Social Research : An Introduction

About this book

Research is most debated concern by academicians, practitioners and students in the social science. It always remains in the core of any methodology we decide to enhance our knowledge. Research is not a new concept in this field but it is as old as any other branch of knowledge. It originated due to curiosity of human being in order to search solution to certain fundamental questions of prime importance in all sciences may be natural, physical or social. Application of research in social sciences is comparatively new but gaining popularity among the learners. Most of research in social sciences contains endless word-spinning and too many jargons. Therefore, a great deal of research tends to be futile. It might be of a great importance to mention that, the significance of research lies in its quality and not in quantity in the context of planning and development. The need for those concerned with research is to pay due attention in designing and adhering to the appropriate methodology throughout for improving the quality of work rather than stressing on elaboration and devising the tools of research. The methodology is dynamic in nature so it may differ from problem to problem but the basic approach towards research remains the same. The author has presented this book keeping all this points in mind and written with two clear objectives viz., (i) irrespective of their discipline to enable researchers in developing the most appropriate methodology for their research studies and (ii) to make them familiar with the art of using different research methods and techniques. It is hoped that the humble effort made in the form of this book will assist in the accomplishment of exploratory as well as result-oriented research studies. The book consists of ten lessons well arranged in a coherent manner. So, far as the organization of the subject material is concerned. Lesson One is an introduction, presenting an outline of the research approach. Lesson Two explains the overview of the research process. Lesson Three dwells on various research conceptualizations, index construction, scaling method and measurement. Lesson Four sketches out the common methods of social research and special issues. Participatory rural appraisal and rapid rural appraisals have been clearly explained in lesson Five. Lesson Six presents sampling design and basic concepts. Lesson Seven deals survey research method with processing and survey design. Instruments of data collection along with questionnaires and interviews are the subject-matter of Lesson Eight. Lesson Nine has been exclusively devoted to writing research papers followed by Lesson Ten concerning writing research proposals.