DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY

Research Questions to Research

Design (SY7034)

Edmund Chattoe-Brown

ecb18@le.ac.uk

Thursdays 1500-1700 (Brookfield 0.24)

WEEK 9

1. Plan• Administration.

• The logic of qualitative and quantitative research.

• Quantitative exercise.

• Break.

• Supervision and feedback.

• Qualitative exercise.

• My “formative”.

• Other methods?

2. Administration

• Registration.

• https://leicester.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/sy7034-research-questions-to-research-design-2014

3. Qualitative and quantitative revisited• You really need to understand this “deeply”.

• I still had quite a number of people telling me about “variables” or “factors” in qualitative research. No!

• Combining design, method, data and analysis in a way that has a certain logic.

• Numbers versus narratives? What can you do with numbers scientifically? What can you do with narratives scientifically?

• Variants exist: For example quantitative analysis of observational data.

4. Quantitative Research 1

What is the cross-national relationship between time spent eating and obesity rate?

Does eating more slowly stop you getting fat?

How does slow eating prevent obesity?

5. Quantitative Research 2• What data do we need? Household time diaries and

maybe “administrative data” (don’t need to ask people what they weigh let alone if they are “fat?”)

• How much data do we need? The intended tests decide. What happens if we get more data?

• Which countries do we need and why? Has this research been “messed up” by country selection?

• How “good” (convincing?) is the line?

• How do we justify a curved line not a straight line?

6. Quantitative Research 3• Multiple regression: Effects of several things at once.

• But how can we know about this when everything varies at once?

• Big sample allows us to look for “matched” data in some variables. But this means data must also be “well spread” over the alternatives. (No good having 1000 butchers and 1000 “other professions”.)

• The logic of quantitative research is thus maximal relevant variability and minimum bias.

7. Qualitative research 1• R: But obviously, erm, when I retired I got a lump sum [I: Uh huh] and I got a

redundancy which I didn’t really I should have but everybody had it but still [tails off] …

• I: Oh. Even though you were retiring …• R: Yes well I retire … what happened was that our nurse education

department was going into university status and I was four months off being sixty and I intended to retire then so they offered me (and many others) a very good package.

• I: Oh! Mmm. That’s very nice of them.• R: So that is erm whereby that I’m I invested … well, I moved from a very

small flat to this house [I: Uh huh.] because I felt I wanted more freedom [to retire?] Erm. But going back to your original question … erm … oh yes … I mean it’s the state pension and my NHS pension that I try and live on. A lot of what I got from my package (other than buying the house ‘cos there’s quite a discrepancy between the flat and here) I’ve invested in things like building society bonds, erm, I’ve got a TESSA, I’ve got a what’s the other one, er a PEP [I: Right.] Those sort of things.

8. Qualitative research 2• Narratives: Not counting anything.

• Even comparing men and women talking about budgets we would want to avoid quantification (although we might talk about different gendered “themes”.)

• “Findings”: Two bank accounts and practices for moving between them. Varying “controllability” as required.

• Why can’t we answer: “How much does poverty affect reported levels of budgetary control?”

9. Qualitative research 3• What data do we need? Lots of “raw” conversation

about the “right stuff” (but not the “right answers” if such things exist). Look at how little I talked and I am a “gabby” interviewer.

• Arguably aiming for minimal variation: How do retired white men manage money? You aren’t exploring variations but commonalities and you can’t explore 5 variations with 20 interviews anyway.

• How much data do I need? The data will tell you. (Not the statistical test.)

10. Exercise 1 (30 minutes)• Design, in as much detail as you can, a survey to research

rumours.

• What is an appropriate research question?

• Who do you need to survey and how many?

• Where would you get them?

• What would be good questions to ask?

• What are the drawbacks of using a survey to research rumours? How can these be reduced?

• What are the advantages of using a survey to research rumours?

11. Break

• 10 minute “comfort break”.

12. The logic of supervision• The supervisor mustn’t do anything that stops the work

“belonging” to the student. This is a “dry run”.

• You need to be able to respond effectively to feedback and to be confident about whether you have actually done so. (But you are allowed to get feedback on the feedback!)

• This is a specific employability (and PhD) skill.

• Applies to formatives too: We can’t “approve” your summative nor can we keep feeding back on drafts till you “get it right”.

• Practical reasons: Comparability, can only assess “the actual document”, I’m not the sole marker.

• Watch out for supervision avoidance behaviour.

13. Concerns• Deja vu: “Don’t ask in 5 weeks time about things

already in the module handbook.” (Week 1.)

• Missing slides example.

• Reading allergy?

14. Exercise 2 (30 minutes)• Design, in as much detail as you can, qualitative interviews to

research rumours.

• What is an appropriate research question?

• Who do you need to interview and how many?

• Where would you get them?

• What would be good questions to ask?

• What are the drawbacks of using qualitative interviews to research rumours? How can these be reduced?

• What are the advantages of using qualitative interviews to research rumours?

15. My “formative”• Two pages including references.

• Done in about 2 hours at one sitting including references. (Not a fair comparison but the fairest I could manage.)

• 4 articles, 1 “general” book, 1 “grace” citation.

• Fitted to two pages by editing, margins, font type. No cutting of content: Actually adding at the end!

• 1430 odd words already: You can probably see how easy it would be to expand some sections (like literature review).

• I would draw “negative” feedback for my comparative design.

• No “cheating”: Notice I didn’t use any technical knowledge in discussing research design.

16. Exercise 3 (if time)• What other research methods might deal with the

drawbacks of a survey or qualitative interviews about rumours?

• We should be able to return to this next week.

17. Next week• Déjà vu: “The more you put in, the more you will get

out.”

• Last chance to discuss things not understood, ask (appropriate) questions and so on. (Email me to prepare?)