Social research: why,

objectives, ethics & politics.

Discussion from article 1
• Key argument(s) from Ayala (2010)
“Religion and science are two different domains and they
should remain so…”

“Religion studies values, meanings, purpose in human

life, something that science does not… science studies the
natural world, like matter (physics), living beings
(biology) etc.”

“People of faith should stand in awe of the wondrous

achievements of science. But they should not be troubled
that science may deny their religious beliefs.”
Discussion from article 2
• Key argument(s) from Ringgard (2017)
“The biggest challenges we face are man-made so we
need social sciences more than ever…”

“Without social sciences, we would be barbarians.”

“The humanities don’t provide unambiguous answers,

but it does make us better at asking the right questions
about how we can best live our lives together from day
to day in a changing world…”
Discussion from article 3
• Key argument(s) from Schrage (2015)
“Future of social science research is with private companies”

“For industry-based researchers, research is a process unlike

one-shot game for university professors… so they are more
likely to produce reliable results.”

“When it comes to generating breakthrough insights around

choice, preference, bias, affinity, creativity and decision—all
the psychological elements and ingredients that go into
making humans human—industry, not university, is far better
positioned to design, develop and deploy replicable
experiments that matter.”
 Why social research,
objectives, ethics &
politics of social research
Why social science?
• Social science affects all aspects of human lives: human interactions within
as well as with physical world around.

• “Hunters, farmers and warriors taught their young to hunt, farm and fight.
But about 2,500 years ago, that changed in Greece… with a new form of
government: democracy…Basic skills for sustenance were no longer
sufficient. Citizens also had to learn how to manage their own societies and
practice self-government.” (Zakaria, 2015)

• Consider the work of archeologists who study why some ancient societies
collapsed. (Collins, 2015)

• “Consider innovations in Facebook and its connection to psychology”

(Zakaria, 2015)

• “Today, ….to ensure plentiful energy, food and potable water is available
around the world. Such problems require more than just technical solutions”
(Collins, 2015).
Ten reasons why we need social science (Source:
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/social-science-matters/10-reasons-for-social-sci
ence
)

1) To imagine alternative futures (research on ways to have judicious energy

mix);
2) Make sense of our finances (research on nation’s economy);
3) Contribute to our health and well-being (research on happiness);
4) Saves our life (research on disease outbreaks);
5) Make our neighborhoods safer (research on effective ways to reduce
crime);
6) Social scientists as public intellectuals (opinion makers);
7) To improve children’s lives and education (research on mid-day meals,
RTE);
8) Change the world for the better (research on climate change);
9) Broaden our horizons (research on gender);
10) To guarantee the democracy (research on social justice).
Think about
• Why was Amartya Sen given a Nobel Prize in Economics?

• Why was Elinor Ostrom given a Nobel Prize in Economics?

• Remember the movie “A beautiful mind”


Why social research?
Being somewhat convinced how social science makes
us better humans, how do you think the knowledge in
social science progresses?

• How do we know what we know?

Social research for understanding social life, to
influence decisions on a daily basis, for the progress of
social sciences and so on…

How else do we know what we know about our society?

Alternatives to social research
Few major alternatives are:
a) Personal experiences and common sense;
b) Experts and authorities;
c) Popular and media messages;
d) Ideological beliefs and values.
Any more ?
Problems with common sense
• Overgeneralization: one or few instances used to argue
that it is applicable everywhere.
• Selective observation: being picky about evidences
and then generalize using them.
• Premature closure: final decision with less evidence
• Halo effect: decide on personal
perceptions/beliefs/biases.
• False consensus: imposing one’s perceptions on others
and taking it to be true.
Problems with other sources
• Experts and authorities
Very useful
BUT
Insights or knowledge from experts needs evaluation
and not blind following…
• Popular and media messages
Fake news around demonetization!
• Ideological beliefs & values
Conservatives denying climate change, even rallying to
curtail social research funding in US?
Social Science
• System of producing knowledge and the resultant
knowledge.
• Building blocks of social science: theory, data and
empirical observations or evidence.
• Scientific community: people, institutions, roles, norms,
behavior, attitudes etc.
• Norms in scientific community:
a) universalism (not who; what, why and how matters),
b) organized skepticism (intense scrutiny)
c) disinterestedness (less rigid, neutral),
d) communalism (sharing knowledge),
e) honesty (ethics).
Qualitative & Quantitative approach
Quantitative Qualitative

