1. SOWK 6003 Social Work Research Week 3 By Dr. Paul Wong

2. Overview Recap of last week’s lecture Overview of the Research Process and Contexts Logic of Scientific Inquiry Qualitative vs. quantitative methods of inquiry and their analyses Articles critique

3. The Scientific Research Process (Rubin & Babbie, 2008) 1.Problem Formulation 2.Designing the Study 3.Data Collection 4.Data Processing 5.Data Analysis 6.Data Interpretation 7.Report Writing

4. Using The Scientific Research Process in Our Daily Life E.g., Where can I get the best Chinese food in town? 1.Problem Formulation 2.Designing the Study 3.Data Collection 4.Data Processing 5.Data Analysis 6.Data Interpretation 7.Report Writing

5. We generally want to do FOUR things through conducting research studies: Exploration: aims at discovery. It tells us whether a phenomenon exists or not. Knowledge at the exploratory level provides a basis for accurate description. (Do we have a thing called “Global Warming”?” Description and prediction: aims to provide an accurate and precise description of the phenomenon. Descriptive knowledge (consistent patterns of a behaviour and its recurrence) can be used for prediction (How do we describe “Global Warming” to someone who hasn’t heard about it before?). Explanation and prediction: aims to determine whether a cause-effect relationship is vaild. Causal knowledge (prescriptive knowledge) can be used for prediction (prediction is the reverse of explanation). An accurate description of a phenomenon is a prerequisite to explanation (Using more public transport can reduce Global Warming?!?). Evaluation: aims to evaluate social policies, programs, and intervention in achieving their stated goals. (Are public education about Global Warming, the 50 cents policy on plastic bag, etc. useful for saving our environment?)

6. Theory and social work research (Please read Ch.3 of the textbook for a thorough discussion on these terms) Theory: is a systematic set of interrelated statements intended to explain some aspect of social life or enrich our sense of how people conduct and find meaning in their daily lives. A hypothesis predicts something that ought to be observed in the real world of a theory is correct. A variable/concept: the building blocks of a theory, are ideas and thoughts translated into symbols that help people communicate.

7. TWO logical Systems: The deductive and inductive approaches to theory building Deduction: a reasoning process of deriving specific expectations from general principles. The deductive approach to scientific inquiry: begin with a problem, a hypothesis or hypotheses derived from a theoretical framework, and ends in a conclusion or generalization if the hypothesis is supported by empirical data. (or what I would call a top-down perspective) Induction: a logical process aimed at generalization. It involves establishing general principles from specific observations by reasoning from particulars to general. Generalizations may become theory. The inductive approach to scientific inquiry: begin with a problem and observations, and ends with pattern finding and generalization (or what I would call a bottom-up perspective).

8. The relationship between theory and research Theory-then-research strategy: deductive model in which a research is seen as being guided by theory, and knowledge-building is seen as a process through verification of theories by empirical data. Research-then-theory strategy: inductive model in which research is not guided by theory, but begins with observations. Scientific inquiry is a cyclical process. It can begin at any point in the cycle.

9. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Quantitative Methods: emphasize the production of precise and generalizable statistical findings and are generally more appropriate to nomothetic (means understanding a phenomenon) aims. Qualitative Methods: emphasize the depth of understanding associated with idiographic (means understanding a person) concerns.

11. Paul’s perspective on Qualitative and Quantitative research To me, it just depends on 1) what do you want to find out, 2) what resources (in terms of time, man power, skills, and money) do you have, 3) who are your audiences, and 4) most importantly, what do you want to achieve!!!!

12. Articles critique

13. Theme: Using suicide notes to understand suicide

14. Suicide notes and Suicide Wong, P.W.C, Fu, K. W. & Yip, P. S. F. (2009) A Potential Source of Data in Understanding Youth Suicide - Instant Messages. In: Sher L. & Vilens A. ed. Internet and Suicide (pp 137-152). New York: Nova Science Publishers. Wong PWC, Yeung AWM, Chan WSC, Yip PSF, Tang AKH (2009) Suicide Notes in Hong Kong in 2000. Death Studies 33: 372 - 381.

15. Homework Please find two articles (1 qualitative and 1 quantitative) about a topic that you are interested in from journals with relatively good impact factors. Then le me know the purposes of these articles. Please send me the titles, abstracts, journals’ names (with impact factor), and purposes and conclusions of the articles via e-mail.