THEORY AND RESEARCH

TYPES OF RESEARCH; FORMS OF

EXPLANATION; UNITS OF ANALYSIS;
RELATIONSHIPS AND ASSOCIATIONS.
LECTURE 2
• Social research can be organized in several • why we conduct a study;
ways: • the number of cases and how we examine
• experimental versus nonexperimental, them;
• case study versus cross-case research, • how we incorporate time;
• qualitative versus quantitative. • and deciding which techniques we deploy
to gather data.
• We can organize the many kinds of studies
along five dimensions. • You can position a single research study on
each of the dimensions of social research.
• how we use a study’s findings and its
primary audience;
UNDERSTANDING DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH

• First, they make it easier to understand research reports that you hear about or read in
scholarly journals.
• After you recognize a study’s dimensions, you can quickly grasp what a study says and
how it was conducted.
• Second, when you conduct your own study, you must make many decisions.
• You can think of the dimensions as decision points you will encounter as you develop a
specific research plan.
UNDERSTANDING DIMENSIONS OF RESEARCH

• To make good decisions, you should be aware of trade-offs and the strengths and
weaknesses at each decision point. Additionally, the dimensions are interrelated.
• Some dimensions tend to go together (e.g., study goal and a data collection technique).
• As you learn about the dimensions, you can begin to see how best to combine
dimensions to address specific research questions of interest.
BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH

ASPECT BASIC APPLIED

Primary Audiences Scientific community (other Practicioners, participants or
researchers) supervisors (nonresearchers)
Evaluators Research peers Practicioners, supervisors
Autonomy of Researcher High Low moderate
Research Rigour Very high Varies, moderate
Highest Priority Verified truth Relevance
Purpose Create new knowledge Resolves a practical problem
Success indicated by Publication and impact on Direct application to address a
knowledge/scientists specific concern/problem
TYPES OF RESEARCH

• USE AND AUDIENCE OF RESEARCH • PURPOSE OF RESEARCH

• Basic • Explore
• Applied • Describe
• • Evaluation • Explain
• • Action
• WITHIN OR ACROSS CASES
• • Social Impact
• Case Study Research
• Across Case Research
TYPES OF RESEARCH

• SINGLE OR MULTIPLE POINTS IN • DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

TIME
• Quantitative Data
• Cross-Sectional • • Experiment
• Longitudinal • • Survey
• • Time series • • Nonreactive (content analysis, secondary
analysis, existing statistics)
• • Panel
• • Cohort • Qualitative Data
• • Field (ethnography, participant observation)
• Case Study
• • Historical-comparative
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH TYPES

• EXPLORATORY • Determine the feasibility of conducting

• Become familiar with the basic facts, research
setting, and concerns • Develop techniques for measuring and
• Create a general mental picture of locating future data
conditions
• Formulate and focus questions for future
research
• Generate new ideas, conjectures, or
hypotheses
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH TYPES

• DESCRIPTIVE
• Provide a detailed, highly accurate picture
• Locate new data that contradict past data
• Create a set of categories or classify types
• Clarify a sequence of steps or stages
• Document a causal process or mechanism
• Report on the background or context of a situation
PURPOSE OF RESEARCH TYPES

• EXPLANATORY
• Test a theory’s predictions or principle
• Elaborate and enrich a theory’s explanation
• Extend a theory to new issues or topics
• Support or refute an explanation or prediction
• Link issues or topics to a general principle
• Determine which of several explanations is best
SOCIAL THEORY – DIFFERENT IDEAS

• 1. A theory is a logically connected set of general propositions that establishes a

connection between two or more variables.
• 2. A theory is an explanation of a specific social phenomenon that identifies a set of
causally relevant factors or conditions.
• 3. A theory provides insights into the real meaning of a social phenomenon by offering an
illuminating interpretation and by telling us “what it is all about.”
• 4. A theory is what a famous social thinker really meant.
• 5. A theory is an entire worldview, or a way of seeing, interpreting, and understanding
events in the world.
• 6. A theory is a criticism based on a political moral viewpoint; it presents and stands for a
set of beliefs-values from which it critiques the position and arguments of opponents.
• 7. A theory is a philosophical commentary on key questions or issues about core issues of
how we develop knowledge about the social world (e.g. how we really construct a sense
of social reality).
HOWEVER…

• Theories are not static. We are constantly modifying older theories and developing new ones.
• Theories come in many shapes and sizes.

• Some are broad systems of thought while others are narrow and specific explanations of one
particular issue.
• At their core, we use social theories to organize and systematize our thinking and to deepen
and extend understanding.

• Because they organize knowledge, theories also become a way to communicate effectively
with one another.
• Social science theory is often more complex and abstract than a typical layperson’s
theory; however, a principle of good theory, parsimony, is helpful.
• It means that simpler is better, that better theories have minimal complexity.
• Good theories lack redundant or excess elements
• Most research studies have theory somewhere.
• The question is less whether we use theory in a study than how we use it, or which type
of theory we use.
• The place of theory is less prominent in applied or descriptive research than in basic or
explanatory research. The studies we conduct will be better designed and stronger once
we are aware of how theory and research fit together.
• Theory also helps to sharpen our thinking about what we are doing in a study.
• If we are clear and explicit about our study’s theory, others will find it easier to read and
understand our research.
• One indicator of a weak research study is that its theory remains unclear, incomplete, or
poorly formulated.
PARTS AND ASPECTS OF SOCIAL THEORY