Measure objective facts Construct/interpret/understand social

reality
Focus on measurable variables Focus on interactive processes, events

Reliability as key Authenticity and transparency as key

Value free (assumed) Value explicit

Independent of context (assumed) Context dependent

Many cases, statistical analysis Fewer cases, content-based analysis

Researcher assumed neutral/detached Bias made explicit

Steps in research process
Quantitative
1) Topic selection (broader area of interest, e.g. religion and racial
attitude)
2) Focused questions (research questions, e.g., does the culture of white
evangelical Christians adopt non-supportive attitude towards African
Americans)
3) Approach to the study (how to answer research questions, e.g. large
sample survey in US)
4) Collect data (method, e.g., data collected via telephonic interview of
2081 adults)
5) Analyze data (method, e.g. statistical analysis)
6) Interpret results (findings in the context of research questions, e.g.,
conservative protestant Christians more supportive of individualistic
explanations of black inequality)
7) Share results (implications, e.g., published in an academic journals)

Source: Penny Edgell and Eric Tranby (2007), cited in Neuman (2015)
Qualitative
1) Topic selection (broader area of interest, e.g. gangs in urban
housing projects)
2) Acknowledge self and context (why interested in this area, e.g.,
personal interest towards gangs in urbans housing context)
3) Socio-cultural context (a graduate student in Chicago, drug
dealing gangs, high poverty in urban areas occupied by African
Americans)
4) Design & collect data (method, e.g., first quantitative and then
qualitative – ethnography- observations for 8 years)
5) Interpret results (findings in the context of research questions,
e.g., explanations of how gang culture affects local community,
problems faced by poor, economics of drug dealing)
6) Share results (implications, e.g., a book published)

Source: Sudhir Venkatesh (2008), cited in Neuman (2015)

Ethics in social research
• Why do we need ethics in social research?

• Social research creates a public good and so it has to

be done in the right way!

• If done unethically, the results will not lose their value

(reliability & validity)
Case of Tuskegee Syphilis Study
• Known as “bad blood”
• Researchers studied debilitating conditions of the disease
in advance stages.
• Many participants died in Alabama, US (African American
men)
• Began in 1929 when treatment not available but continued
till long after treatment available.

Another example: 1940s US govt alleged to have allowed

injecting people with radioactive materials during cold war
era.
Check out Zimbardo’s experiment, Milgrams’ study as well!
Principles of ethical conduct
• Voluntary consent (no means no!)
• Informed consent (describe the purpose, objectives of the study)
• No harm to participants
• Special cases (minors and mentally disabled not to be involved
without relevant permission)
• Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality (strive to maintain these)
• Contributing to inequality or reinforcing it
• No secret research
• Share results, methods transparently

Check out the principles in Nuremberg Code for medical research!

Politics in social research
• Research is not free of politics
• There can be limits on subjects for study, funding,
dissemination of results and so on.

Consider the case of funding for climate change research since

Donald Trump assumed presidency in US.

Consider the case of present government in India promoting

research on Vedas and Ayurveda specifically.

Consider the case of studying Tiananmen Square massacre in

China.
References
• Ayala, F. (2010). Religion has nothing to do with social science and vice versa. R
etrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2010/may/28/religion-science-richard-
dawkins
• Bryman, A. (2016). Social Research Methods (International edition). Oxford
University Press: New York. 
• Ringgard, A. (2017). Why we need social sciences more than ever? Science
Nordic. Retrieved from
http://sciencenordic.com/why-we-need-social-sciences-more-ever
• Schrage, M. (2015). Why the future of social science is with private companies?
Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-the-future-of-social-science-is-with-private-companie
s
• Lawrence, N.W. (2015). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches (7th edition). Allyn and Bacon: Noida.