Research Methods

• Overview
• The Scientific Method
• Steps for Conducting a Research Study
• Social Science Research
• Discipline-Specific Research Methods
• Understanding Social Science Research
• References
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Discipline-Specific Research Methods

Anthropologists
Gerontologists
Psychologists
Sociologists
Summary

Natural scientists and some behavioral scientists rely heavily on classic experimentation as the primary tool for scientific research. The power of the experimental method is that scientists tightly control the conditions under which a phenomenon is observed so that they can minimize the likelihood that observations are due to chance or error. In so doing, researchers can determine "causality"—that is, they can conclude that a change in one variable causes a change in another.

Classic experimentation is not always possible in the social sciences. Social scientists study complex phenomena such as cultures, social norms, and behavior that are dynamic and are affected by multiple factors; therefore, it is not always possible to conduct true experiments because it is impossible to allow for every influential factor.

To introduce this topic, let’s look at the ways that different social science disciplines might investigate the life stage known as "retirement." Try to predict research questions that might be posed by different disciplines and the methods that they might use to answer them before you click on the lenses on the left side of the graphic.

Figure 4.18
Retirement, Through a Social Sciences Lens

Anthropologists

Anthropologists have a varied toolkit available to them to answer their research questions. They are well-known for their qualitative research approach, although they also use quantitative methods. Human beings are complex biological and cultural organisms, so anthropologists will integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches in their work.

Here’s an example to illustrate this: People must drink and eat to survive. How would an anthropologist study this behavior? An anthropologist may use a quantitative research approach to examine how food is apportioned differently between men and women in diverse settings. The anthropologist may ask the research question—are men allotted more high-protein food than women in certain cultures, and if so, what are the health outcomes of this difference? An anthropologist also may seek to understand and represent the ways men and women feel about these differences in food apportionment; this is a qualitative research question.

The two research methods that are thought to distinguish anthropology from other social science disciplines are ethnography and participant observation.

Ethnography is a research method that employs personal observations of a living culture. In their fieldwork, anthropologists ask open-ended questions that allow people to respond as they wish. Anthropologists call the people they study informants or consultants to emphasize the expertise of the people and the fact that the people are the experts rather the "subjects" of experiments or "respondents" to a survey with forced-choice questions.

To construct an ethnography, anthropologists ask informants to detail their life histories, draw pictures and maps, tell stories, demonstrate how they make their art and artifacts, or cook their food. In other words, they ask informants to show and tell what it means to live their particular lives. They use statistical procedures or qualitative analyses to make sense of their data.

Anthropologists are interested in uncovering both emic and etic points of view―that is, they try to identify the point of view of the people being studied ("emic") as well as other "outside" perspectives ("etic"). For example, surveys often ask demographic questions that divide people into groups according to age, education, income, marital status, religion, and ethnic group or race. These are standard "etic" categories, typically agreed upon by Western researchers as important markers of difference. On the other hand, people may or may not identify themselves according to these categories, and they may also have other "emic" categories for grouping people, such as clan, political group, or musical style. Indeed, they may not think in terms of differences among people at all.

To better understand the "emic" and "etic" perspectives for the people they are studying, cultural anthropologists use participant observation. In this way, they experience a culture from the "inside" and the "outside." Participant observation is a fieldwork method in which a researcher lives in and participates in a culture. At the same time, he or she observes everyday life and learns how the society actually works.

Gerontologists

Gerontologists are interdisciplinary by training, so they rely on a variety of research methods to answer important scientific questions about aging. They may use surveys to gather information about attitudes and feelings. They may use unstructured interviews and observations to better understand the experience of aging from the perspective of an older adult. Gerontologists interested in health outcomes may collect physical and behavioral measurements.

Because gerontologists are interested in the process of aging, they rely heavily on research designs that follow participants through time. Two such examples are:

• longitudinal studies (also known as "panel studies") that collect data repeatedly from the same participants over an extended period of time.

• cohort sequential design, a longitudinal design that follows multiple cohorts across time and allows researchers to differentiate among age, period, and cohort effects (described below). The primary disadvantage of this type of research is that it is expensive, labor-intensive, and takes a long time to complete.

The challenge for gerontologists is to determine whether changes are due to cohort effects, period effects, or age effects.

