1. Prepare a research question and hypothesis for the topic Gender OR Disability.

2. What is gender? What is disability?
If you choose the topic of gender, there are a lot of videos on Youtube and elsewhere about the topic – search for gender/gender roles/gender construction/gender stereotypes etc. or “toplumsal cinsiyet” such as Bizim Ailede Olmaz (
What is gender? What is disability?
What is it that I would like to research within gender or disability? What would I like to know about this topic? (Race/Sexual orientation)
What is your research question? How does this Q sound – is it clear and precise? Is it narrow? Too trivial or simple? Too broad? Moral or ethical? You should be able to discuss the appropriateness of your own topic.
What is your hypothesis? Once you have your hypothesis; how do you search for it? Where do you go? What are the techniques you would use? 2

3. What is research/why research?

4. Research is important for advancement of the profession
Before the modern idea of research emerged, we had a term for what philosophers used to call research -- logical reasoning.
Advances builds upon the current knowledge.
Research can be used to explain things, predict things and control things
Statistical procedures let us know whether the findings are significant / did they just occur due to chance?

5. All research is not good research!
How do you decide on the quality of research?
How do journals work
Reader – journal – peers – comments - feedback

6. All research is not good research!
Uses empirical data whether it’s statistics or steps you can follow
Meaning- Another researcher should be able to reproduce the research activities and results using the information provided by the initial researcher. 
It raises questions and is often cyclical

8. 2. Research is not simply gathering information or the transfer of facts from one place to another.
2.3. Other approaches of discovering knowledge:
Reliance upon Authority
Tradition
Experience
Common Sense
Reasoning

9. 2.1. Research is one way of discovering knowledge through the systematic investigation of a problem.
Systematic is a key word
Starts out with a problem
A method of study
Answers are open to review

10. 2.2. Scientific Methodology of Research
Specifying a Problem
Formulating a Hypothesis - Research Questions
Collection of Data
Analyze Data
Confirming or Rejecting Hypothesis

12. 3.1 Problem oriented
Research is completed to address a problem, a problem which is significant and researchable.  The problem can be further developed by identifying specific research questions and/or hypothesis.

13. The research process usually starts with a broad area of interest.
Most social research originates from some general problem or question.
This initial interest is often far too broad to study in any single research project, the researcher has to narrow the question down to one that can reasonably be studied in a research project.
We narrow the problem down to a more specific research question that we can hope to address.

14. Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction, a testable explanation of a problem.
Needs to be logical
Must use precise language
Should be testable with research or experimentation

15. Examples of hypothesis:
The greater the availability of affordable housing, the lower the homeless rate.
If a prisoner learns a work skill while in jail, then he is less likely to commit a crime when he is released.
The greater the factory lighting, the higher the productivity.

16. 3.2. Research Models: Inductive or deductive?
Inductive research is based on series of specific events to develop generalizations. We make the observations then we create the model to fit it.
Deductive research starts with general principle and applies it to specific cases. We develop a model then test it using our observations.

18. Inductive reasoning, by its very nature, is more open-ended and exploratory, especially at the beginning.
Deductive reasoning is more narrow in nature and is concerned with testing or confirming hypotheses.
Most social research involves both inductive and deductive reasoning processes at some time in the project.

19. 3.3. Developing the research goal and objectives
The researcher must define the overall goals and objectives for the research project.
The goal of the research is the overall stated end product or question that the researcher wishes to answer.
Research objectives on the other hand are the measurable activities that will be carried out in order to achieve the research goal.

20. THIS SLIDE IS IMPORTANT
Simple/Narrow – the answer is yes or no
Trivial (unimportant)–
It’s researched elsewhere –
Broad –
Moral/ethical –

21. EXAMPLES Simple/narrow – Do people live in Antarctic?
Trivial (unimportant)– Should I go to movies or theatre tonight?
It’s researched elsewhere – Why do people yawn?
Broad – Why is gender important?
Moral/ethical – Should euthanasia become legal?

22. Which one is an ideal research question? Why?
Question A: What are the 14 different disease-causing genes that were discovered in 1994?
Question B: What is the importance of genetic research in our lives?
Question C: How might the discovery of a genetic basis for obesity change the way in which we treat obese persons, both medically and socially?

23. Question B is too broad, you could write a book.
Question A is far too narrow to develop into a research paper. You could answer this question in one sentence
Question B is too broad, you could write a book.
Question C is the best choice.
You might be asking, "How can I research something whose effect hasn't been felt yet?" You can posit what "might happen logically" in the future based on what "has happened" in the past.
For example, your research may bring you to the major things thought to have caused obesity in the recent last two to three decades in order to establish a direct relationship between cause and treatment. Once you establish that direct cause-and-effect relationship, you can project similar types of relationships based on the new genetic research.
More Qs:

24. The most important criteria - Is your research Q valid
The most important criteria - Is your research Q valid? Can you develop a hypothesis (and possibly a theory)?
Is sexual orientation a result of nature (physically based) or nurture (socially-culturally based)?
Is Prozac a good treatment for clinical depression in certain cases?
Broad but researchable. There have been some recent experiments dealing with the physical (genetic) basis of sexual preference, but not enough research to support a credible view one way or the other.
Broad but researchable. Requires major research. There’ll be a lot of information, both pro and con, valid and invalid, in order to choose the best information to answer the research question and support your own point of view.

25. How Do You Formulate A Good Research Question?
Choose a general topic of interest, and conduct preliminary research on this topic – Google, journals, videos etc. (What else?)
Find out what research has already been done. This will help determine what kinds of questions the topic generates.
Start asking open-ended “How?” “What?” and Why?” questions. Then evaluate possible responses to those questions.

26. Ask Yourself
Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough?
Is the question researchable? Is it too broad or too narrow?
What type of research do I need to answer this question? What sources do I need to answer my research question?

27. Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction, a testable explanation of a problem.
Needs to be logical
Must use precise language
Should be testable with research or experimentation

28. Examples of hypothesis:
The greater the availability of affordable housing, the lower the homeless rate.
If a prisoner learns a work skill while in jail, then he is less likely to commit a crime when he is released.
The greater the factory lighting, the higher the productivity.

29. Research Q: What is the influence of a teaching style on the student’s performance?
Hypothesis: University students’ approach to a subject is more positive when it is taught by a teacher with a activity facilitator teaching style than by a teacher in a lecture style.
Hint: Not general knowledge; it is often drawn from a theory after you have already done some reading and/or previous knowledge.

30. More Ex.s
Differences: University students in their final year like school education more than students in their first year..
Relationships: There is a positive relationship between a child’s intelligence and the education of his/her parents.
Consequences: The more the teacher praises the students, the more the students learn.
Hypotheses must express a relationship of at least two variables - It is good to compare and verify variables: differences (more, more often, stronger, higher, different), relationships (positive, negative relationship, correlation) or consequences (the more – the less, if – then, both – and).

31. Frequent mistakes in forming hypotheses:
Formulation is too complicated and long.
Hypotheses contains too many variables
3.2. Research Models: Inductive or deductive?
Is a deductive or inductive method more appropriate? Or would you use both? How?

33. Week 12 The Research Problem The Research Question The Research Design
Research does not provide answers to every question
Most research deals with humans
Human beings are extremely complex which makes research very difficult
Can not answer moral or ethical questions
For example, research will not determine if abortion or gay marriage is right or wrong or the definitive method of dealing with sexual harassment.

34. Does your research question raise ethical concerns?
There has been a tremendous increase in protecting the rights of subjects. The subjects of the study have a right to know what's going to happen. If a subject agrees to participate in the study knowing what is going to happen this is Informed Consent.
A major reason:
The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial following World War II brought to public view the ways German scientists had used captive human subjects as subjects (prisoners, children, twins, Josef Mengele)
The Stanford Prison Experiment  (youtube or feature film (The experiment)

35. LEARN THESE TERMS
principle of voluntary participation : people not be coerced into participating in research. 
informed consent: prospective research participants must be fully informed about the procedures and risks involved
Confidentiality/ anonymity : research participants are assured that identifying information will not be made available to anyone who is not directly involved in the study.  
More information:

36. Examples for ethic in research

37. What would you do?
A study was being carried out with a community sample of adults.  As part of the informed consent process, the researchers had an information sheet and a consent form, with tick boxes, which potential participants were asked to sign before the research proceeded.
On one occasion, the researcher went through the information sheet with a potential participant, who confirmed that he would like to proceed with the research.  The researcher then asked the participant to sign the consent form.  At this point, the participant revealed that he could not read, and said that he really wanted to take part in the research, but did not want to sign a form that he could not read.  He asked if he could be interviewed without signing the form.

