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HEIDI VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

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 CHAPTER 3
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Tutorials
PLEASE:
Turn off your cell phone

Be on time for the class

Attend regularly

Come prepared
Dates of tutorials
Overview
1. Ch 1: Strategies of discovery
2. Ch 2: The role of theory in research
3. Ch 3: Scientific research
Ways of classifying research
1. Categories
For what the research is used

2. Methodology
The approach on which research is based

3. Aims
What this type of research aims at (wants to achieve)

4. Time dimension
The length of time involved in doing that research
Decisions about
1. The researcher should first decide which type of research to
use, basic or applied research

2. He should then decide which approach to use, quantitative,

qualitative or using multiple methods (triangulation)

3. It is then important to decide on the aim or purpose of the

research

4. Then he has to decide about the time dimension to use,

namely cross-sectional, longitudinal or case-study research
Categories of research

1. Basic research

2. Applied research

These types of research are not mutually exclusive

Basic research
1. Expands on fundamental knowledge
2. Researcher first states what is being researched, then
describes or explains the phenomena
3. When the focus is on a contribution of knowledge
4. Is used to:
 support or reject theories by explaining social relationships
 To interpret changes in communities, in order to enhance new
scientific knowledge about the social world
5. Makes use of
 Exploratory research
 Descriptive research
 Explanatory research
Basic research
6. Criticism
The knowledge acquired through basic research sometimes
does not offer short-term practical solutions
7. Advantage
Creates a basis for the application of knowledge to many
social problems
Applied research
1. Tends to solve specific problems
2. Researcher investigates the problem, then it is treated in a
specific manner by applying acquired researched
knowledge
3. The focus is more practice orientated, on immediate
problem solving
4. Is generally descriptive in nature
5. Advantage
 It can be applied immediately after the results have been
obtained
6. Disadvantage
 Sometimes the results are not published
Approaches on which research is
based

1. Quantitative approach
2. Qualitative approach
Quantitative research
1. Researchers investigate the cause and effect of events,
by using a large number of respondents
2. Focuses on measureable aspects of human behavior
3. Is a formal, objective, systematic process in which
numerical data are used to obtain information
4. Is used to:
Describe variables
Determine cause-effect relationships between variables
Examine relationships amongst these variables
Quantitative research
5. Is structured and controlled in nature
6. The scope of quantitative research is larger and more
universal
7. For research to be valid and reliable, use is made of specific
scientific methods and techniques
8. Methods and techniques used in quantitative research
 Conceptualisation of concepts that can be operationalised through
measurement instruments
 Data collection techniques such as structured questionnaires
 Data analysis techniques
Quantitative research
Measuring instruments used in quantitative research:
Questionnaires
Interviews
Observers
Existing documentation
Any standard method of data collection

Analysis:
It is the process in which certain procedures, for ex
descriptive statistic techniques, are used to work through
the data that have been collected
Qualitative approach
1. Acknowledge the uniqueness and the meaningfulness
of human situations and behavior
2. Principles of qualitative approach
Believing in multiple realities
Being committed to participants’ viewpoints
Limits disruption
Acknowledgement of participants in the research process
Reporting data by means of participants’ commentaries
Qualitative approach
3. Use different methods than quantitative research
4. Observation is an important aspect
5. Methods and techniques used:
 Concepts that capture the meaning of the experience,
action or interaction of the element
 Unstructured (open) questionnaires and interviews
 Participant observation and case studies
 Recording of life histories
 Analysis of collected data by means of non-quantitative
frameworks.
Qualitative approach
6. General characteristics
 Involves holistic investigation
 Man is the primary data-collection instrument
 The emphasis is on the use of qualitative methods
 Subjects are selected in a purposeful, rather than a random
manner
 Researcher makes use of inductive data analysis
 A grounded theory (a theory that was actually developed from
the data) can be developed
 The design develops as the research develops
 The subject plays a role in the interpretation of the results
 Intuitive insights are used
 The emphasis on social processes
Qualitative approach
7. Reasons for doing qualitative research:
 Research that can’t be done by means of an experiment
because of practical and ethical considerations
 Research that makes in-depth enquiries into complexities
and processes
 Research where the relevant variables still need to be
identified
 Research that tries to find out and explore why the current
practice do not work
 Research about unknown phenomena
Comparison of quantitative and
qualitative research
1. p88
Multiple Methods or
Triangulation
1. Sometimes there are an overlap between quantitative
and qualitative research used.
2. This results in a multiple method study in which the
researcher uses multiple methods of data collection
and analysis
3. Triangulation is based on the assumption that any bias
inherent in a certain data source, would be neutralised
when used in conjunction with another source
Multiple methods or triangulation
1. Data triangulation
The use of more than one data source (questionnaires,
diaries, interviews)
2. Researcher triangulation
The use of more than one researcher, to achieve inter-
subjective agreement
3. Theory triangulation
The use of multiple theories to interpret a single set of
data
Multiple methods or triangulation
4. Methodological triangulation
The use of multiple methods to study a single topic, for ex
combining quantitative and qualitative data in a single
study
5. Analysis triangulation
The use of two or more analytical techniques to analyse
the same set of data
Validity and reliability
1. Validity:
A methodological requirement for
 research methods such as observation, the use of
measuring instruments
 research results such as the analysis and interpretation
of collected data and conclusions from analysis
2. Reliability:
When identical investigations are repeated, similar
research results will be obtained.
Types of research
1. Exploratory research
2. Descriptive research
3. Explanatory research
4. Correlational research
Types of research
1. Exploratory research
Does research on a topic which has not been researched
before
The major purpose is:
- the clarification of ideas
- the formulation of questions and hypotheses, for more
precise investigation later
Investigates the “what” of the matter
Types of research
1. Exploratory research
Methods
 Secondary sources of information are studied