For example, the experience of an African American person born in 1930 (prior to the Civil Rights movement) is very different from that of an African American person born in 1980.

As an example, if we notice that US alcohol consumption in people 50 and older increases dramatically between 1930 and 1940, we might draw the conclusion that as people get older, they drink more; however, if we remember that Prohibition ended in 1933, we might draw a very different conclusion. That is, the reason people seemed to drink more as they got older is that the ban on alcohol ended during the time period of interest.

For example, nearly all of us will have some degree of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) as we get older, but what are the psychosocial and behavioral changes that are attributable to the aging process? One example of a true aging effect is that of criminal behavior. Across many generations and time periods, it has been shown that criminality is higher among teens and young adults. As people age, they are less likely to commit crimes (Hirschi & Gottfredson, 1983).

When gerontologists are not interested in "process"(change over time), they may choose a cross-sectional study design. Cross-sectional studies gather data across groups at a single point in time. They tell researchers little about whether differences in age groups can be attributed to age, period, or cohort effects. For example, a gerontologist may compare the eating habits of two groups of 75-year-old men—one group that lives at home, and another in an assisted living environment.

Gerontologists often use their research to advocate for changes in policy and legislation that directly impact older Americans. They are at the forefront when it comes to decisions on Social Security, retirement, Medicare, transportation, and other issues.

Psychologists

Modern psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment (Tavris & Wade, 1995).

Let's break down the definition. Behavior refers to any action that can be observed and measured. For example, smiling at a friend, crying at a movie, or blinking your eyes in response to a bright light are examples of behaviors. Mental processes refer to internal aspects of our lives, including thinking, feeling, and perceiving. Thus, calculating 7 + 9, recalling your 16th birthday, and experiencing happiness are mental processes. Our behavior and mental experiences can influence or be influenced by genetics, physical health, level of intelligence, economic situation, culture, ethnicity, and other aspects of our environment.

An important element of psychological research is empiricism, the reliance on information from direct observation and measurement. Experimental psychologists test their hypotheses on laboratory animals in controlled environments, while clinical psychologists conduct their research on human subjects in their natural surroundings.

Psychologists rely heavily on the following research designs:

• Correlational research that examines the relationship between variables. Correlational research does not yield cause-and-effect conclusions.

• Descriptive research that describes the characteristics of a population or phenomenon of interest. Through the use of descriptive statistics such as averages, frequencies, and ranges, researchers can make observations about the prevalence of certain variables and can make comparisons among groups.

Because psychologists are interested in the measurement of behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, they are skilled in the development and use of instruments that capture those constructs. Sophisticated statistical tools allow them to analyze and interpret correlational and descriptive research data.

Sociologists

Sociologists seek to uncover the social factors that affect behavior. The goal of sociologists is to obtain data that test assumptions about the social world. The sociological perspective requires us to look beyond our common sense (which can be faulty), our experience (which can be limited), and our values (which are bound in time and culture) to gain new understandings of the social world.

Sociologists may use quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods in their research. The methods used for a sociological study depend upon the research questions being asked.

Quantitative research in sociology employs methods such as surveys (developed to answer specific research questions) and secondary data analysis (research using existing data sets gathered for general purposes). A quantitative design attempts to amass information from large numbers of people. It often requires respondents to answer prepared (close-ended) questions. Close-ended questions are limiting in that they do not allow respondents to describe how they see or experience their world.

Qualitative research employs some of the methods already discussed for other social sciences. Qualitative methods include interviews (asking people open-ended questions), content analysis (research to study content to uncover the explicit and implicit or hidden meanings), and participant observation (observation of, and involvement in, the social interaction patterns of groups). In qualitative studies, sociologists may ask subjects why they act in certain ways or what rules and assumptions govern their behavior. Questions in qualitative research instruments are more open-ended.

The following are limitations of qualitative methods:

• greater potential for bias (because researchers themselves can be influenced by their subjects)
• difficulty in generalizing findings to larger groups, given the small sample size in studies

Summary

What sets the social science disciplines apart from each other? Anthropologists, gerontologists, psychologists, and sociologists all select their research designs and methods based on clearly articulated research hypotheses and questions. Their designs and methods can be either qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. What truly sets the disciplines apart are the principles and theories that guide their research and interpretation of data.

For more information on those principles and theories, check out the Social Science Perspectives module.