Conjectures and Evidences

Rakhahari Chatterji was Professor in Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calcutta. Books written by him include Working Class and the Nationalist Movement in India, Introduction to Comparative Political Analysis, Gandhi and the Ali Brothers-Biography of a Friendship (translated in Hindi and Marathi). Apart from editing a number of volumes he has contributed over a hundred papers to academic journals and newspapers. Currently, he is Honourary Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata.Partha Pratim Basu is Professor of International Relations at Jadavpur University, and also Executive President, Jadavpur Association of International Relations, Kolkata. He has also served as Editor, Jadavpur Journal of International Relations; Coordinator, One-year PG Diploma Course on Human Rights; and Director, School of Media, Communication and Culture, Jadavpur University. He has long experience of teaching Research Methodology in M. Phil and PhD course work classes. Jyotiprasad Chatterjee is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College, West Bengal, India. His research interest includes social movements arising in and through the critical interface of democracy and development. As the Supervisor of West Bengal of CSDS- Lokniti-network, he has been associated with a number of survey based research projects and has developed a considerable expertise in managing and handling empirical data. Suprio Basu is Assistant Course Director, Rural Awareness and Self Employment, Department of Sociology, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India. His research area includes democratic governance, policy research with a focus on democratic decentralisation, electoral behaviour and so on. Being the CSDS Lokniti’s West Bengal State Coordinator for the last two decades he has provided able leadership to a number of empirical research and has developed a unique skill in quantitative data analysis

• Preface List of Tables List of Figures PART I1. Research Srategies: Quantitative and Qualitative Theory, Epistemological Concerns and Ontological Questions Trajectories of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Data and Data Collection Techniques in Quantitative and Qualitative Research Major Preoccupations of Quantitative and Qualitative Researchers Critique of Quantitative and Qualitative Research2. Research Methodology: Concepts Hypotheses and Variables Why learn methodology? Concepts, