Research Methods book chapter 4 – 12
By Nathalie de Bruijne
Chapter 1 – Foundations of research methods
Research enterprise: macro-level effort to accumulate knowledge across multiple empirical
systematic public research projects.
Translational research: to move research from initial discovery to practice and real-life
contexts (research-practice continuum)
Basic research vs. applied research:
- Basic: designed to generate discoveries and to understand how the discoveries work
(often used in studies)
- Applied: when a discovery is tested under increasingly controlled conditions in real-
world contexts.
Research syntheses (= study of multiple prior research projects that address the same
research question or topic)
- Meta-analysis: uses statistical methods to combine the results in a manner that can be
used by practitioners (generalization)
- Systematic review: focuses on a specific question and uses specific pre-planned
methods to identify, select, assess and summarize the findings of multiple research
studies.
Evidence-Based Practice: a movement designed to encourage/require practitioners to
employ practices that are based on research evidence as reflected in research syntheses or
practice guidelines.
Requests for Proposals (RFP): document issued by a government agency that describes the
problem that needs addressing, the contexts in which it operates, the approach the agency
would like you take to investigate the problem and the amount the agency would be willing to
pay for such research.
,Social research is theoretical, much of it is concerned with developing, exploring or testing
the theories/ideas that social researchers have. It is also empirical: meaning that it is based on
observations and measurements of reality. Also, probabilistic: based on probabilities.
Causal: pertaining to a cause-effect relationship (‘’oorzaak’’ > ‘’gevolg’’)
Types of studies:
1. Descriptive studies
2. Relational studies
3. Causal studies
Time in research:
1. Cross-sectional studies
2. Longitudinal studies (repeated measures and time series)
Independent variable (manipulating one/cause) > dependent variable (the outcome/effect)
Deduction and induction:
Deduction: from the more general to the more specific (theory > hypothesis > observation >
confirmation) (quantitative)
Induction: from specific to more general (observation > pattern > tentative hypothesis >
theory) (qualitative)
‘’The Hourglass model’’ – for the structure of research (reports)
Conclusion validity > Internal validity > Construct validity > External validity
,Chapter 2 – Research Ethics
Conflict of interest exists in research when a researcher’s primary interest in the integrity of
a study is compromised by a secondary interest such as personal gain.
Nuremberg Code: code developed following the trial of Nazi doctors after World War 2. It
includes 10 principles to guide research involving human subjects.
Stanley Milgram: obedience studies. He studied the conflict between obedience toward
authority and one’s personal conscience.
Recruited participants and provided them with a fictious story that he was trying to explore
the effects of punishment on learning behaviour.
Deception (=bedrog= false, misleading information in study procedures). Ethically
questionable study. Debriefing (providing participants with full information about the study
once a person has completed participation). Risk of harm.
The Thalidomide tragedy:
Thalidomide = a drug. Many pregnant women were given this drug to help them sleep.
Doctors were unaware that this interferes with how the foetus develops.
After > Kefauver-Harris Amendments: to ensure superior drug safety.
Declaration of Helsinki: The World Medical Association established recommendations
guiding doctors in biomedical research involving human participants.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study:
Clinical study during 40 years by U.S. study health effect of untreated syphilis. Study led to
considerable physical harm. All the participants were poor African American men who were
led to believe they were receiving treatment when in fact they were not.
The National Research Act: an act passed by the US congress. Represents the first serious
attempt to build a comprehensive system of research ethics in the US. National commission to
develop guidelines for human subjects’ research.
Ø Most important law: Belmont Report: respect for persons (assent > a child has
agreed to participate in a study & informed consent > informing study participants
about the procedures and risks involved in research), justice and beneficence (impact
on a person’s well-being).
, è They also set up the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs): panel of people who
review research proposals with respect to ethical implications
Chapter 3 – Qualitative approaches to research
Qualitative measures (= data in non-numerical form / descriptive)
- Generate new constructs and theories
- Develop detailed stories
- Achieve a deeper understanding
- Improve the quality of quantitative measures
Qualitative traditions:
- Ethnography: study of a culture using qualitative field research > common approach:
participant observation (becoming immersed in the culture as an active participant)
- Phenomenology: focuses on people’s subjective experiences and interpretations of the
world (how the world is experienced by others from their perspective)
- Field research: the researcher goes into the field to observe
- Grounded theory: to develop theory about the phenomena of interest. Begins with
raising generative questions that help guide the research but are not intended to be
either static. Linkages are developed between theoretical core concepts and the data
Qualitative measures:
- Participant observation: most commonly used/demanding method. Intensive work.
- Direct observation: does not try to become participant. Watching. Videotape.
- Unstructured interviewing: direct interaction between researcher and respondent. No
predetermined interview protocol/survey.
- Case study: intensive study of a specific individual/event.
- Focus groups: generate as many ideas on a topic as possible + to achieve consensus
- Unobtrusive methods: collecting data that do not interfere in the lives of the
respondents.
