URP 3151-Research Methods for Planners

Lecture 1: Social Research Strategies

Dr. Md. Zakir Hossain

Professor
URP Discipline, Khulna University

1
 What is Research?

• Research is a process of trying to gain

a better understanding of the
complexities of particular topic or
problem.
 What is Research?
• Research. 1.a. the systematic investigation
into and study of materials, sources, etc, in
order to establish facts and reach new
conclusions. b. an endeavour to discover
new or collate old facts etc by the scientific
study of a subject or by a course of critical
investigation. [Oxford Concise Dictionary]

3
RESEARCH IS…
… a process of enquiry and investigation; it is
systematic, methodical and ethical; research
can help solve practical problems and increase
knowledge.
THE PURPOSE OF RESEARCH IS TO…
 Review or synthesize existing knowledge
 Investigate existing situations or problems
 Provide solutions to problems
 Explore and analyse more general issues
 Construct or create new procedures or systems
 Explain new phenomenon
 Generate new knowledge
 …or a combination of any of the above!
 What is social research?
• Academic research which uses the social sciences for conceptual
and theoretical inspiration:
• to formulate research topics
• to interpret the findings

• Social science research seeks to understand, explain, and predict

human behaviour by observing, reflecting, and/or measuring social
phenomena.

• It focuses on the study of society and the relationships of

individuals by exploring meaning from a human perspective and
testing and/or constructing theories based on these investigations.
 How are research topics formulated?
• They stem from social scientists’ attitudes to prevailing
social theories;
• They follow from the researcher’s existing knowledge about
the current state of phenomena;
• They depend on the researcher’s orientation to theory as
something to be tested in research or to emerge from
research;
• They depend on whether research is regarded as apart from
the social world studied or as an integral part of that world.
 Types of Research
There are many different ways to
categorise research
 Sharp et al 2002
The Field of The Purpose of The Approach of The Nature of
Research Research Research Research
 Social  To review existing  Laboratory  Basic research –
Science knowledge experiment theory
 Humanities  To describe some  Field development
situation or experiment  Strategic
problem  Case study research –
 The construction of  Survey application of
 Life something useful theories
 Physical  explanation  Applied research
 Engineering – practical
objectives
 Basic Research
• To contribute to theory or knowledge by
formulating and testing hypotheses;
• To apply a theory or methods to a new area
• To evaluate the generalization of propositions
across time and space.
• Research questions are often of a ‘what’ and
‘why’ form.
 Applied Research
• To produce recommendations or solutions to some
problem faced by a specific group of people;
• To take theoretical insights and apply these in real-
world situation;
• Questions tend to be ‘how’ and ‘when’ forms.
• Both qualitative and quantitative data are normally
used.
 Summative evaluation research
• To summarize and assess the main benefits of a
policy, programme or product in order to judge its
effectiveness or applicability.
• To assess the degree of generalizability, therefore
abstraction and quantitative data are usually evident.
• Questions often follow on from some initiative. What
effect has ….?
 Formative evaluation research
• To make improvement to a specific
programme, policy or set of activities at a
specific time and place, and with specific
group.
• The aim is to focus the research, using case-
study method and qualitative evidence.
• How can we…?
 Action research
• To help a group to help themselves through
the research.
• Aim to empower the respondents to research
themselves and their situation’ and to take
responsibility for their own situation.
• Focus on specific problems or issues and
involves qualitative evidence.
 Time Dimensions of Research

• Cross-sectional studies – at a particular time

• Longitudinal Studies – over a long period

(Trend studies, Cohort studies)
 Unit of Analysis in Research
• Individuals: people, membership, building,
scheme, estate, etc.
• Groups: Families, households, census block
(EDs), geographical areas or regions, streets
etc.
• Organisations: government department, local
authorities, firms, corporation, social groups.
 Other classification:
• Explorative Research: to satisfy curiosity; to test the
feasibility of undertaking a more careful study; and to
develop the methods to be employed in a more careful
study.
• Descriptive Research: to describe situations and
events.
• Explanative Research: to answer why to situations
described?

• Again most studies have elements of all three.

 Other classification:
• Primary research: first hand data collected
for the research, using survey, interview, and
observation
• Research using secondary data: Census,
other documents, special statistics, historical
documents etc
• All research has both elements
 Theory in Research
• There is the question of what form of theory one is talking about

• There is the matter of whether data are collected to test or build

theories

• Theory is important to the social researcher because it provides

a backcloth and rationale because that is being conducted
• It also provides a framework within which social phenomena
can be understood and the research findings can be interpreted
 Theory in Research
• Social researchers often wish to incorporate
more theories into their research by:
– Using it as a guide
– Attempting to generate it from data
 Why is theory useful?
• Theories provide complex and comprehensive conceptual understandings
of things that cannot be pinned down: how societies work, how
organisations operate, why people interact in certain ways.
• Theories give researchers different “lenses” through which to look at
complicated problems and social issues, focusing their attention on
different aspects of the data and providing a framework within which to
conduct their analysis.
• Just as there is no one way to understand why, for instance, a culture has
formed in a certain way, many lenses can be applied to a problem, each
focusing on a different aspect of it.
 How can theories be used?
• Theories are usually used to help
– design a research question,
– guide the selection of relevant data,
– interpret the data, and
– propose explanations of the underlying causes or
influences of observed phenomena.
Theoretical Framework for the Interrelation of Housing and Urban poverty
 Theories
• Research without theory is blind, and theory
without research is empty.
• Good research is supposed to involve the use
of theory in some way.
• The concepts ‘theory’ itself refers to a variety
of activities and products.
 But
• where and how theory should be involved in
the research process?

• What kind of theory to use, and for what

purpose?
 The cycle of theory construction and
testing
Deductive
Theory Hypotheses
Theory
testing

Empirical Operationalisation
generalisations of concepts

Inductive
Data Testable
Analysis Propositions
Theory
construction Data
collection
 Theories in Quantitative and
Qualitative research
• Quantitative Research:
– Theories placed at the beginning to formulate the
hypotheses, proposal has section of theoretical perspectives
• Qualitative Research:
– Theories mainly derived from research and put at the end;
some theories could be referenced at the beginning as well
to form a lens for analysis
• Mixed Methods Research:
– Theories could be at both the beginning and the end.
 Levels of Theory
• Grand theories (Macro-level)
• Middle range theories (micro-level)
 Grand Theories
• Also called system theories, or macro theories
• about social institutions, cultural systems, and
whole society
• present a master conceptual scheme that is
intended to represent the important features of
a total society.
 Middle range theories
• Theories lie between grand theories and
empirical generalisation.

• Apply to a variety of contexts and research

problems.
Middle range
theory: an
example
in Derek
Layder