1. Research Methods in Social Sciences
Introducing Research

2. Introduction
Students are increasingly required to undertake their own research.
This may take the form of a 'live' project, where students work in partnership with industry on an agreed project, or an extended research project.

3. Introduction
As preparation for their research project, students may have engaged in fieldwork that has provided an opportunity to develop and extend their research skills in data collection and analysis.
In addition, a carefully structured programme of research methods is usually provided for students as an essential foundation for individual research work.

4. What is research?
Authors define research as 'a systematic and organised effort to investigate a specific problem that needs a solution'.
This is elaborated upon by saying that the processes of research inquiry have to be carried out actively, critically, objectively and logically with the desired end to 'discover new facts that will help us to deal with the problem situation‘

5. What is research?
Before starting a research, students should ask the following questins;
Which style of research to use?
How will the research design be structured?
How will the data be collected?
What type of data is appropriate?
How will I analyse the data?

6. Types of research
Many texts on research methods make the distinction between two different types of research: pure and applied research.
Pure research is 'concerned with the development, examination, verification and refinement of research methods, procedures, techniques and tools that form the body of research methodology'.

7. Types of research
For some researchers pure research is about expanding the limits of knowledge by adding to theory.
Applied research is conducted to analyse and find a solution to a problem that has direct relevance to the recreation and travel industry, for example.

8. Research styles
There are essentially three main styles of research in the social sciences that researchers
in leisure and tourism can draw upon. They include the:
survey method
experimental method
ethnographic method
The survey requires a sample of respondents to reply to a number of questions that have been previously determined as relevant to the research.

9. Research styles
By using the same questions for the selected sample of respondents, individuals in the sample may be compailed.
Data may be collected through an interviewer administered questionnaire or a self-completion questionnaire.
Surveys have the chief advantage of collecting a lot of information in a relatively short period of time.

10. Research styles
Experimental research is less common in leisure and tourism research.
The experiment involves testing variables under controlled circumstances to measure the effect of one variable on another.
In the experimental research design, the independent variable is manipulated to find out its impact on the dependent variable.
With a well-designed experiment, all other variables that could affect the outcome of the research are controlled for and eliminated, to make it easier to connect a cause (independent variable) with an effect (dependent variable).

11. Research styles
Ethnographic research involves a method of investigation where a culture is observed in its natural setting.
Ethnographers study the complexity of social interaction as expressed in daily life.
Focus is on the meanings the participants themselves attribute to these interactions.
It is also time-consuming process...
Although tourism and leisure researchers rarely use the experimental style of research, it is important to appreciate its strengths.

12. Research styles
The survey may also aim to carry out a causal analysis by collecting data on a range of respondents, and attempt to control for external sources by statistical techniques.
This is an important difference between these two styles of research.
Whereas the ethnographic style of research studies the totality of the culture in greater depth, to gain an understanding of the point of view of participants in the research.

13. Research Structure 1. Introduction 7. Secondary data 14. Secondary
PART III DATA ANALYSIS
PART I PREPARATION
PART II DATA COLLECTION
1. Introduction
7. Secondary data
14. Secondary
2. Approaches
8. Observation
3. Starting out
9. Qualitative
15. Qualitative
4. Research ethics
10. Questionnaires
16. Survey data
5. Range of methods
11. Experimental
17. Statistical
PART IV COMMUNICATE RESULTS
6. Reviewing literature
12. Case studies
13. Sampling
18. Research report 13

14. Objective or Research Aim
‘The aim, as far as I can see, is the same in all sciences. Put simply and cursorily, the aim is to make known something previously unknown to human beings. It is to advance human knowledge, to make it more certain or better fitting ... The aim is Discovery’.
— Norbert Elias ( )
(German Sociologist)

15. Scientific research
Research conducted within the rules of science
Based on:
Logic
Systematic examination of evidence
Ideally can be replicated (increased)
Knowledge is cumulative

16. Social science research
Deals with people
Uses methods and traditions of social science
People are less predictable than non-human phenomena
The social world is constantly changing
People can be aware of research being conducted on them

17. Three types of research
Descriptive – finding out, describing what is
Explanatory – explaining how or why things are as they are (and using this to predict)
Evaluative – evaluation of policies and programmes

18. Descriptive research needed for:
Because the social world is constantly changing, descriptive research is continuously needed
e.g. Periodic data on tourist flows, leisure participation
Descriptive research needed for:
Market profiles
Needs assessment, etc.

19. Explanatory research Evaluative research
Involves: why and how?
Causality: A is caused by B
Prediction: a change in A will result in a change in B
Biological and social science – A causes B to a predictable extent
Evaluative research
To what extent has a programme achieved its aims?

20. Who does research? Academics Students
Part of the job description. Knowledge for its own sake = some engagement with industry/professions
Students
Coursework projects + Theses
Government and commercial organisations
To inform/evaluate ‘evidence-based policy’
Managers
To inform practice. Monitor performance, aid decision- making
Consultants
Under contract to government and industry

21. Who pays? Unfunded University internal funds
Government - funded research councils
Private trusts
Industry – public, commercial or non- profit

22. Research outputs Academic journal articles
Professional journal articles
Conference presentations/papers
Books
Policy/planning/management reports
Position statements
Market profiles
Market research
Feasibility studies
Leisure/recreation needs studies
Tourism strategies / marketing plans
Forecasting studies

23. Quantitative or qualitative research?
At one level it is very easy to distinguish betvveen quantitative and qualitative research.
quantitative research defined as “empirical research where the data are in the form of numbers”, and “qualitative research where the data are not in the form of numbers”.
Here, rather than emphasising differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches, it is better to view the characteristics of each as defined in relation to each other.
These two different approaches are summarised in Table 1.1.

24. Table 1.1: Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research

25. Combining methods
There seems to be a strong association in the minds of students undertaking research that quantitative research is associated with the method of theory testing and qualitative data with seeking patterns in the data to inductively generate theory.
Evidence from leisure and tourism research would tend to support these, as there is a relationship between the purpose of the research and the method of data collection.

26. Combining methods
The student must not see one approach to research as superior to the other.
Some research questions may demand qualitative data, others quantitative or a combination of the two.
It is highly likely that a researcher using quantitative methods will mix quantitative methods by using a questionnaire survey and published statistics.

27. Combining methods
The assumption here is that quantitative and qualitative methods are complementary rather competing approaches.
To explore further this idea of combining methods Bryman explores a range of different ways of combining qualitative and quantitative methods;

28. Combining methods
Either quantitative research helps facilitate qualitative research, or qualitative research helps facilitate quantitative research.
Quantitative research can explore large-scale macro structures whereas qualitative research can focus on small-scale micro aspects of the project.
At different points in the study quantitative methods might be more appropriate than qualitative methods, or vice versa.

29. Combining methods
Where qualitative and quantitative methods are used in combination in the same study, findings of one investigation can be checked against the findings from the other type.
This is what is meant by 'triangulation'.
Combining methods seems to be a strategy that will enhance the research findings.

30. Combining methods
From the previous discussion, positivists and phenomenologists are not opposed to combining data collection methods within the same paradigm.
Moreover, a pragmatic researcher can see the value of using two different methods to act as counterchecks to strengthen the validity of the results.

31. End of Slides