Designing and Doing Social Research
Contents
Who the course is for
What you will learn from it
Who and where
Do this first: Get hold of a book
Do this next: Watch the videos and sign up for a research group
Week by Week
Week 1: Choose your approach
Week 2: Asking questions
Week 4: Theories and Practicalities of Research
Week 6: Gathering Data
Week 7: Reviewing Data
Week 8: Thinking with and about your data
Week 9: Troubleshooting
Week 10: Presenting your findings
Assessment
Advice on the Final Essay: Reflections and implications
What it is for
What to do
What to put in
Suggestions from feedback on past assignments
Plagiarism
Further Reading
Who the course is for
The course is for anyone who wants practical experience and skills in social research. The course is designed to mimic a real world research scenario, in which a multi-disciplinary research team takes varying approaches to a topic but works together towards the same goal. The emphasis is on learning while doing, and giving you a structured environment where you can learn how to reflect on your research while you are doing it. Many of the skills you learn on the course will be relevant to your honours project or dissertation, and to your future career.
What you will learn from it
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Design a research project
- Conduct a literature search and review
- Use a range of research methods common in research that are used in academia and the public, private and charity sectors of the economy
- Understand the process of social research
- Assess and evaluate your own and others’ research
- Analyse data
- Write a research report
- Present your findings
- Work together in a team
You will end up with demonstrable employment skills in:
- Team and personnel management
- Project design and problem solving
- Report writing, summarising, and presentation
- Analytical and critical thinking
- Evaluation of your own and others’ work
Who and where
Course organiser:
Dr. Angus Bancroft, . Contact me for anything related to the course. You can find me at 6.23 Chrystal Macmillan Building. Guidance and Feedback hours: Weds 11-1 or drop by when you like.
Lecturers:
Angelica Thumala, , Lisa McCormick, , Vernon Gayle,
Senior Tutor:Maddie Breeze
Research tutors:Maddie Breeze, Maggie Morrison, Anna Ross, Cara Blaisdell, Nichole Fernandez, Jacques Human, Órla Murray, CerenSengul
Course secretary: Shazia Leonard,
Monday lectures are in Hugh Robson Building, lecture theatre.
Thursday/Friday group project meetings are in the rooms assigned on Learn.
Video blog
Maddie Breeze will produce a video blog of the course, answering common questions and problems submitted by you.
Do this first: Get hold of a book
The main textbook for the course is Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012) Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. It provides a good insight into what is involved in doing research and being a researcher. We have negotiated a small discount on the book with Blackwell’s.
A well written and enjoyable book looking at controversies and debates in methods is Davidson, Julia O’Connell, and Derek Layder. (1994) Methods, Sex and Madness. Psychology Press. This is particularly useful for discussions about epistemology and reliability.
A good general handbook covering different methods and epistemological debates is: Seale, C., ed. (2012) Researching Society and Culture. Sage Publications.
Core readings for each lecture topic and group sessions are listed below. The lecture readings are available on Learn. There is an extended reading list at the end of this handbook.
Do this next: Watch the videos and sign up for a research group
The course is taught through lectures and group work. The lectures give you grounding in various research skills, debates and controversies in social research. The main focus of the course is the group work. You choose what research group you join. The groups are organised into four topics: Welfare policy and inequality; Deviance and obedience; Art, music and culture; Relationships and emotions. We have prepared a short video about each topic so you can get a sense of what is involved before you choose.
Within your topic, each group uses one method to research the topic: Observation and participation; Visual methods; Discourse; Internet and networks. You choose a topic you are interested in, and then the method you would like to use. The topics and methods are starting points for your group – where you go with them is up to you.
Most students find the project a valuable experience. However it is the nature of group work that you can have disagreements and difficulties along the way. For instance, you may not all agree with the shape the research takes, and you may feel that some group members are doing more than their fair share of work while others are being carried. This happens in all team work, but problems can be avoided if you keep to some ground rules: make sure everyone has their say, the allocation of tasks is clear, and that problems and grievances are aired early on.
Here is some advice on running group meetings.
- Set ground rules (how you are going to communicate outside class, how you will be sharing work. Some groups set up their own Facebook group, for example)
- For each meeting appoint someone to chair and someone to take notes and write up. Take turns at each role.
- Have an agenda or key points to discuss at the start of each meeting
- Ensure everybody gets a turn to speak and no one person dominates – everybody has their view aired. If there is disagreement, acknowledge it.
- Always agree what work has to be done by the next meeting before the end of the meeting.
- Do not leave the majority of tasks to one or two people, even if they want to.
- You can allow group members to specialise depending on their abilities.
- At the end of each meeting ask everyone to say how they felt it went.
- Get out of your comfort zone
Your research tutor is there to help with problems, but as in life it is up to the group to resolve any difficulties. As with all research, you should keep a diary of what the group does and your thoughts on it. This is invaluable preparation for the assignments, acting as a memory jogger and a source of self-reflection.
Week by Week
Week 1: Choose your approach
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Introduction: research as a craft.
Reading:
Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Sage Publications, Inc. Chapter 2, ‘The Researcher as Learner.’
Sign-up for your group opens on Tuesday on Learn.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
First group session: come ready with some thoughts about why you chose this topic and what you think of the method your group is doing. These do not have to be fully formed but at the end of the group meeting you should have some idea of what the group is going to study and how. Discuss how you want to communicate with each other e.g. by a Facebook group. End the session with a plan to find some published research on this topic and method.
Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 5, ‘Conceptualizing and Planning the Research’.
Week 2: Asking questions
Monday: 2.10pm-3pm
What makes for good research questions?
Reading:
Robson, Colin. (2002)Real world research: a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers,Blackwell Publishers. Chapter 3 “Developing your ideas.”
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group:
In the light of Monday’s lecture, discuss what your core concepts are? Are there disagreements over how they are defined? What kind of data will you get? How have others gone about this kind of research and what problems have they faced?
Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012). Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 5, ‘Conceptualizing and Planning the Research’.
Week 3: Planning your research
Monday, 2.10pm-3pm
Data collection and sampling
Reading:
*Becker, Howard(1998). Tricks of the Trade - Chapter 3, “Sampling.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Fielding, N, and H Thomas(2008). “Qualitative Interviewing.” Pp. 245–265 in Researching Social Life, edited by Nigel Gilbert. Los Angeles: Sage.
Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 7, ‘Gathering Data in the Field’.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group: Following on from Monday’s lecture, discuss your research field. Is there a population to sample? Are you sampling something other than individuals, such as networks or images? What characteristics does your study sample have? In preparation for next week, consider:
What do you want to investigate and how? What do you want to know about at the end that you do not know about now? Who or what is the most appropriate unit of analysis, e.g. an individual, a location, a group, a place, an institution, an event? Discuss this object of study, what are its qualities? Where can you find it? What kind of data/evidence will you need to meet your aims? Will comparisons (such as by age, sex, or some social characteristics) help you achieve your aims? Review what you will be doing next week and agree any reading or written work or research to be brought to the next meeting. Discuss the research problem you are tackling.
Week 4: Theories and Practicalities of Research
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Theories of research
Reading:
*Davidson, Julia O’Connell, and Derek Layder(1994)Methods, Sex and Madness. Psychology Press. Chapter 2, ‘Dimensions of Social Research.’
*Grix, J. (2002). “Introducing students to the generic terminology of social research.” Politics 22(3):175–186.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group presentation: our research problem
This might consist of any of the following a discussion of; your research aim questions; sampling; epistemology; scoping what data there is; background reading on the problem. Present your thoughts on the problem you have been set.
Week 5: Preparing to enter the field
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Ethics and position in research
Reading:
Punch, M. (1994) “Politics and ethics in qualitative research.” Pp. 83–98 in Handbook of Qualitative Research, vol. 2. London: Sage.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group project: Develop data collection
Prepare with Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 6, ‘Entering the field’.
Work on the design of your data collection methods. Conduct an ethical review of your project. Groups must complete an ethical self-audit of their research, which you can find here:
Give some thought to what you are going to do with your data when you have collected it. For instance, you might want to analyse it jointly. What will you be looking for? Work on designing the data collection instruments e.g. a topic guide for interviews, or an observation frame for observational methods. Review your plan of who is doing what where and when in order to collect and record data and be finished data collection in time. Agree tasks to be completed by the next week.
