Research Methods
An introduction to social science research techniques and academic best practices. Covers types of data, documentation, library searches, online searches, as well as the scientific method including hypothesis, design, causality, and qualitative methods including field work, survey, experiment, unobtrusive measurement, content analysis, and case study.
Courses: Introduction to Social Science Research, Qualitative Methods, Research Methods.
Intended Level: College/Cégep, University Undergraduate
Charles-Albert Ramsay, Economics Faculty, Dawson College
Marie-Pierre Gosselin, Psychology Faculty, Dawson College
General Information
Principles of Scientific Research
These principles apply to all disciplines, and methods, used in social science. They are univ...
1 – What is Social Science?
Why Should I Care? Without science, your beliefs are based on your elders experience, on traditi...
2 – How to Build Knowledge Scientifically?
Why Should I Care? How research is conducted can affect the results of a scientific project. It ...
3 – Citing Sources
Why Should I Care? It’s so easy now to buy a paper online. Teachers and all sorts of readers kno...
4 – Grey, News, Opiniated and User-Generated Media
Why Should I Care? The sources you chose will determine the quality of your work. Bias in your s...
5 – Reviewing the Literature
Why Should I Care? Listing and summarizing previous research results allows you to set a foundat...
6 – Due Diligence – Business Research
Research is about attitude. If you wish to find, you will find. If you give up, you will end up e...
7 – Measuring Variables
Why should I care? The accuracy of your project depends on whether or not you are measuring the ...
8 – Building a Hypothesis
Why Should I Care? How the data is gathered can affect the results, and the amount of time and r...
9 – Types of Logic
Why Should I Care? Your understanding of the problem depends on the type of logic you are using....
10 – Operationalization
Why Should I Care? How the data is gathered can affect the results, and the amount of time and r...
11 – Models and Simulations
Why Should I Care? Sometimes, you cannot operationalize. It would be too risky, not feasible, or...
12 – Sampling
Why Should I Care? A bad sample will kill your scientific power. That’s all there is to it. Def...
13 – Research Power
Why Should I Care? The scientific strength, or power, of your research depends on several key tr...
14 – Establishing Cause
Why Should I Care? Something is a problem. We can reduce the negative impacts, but that is calle...
15 – The Ethics of Social Research
Why Should I Care? Research projects may incur harm. This issue has to be dealt with by universi...
16 – Communicating Results
Why Should I Care? The type of data, and your disciplinary focus, will determine the medium you ...
The Research Methods
This is a short presentation of the main research methods, as they apply to social science. Metho...
1- Survey
Why Should I Care? Surveys are very common. However, many are not done well. There are many trap...
2- Survey Questionnaire
Why Should I Care? Your Questionnaire can sink the scientific validity of your project. There is...
3 – Survey Interview
Why Should I Care? You would rather spend more time with respondents to dig into a topic. You pr...
4 – Experiment
Why Should I Care? Controlling the social environment to conduct science is prone to ethical iss...
5 – Field Work
Why Should I Care? Some of the best social science comes from field work, but many people are no...
6 – Unobtrusive Measurement
Why Should I Care? There are hidden messages and meanings in landmarks, and objects that cannot ...
7 – Content Analysis
Why Should I Care? Humans produce a lot of content. Are you a content creator? This is even a fu...
8 – Available Data
Why Should I Care? Many – if not most – researchers are producing reports based on data that was...
9 – Case Study
Why Should I Care? If you wish to study business, or any other applied field of study such as la...
Your Science Report
This section is about your project. We are going to take this step by step. It will end up be...
1 – The Proposal
The research project may need to be presented to a review board for academic or financial conside...
2 – The Literature Review
Now that you got the green light to go ahead with the project, the next step is to dig into past ...
3 – Organizing the Citations
Before you write the literature review, organize your material. As you read, include ideas and c...
4 – Academic Voice
Why Should I Care? Academics are not – necessarily – snobs. But they insist on a neutral tone in...
5 – Classic Essay Style
Why Should I Care? If the style is not specified, you can fall back on some general rules. The ...
6 – MLA Style
Why Should I Care? Some journals (and academics in that same field) use the MLA style, which is ...
7 – APA Style
Why Should I Care? Some journals (and academics in that same field) use the APA style, which is ...
8 – Quick and Dirty Style Guide
Why Should I Care? Here are a few short notes on what I expect in your papers. Paragraph Format...
9 – Writing English in Quebec
Why Should I Care? The Province of Quebec’s official language is French. The language most spoke...
10 – A Paper Template
This template will not make for an interesting read, but all the nuts and bolts are there. APA ...
11 – Revision Checklist
Here is a check list of things to revise before submitting an assignment. Step 1: Go over the wh...
12 – Interview
Write a loose set of questions for an interview you will conduct with someone who knows this to...
13 – Questionnaire
Write a strict set of questions for a survey you will conduct with many people who may or may not...
14 – Defining Variables and Operationalization
14 – Defining Variables and Operationalization Variable type Variable Name Phenom...
15 – Frequency Tables
15 – Frequency Tables Summarize your findings from each survey into this summary data table. ...
16 – Averages
Why Should I Care? You can manipulate numbers tell the story you wish to tell. Is this is unethi...
Supplementary Material
Synthesis Table
At the beginning of the study… Exploratory Descriptive Explanatory ...
Latin Terms Used in Law, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences
Define the term. Associate the term to one of the following themes (religion, proverb, law, logic...
Greek Terms Used in Law, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences
Please define the following terms. ana-lusis anthropo- archaeo- astro- chroma di- ...
Important Terms
Glossary Please complete the definitions for the following terms. Abstract Accidental Sample...