Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process - Essay Example

The very notion of social research relates to diverse types of investigations performed by social scientists within fields of sociology, social anthropology, social policy, education, and other similar disciplines. In general, methods employed by social scientists can be divided into two broad groups - quantitative methods, which are aimed at measuring of social phenomena and analysis of numerical information, and qualitative methods, which highlight personal interpretations in order to achieve a better understanding of the significance of social phenomena. In practical realm, quantitative methods use questionnaires, surveys, and statistical studies, while qualitative methods presuppose participant observants, focus groups, and similar means of gathering of data (Lindholm-Romantschuk 1998, pp. 25-27). On ground of this, we can see that there is a multitude of practical methods used for research of social life. Therefore, it is hard to overestimate the importance of the proper introductory literature to social research for sociology and social policy undergraduates which would help to establish a clear understanding of the scope of available and prospective tools of sociological research. Let us overview two works that may pretend to assume the role of such literature. The first such work is represented by the book by Tim May "Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process". As can be understood from the title of the book the task that the author has set before him is to combine within a single and rather concise work a discussion of the aims, problems, processes, and methods of social research. Of course, to achieve a deep understanding of such a complex topic the discussion should include not only study of relevant aspects of social theory, general methodology, and practical methods, but at the same time of interconnections between them. May manages not to miss this point with his allusions to issues of the role of ethics and values in the process of social research. In fact, this task of integration of practical concerns and values involved into the social research may be though of as one of the main tasks of the book, and this work surely succeeds in fulfilling this aim in such a way that many complicated relevant themes are explicated by the author in a very clear and persuasive manner. This fact is significant, as quite quickly the book introduces readers to numerous concepts, like objectivity and subjectivity, realism and idealism, postmodernism and feminism, and others. As we noticed the attention of the author to interrelation between elements of social research, it may also be said that one of the most important strengths of this work is that it manages to convincingly uncover the nature of the relationship between the underlying theories and methodology of social research, clearly highlighting those crucial components of social research that reflect the dynamical nature of social relations themselves. Thus, if at least some part of the books readers would find the authors approach to the problem of interrelation between theory and practice helpful, this book may fill a significant existing gap in the literature, and deserve a proper place on a social researchers bookcase. The book consists of two parts which, although being formally separate, have necessary links between them, so readers can easily navigate between different chapters of the book that contain information needed for particular purposes. The first part of the work overviews a series of issues within the social research field. It contains three chapters which deal with issues of how an understanding of the social reality can be obtained, which interconnection exists between theory and practice, and what is the role of ethics and values in the process of social research. The books second part examines the methods employed for social research, like for instance the mentioned participant observation, surveys, interviews, and comparative and documentary research. In general, every chapter of the book is structured in a reasonable and comprehensive way, so that each topic is supported by sufficient background information. The author makes sure that where it is appropriate concerns and troubles with each method are mentioned. All chapters end with the summary of main relevant issues, and with questions that are left for further investigation and study, along with the offered further reading. At the same time, the structure of the book may leave readers with the feeling that it ends quite unexpectedly. Indeed, the last chapter finishes with the summary of issues related to the comparative social research, while one could expect the general summary of the book with the reconsideration of the discussed problems and challenging themes. In fact, such a summary could further reinforce the case that the author had made in relation to the role of ethics and values in the social research, which, as we pointed out, made this book stand out. Thus, such a type of summarising material could be considered as an omission of this book. Of course, books that offer introductory material to social research naturally deal mostly with the same type of material, and the difference between them is mostly in their structure, accents, and depth of discussion. In this regard, the work of May complements other books in this field by its ambitious approach to examination of important and fine issues of connection between theory and practice, and by its comparatively intense attention to ethical issues in the field of social research. Thus, as this book is well organised and provides clear explanations of complicated topics, this work would be very useful for unexperienced readers. On the other hand, "Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process" provides enough expert information and details in order to interest advanced students as well. Another book that attempts to serve as an introduction to social research is the work by Colin Robson "Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers". Again, as the title of the book may suggest this volume is addressed to those who seek for more practical instructions on the ways of conducting the social research. And indeed, Robson describes his book as a kind of tutorial on practical research with the emphasis on the provision of skills to students that would be required for carrying out of research beyond laboratory, hence the allusion to the "real world". However, the book does not that much serve as a guide with recommendations about how to do something, but rather aims to give a wide-ranging review of what social researches accomplish and why they do exactly that. In this way, this aim would be achieved if readers of the book develop a conscious understanding of the necessary elements of social research procedures, which seems to be the case at least for those readers who would give Robsons book a careful attention. At the same time, with this aim as his purpose the author inevitably encounters the problem of how to appeal both to experienced readers and to beginners. Robson tries to solve this problem by provision of different levels of expertise, which nevertheless may be somewhat confusing for both types of readers, as for example in the book some potentially acute debates are initiated but not sufficiently developed, which may not satisfy experienced readers, and at the same time not inform beginners of the importance of such debates. The author had paid a lot of attention to the structure of the book, which greatly helped him with his task. The book consists of four parts, fifteen chapters, and two appendices. The first part of the book elaborates on the notion of an enquiry in a real world and describes different approaches to social research, which is a proper way to start. The second part discusses issues of the design of enquiries for diverse purposes. The third part overviews possible tactics and methods of data collection. The last part of the book is about ways of dealing with the available data and approaches to reporting of results of an enquiry. Appendices give helpful suggestions about creation of project proposals, and describe possible roles of researchers in real world research. With the above considerations in mind, it can be said that similarly to the book of Tim May, Robson also bridges a difficult gap between knowledge of theoretical approaches to the practical tasks of social science research and possession of concrete skills for conducting of research. For instance, such things as an example of a proper questionnaire given in the book are a very valuable help for everyone who ever confronted the need to design a survey. In this way, the author managed to integrally combine practical material with the underlying theory of social science research. At the same time, the author omits some emerging tendencies of the real world research that promise to become widespread. For one, this concerns such possible approaches to social research as virtual research and cyber ethnography (Miller and Slater 2001). Also, Robson mostly omits mentioning of inevitable influence on social research of such possible conflicts that a real world researcher can encounter as nationalism, racism, group conflicts, social division and chaos. Similarly, the preference by the author of the formal structure in his approach to the real world research mostly leaves out such its aspects as conversing and other informal means of fieldwork. Additionally, in contrast to some other books of this type "Real World Research" instead of exemplifying all the methods it mentions too often sends readers to other similar works for some specific additional explanations of methods of research. However, despite these remarks it must be acknowledged that the Robson books mostly thorough approach and comfortable style of presentation of information is the significant contribution to the field of social research. Thus, "Real World Research" will be much appreciated by readers interested in different disciplines of social sciences but united in their quest to find a guide to help them with the research. The book will also be suitable for those who need to study a certain methodology but do not have a possibility to read a whole book dedicated just to one method. Sources Lindholm-Romantschuk, Y., (1998), Scholarly Book Reviewing in the Social Sciences and Humanities : The Flow of Ideas Within and Among Disciplines, Greenwood Press May, T., (2001), Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process, Open University Press Miller, D., and Slater, D. (2001), The Internet : An Ethnographic Approach, Berg Publishers Robson, C., (2002), Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner- Researchers, Blackwell Publishers Read More