38. What we covered Your research questions (how to frame them)
Your hypothesis
Variables of your hypothesis
What is a good research question?
What is a hypothesis?
Examples of hypothesis
Inductive/deductive methods

39. What is a good research question?
Relevant.
Manageable in terms of research and in terms of your own academic abilities.
Substantial and with original dimensions.
Consistent with the requirements of the assessment.
Clear and simple.
Interesting.

40. Relevant: The question will be of academic and intellectual interest.
Manageable: You need to be realistic about the scope and scale of the project. 
Statistics/documents/people
Time/resources
Substantial and (within reason) original 40

41. Generic Model for Research Projects41

42. The Literature Review demonstrates that you know the field.
justifies the reason for your research. It is the knowledge of your field which allows you to identify the gap .
allows you to establish your theoretical framework and methodological focus. Even if you are proposing a new theory or a new method, you are doing so in relation to what has been done.
Topic: race – african-american poverty how would you search? See next slide.

43. Sources you could use
Library (print resources)/Google Scholar/Ulakbim/Library databases/Interloan/Hiperkitap
100
Example Databases
EBSCO
Dissertation to Abstracts International
 Psychological Abstracts

46. METHODOLOGY Primary/secondary research
METHODOLOGY Primary/secondary research. Which of these are appropriate for your research question?
Primary: collecting your own data
The first is observation, simply observing the phenomenon.
Secondly we conduct experiments, where we try to limit to amount of interfering variables so we can actually proof a causal relation between the dependent and independent variable.
We also use surveys, which is a questionnaire spread amongst a sample or respondents. The results are usually quantified.
For a more in depth exploration of attitudes we conduct qualitative interviews.
We can do secondary research/analysis:  when you analyse data which was collected by another researcher. It allows the researcher to explore areas of interest without having to go through the process of collecting data themselves in the field.
Finally, we study the message itself. This is called content analysis. It can be done systematically, where the results are later quantified. Or it can be done in a qualitative fashion.

47. Key words:
Theoretical/conceptual - abstract ideas theories, philosophers thinkers
Empirical – experience, observation, data-based

48. QUANTITATIVE – based on positivism, uses deduction (Theory – forming hypotheses – observation – testing hypotheses – interpretation and generalization). It is based on theory and presupposes a research project.
Key words: measurement, quantity, amount, numerical data, stats, large scale surveys, collect data to test hypothesis
QUALITATIVE – based on phenomenology, ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism (interpretative paradigm), uses induction (observation – revealing regularity – conclusions – theory). The aim is to reveal the meaning of information (narrative sociology).
Key words: attitudes, behaviour, interviews, focus groups, often not predetermined by hypothesis

49. Some examples of qualitative and quantitative methods:
Statistics experiment, (quasi-experiment) correlative examination normative examination longitudinal study time series analysis Q-methodology Cluster analysis One-dimensional and multi-dimensional scaling Operative research
Qualitative
Case study Ethnography (including observation and participation observation) Grounded theory Examining narrations based on language examination Ethnomethodology and conversation analysis Discourse analysis, semiotics Document and text analysis

50. Representative, large number (usually)
Quantitative
Representative, large number (usually)
experiment (manipulating with variables), questionnaire, testing, standardized observation etc
Quantitative, computer, statistical, data interpretation
Generalization of results for population, finding rules; brief, apposite research report following widely accepted structure: 
Attempt to arrive at results valid for the whole population
Qualitative
Student, class, school
Long-term practical research, observation with different levels of participation
Qualitative encoding, analysis, interpretation
Explaining human behavior in a certain context; detailed,  deep narration
Validity for a given class, student or school

51. What approach should I take - qualitative or quantitative?
Example Qs:
What if I want to find out about the measurable effects of a particular law?
What if I want to record people's views on this law, and give them a 'voice'?
Can I combine qualitative and quantitative methods? 51

52. EXAMPLE CASE How are women portrayed in the media?
Is this a good question; why/why not? Correct it if you are not happy with the way this question is formed.
What kind of research would you do to research this question? Name method/s and technique/s. Explain why you chose each one.

53. Understanding the Question
The media has an important role in constructing the social world in which we live.
It helps to establish dominant agendas in society by creating or reinforcing dominant values and by marginalising certain causes, or sections of society. So we could research How is a section of society or an issue portrayed in the media?
You can study texts (like tv programmes/news/tv series etc.)
You can also asking people through questionnaires, interviews or focus groups their views on the influence of the media.
You can do a mix of both. 53