General Information/Basics

Owned by Darlene Edgar
Nov 25, 2023
2 min read

Levy’s Research Design: Introduction to Social Research, Chapter 1 Summary (Leavy, 2021)

Sources of Knowledge:

  • Authorities and experts are one source of knowledge.

  • Ideas develop through various perspectives, influenced by factors like religion, politics, education, race, class, gender, and sexuality.

Cultural Beliefs:

  • Ideas about race and racism have evolved over time.

Personal and Sensory Experiences:

  • Learning often occurs through personal experiences, but these can lead to overgeneralization and selective perception.

  • Beliefs don't necessarily equal knowledge.

Social Research:

  • Aims to build knowledge using agreed-upon practices.

  • Three main types: Exploratory, Descriptive, Explanatory, Community Change or Action, Evaluative, Evocative/Provoking/Unsettling.

Five Approaches to Research:

  1. Quantitative:

    • Deductive approach, testing relationships between variables using statistical data.

    • Aims to prove or disprove existing theories.

  2. Qualitative:

    • Aims to generate meaning and explore social phenomena.

    • Focuses on subjective experiences and meaning-making processes.

  3. Mixed Method:

    • Integrates both quantitative and qualitative data in a single project.

    • Can result in a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon.

  4. Arts-Based:

    • Utilizes creative arts in research projects, drawing on literary writing, music, dance, etc.

    • Aims to explore, describe, evoke, provoke, and unsettle.

  5. Community-Based Participatory:

    • Involves collaborative partnerships between researchers and non-academic stakeholders.

    • Aims to promote community change or action.

Research Organization:

  • Three categories: Philosophical, Praxis, Ethics.

  • Philosophical elements: Paradigm, Ontology, Epistemology.

  • Praxis elements: Genre/Design, Methodology, Methods/Practices, Theories.

  • Ethical considerations combine philosophical and praxis elements.

Research Methods:

  • Interview methods: Structured, Semi-Structured, In-Depth, Focus Group, Oral History.

  • Selection of method based on research question, hypothesis, access, time, and skills.

Types of Research:

  • Small scale (t) or large scale (T) based on legitimacy and predictability.

  • Experiments, Surveys, Interviews, Field Research, Unobtrusive Methods, Case Studies, Self Data, Mixed Methods, Literary Practices, Performative Practices, Visual Arts Practices, Community-Based.

Paradigms:

  • Postpositivism: Objective reality, scientific method, empiricism.

  • Interpretive/Constructivist: Subjective experience, social-historical context, social construction of reality.

  • Critical: Emphasis on power, social justice, political enterprise.

  • Transformative: Draws from critical theory, critical pedagogy, feminist, critical race, indigenous.

  • Pragmatic: No allegiance to specific rules or theories, focuses on outcomes.

  • Arts-Based/Aesthetic Intersubjective: Intersection of art and science, values preverbal ways of knowing.

Methodology:

  • Methods plus theory equals methodology.

Ethics:

  • Ethical considerations are of utmost importance in research.