• Four Parts of Social Theory • 3. Relationships. Forms of relationships,

propositions, and hypotheses
• 1. Assumptions
• 2. Concepts.Vary by level of abstraction • 4. Units of analysis
(concrete versus abstract), single versus
concept clusters, simple versus complex
(e.g., classifications, typologies), and scope
(narrow versus broad)
• Five Aspects of Social Theory • 4. Forms of explanation. Causal, structural
(sequential, network, functional), or
• 1. Direction of theorizing. Deductive
(abstract to concrete) or inductive interpretative
(concrete to abstract) • 5. Range of theorizing. Empirical
• 2. Level of analysis. Micro level, meso level, generalization, middle range theory, or
macro level theoretical framework

• 3. Focus of theory. Substantive theory or

formal theory
RELATIONSHIPS

• Social theories are more than collections of assumptions and concepts; they also specify
relationships among the concepts.
• They tell us whether the concepts are connected to one another, and, if so, how.
• By outlining an entire complex of assumptions, concepts, and relationships, a theory
provides a complete picture of why specific relationships do or do not exist.
KINDS OF RELATIONSHIPS

• Beyond telling us whether concepts are or are not related, theories specify the
relationships.
• For example, a theory may tell us whether a relationship is strong or weak, direct or
indirect, positive or negative.
PROPOSITIONS & HYPOTHESES

• Social theories contain propositions about the relationships among concepts.

• A proposition is a theoretical statement that two or more factors or concepts are related and the type
of relationship it is. It is a belief that may or may not have been tested. A major purpose of doing
research is to find out whether a theory’s proposition conforms to empirical evidence or data.
• Some theoretical propositions are in the form of assumptions; others can be tested with empirical data.
• A hypothesis is an empirically testable version of a proposition.
• It is a tentative statement about a relationship because when we start a study, we are uncertain as to
whether the hypothesis actually holds in the empirical world.
• By empirically evaluating a hypothesis, we learn whether a theoretical proposition is
supported, or we may decide to revise it or remove it from the theory entirely.
• While many research studies are designed to test hypotheses, some types of research
proceed without a hypothesis.
UNITS OF ANALYSIS

• The social world comprises many units, such as individual people, groups, organizations,
movements, institutions, countries, and so forth. Researchers tailor theoretical concepts
to apply to one or more of these units of analysis.
DEDUCTIVE

• To theorize in a deductive direction, we start with abstract concepts or a theoretical

proposition that outlines the logical connection. among concepts.
• We move next to evaluate the concepts and propositions against concrete evidence.
• We go from ideas, theory, or a mental picture toward observable empirical evidence
INDUCTIVE

• To theorize in an inductive direction, we begin with observing the empirical world and
then reflecting on what is taking place and thinking in increasingly more abstract ways.
• We move toward theoretical concepts and propositions.
• We can begin with a general topic and a few vague ideas that we later refine and
elaborate into more precise concepts when operating inductively.
• We build from empirical observations toward more abstract thinking
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

• Micro-level theory Social theory focusing on the micro level of social life that occurs over
short durations (e.g., face-to-face interactions and encounters among individuals or small
groups).
• Macro-level theory Social theory focusing on the macro level of social life (e.g., social
institutions, major sectors of society, entire societies, or world regions) and processes
that occur over long durations (many years, multiple decades, or a century or longer).
• Meso-level theory
• Social theory focusing on the relations, processes, and structures at a midlevel of social
life (e.g., organizations, movements, and communities) and events operating over
moderate durations (many months, several years, or a decade).
PREDICTION AND EXPLANATION

• The primary purpose of theory is to explain.

• However, explanation has two meanings: theoretical and ordinary.
• Researchers focus on theoretical explanation, a logical argument that tells why something
takes a specific form or why it occurs.
• Usually when we do this, we refer to a general rule or principle, and we connect it to a
theoretical argument with many connections among concepts.
• Prediction is a statement that something will occur.
• An explanation logically connects what occurs in a specific situation to a more abstract
or basic principle about “how things work” to answer the why question.
• The particular situation is shown to be an instance or specific case of the more general
principle. It is easier to predict than to explain, and an explanation has more logical
power than prediction because good explanations also predict.
• A specific explanation rarely predicts more than one outcome, but competing
explanations can predict the same outcome.
• Theoretical explanations take three forms:
• causal
• structural
• interpretative

• Each explains, or answers, the question of why events occur and each connects a specific
case to some type of general principle.
CAUSAL EXPLANATION

• A causal explanation indicates a cause-effect relationship among concepts/ variables.

• We use this type of explanation in everyday language, although everyday language tends
to be rather sloppy and ambiguous. Here is a causal explanation:You say that poverty
causes crime or that weakening societal morals causes divorce to increase.
• These are elementary causal explanations.
• Social scientists try to be more precise and exact when they discuss causal relations.
They also try to determine how or why the causal process works (e.g., how and why
poverty causes crime).
STRUCTURAL EXPLANTION

• In a causal explanation, one or more factors may cause a response in other factors.
• This is like one ball that rolls and hits others, causing them to begin rolling. In contrast,
the logic of a structural explanation locates a social process, event, or factor within a
larger structure.
• The structure is like a spiderweb, a wheel with spokes, or a machine with interconnected
parts.
• A structural explanation explains social life by noting how one part fits within the larger
structure.
INTERPRETATIVE EXPLANATION

• The purpose of interpretive explanation is to foster understanding.

• It does so by placing what we wish to explain (e.g., a social relationship, event, cultural
practice) within a specific social context and setting that have a meaning system.
• The explanatory goal is for others to mentally grasp how some area of the social world
operates and to place what we want to explain within that world.
• This goal is reached by helping others comprehend what we want to explain within an
entire worldview and system of meaning