Introduction to

research methodology
Zia Rahman, Ph.D.
Professor of Criminology
University of Dhaka
Email: zia_soc71@du.ac.bd
 On:
• Research and Types of Research
• Relationship among Data, Methods and Theory
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research
• Hypothesis vs. Research Questions
• Theory
• Data Collection Technique vs. data analysis
• Census vs. Sampling
• Methods vs. Methodology
• Research Process: Deductive vs. Inductive

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 What is research?
 Systematic study of people, institutions, or social phenomena in order
to generate new knowledge or validate existing knowledge
 An attempt to systematically describe, explain, or explore or a social
inquiry to understand social phenomenon
 Op-ed vs. Research; Newspaper Reporting vs. Research, Novel vs.
Research
 Any Research’s highest endeavor is to develop of a Theory!

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 Types of Research

1. Basic Research:
 Conducting a research in order to understand a problem and to gain
knowledge about an issue, we call it basic research
Slum issue, environmental issue, poverty, population growth, violence
etc.
2. Applied Research:
 Conducting a research in response to an emergency action, aid or
relief
Flood, cyclone, etc.

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 Relationship between data, method and theory
Data: information about the empirical world
Primary data vs., secondary data;
Cross-sectional and Longitudinal data
Methods: Ways of collecting information
Quantitative vs. Qualitative

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Relationship between data, method and theory
• Theory:
 Explanation about the empirical world
Grand Theory
Middle Range Theory
Theory as Background Literature
Theory of Development, theory of fertility, theory of divorce, theory
of terrorism, theory of security, theory of social change, theory of
urbanization, theory of murder, theory of crime

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What is the relationship between data, ‘theory’
and ‘method’?

• Data Theory

Methods

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Sources of data: primary and
secondary
1. Primary data is data collected first hand by the researcher
 Sources of primary data could be people’s interviews, and sources
include social surveys (normally using questionnaire), interviews,
experiments and observations
2. Secondary data is data that has been collected by previous
researchers or organizations such as the government
 Sources of secondary data include official government statistics,
government reports, newspapers, personal documents, audio-visual
content, Diary, Biography

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Quantitative and qualitative
research
 Qualitative research
 Representing social world by theme/description
Dealing with phenomena that can’t be quantified such as beliefs,
attributes, meanings, symbols, feeling, experience, interpretation
Process of generating theory
 Quantitative research
Representing social world by number
Systematic investigation of any phenomena via statistical or
mathematical techniques. The objective of such research is to develop
or test theories and/or hypotheses related to phenomena

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 Hypotheses vs. research questions
Hypothesis:
Mandatory for quantitative research
Theory Statement
A statement having two variables/concepts
A casual statement that is yet to be tested by empirical evidence
X Y
X1 X2 X3
Example:
Sex and Income
Compare to Men Women have less income on the whole
Sex and Occupation
Compare to men women found serving in the stereotypical jobs
Father’s income and son’s income
As Father’s income increases son’s income increases
Relationship between income and education
Relationship between education and religion
Relationship between poverty and crime
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 Conceptual Vs. Theoretical Framework
• Lack of Social Solidarity leads to deviant behavior

 Lack of social integration + Deviance (Conceptual Framework)

--Divorced rate + Suicide (Theoretical Framework)

• Family Background + Social Status
Mother’s education + Individual’s education/income/occupation
• Social Media _ Exam Performance
Facebook -- CGPA

Positive relationship vs. inverse relationship

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 Hypotheses vs. research questions
• Research Questions:
 Mandatory for all kinds of research; quantitative and qualitative
 Just like hypotheses are used in quantitative research, “research
questions” are used in qualitative research
 Can be developed from the literature review or subjective ways
 Should be broad and general in nature; different from interview
questions
 Examples:
What is the process of radicalization used by Al-Qaeda?
OR What are the forms of victimization in domestic households?
How does violence against women develop in a society?
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 What is theory?
 Explanation about the empirical world
 Difference between discourse, narrative and theory
Explaining something is theorizing something
 Relationship between two or more concepts or variables
 A hypothesis becomes a theory if it is tested empirically
 Einstein E = MC2, H2+O2=H2O
 Karl Marx’s Theory of Class Struggle, R K Merton's Strain Theory, Sigmund
Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory

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 Data Collection vs. Data analysis
 Data Collection:
 Data is a collection of recorded observations gained from
research
 Data is collected when we want to understand a phenomenon
or process
 Data can be collected from many sources such as newspapers,
interviews (individuals), experiments, documents etc.
 Major data collection in Quantitative Research:
 Survey, experiment, Secondary Data, Content Analysis

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Major Data Collection Techniques in Qualitative Research Design

Ethnography
Institutional Ethnography
Participant Observation,
 In-depth semi Structured Interviewing,
FGD
PRA, RRA
Story Telling,
Case Study
Discourse analysis
Textual Document analysis

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 Data Analysis
 Data Analysis:
 After collecting data, data sorting, processing, editing and finally
analysis
 In Quantitative tradition: Statistical analysis using different techniques
 Data is used to draw inferences through analysis
Quantitative

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 Census vs. Sampling
 Census:
 If an attempt is made to collect data from all elements in the
population rather than from a sample, the data are a census
 Sampling
 When we select a section of elements from the whole population, we
call this process sampling
 Sampling is often used in research avoiding the whole population
 Example
 Population: a, b, c, d, e
 Sample: a, d
 We generalize our result using different sampling techniques

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Inductive and deductive approaches
in social research
 The Inductive approach moves from specific observations to broad
generalizations (From particular to general)
Riaz/Shams/Karim is Mortal therefore Man is mortal
 Inductive approaches use the bottom-up mechanism where the
researcher starts directly from her data as collected
 The researcher first collects her data, analyzes and then theorizes
Inductive theories: observation/findings > theory. Theory as
outcome

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 Deductive vs. Inductive
 The Deductive approach moves from generalized principle to a true and
specific conclusion
Man is mortal, therefore Riaz/Shams/Karim is mortal
 Deductive approaches use the top to bottom approach where a body of
theory is first assessed, hypothesis is developed, data is collected and the
theory is tested accordingly
 The researcher first goes through his literature, makes predictions and
then tests the selected body of theory
 Deductive theory: theory > hypothesis > data collection > findings >
hypothesis confirmed/rejected > revision of theory. Theory as
starting point
 Inductive: research then theory; theory generation
 Deductive: theory then research; theory testing
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Methodology and Methods in social
research
 Methodology is the study of methods used, not the research
methods themselves
 methodology is the idea (philosophy) behind the chosen research
method (epistemology)
 Research design and research methodology are same thing

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 The End
Thank You!

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