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Social Research

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Course Type Course Code No. Of Credits
Foundation Core SLS2SC006 4

Semester and Year Offered: 2nd Semester to every Cohort

Course Coordinator and Team: Dr UrfatAnjem Mir and Prof.SmitaTewariJassal

Email of course coordinator: urfat[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in

Pre-requisites: NA

Aim:This course on Social Research aims to orient students towards reflexive thinking and critical engagement with both the social everyday and the re-searchable in that social. This course pursues seemingly two goals. The intellectualgoal is to understand the epistemological foundations of the major research traditions in the social sciences. The practical goal is to help students develop rigorous and workable research techniques and designs for their theses and dissertations.

Course Outcomes:

By the end of this course, the students will be able to:

  1. Describethe various philosophical and epistemological foundations in sociological research and critically evaluate the subjective and contextual underpinnings of fact and reasoning.
  2. Critically evaluate the research works of others and use information appropriately and ethically in the research process.
  3. Demonstrate ability to formulate researchable questions and choose an appropriate research design
  4. Identify andapply qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis strategies appropriate to a particular topic
  5. Interpret research findings, draw conclusions and be able to communicate the same while recognising the differentiation between empirical evidence and speculation

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

The first section is focussed on the philosophical and epistemological foundations, specifically; the way different perspectives and methods emerged in sociological research.

The second section is about, what is re-searchable, and how to formulate a research problem? Research Design, Conceptualization, Operationalization and the issues of Measurement would be discussed in this section.

The third section covers certain methods and techniques of collecting and analysing the data. Together with facilitating knowledge and discussions around techniques of doing research through the use of readings in which a particular research method / technique is used, the students would also be made to do practical exercises. This course also discusses questions around ethics, authenticity and representation in social research.

Main Modules

  1. Philosophy and Epistemology of sociological research: Method and methodology
  2. Debates around objectivity and subjectivity, ethics and position of a researcher while doing research
  3. Making use of available data and Research Design
  4. Formulating the Research problem and questions
  5. Concepts, Measurements and Operationalization,
  6. Causality, Probability, Reliability, Validity
  7. Doing Research: Survey Questionnaire and Interviews
  8. Doing Research: Ethnography, participant observation and thick description
  9. Data Analysis, Using and interpreting texts, Content analysis
  10. Analysing ‘Data’: Use of statistics: Measures of Central Tendencies, Standard Deviation, Correlation.
  11. Statistical Packages, MS Excel, SPSS, N-Vivo

Assessment Details with weights:

  1. Class participation: There are two surprise class activities announced in class of 10 percent weight each to encourage peer learning and active participation /engagement during the transaction of the course. 20 % Weightage
  2. Second Assignment on writing a brief Literature Review on any topic of learners interest 20 % weightage
  3. Third Assignment: A small study on any topic of learners interest in which the learner has to use one of the techniques of data collection and justify the method through which the topic was studied. 30% Weightage
  4. Last assignment: Reflection on a research article from the reading material of the course outline. The purpose of this assignment is to read and reflect upon one research study which has used a particular kind of research technique. And critically comment on the nature and characteristics of the technique used in the study and also suggest alternate methodology/technique. 30% Weightage

Reading List:

  1. Loic J D Wacquant Towards a Reflexive Sociology: A Workshop with Pierre Bourdieu, Sociological Theory Vol 7, No 1 (Spring 1989) 26-63
  2. Ivan EmkeMethodology and Methodolatry: Creativity and the Impoverishment of the Imagination in Sociology Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers canadiens de sociologie 21(1) 1996
  3. Florian Znaniecki Controversies in Doctrine and Method American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 50, No. 6 (May, 1945), pp. 514-521
  4. Sayer, Andrew. (1992). Method in Social Science, Routledge. (Selected text).
  5. Russell B. H. 2008. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approach, New Delhi: Rawat Publications, (selected chapter pp1-27).
  6. Emile Durkhiem, The Rules of Sociological Method.Translated by W.D Halls. New York: Free press.
  7. Srivastava, V.K. (2004). Methodology and Fieldwork. New Delhi: Oxford University Press Chapter by Satish Sabharwal
  8. C. Wright Mills (1959) Intellectual Craftsmanship in Sociological Imagination
  9. Jodie O’Brien Sociology as an Epistemology of Contradiction Sociological Perspectives, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Spring 2009), pp. 5-22
  10. Joey Sprague and Mary K. Zimmerman Quality and Quantity: Reconstructing Feminist Methodology The American Sociologist, Vol. 20, No. 1, Feminist Scholarship in Sociology (Spring, 1989), pp. 71-86
  11. Babbie, E. 1998. The Practice of Social Research, London, Washington, Torento: Wardswork Publishing Company. (Chapter- IV).
  12. Vinay Kumar Srivastava, (ed) (2004). Methodology and Fieldwork. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. (Pp: 57- 79)
  13. Babbie, E. 1998. The Practice of Social Research, London, Washington, Torento: Wardswork Publishing Company. (Chapter-V, Chapter-VI)
  14. William, M. May, T. 1996. Introduction to the Philosophy of Social Sciences, London: UCL Press, (Chapter-V)
  15. Babbie, E. 1998. The Practice of Social Research, London, Washington, Torento: Wardswork Publishing Company. (Chapter-III)
  16. Babbie, E. 1998. The Practice of Social Research, London, Washington, Torento: Wardswork Publishing Company. (Chapter- X).
  17. Russell B. H. 2008. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approach, New Delhi: Rawat Publications, (Select Chapter).
  18. Clifford Geertz (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Puhlishers ( Chapter 1)
  19. Russell B. H. 2008. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approach, New Delhi: Rawat Publications, (selected chapter).
  20. Srinivas, M.N. and A.M. Shah 1979. Field Worker and the Field. New Delhi: Oxford (selected chapter).
  21. Vinay Kumar Srivastava, (ed) (2004). Methodology and Fieldwork. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. (Pp: 157- 190)
  22. Mathew B Miles and AMichealHaberman (1994) Qualitative Data Anlaysis. Sage Publications. (Selected Chapter).
  23. Riffe, D. Lacy S. Fico. F.G 2005. Analyzing Media Messages: Using Quantitative Content Analysis in Research, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (Chapter-I, II, and III)
  24. Weber, R.P 1990, Basic Content Analysis, London: Sage Publications. (Chapter- II)
  25. Babbie, E. 1998. The Practice of Social Research, London, Washington, Torento: Wardswork Publishing Company. Select Chapter
  26. John Berger (1972) Ways of Seeing BBC and Penguin Books, England
  27. Meaghan Morris Banality in Cultural Studies Discourse, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring-Summer 1988), pp. 3-29
  28. Russell B. H. 2008. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approach, New Delhi: Rawat Publications, (selected chapter).
  29. Joseph F. Healey (2009): Statistics: A Tool for social research. Wordsworth Cengage Learning. (Selected Chapter).
  30. Fuller, U.L, Fulton, J et. Al 2011. Picture Yourself: Learning Microsoft Excel 2010, Boston: Course Technology
  31. Darren, G. 2010. SPSS for Windows Step by Step, Noida: Pearson

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:

  1. Benton, T. 1977. Philosophical Foundations of Three Sociologies, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  2. Harding, S. Hintikka, M.B. 2004, Discovering Reality, Feminist Perspective on Epistemology, Metaphysics, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers Jayati’s
  3. Ilaiah, K. 1996. Why I am not a Hindu: a Shudra Critique of Hindutva, Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy, Calcutta, Bombay: Samya.
  4. Sapsford, R. 2007. Survey Research, London: Sage
  5. Weber, M, Edward Albert Shils, and Henry A. Finch. 1949. The Methodology of the Social Sciences. New York: Free Press.
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