Chapter 2: The Process and Problems of Social

Research The Process and Problems

◦What is the Question?

◦What is the Strategy?

◦What is the Theory?

◦What is the Design?

◦Is it Ethical?

What Is the Question?

• Do mandatory arrest policies decrease domestic violence recidivism?

• Does how much a person loves his or her dating partner influence the frequency of lying?

• What factors influence men’s and women’s level of retirement income?

What Makes a Research Question “Good”? 1. Feasibility:

Can you start and finish the research with the resources that you have and

in the time that is available?

2. Social Importance

• Will an answer to your research question make a difference in the social world?

• Will it help in understanding a problem considered important

3. Scientific Relevance

Does your research question help to resolve contradictory research findings or

a confusing issue in social theory? *

Deductive, Inductive, or Descriptive?

What is the Strategy?

Deductive research starts with a theoretical premise (theory) and deduces a specific expectation.

Strategy #1: Deductive Research

What Is the Theory?• Social theory is a logically interrelated set of propositions about empirical reality

• (i.e., the social world as it exists)

• Theories are important in social research

•Make connections to general social processes and large bodies of research

• Building and evaluating theory-- one of most important objectives of social science

What Is the Theory?

Inductive Research starts with data.

Strategy #2: Inductive Research

Inductive Research

• If police in a precinct noticed (from their arrest existing data) that arrests of at least one person from the scene of a domestic violence case resulted in fewer subsequent calls to that same scene,

• the police officers might develop (induce) a theory that mandatory arrests decrease domestic violence recidivism. *

Descriptive research starts with data and proceeds only to making generalizations, not generating entire theories.

Strategy #3: Descriptive Research

Descriptive Research

• “How frequently do those arrested for domestic violence return to violence?”

• Description of social phenomena can stimulate more ambitious deductive and inductive research

• Good description of data is the basis for scientific research process and

• an essential component for understanding the social world. *

What Is the Design?

•Once you’ve chosen a:• Research question, • Strategy, and • theory

• You must decide on a research design

•Cross-sectional• Look at cases at one point in time

•Longitudinal • Look at two or more points in time

Unit of Analysis• Another important distinction between research designs is the focus on individuals—the individual unit of analysis• Victims or perpetrators of DV

•Or• Focus on groups or aggregates of individuals—the group unit of analysis• Police precincts, cities, states

Three types of Research Designs

Cross-Sectional Design• In a cross-sectional design, all the data

are collected at one point in time. • You take a “cross-section”—a slice that

cuts across an entire population—and use that to see all the different parts, or sections, of that population.

Cross-Sectional Design

•To study the effects of mandatory arrests

•Take a “cross-section” of all domestic violence cases and

•Examine whether arrests affected recidivism*

Longitudinal Designs: The Panel Design

1. A sample (called a panel) is drawn from a population at time 1, and data are collected from the sample (for instance, 100 arrestees from domestic violence cases are selected and interviewed).

2. As time passes, some panel members become unavailable for follow-up, (some move or refuse to continue participating).

3. At time 2, data are collected from the same people (the panel) as at time 1—except for those people who cannot be located (the remaining arrestees are re-interviewed).

Weaknesses of Panel Designs• Expense and Attrition • can be expensive to keep track of

individuals for long periods of time • proportion of panel members who can be

located for follow-up will decline over time.

• Subject fatigue • Participants may grow weary of repeated

interviews and drop out of the study• Others may become so used to answering

the standard questions in the survey that they start giving stock answers

Populations and Samples

Longitudinal Designs: Repeated Cross-Sectional Design (Trend

study)

1. A sample of domestic violence cases is drawn from a population of cases at time 1, and data are collected from the sample.

2. As time passes, some people leave the population and others enter it.

3. At time 2 a different sample of cases is drawn from this population.

Cases in Cases in

In a cohort study, the follow-up samples (at one or more times) are selected from the same cohort—

Cohort: People who have experienced a similar event or a common starting point

(Example: Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers)

Longitudinal Designs: A Cohort Study

Example of a Cohort

Real-life Example • Data collected from high school students from Baltimore,

Maryland

• Studies the difference in initiation of tobacco use between a cohort of adolescents that started working for pay and a cohort of adolescents that did not work.

• The results suggest that adolescents who work for pay have a higher risk of initiating tobacco use.

Ramchand, R., Ialongo, N. S., & Chilcoat, H. D. (2007). The effect of working for pay on adolescent tobacco use. American Journal of Public Health, 97(11), 2056-2062.

Unit of Analysis• The major entity that you are analyzing in

your study. For instance, any of the following could be a unit of analysis in a study: • Individuals • Groups • Artifacts (books, photos, newspapers) • Geographical units (town, census tract, state) • Social interactions (dyadic relations,

divorces, arrests)

Cases = individual arrests

Precinct #1Precinct #2Precinct #3

Cases =precincts

Individuals as Unit of Analysis

Groups as Unit of Analysis

Units of Analysis and the Domestic Violence Example

Two Research FallaciesA fallacy is an error in reasoning

•The ecological fallacy occurs when you make conclusions about individuals based only on analyses of group data.

•If you measured the math scores of a particular class and found that they had the highest average score in the district.

•Later you meet one of the kids from that class and you think "she must be a math genius.”

•Fallacy! Just because she comes from the class with the highest average doesn't mean that she does well in math. •She could be the lowest math scorer in a class that otherwise consists of math geniuses!

Two Research Fallacies• An exception fallacy is sort of the reverse of the ecological

fallacy.

• It occurs when you reach a group conclusion on the basis of exceptional cases.

• This is the kind of fallacious reasoning that is at the core of a lot of sexism and racism (stereotypes).

• The man who sees a woman make a driving error and concludes that "women are terrible drivers.

• Fallacy!

Errors in Reasoning

Ethical Considerations• Honesty and Openness• Should not conceal motives to subject• Full disclosure of researcher identity

• The Uses of Science• How will findings be used?• Who controls final report?• Who controls publicity?

• Confidentiality• Informed consent agreement• Identifying information is available only to designated

research personnel for specific research needs

• Institutional Review Board (IRB)• Federally funded research

Conclusion: The Process of Researching the Effects of

Mandatory Arrests

Contemplate:

• the question,

• the strategy,

• the theory,

•the design, and

• the ethics of the project.

Start planning!

For Your Own Research…