Approaches to Area Studies 1: A preliminary Step for a Systematic Research Presented by Alina Kim

What is research? “Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue”. (John W. Creswell) Research comprises "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humans, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.“ It is the systematic and organized method of finding answers to questions. Why it is systematic?  because it is a process broken up into clear steps that lead to conclusions. Why it is organized?  because there is a planned structure or method used to reach the conclusion.

Research Is intended to bring knowledge – create new one and accumulate the existing Knowledge gathering It is only successful if we find the answers No questions - no research. Composed of two words re and search Again or over again make a study about something

Steps for research process 1. Identify and d efine the issue o r question 2. Review of literature 3. Clarify the question 4. Prepare a research design 5. Data collection 6. Analysis of data 7. Drawing conclusions 8. Writing a research report

Different ways of collecting data Desktop research refers to seeking facts, general information on a topic, historical background, study results, etc., that have been published or exist in public documents. Interviews and conversations are used when you want to find out the community's past experience with an issue. Surveys are used if you want to know what most people in the community think or feel about an issue. Community investigation involves going to an area to establish facts about a specific problem or state of affairs. Case studies that describe the experience of individuals or groups affected by an issue can be very effective for research that aims to change a situation or influence decision-makers.

Producing the research Tips from Charles Wright Mills - How to organize one’s file - How to organize one’s thinking processes How to work on ‘intellectual production’?

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills “Craftsmanship is the center of yourself and you are personally involved in every intellectual product upon which you may work.” Do not split your work from your lives Capture you experience and sort it out. Shape yourself as an intellectual craftsmanship. How to store the memories? Set up a file/keep a journal! The maintenance of such a file is intellectual production.

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills The way to state the problem 1. Take into account the elements, definitions and core concepts, which ones you are going to use 2. Make a logical relationship between definitions and what you’re studying 3. Eliminate false views using these relationships 4. Restate the question of fact that remain. Master Section of the File - Make a list of problems that you want to research, and plans of research that you are going to follow. The “major” problems of social science as you see them.

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills Making notes from existing materials From some you learn directly by restating systematically what the man says on given points or as a whole Some you accept or refute, giving reasons and arguments Others you use as a source of suggestions for your own elaborations or projects - Use the existing materials only as one of many suggestions for your own elaboration, e.g. how can you test what the author has said: by turning it into testable hypothesis or statements.

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills How do ideas come? The importance of sociological imagination! It consists of the ability  to shift from one perspective to another  to build up and adequate view of a total society and its components. It is this imagination that sets off the social scientist from mere technician.

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills Ways of stimulating sociological imagination Re-arranging of the file Keeping an attitude of playfulness toward the phrases and words used Making classifications Thinking of the opposite of that with which you are concerned Getting a comparative grip on the materials

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills The importance of clearness and simplicity! ‘A serious crises in literacy’! Desire for status is one reason why academic men slip so readily into unintelligibility. His claims for prestige readily become tied to his self-image of ‘scientists’. Always present your work in clear, easy to understand language. Be work oriented as an intellectual and not “career” oriented. Those who cannot write simply for all to understand often don’t understand the concepts themselves! (There is a positive relationship between arrogance and ignorance. The more ignorant a person is the more arrogant he or she becomes and vice versa).  How difficult and complex my subject is?  When I write what status am I claiming for myself?  For whom am I trying to write? Never write more than three pages without at least having in mind a solid example!

“On Intellectual Craftsmanship” by C. Wright Mills Final suggestions Be a good craftsman: Avoid rigid procedure, be flexible and creative. Enrich your work with your life experience. Formulate your problems in its terms and try to solve those problems Be your own person, a one man/woman solution to the world and its problems. Have confidence in your solutions. Open your eyes to the image of man. Use what you see and what you imagine. Seek to develop and use the sociological imagination. Avoid using unintelligibility.

Good luck with your research! Questions and comments?