Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

THE MEANINGS OF METHODOLOGY

KEY TERMS

abduction
bounded autonomy
bracketing
causal laws
constructionist orientation
covering law model
critical social science (CSS)
determinism
dialectic
epistemology
explanatory critique
false consciousness
hermeneutics

idiographic

instrumental orientation

interpretative social science

(ISS)

intersubjectivity

meaningful social action

mechanical model of man

natural attitude

nomothetic

ontology

paradigm

positivist social science (PSS)

postulate of adequacy

practical orientation

praxis

reflexive-dialectic orientation

reification

relativism

technocratic perspective

transcendent perspective

transformative perspective

typification

value-free science

verstehen

voluntarism

Second, the three approaches mean that what
you try to accomplish when you do research (i.e.,
discover laws, identify underlying structures, de-
scribe meaning systems) will vary with the ap-
proach you choose. For example, PSS is likely to
conduct cost-benefit analysis, ISS researchers tend
to do exploratory research, and CSS researchers
favor action-oriented research. By being aware of
the approaches when you do social research, you
can make an informed decision about the type of
study to conduct.
Third, the various techniques used in social re-
search (sampling, interviewing, participant obser-
vation, etc.) are ultimately based on assumptions
and ideas from the approaches. Often you will see

a research technique presented without the back-

ground reasoning on which it was originally based.

By knowing about the approaches, you can better

understand the principles on which the specific re-

search techniques are based. For example, the pre-

cise measures and logic of experimental research

flow directly from positivism whereas field research

is based on an interpretive approach.

So far, we have looked at the overall operation

of the research process, different types of studies

and theory, and the three fundamental approaches to

social research. By now, you should have a grasp of

the basic contours of social research. In the next

chapter, you will see how to locate reports of spe-

cific research projects.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1.What is the purpose of social research according to each of the three approaches?

2.How does each approach define social reality?

3.What is the nature of human beings according to each approach?

4.How are science and common sense different in each approach?

5.What is social theory according to each approach?

6.How does each approach test a social theory?

7.What does each approach say about facts and how to collect them?