Summary Basics of Social Research: Pearson New International Edition Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

A snapshot of the summary - Basics of Social Research: Pearson New International Edition Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches Author: Lawrence W Neuman ISBN: 9781292020341

• 1 Doing Social Research

• 1.1 Introduction

• Why do we do social research?

  • To learn something new about the world.
  • To carefully document our guesses, hunches, theories or beliefs about it.
  • To understand how the social world works.  
• How do we produce knowledge in the process of social research?

  By combining principles, outlooks and ideas with a collection of specific practices, techniques and strategies.

• 1.2 Alternatives to Social Research

• What is the biggest difference between research-based knowledge and the alternatives?

  Research-based knowledge has fewer flaws and avoids common mistakes.

• 1.2.1 Authority

• When are you relying on authority as a basis for knowledge?

  When you accept something as true because someone in a position of authority says it is true or because it appears in a authoritative outlet.
• What are the three limitations of relying on authority?

  1. It is easy to overestimate the expertise of others. 
     
  2. Authorities may not agree, and not all authorities are equally dependable. 
  3. Authorities may speak on fields which they know little about. 
• Name two issues of relying on authority.

  • Misuse of authority.
    
  • Too much reliance on authorities can be dangerous to a democratic society. 

• 1.2.2 Tradition

• Why do people sometimes cling to traditional knowledge without understanding?

  Because they assume that if something may have worked or been true in the past, it will continue to be true.

• 1.2.3 Common sense

• What is gaining knowledge through common sense?

  Telying on what everyone knwos and waht ''just makes sense''.
• Name two downsides of using common sense to gain knowledge.

  • It allows logical fallacies to slip into thinking. 
    
  • It contains contradictory ideas that often go unnoticed because people use the ideas at different times.

• 1.2.4 Media Distortion

• What is the downsides of mass media?

  • It tends to perpetuate a culture's misconceptions and myths.
  • It can create a belief that a serious problem exists when it may not.