Research Methods

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

Overview

As a social science student, it is vitally important that you become an educated consumer of social science research, even if you never get to conduct an actual research study.

You need to have a basic understanding of the steps in the scientific process, a familiarity with commonly used social science research designs and methods, and a knowledge of procedures for collecting and analyzing social science data.

This module provides very basic information about these topics. It addresses the following subjects:

• the scientific method
• qualitative and quantitative research
• data analysis and presentation
• discipline-specific research designs and methods