Methods of Social Investigation
Methods of Social Investigation
Emma Woodmansee
'Describe how you would plan and undertake an investigation into why some of this College's students do not complete their degree courses.' (You have been given only 100 to finance the study; and one term's sabbatical.)
Define the variables in the given title
After a Research Statement has been formulated it is very important that the researcher defines any variables within it. A variable is any word whose meaning may be ambiguous or which could have several different meanings. This is a crucial stage in the planning process as a vague title renders any results at the end of the research without true meaning.
In this case, the Research Statement is the given title Describe how you would plan and undertake an investigation into why some of this College's students do not complete their degree courses.' Within this Research Statement there are several variables : college's', students', complete' and degree courses'.
These variables will be defined as follows:
`College's' We will take this to mean students at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London.
`Students' Undergraduates on a first degree (excluding post graduates and so on).
`Complete' Graduate
`Degree courses' The course for which the student originally registered.
By defining the variables above there can be no confusion as to the meaning of the Research Statement. This process also helps the researcher to focus on the group of people that he wishes to study.
Decide on the purpose of the research
Having defined the variables in the Research Statement, the researcher now needs to focus his attention on the purpose of the research, and consequently lay down the Research Objectives. This part of the planning process allows the researcher time to consider what he hopes to achieve from the research and ensures that the
research
Emma Woodmansee
'Describe how you would plan and undertake an investigation into why some of this College's students do not complete their degree courses.' (You have been given only 100 to finance the study; and one term's sabbatical.)
Define the variables in the given title
After a Research Statement has been formulated it is very important that the researcher defines any variables within it. A variable is any word whose meaning may be ambiguous or which could have several different meanings. This is a crucial stage in the planning process as a vague title renders any results at the end of the research without true meaning.
In this case, the Research Statement is the given title Describe how you would plan and undertake an investigation into why some of this College's students do not complete their degree courses.' Within this Research Statement there are several variables : college's', students', complete' and degree courses'.
These variables will be defined as follows:
`College's' We will take this to mean students at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London.
`Students' Undergraduates on a first degree (excluding post graduates and so on).
`Complete' Graduate
`Degree courses' The course for which the student originally registered.
By defining the variables above there can be no confusion as to the meaning of the Research Statement. This process also helps the researcher to focus on the group of people that he wishes to study.
Decide on the purpose of the research
Having defined the variables in the Research Statement, the researcher now needs to focus his attention on the purpose of the research, and consequently lay down the Research Objectives. This part of the planning process allows the researcher time to consider what he hopes to achieve from the research and ensures that the
research
Bibliography: Fink, A & Kosecoff, J (1985) How to Conduct Surveys Giddens, A (1993) Sociology Howard, K & Sharp, J (1983) Management of a Student Research Project Kane, E (1985) Doing Your Own Research Moser and Kalton (1971) Survey Methods in Social Investigation Oppenheim, A (1992 2ed) Research Methods in Social Relations