Week 6: Gathering Data
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Analysis
Reading:
Silverman, David(2005)Doing qualitative research: a practical handbook - Chapter 11, “Beginning Data Analysis.” Sage.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group project: Collect data this week
Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 7, ‘Gathering Data in the Field’.
Begin data collection, review progress with data collection, decide on any further data you want to obtain. Is the data collection working as planned? Are there any initial thoughts or ideas that are emerging from the data? You should be thinking both about the findings and also the research process itself. Give some thought to what you are going to do with your data when you have collected it. For instance, you might want to analyse it jointly. What will you be looking for? Based on initial ideas coming from the data, do you want to finesse your data collection, e.g. by focusing on one emerging issue? Review what you will be doing next week and agree any reading or written work or research to be brought to the next meeting.
Week 7: Reviewing Data
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Writing up and producing results workshop
Reading:
Holliday, Adrian. (2002)Doing and writing qualitative research - Chapter 5 “Writing About Data.” SAGE.
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group Project: Finding the data
Use this session to share data and develop a good idea of the kind of evidence you have obtained. Consider whether and how the data will prove useful in your data analysis. Can you identify any obvious gaps you can still address? How has the data collection worked compared with how you expected it would work? Review what you will be doing next week and agree any reading or written work or research to be brought to the next meeting.
Week 8: Thinking with and about your data
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Making your argument
Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 11, ‘Our Characters’ Analysis’.
DHT, Faculty Room North
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group Project: Presentation
Presentation.
Finding and interpreting the data
This will focus on doing the research, covering data collection; the form the data takes; how the research is conducted; ethical challenges. Following on from Monday’s lecture, think about how to make the most of the evidence you have gathered and how best to present it to your intended audience.
Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012)Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 9, ‘Issues that arise in the field’.
Think about how to make the most of the evidence you have gathered and how best to present it to your intended audience. Agree plan and divisions of labour for preparing the presentation. Review what you will be doing next week and agree any reading or written work or research to be brought to the next meeting.
Week 9: Troubleshooting
Monday 2.10pm-3pm
Troubleshooting – the lecturers discuss problems and controversies in research
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Group project: Prepare analysis
Prepare with Rossman, Gretchen, and Sharon F. Rallis. (2012). Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Chapter 10, ‘Analysing and interpreting data’, and Chapter 12 ‘Presenting the Learnings’
Review your data analysis and preparation for the final presentation. What conclusions can be drawn from your data? How are these conclusions based on the evidence you have generated? Have you achieved the aims and objectives of the research? Can you generalise from the study? Do you want to place yourselves ‘in’ the study? To what extent did your presence and decisions affect the results that were produced? Review your progress and division of labour for making the group presentation and (individually) the preparation still to be done for your final report.
Week 10: Presenting your findings
Thursday/Friday, various times.
Final group presentations.
Assessment
You are not being assessed on how well your group does the research. You are being assessed on your ability to reflect on the research process and to link what you have done to wider themes in research methods.
Course work will be submitted online using our submission system – ELMA. You will not be required to submit a paper copy.
Marked course work, grades and feedback will be returned online – you will not receive a paper of your marked course work or feedback.
For information, help and advice on submitting coursework and accessing feedback, please see the ELMA wiki at
There are three parts to the assessment:
Total course markGroup Presentation / 20% (all group members receive the same mark)
Individual Performance / 10% (individual)
Final Essay / 70% (individual)
- Group Presentation
Your group presents three times on the research. See the timetable for suggested topics. The presentation is to the rest of the class. Group members receive the same mark. If a member of the group is absent or has not contributed they will receive zero. If you are unavoidably absent or have other difficulties preventing you contributing please let Angus know as soon as possible.
- Individual Performance
So that individual contributions to the group can be properly recognised, tutors will evaluate the performance ofeach group member. The purpose of this is to assess how you work as well as the work you produce, and to ensure that each student’s contribution to the group is recognized fairly. We will look for you taking on and carrying out tasks (e.g. research tasks, chairing, writing up meetings), you contributing to group discussions and general being a committed member of your project group.