 Selected cases are analysed

 A survey of persons who are likely to have information

on the phenomenon under investigation is conducted
Types of research
2. Descriptive research
 Aimed at giving the specific details of a situation or
relationship
 Determines the “how” or “why” the phenomenon came
into being, and also everybody that is (was) involved
Types or research
3. Explanatory research
 Aimed at gaining insight into a situation or a
phenomenon
 Looks for causes and reasons why “something”
happened or did not happen
Types or research
4. Correlational research
 Refers to:
- a systematic investigation of relationships between two
or more variables
- or to explain the nature of the relationship
 Does not examine cause and effect, does not indicate
causation
 When a correlation exists, a change in one variable
corresponds to a change in others
Time dimensions in research
1. Cross-sectional research
2. Longitudinal research
Panel studies
Follow-up studies
Tracer studies (Time-series research)
Cohort research

3. Trend designs
4. Case study research
Cross-sectional research
1. Is nonrecurrent in nature
2. Is done at a specific point in time
3. Concentrate on the here and now
4. Disadvantage: can not include changes in the process
5. It is difficult to demonstrate causality
6. Can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory in
nature with descriptive research yielding the best
results
Longitudinal research
1. Are done over an extended period of time
2. Is used in:
• Studying time-relating processes
• Determining time sequences
• Making comparisons over time
• Enhancing research control
Designs in longitudinal research
1. Panel studies
 The same people or group, is investigated again over
various periods of time
 The panel refers to the sample of subjects providing data
 Expensive
 Attrition (loss of participants over time)
Designs in longitudinal research
2. Follow-up studies
 Similar to panel studies
 To determine the subsequent development of individuals
who have a specific condition or who have received a
specific intervention
Designs in longitudinal research
3. Tracer studies (Time-series research)
 Traces people or follow their lives over a period of time
 In most cases data is only collected at one point
 Ex 5 years after completion of a drug rehab programme
Designs in longitudinal research
4. Cohort research
 Is done by using a category of people who had the same
experiences in life over a specific period of time
 The emphasis is on a category, not a specific individual
 They are studied over different periods of time
Designs in longitudinal research
Panel • Same group of people
• various periods
Follow-up • same group of people
• condition & intervention
Tracer (time-series) • Follow lives
• Over a period of time
• Eg rehab
Cohort • categories of people
• Same experience in life
• Period of time
Trend designs
1. Investigates changes in the general population in
relation to a specific phenomenon.
2. Researchers select different samples of subjects from
the same population
3. At preset intervals of time, data are collected from
that particular sample.
Case-study research
1. Researcher do an in-depth investigation into various
characteristics of a small number of cases over a
specific period of time.
2. Data may be collected by means of various techniques
such as
 Observation by the researcher
 Interview
 Questionnaires
 Written accounts by the subjects in the form of diaries
and narratives
 Data reported in documents and newspapers
Summary
Table 3.3 p103
NB!!