AUKZ6J

Baby Afhifa Ramadhoni

TASK 1: SOCIAL STUDIES PROJECT

RESEARCH METHOD

Research method is a way to collect information or data during a research. The main goal of
using the method is to have the most accurate information in order to solve the main purpose of the
research itself. Social studies research requires us to observe and investigate with the aim of answering
the questions of social phenomenon through scientific methods which the results can be justified.
Researcher needs a specific type of collective data as an insight, in an effort to analyze the case and
create the conclusion. Therefore, it is important to choose the right method during a research for the
purpose of getting as much insight as possible.
In general, based on the type of collected data, scientist divide the research method into two,
quantitative and qualitative. Moreover, there are some more types of research methods in a way to get
the research approach. This approach will help researchers to investigate and observe the social case.
Personally, I have found the most effective way to solve a research problem in a world of social studies.
This is based on the comparation on part of Babbie Earl’s book “The Basics of Social Studies” that I just
read, and my past experiences on having several researches regarding social problems back in my
country.
If we define about qualitative research, qualitative often use by researcher to reveals the
meaning or socio-cultural experience of the research and a phenomenon that cannot just be measured
by numbers. The scope of qualitative research is smaller than quantitative, but the collected information
and data is more In-depth insight. For example, through Observation and In-Depth Interview.
Observation is one of the research methods that researcher often uses for research approach.
During the process of observation, researcher will be able to witness, discover or even experience the
certain case on society. With this method, researcher could place themselves as a part of the sample
group that they observe or as an inspector who will keep an eye on the people that they observe with a
distance. The result of observation would be more justified if observer includes In-Depth Interview
during the process.
 In-Depth interview is a way of research approach that researcher should have a direct contact
with the respondents. Researcher is able to ask prepared questions regarding the case and gather as
much as information from the answer of respondents. In this way, researcher could get more In-depth
information and data regarding the case.
On the other hand, quantitative research method is a way that researcher use to translates
collected data into numbers in order to analyze the findings. In quantitative research, researchers are
able to collect data with bigger scoop. There are two common approach that researches use, that is
experimental method and survey method. Experimental research methods are used if the researcher
wants to know the results or evaluate certain treatments on communities or groups. Experimental
research usually involves two groups which one group is treated a certain way, while the other group is
treated the other way. By this method, researcher could define if the impact received by the two groups
tends to be the same, it means that the treatment is considered ineffective. But if the results are
significantly different, that means the treatment is effective.
The next quantitative research method is a survey. A survey is a way of researcher to find out
the trends, behavior, or opinions of the population by studying a sample of the target population. The
information and data are collected from filled out questionnaires by respondents. The results are then
processed and analyzed to the target population. During this type of research method, researcher could
scoop larger amount of sample, but most of the times the data results are not 100% concrete.
Nowadays, most of the people as respondents tend to be unamused or not fully giving attention while
filling out the quistonnaires from a survey. They prefer to just fill it out as soon as possible without giving
a time to really read the questions. Based on my experience, as a researcher, we have tried to make the
ways for respondents to fill out the survey as easy as possible. But the results given are more likely not
serious or even not correlate with the topic.
Therefore, if we reflect from the methods mentioned above, Observation and In-Depth
interview are methods that works more effective for social studies research with the intention to get
better insight and concrete data to analyzed. These methods might have some weakness regarding the
amount of sample and the duration of time doing the research itself. But with these methods,
researcher could validate the data in person by observing the behavior, the activities and interviewing
the target research. With validated data, researcher could analyze better and discover the insight that
can be used to find the best solution or possibility in solving social cases.