Overview

This week we will focus on overviewing the basics of social science research. We will learn how the social science approach overcomes many common errors in everyday reasoning and addresses special issues for social science compared to other sciences. Motivations for conducting social research will also be addressed. We will get introduced to the four types of social research projects (description, exploration, explanation, and evaluation), as well as the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. We will also investigate the difference between basic science versus applied research, and explains the differences between positivist, interpretivist, and constructivist research philosophies. We will conclude with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of social research, noting the importance of other research and other researchers in the scientific endeavor.

Learning Objective

By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Define Social Science and identify its limitations.
• Explain the motivations of social research.
• Identify the four types of social research.
• Describe the strengths and limitations of social research.

Workflow

What to read:

Chapters 1 & 2 in Bhattacherjee, Anol, “Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices” (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3

What to watch:

What to study:

PowerPoint