Type Bryman
Alan
author names here
Social Research Methods
Chapter 7: The nature of
quantitative research
Slides authored by Tom Owens
What is a concept?
• Concepts are:
– Building blocks of theory
– Labels that we give to elements of the social world
– Categories for the organization of ideas and
observations (Bulmer, 1984)
• Concepts are useful for:
– Providing an explanation of a certain aspect of the
social world
– Standing for things we want to explain
– Giving a basis for measuring variation
Page 163
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Why measure?
• To delineate fine differences between people,
organizations, or any other unit of analysis
• To provide a consistent device for gauging
distinctions
• To produce precise estimates of the degree
of the relationship between concepts
Page 164
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Indicators of concepts
• Produced by the operational definition of a
concept
• Less directly quantifiable than measures
• Common sense understandings of the form a
concept might take
• Multiple-indicator measures
– concept may have different dimensions
Pages 164, 165
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Why use more than one indicator?
• Single indicators may incorrectly classify
many individuals
• Single indicators may capture only a portion
of the underlying concept or be too general
• Multiple indicators can make finer distinctions
between individuals
• Multiple indicators can capture different
dimensions of a concept
Pages 166, 167
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
What does reliability mean?
• Stability
– is the measure stable over time?
• e.g. test–retest method
Key concept 7.3
Page 169
• Internal reliability
– are the indicators consistent?
• e.g. split-half method
• Inter-observer consistency
– is the measure consistent between observers?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
What does validity mean?
Does the indicator measure the concept?
It does if it has:
– Face validity (right for the concept?)
– Concurrent validity (supported by a relevant criterion
today?)
– Predictive validity (likely to be supported by a
relevant criterion tomorrow?)
– Construct validity (are useful hypotheses produced?)
– Convergent validity (supported by results from other
methods?
Page 171, 172
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Causality
– Explanation
• why things are the way they are
– Direction of causal influence
• relationship between dependent & independent variables
– Confidence
• in the researcher's causal inferences
Pages 175, 176
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Generalization
– Can findings be generalized beyond
the confines of the particular context?
– Can findings be generalized from
sample to population?
– How representative are samples?
Page 176
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Replication
– Minimizing contamination from researcher biases
or values
– Explicit description of procedures
– Control of conditions of study
– Ability to replicate in differing contexts
Page 177
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
The process of quantitative research
Figure 7.1, page 161
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Criticisms of quantitative research
• Failure to distinguish between objects in the
natural world and social phenomena
• Artificial and spurious sense of precision and
accuracy
• Lack of ecological validity
– reliance on instruments and measurements
• Static view of social life
Pages 178, 179
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Is it always like this?
• Quantitative research design is an
ideal-typical approach
• Useful as a guide of good practice
• But discrepancy between ideal type and actual
practice of social research
• Pragmatic concerns mean that researchers may
not adhere rigidly to these principles
Page 179
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
One reason for the discrepancy between
the ideal and typical approaches
• Quantitative research is usually deductive
(operational definition of concepts)
• But measurements can sometimes lead to
inductive theorising
• And this means the factors give rise to the
concepts, rather than making them operational.
• Bryman (1988:28) calls this ‘reverse
operationism’.
Page 180
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
…and another reason
• Published accounts of quantitative research rarely
report evidence of reliability and validity (Podsakoff &
Dalton, 1987)
• Researchers are primarily interested in the substantive
content and findings of their research
• Running tests of reliability and validity may seem an
unappealing alternative!
• But researchers remain committed to the principles of
good practice
Pages 180, 181
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition