Steps for Conducting

effective Social Research

 How to conduct Social Research

 Social research can be defined as the study and analysis of social life
surrounding a broad event or an individual’s social life. Researchers conduct
social research that can help them modify or verify knowledge in order to
bring benefit for society and develop services that are responsive to the
needs of society.
 Social Research has become an important part of Business and Government.
It contributes to expanding the knowledge both the sectors have on the
population and that their responses to the needs of people are relevant.
 Government and Business require insights and information about the needs
of society, Social Research helps obtain these insights. The research
educates organizations on a wide range of issues important to society,
collected directly from humans, and helps create well-targeted responses.
 Types of Social Research
 Social research can be conducted in two ways. That is, you can gather
data relevant for the purpose of social research using two methods –
Qualitative and Quantitative Research.
 Qualitative Research:
 Open-text questions and conversation are the elements of Qualitative
Social Research. You can gather data from the target population using
any of these – Focus groups, Interviews (F2F or telephone), Ethnographic
Research, Case studies, etc.
 In the case of Qualitative Social Research, the data is collected in the
natural environment of the respondent. This helps in promoting trust,
thus, produces real and accurate insights.
 Quantitative
Research:
 Close-ended questions are used to gather data
directly from the respondents.
 The data is gathered using – Surveys, Polls,
Interviews, Experimental Research, etc. The aim of
the Quantitative method of data collection is to
obtain numerical data that can be easily analyzed
using statistical programs.
 For quantitative research, a sample is selected from
the target population to ensure that the data
collected is representative of the entire target
market.
 Social Research intends to gather people’s
perceptions, attitudes, social influences, and thought
processes to broaden their understanding of people.
How can you
conduct
Social
Research?
 1st: Identify the Research
Question

 Research begins when there is a question that you need to

explore and investigate its validity. The research question may
range from macro to micro-level phenomena.
 Your social research question should seek answers to – Why,
What, When, How, etc. For example, let’s say you own a website
that delivers groceries. You may want to know why and what
motivates your customers to share their addresses with you.
 When selecting your question it’s better to look for issues that
interest the wider population. This way you can provide services
that are properly targeted and provide benefits to society.
2nd: Literature Review

 After you have decided on the research question you

need to study all the published literature on the
topic.
 Reviewing literature helps you to
• Obtain more knowledge and understanding on the
issue
• Identify research questions left unexplored
• Helps modify or change the research question
• Prevents duplication of the research hypothesis
 3rd: Formation of Hypothesis

 The next step is proposing a hypothesis for social research. Keep in

mind that not all types of research begin with an established
hypothesis. Some research, such as Exploratory studies are aimed at
forming a hypothesis, i.e. the research outcome ends with the
creation of a hypothesis. On the other hand, some research is aimed
to test a hypothesis, these begin with a formulated hypothesis.
 A hypothesis is an assumption that explains the theme of the
research. It shows the relationship between the variables involved.
The researcher develops a hypothesis in order to prove or disprove
the validity of the research question.
 4th: Research Design
 Designing the research outlines the methods used and the participants in the research. It explains
how the research should be conducted.
 The research method involves determining
• Which methodology should be used to collect data – Qualitative or Quantitative research method
• Tools of data collection – Survey, Focus group, Interviews, Experimental Research, Case Study, etc
 The choice of research method depends on the type of data the researcher wants to gather. If the
research wants to gather contextual data that offers in-depth insights, they should opt for the
Qualitative research method. In case the researcher wants to draw statistical data, the Quantitative
method is the best option.
 Sampling involves selecting a segment of respondents from the target population. The selected
respondents are referred to as sample size.
 It is not practically possible to gather data from the entire target population. Sampling fixes the
issue. The researcher selects a sample size that represents the target population, i.e., shares similar
characteristics. This helps to generalize the collected data to a bigger audience and develop
strategies that respond to the target market.
 5th: Data Collection
 After deciding the method of data collection you need to start collecting the
data. Data collection depends on the nature of research, objective, and
resources – finance, time, and effort.
 There are two sources of data collection Primary and Secondary. The primary
source of data is experiments, observation, or surveys. The secondary source
includes journals, reports, established studies, etc.
 For Surveys data can be collected via Questionnaires or Interviews. You can
conduct surveys, using Websites, Social Media, SMS, and Telephone interviews,
Personal or Web-based interviews.
 Depending on the nature of social research, Experimental Research can also be
used to gather relevant data. Experimental research aims at establishing a
cause-effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables of
the research. This research helps observe whether manipulating the
independent variable has any effect on the dependent variable.
 6th: Data Analysis
 The next step is to analyze the data collected at the end of the research. Analyzing the data
depends on the nature of collected data.
 Qualitative data involves textual insights which are subjective in nature.
• To analyze the data you must first organize the qualitative data and identify the repeating
themes.
• Then you need to segment the recurring text to analyze them separately.
• Next comes Coding, in which you create a code and assign them to each segment.
• Finally, you need to analyze the coded data to identify which theme occurs most frequently.
 Quantitative data consists of numerical data which is analyzed using Descriptive and Inferential
analysis.
 The descriptive analysis involves Univariate, Bivariate, and Multivariate. Univariate is the analysis
of one variable, while Bivariate and Multivariate involve analysis of two and more than two
variables respectively.
 The inferential analysis involves Comparison and Regression tests. Comparison tests are used to
compare the post-test result and control group subjects using Posttest Only Control Group Design.
A regression test helps understand if changing the predictor variable will cause any change in the
outcome variable.
 7th: Report

 Your
report should contain a detailed description of all the
aspects of the research. Your report should explain –
Purpose of the research, Research Question, Hypothesis,
Methods used to gather data and data analysis.
 Make sure that the report illuminates the findings in a way
that is easy for the readers or fellow researchers to
understand. Make use of charts, tables, or graphs to make
the report interesting that it preoccupies the readers.