Social science , in its broadest sense, is the study of society and the manner in which people behave and influence the world around us. It describes the world beyond our own perspective, and helps to broaden our understanding of how our complex society works. Everything from the how/why people vote, or what makes people happy or sad, to the causes of unemployment or the major factors of economic growth. The information gathered by social scientists provides vital information for our local authorities, policy makers, government, and others. There are two main branches of Social Science - The first , being Quantitative research.
Quantitative research is used to measure and describe societies as a whole. This kind of research also pertains …show more content…
In comparison to Qualitative research, which I will talk about later, Quantitative research is pretty expensive. Money is needed for printing survey’s , transportation, and even to incentivize the sign-up process. This brings me to the next to the topic. For accurate results, Quantitative methods require a very large number of test subjects. As constituted by the Ethics of Research, all subjects must be consenting. Finding a substantial amount of voluntary subjects is the most difficult task when embarking on a Quantitative research project.
The second major branch of social science is Qualitative research. The Goal of this kind of research is to interpret human behavior. Simply by observing and interviewing subjects, scientists develop an understanding of the meaning behind human behaviors/ perspectives and how people interpret certain situations. Some of the common Qualitative methods are : Open Questionnaire Surveys, Semi-Structured/Unstructured Interviews, and Case …show more content…
The downside of Qualitative research is the fact the outcome of results from one Qualitative study cannot predict or correlate with the outcomes of another. The nature of reliable Qualitative research is to adapt to the response it receives. The best example I can think of to explain this method, is if you were walking down a road and came across a fork, after choosing one of the two roads, you would walk to it’s end and find yet another fork. Think of the researcher as the person walking down the road, his decision at every fork is dictated by the reply of the subject. Every human has a unique pattern of thinking, that is why every path taken on this suppositional road will be entirely different from another . Researches also find it difficult to maintain objectivity. It is hard to describe someone objectively when you have developed your own view of them, humans cannot interact with each other over extended periods of time without creating some sort of
Quantitative research is used to measure and describe societies as a whole. This kind of research also pertains …show more content…
In comparison to Qualitative research, which I will talk about later, Quantitative research is pretty expensive. Money is needed for printing survey’s , transportation, and even to incentivize the sign-up process. This brings me to the next to the topic. For accurate results, Quantitative methods require a very large number of test subjects. As constituted by the Ethics of Research, all subjects must be consenting. Finding a substantial amount of voluntary subjects is the most difficult task when embarking on a Quantitative research project.
The second major branch of social science is Qualitative research. The Goal of this kind of research is to interpret human behavior. Simply by observing and interviewing subjects, scientists develop an understanding of the meaning behind human behaviors/ perspectives and how people interpret certain situations. Some of the common Qualitative methods are : Open Questionnaire Surveys, Semi-Structured/Unstructured Interviews, and Case …show more content…
The downside of Qualitative research is the fact the outcome of results from one Qualitative study cannot predict or correlate with the outcomes of another. The nature of reliable Qualitative research is to adapt to the response it receives. The best example I can think of to explain this method, is if you were walking down a road and came across a fork, after choosing one of the two roads, you would walk to it’s end and find yet another fork. Think of the researcher as the person walking down the road, his decision at every fork is dictated by the reply of the subject. Every human has a unique pattern of thinking, that is why every path taken on this suppositional road will be entirely different from another . Researches also find it difficult to maintain objectivity. It is hard to describe someone objectively when you have developed your own view of them, humans cannot interact with each other over extended periods of time without creating some sort of