• Indirect measure: able to collect data without the respondent being
aware (invincible)
By Nathalie de Bruijne
Chapter 1 – Foundations of research methods
Research enterprise: macro-level effort to accumulate knowledge across multiple empirical
systematic public research projects.
Translational research: to move research from initial discovery to practice and real-life
contexts (research-practice continuum)
Basic research vs. applied research:
- Basic: designed to generate discoveries and to understand how the discoveries work
(often used in studies)
- Applied: when a discovery is tested under increasingly controlled conditions in real-
world contexts.
Research syntheses (= study of multiple prior research projects that address the same
research question or topic)
- Meta-analysis: uses statistical methods to combine the results in a manner that can be
used by practitioners (generalization)
- Systematic review: focuses on a specific question and uses specific pre-planned
methods to identify, select, assess and summarize the findings of multiple research
studies.
Evidence-Based Practice: a movement designed to encourage/require practitioners to
employ practices that are based on research evidence as reflected in research syntheses or
practice guidelines.
Requests for Proposals (RFP): document issued by a government agency that describes the
problem that needs addressing, the contexts in which it operates, the approach the agency
would like you take to investigate the problem and the amount the agency would be willing to
pay for such research.
,Social research is theoretical, much of it is concerned with developing, exploring or testing
the theories/ideas that social researchers have. It is also empirical: meaning that it is based on
observations and measurements of reality. Also, probabilistic: based on probabilities.
Causal: pertaining to a cause-effect relationship (‘’oorzaak’’ > ‘’gevolg’’)
Types of studies:
1. Descriptive studies
2. Relational studies
3. Causal studies
Time in research:
1. Cross-sectional studies
2. Longitudinal studies (repeated measures and time series)
Independent variable (manipulating one/cause) > dependent variable (the outcome/effect)
Deduction and induction:
Deduction: from the more general to the more specific (theory > hypothesis > observation >
confirmation) (quantitative)
Induction: from specific to more general (observation > pattern > tentative hypothesis >
theory) (qualitative)
‘’The Hourglass model’’ – for the structure of research (reports)
Conclusion validity > Internal validity > Construct validity > External validity
,Chapter 2 – Research Ethics
Conflict of interest exists in research when a researcher’s primary interest in the integrity of
a study is compromised by a secondary interest such as personal gain.
Nuremberg Code: code developed following the trial of Nazi doctors after World War 2. It
includes 10 principles to guide research involving human subjects.
Stanley Milgram: obedience studies. He studied the conflict between obedience toward
authority and one’s personal conscience.
Recruited participants and provided them with a fictious story that he was trying to explore
the effects of punishment on learning behaviour.
Deception (=bedrog= false, misleading information in study procedures). Ethically
questionable study. Debriefing (providing participants with full information about the study
once a person has completed participation). Risk of harm.
The Thalidomide tragedy:
Thalidomide = a drug. Many pregnant women were given this drug to help them sleep.
Doctors were unaware that this interferes with how the foetus develops.
After > Kefauver-Harris Amendments: to ensure superior drug safety.
Declaration of Helsinki: The World Medical Association established recommendations
guiding doctors in biomedical research involving human participants.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study:
Clinical study during 40 years by U.S. study health effect of untreated syphilis. Study led to
considerable physical harm. All the participants were poor African American men who were
led to believe they were receiving treatment when in fact they were not.
The National Research Act: an act passed by the US congress. Represents the first serious
attempt to build a comprehensive system of research ethics in the US. National commission to
develop guidelines for human subjects’ research.
Ø Most important law: Belmont Report: respect for persons (assent > a child has
agreed to participate in a study & informed consent > informing study participants
about the procedures and risks involved in research), justice and beneficence (impact
on a person’s well-being).
, è They also set up the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs): panel of people who
review research proposals with respect to ethical implications
Chapter 3 – Qualitative approaches to research
Qualitative measures (= data in non-numerical form / descriptive)
- Generate new constructs and theories
- Develop detailed stories
- Achieve a deeper understanding
- Improve the quality of quantitative measures
Qualitative traditions:
- Ethnography: study of a culture using qualitative field research > common approach:
participant observation (becoming immersed in the culture as an active participant)
- Phenomenology: focuses on people’s subjective experiences and interpretations of the
world (how the world is experienced by others from their perspective)
- Field research: the researcher goes into the field to observe
- Grounded theory: to develop theory about the phenomena of interest. Begins with
raising generative questions that help guide the research but are not intended to be
either static. Linkages are developed between theoretical core concepts and the data
Qualitative measures:
- Participant observation: most commonly used/demanding method. Intensive work.
- Direct observation: does not try to become participant. Watching. Videotape.
- Unstructured interviewing: direct interaction between researcher and respondent. No
predetermined interview protocol/survey.
- Case study: intensive study of a specific individual/event.
- Focus groups: generate as many ideas on a topic as possible + to achieve consensus
- Unobtrusive methods: collecting data that do not interfere in the lives of the
respondents.
• Indirect measure: able to collect data without the respondent being
aware (invincible)
