A Brief Introduction to Social Science Research

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A Brief Introduction toSocial Science Research
Disaster Research Boot Camp

• Havidán Rodríguez, Ph.D.
• Disaster Research Center
• University of Delaware

2005 NDMS Disaster Response Conference Orlando,
Florida May 2, 2005
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• Everything you ever wanted to ask about research
  but were afraid to ask?

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Behavioral Objectives

• Define Research and Basic Terms of the Field
• Discuss Some Data Collection Methodologies
• Explore Differences Between Qualitative and
  Quantitative Research

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• Numbers do not exist independent of people
  understanding numbers requires knowing
• Who counted what?
• Why they bothered counting?
• How they went about it? (Best, 2004XIII)

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Ethical issues and your Research Agenda
Babbie, 2004

• Voluntary participation Informed consent
• No harm to participants
• Avoid deception
• Confidentiality and privacy issues
• Accurate Analysis and Reporting
• Researchers must be honest about their findings
  and research

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Social Science Research

• Social Science Research explores
• What is?
• What is disaster preparedness?
• Why?
• Why do some individuals prepare for an impending
  disaster and others do not?
• Social regularities
• Who are most likely to prepare? What are their
  demographic and socio-economic characteristics?

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Three Purposes of Research

• Exploration
• Description
• Explanation

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Foundations of Social Science

• Theory - Logic - focuses on what is and not what
  should be
• Data collection - Observation
• Data Analysis - Comparison of what is logically
  expected with what is actually observed

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http//trochim.human.cornell.edu
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Research Methodology
http//trochim.human.cornell.edu
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The Wheel of Science
(Walter Wallace, 1971)
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(Silverman, 1993 9)
Qualitative and Quantitative
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Unit of analysis
http//trochim.human.cornell.edu

• Who or what is being studied

Individuals
Groups
Artifacts (books, photos, newspapers)
Geographical units (town, census tract, state, countries)
Social interactions (dyadic relations, divorces, arrests)
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Variables and Attributes
Babbie (2004)
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Variables

• Dependent Caused by another (independent)
  variable (e.g., evacuation behavior)
• Independent Impacts the dependent variable
  (e.g., income, gender, race, previous disaster
  experience)

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Levels of Measurement
Babbie (2004)
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Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a specific statement or
  prediction
• It describes in concrete (rather than
  theoretical) terms what you expect will happen in
  your study
• Describes a provisional (but testable)
  relationship between two variables (i.e., white
  population is more likely to evacuate than
  minority population)

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Validity vs. Reliability
Babbie (2004)
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Correlation vs. Causation

• Correlation vis-à-vis Causation
• Whats the difference?

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The Time Dimension

• Cross-sectional studies
• Longitudinal Studies

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Sampling

• In the 2000 Presidential election, pollsters came
  within a couple of percentage points of
  estimating the votes of 100 million people.
• To gather this information, they interviewed
  fewer than 2,000 people.

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Random Sampling

• Based on probability theory
• All elements must have same probability of
  selection
• Sample is representative of the elements included
  in that sampling frame
• Allows you to generalize to the population
• Primarily associated with quantitative data
  analysis

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Random Sampling
http//trochim.human.cornell.edu
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Random Sampling

• Types of Sampling Designs

• Simple random sampling (SRS)
• Systematic sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Multi-stage cluster sampling
• Probability proportional to size sampling (PPS)

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Non-Probability Sampling

• Are not representative of the population which it
  pretends to study
• Ideal for qualitative studies
• Some types of non-probability sampling
• Available subjects
• Purposive sampling
• Snowball Sampling

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• Survey Research

• Strengths of Survey Research
• Useful in describing the characteristics of a
  large population
• Flexible - many questions can be asked on a given
  topic
• Primarily quantitative data analysis

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• Survey Research

• Weaknesses of Survey Research
• Can seldom deal with the context of social life
  (e.g., artificiality)
• Inflexible in some ways
• Weak on validity

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Survey Research

• Mail Surveys
• Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Disadvantages
• Low response rates
• Biased samples
• Multiple follow-ups are important

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• Survey Research

• Telephone Surveys
• Advantages
• Money and time
• Control over data collection
• Disadvantages
• Surveys that are really ad campaigns
• People hang up on you
• Answering machines
• May not be representative Use CATI with random
  digit dialing

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• Survey Research

• Face-to-face Interviews
• Advantages
• Control over data collection
• Very high response rates
• Disadvantages
• Very expensive
• Labor intensive

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Some Questions Regarding Polls Surveys
Babbie, 2004, Appendix G

• Who conducted the poll/survey?
• Who paid for the poll/survey and why was it done?
• How many people were interviewed?
• How were the people chosen? What was the response
  rate? Sample bias?

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Some Questions Regarding Polls Surveys
Babbie, 2004, Appendix G

• When was the poll/survey conducted?
• How were the interviews conducted (face-to-face,
  mail, phone)?
• What is the sampling error for the poll/survey
  results?
• What questions were asked (wording, sensitive
  topics)?

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• Secondary Data Analysis

• Data collected by other researchers or
  institutions
• Decennial Census
• Current Population Survey
• Other types of surveys or archives
• Advantages Economical accessible ease of use
• Disadvantages No control over data collection
  process validity/reliability issues might not
  include some of the variables you need

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Ethnographic studies are designed to answer some
basic questions  
Ethnographic Research

• What is occurring in this environment,
• community or place?
• 2. Who is involved or participating in what types
  of activities?
• 3. Why is whats being done, done?

(Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic Methods,
1999)
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Ethnographers use these questions to obtain basic
information about social structures, social
events, cultural patterns, and the definitions
people give to these patterns or events
Ethnographic Research
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1. It is directed by and generates
theories2. Primarily qualitative 3. It is
done locally (in communities) 4. Ethnographic
research is applied
Ethnographic Research

• Ethnographic studies are based on four basic
  principles

(Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic Methods,
1999)
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  Schensul, et. al. Enhanced Ethnographic
Methods,1999)
Techniques to Obtain Ethnographic Information

• Audiovisual techniques used to record behavior
  and communication through electronic devices
• 2. Interviews using focus groups
• 3. Non-structured observation
• 4. Non-structured in-depth interviews
• 5. Semi-structured interviews 

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Evaluation Research
http//trochim.human.cornell.edu
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Concluding Comments

• The goals of social science research should be
  to
• Discover
• Explain
• Transform (Many debates on this issue)

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Concluding Questions

• What is the importance of the research?
• What are the theoretical or applied
  contributions?
• Do we now know more than what we did before the
  research?
• What is the value and use of this research and
  how can it meet the needs of our communities?

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For Additional Information

• Visit the DRC facilities at
• 87 E. Main Street, Newark, DE
• [phone]
• Visit the DRC webpage
• www.udel.edu/DRC/

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The End
Questions?