This document summarizes a class on research question and design. It discusses: 1. Examining examples of quantitative rationales and research designs, including a case study on Sullivan. 2. An exercise where students rewrite and provide feedback on each other's research questions. 3. A discussion on generalizing qualitative research findings and the importance of context when formulating research questions. The document provides an overview of the topics and activities covered in the class to help students refine their research questions and think about research design.

1. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Research Questions to Research
Design (SY7034)
Edmund Chattoe-Brown
ecb18@le.ac.uk
Thursdays 1500-1700 (Brookfield 0.24)

2. WEEK 4

3. 1. Plan
• Administration.
• More on quantitative rationales: Sullivan example.
• Gossip/rumour article example: Register.
• Another iteration of the one sentence RQ.
• Break.
• Two case studies of “interestingly problematic” OSRQ from last
week.
• Scoping feasibility issues exercise.
• Responses to issues raised.
• Revisiting generalisation and comparison.

4. 2. Administration
• Sound bites lectures advert.
• Returning question sheets: Problems with
English/clarity.
• Register.
• Welcome.

5. See the everyday
in a new way
Looking at everyday objects, University of Leicester
academics share their fresh perspectives in 10-minute
lectures each lunchtime for a week.
Bring your lunch, and start to see the everyday in a new way.
www.le.ac.uk/socialworlds

6. 3. The logic of quantitative research
All the technical
issues are in the
questions “what
is the line?” and
“how good a line
is there?” The
purpose of the
line itself is
obvious:
Example of
multivariate
analysis.

7. 4. Example: Sullivan
• What “distinctive” thing does she do with the
theoretical concept of cultural capital?
• What is the research design for her paper?
• What is she attempting to show? (Abstract!)
• What does she find?
• What is the significance of what she finds?
• What are the limitations of her study?

8. 5. Research design thoughts
• Another example of an argument for a literature “gap”.
• It doesn’t matter if she measures cultural capital “correctly” or
even if the idea of “correct” measures makes sense.
• This research has a significant “result” whatever the outcome
(Bourdieu is partly/completely right/completely wrong) because
it operationalises a theoretical concept using data.
• The paper has a lot to discuss based on a relatively small set
of variables. It is not a shopping list of disconnected
correlations many of which may turn out not to exist.
• Developing a “sensible” measure of cultural capital is useful
science regardless.

9. 6. Real GR article example
• Register, Woody (2014) ‘Some Truths about the Rumors, Gossip,
Hearsay, and Innuendo Surrounding the Freeport Murder Mystery of
1914’, Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, 18(1),
pp. 50-67.
• A horrible example is useful too!
• Hypothesis that papers attributed to rumour things that they weren’t
“allowed” to say (about abortion for example.)
• Not even the most basic research design: What would we have to do
to test/warrant hypothesis? Apparent (unjustified) focus on print.
• Leads to “fun rambling” (discussion of novel related to case.)
• Poorly written: Not clear what is actually known or might be known
(autopsy).
• Confirms the weakness of GR “theory”.

10. 7. Exercise 1 (20 minutes)
• Rewrite your one sentence question in the light of Bb
feedback and the discussion so far: 5 minutes? If you
need to come up with a new RQ, try extra hard to
avoid previous weaknesses.
• Pair up (perhaps with someone you haven’t already
discussed your question with?)
• Take turns to comment on/critique these RQs. Be
ready to write down the revised questions on a
circulating sheet. These will be used in the second
half of the class.

11. 8. Break
• 10 minute “comfort break”.

12. 9. Case study 1
• Question: How media representation on prostitution affects its legalization
in the United Kingdom.
• Two states: Legal and illegal?
• Hypothesis: Once media representation becomes “sufficiently” positive
(either in terms of “quantity” or duration) then legalisation occurs?
• Trying to find relationship from one example? (Prostitution doesn’t become
legal/illegal repeatedly. Compare unemployment/crime relationship.)
• Why would it have an effect? Through politicians? Through voters? Too big
a gap in the argument/process? Wrong “object of study” perhaps?
• Tricky point: After legalisation, media representation would almost have to
change. Not actually a simple “variable” like unemployment.
• The importance of clarity and accuracy: What if I have misinterpreted this
question completely?

13. 10. Case study 2
• Question: What are the kinds of reasons why international students make
foreign friends with difficulty?
• Qualitative: Why do international students think they make foreign friends
with difficulty? (Still valuable: Why?)
• Quantitative: What “factors” are associated with small numbers of foreign
friends? (Language skills?)
• Comparative: What are the differences between international students with
few and many foreign friends? (Avoids potential question begging.)
• Alternate approach: How do international students meet foreign friends?
• Self awareness (and associated “misdirected” behaviour) may be part of
the problem. Social behaviour is usually two sided. Observation?
• Do international students know how “foreigners” view them? (In the case of
factors like prejudice, can they expect to know?)

14. 11. Exercise 2 (35 minutes)
• Latest OSRQs are projected.
• I am going to allocate you one belonging to
somebody else. Think about the following questions:
– Does the question need clarifying?
– Qualitative or quantitative: Why?
– Easy/difficult as a Masters dissertation: Why or why not?
– Ethically challenging/dangerous: Why or why not?
– Who/what are the objects of study?
• No right answers just useful thoughts.

15. 12. Revisiting generalisation
• Qualitative research does not generalise like quantitative research does but
it should be able to generalise (Becker).
• Quantitative research with a random sample says the sample mean is the
same as the population mean. But is it?
• Qualitative research says that “students” choose universities like this.
Obviously if you studied Asian students you might not want to generalise to
non Asian students.
• It also depends how much diversity you find and how big your sample is.
• There will always be some “noise”. That is why we have procedures like
Grounded Theory.
• What would have to be true about the social world (or about his research)
for Becker’s findings not to generalise?

16. 13. Revisiting context
• Almost the other side of the generalisation problem.
• Example: What aspects of the English education system do Kurdish
immigrant children struggle with?
• Think about the wider question: What aspects of the English education
system do immigrant children struggle with?
• How different do we think the answers will be? Why?
• Don’t just look for research on Kurds or you will miss what is almost
certainly a large literature of case studies for other immigrant groups, much
of which will probably overlap.
• A good way to expand an overspecialised research question and really to
build on existing knowledge.
• So when we generalise we ask “Do we have good reason to think that this
group will be significantly different from that group?”

17. 14. Recap
• So far, you should have read: One “reviewish” article, skimmed
articles all from the same journal and read one “typical” article
in your chosen area. (You also have background from White
and examples of “good research questions/designs”.)
• For next week read a “contrasting” second typical article.
• You have also devised and refined a OSRQ.
• If that has changed, you may need to “back date” your reading.
(You can’t just come up with a “guess” question.)
• We are now moving towards the practicalities of your research
though it is likely that the RQ will be further tuned as you read
more and think about how to answer it.