typeset by Photoprint, Torquay
Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
*16 '99
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Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xii
List of Examples xiii
Preface xiv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 2
1.2 Some Simplifying Devices 4
1.3 Research Methods Training 6
1.4 Essentials and Logic 7
1.5 Science, the Social Sciences and Social Research 8
1.6 Organization of the Book 10
1.7 Suggestions for Further Reading 11
1.8 The Use of Examples 11
Notes 12
2 Some Central Issues 14
2.1 Description versus Explanation 14
2.2 Question-Method Connections 19
2.3 Prespecified versus Unfolding: Structure in Research
Questions, Design and Data 23
2.4 Some Important Terms 27
Notes 31
Further Reading 31
3 Research Questions 33
3.1 General and Specific Research Questions 34
3.2 Developing Research Questions 35
3.3 The Role of Research Questions 38
3.4 Hypotheses 39
3.5 A Simplified Model of Research 41
3.6 The Role of the Literature 43
Notes 44
Further Reading 44
VI INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL RESEARCH
4 From Research Questions to Data 46
4.1 The Empirical Criterion 46
4.2 Linking Concepts and Data 47
4.3 Good and Bad Research Questions 49
4.4 Value Judgements 49
4.5 Causation 51
4.6 Conceptual Frameworks 56
4.7 From Research Questions to Data 57
4.7.1 Quantitative data 58
4.7.2 Qualitative data 59
4.8 Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Data 61
Notes 62
Further Reading 63
5 Quantitative Research Design 65
5.1 What is Research Design? 66
5.2 Some Background 68
5.3 Independent, Dependent and Control Variables 70
5.4 The Experiment 71
5.5 Quasi-Experimental and Non-Experimental Design 74
5.6 Relationships between Variables: the Correlational
Survey 76
5.7 Relationships between Variables: Causation and
Accounting for Variance 78
5.8 Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) as a General Design
Strategy 81
5.9 Controlling Variables 83
5.10 Internal Validity 85
Notes 86
Further Reading 87
6 Collecting Quantitative Data 88
6.1 Types of Variables 89
6.2 The Process of Measurement 90
6.3 Latent Traits 93
6.4 Measuring Techniques 94
6.5 Steps in Constructing a Measuring Instrument 95
6.6 To Construct an Instrument or to Use an Existing
Instrument? 96
6.7 Locating Existing Measuring Instruments 97
CONTENTS vii
6.8 Reliability and Validity 98
6.8.1 Reliability 99
6.8.2 Validity 100
6.9 Developing a Survey Questionnaire 102
6.10 Collecting the Data: Administering the Measuring
Instrument 104
6.11 Sampling 104
6.12 Secondary Analysis 106
Notes 107
Further Reading 109
7 The Analysis of Quantitative Data 111
7.1 Summarizing Quantitative Data 113
7.1.1 Central tendency: the mean 113
7.1.2 Variation: the standard deviation and the variance 113
7.1.3 Frequency distributions 115
7.2 Relationships between Variables: Cross-Tabulations and
Contingency Tables 115
7.3 Comparisons between Groups: the Analysis of Variance 117
7.3.1 Analysis of variance 117
7.3.2 Interaction 118
7.3.3 Analysis of covariance 120
7.3.4 From univariate to multivariate 121
7.4 Relationships between Variables: Correlation and
Regression 121
7.4.1 Simple correlation 122
7.4.2 Multiple correlation and regression 124
7.4.3 The squared multiple correlation coefficient Pi2 124
7.4.4 The regression weights 125
7.4.5 Stepwise regression 125
7.4.6 Review: MLR as a general data analysis system 126
7.4.7 Analysis of covariance using MLR 127
7.4.8 From regression analysis to causal path analysis 127
7.5 The Analysis of Survey Data 128
7.6 Data Reduction: Factor Analysis 129
7.7 Statistical Inference 132
7.8 Computer Software for the Analysis of Quantitative Data 134
Notes 135
Further Reading 136
viii INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL RESEARCH
8 Qualitative Research: Overview, Design and Grounded
Theory 138
8.1 Overview 139
8.1.1 Diversity in qualitative research 139
8.1.2 Feminism 141
8.1.3 Postmodernism 143
8.1.4 Common themes within the diversity 148
8.2 Design in Qualitative Research 149
8.3 Case Studies 150
8.3.1 The general idea 150
8.3.2 Four characteristics of case studies 153
8.3.3 Case studies and generalizability 153
8.3.4 Preparing a case study 156
8.4 Ethnography 157
8.4.1 Introduction 157
8.4.2 Some main characteristics 160
8.4.3 General comments 162
8.5 Grounded Theory 162
8.5.1 What is grounded theory? 163
8.5.2 A short history of grounded theory 163
8.5.3 Theory generation versus theory verification 166
8.5.4 Data-collection/data-analysis relationships:
theoretical sampling 167
8.5.5 The use of the literature in grounded theory 167
8.5.6 The place of grounded theory research 168
Notes 169
Further Reading 171
9 Collecting Qualitative Data 174
9.1 The Interview 174
9.1.1 Types of interviews 175
9.1.2 Feminist perspectives on interviewing 178
9.1.3 Practical aspects of interviewing 180
9.1.4 The analytic status of interview data: the role of
language 182
9.2 Observation 184
9.2.1 Structured and unstructured approaches to
observation 185
9.2.2 Practical issues in observation 186
9.3 Participant Observation 188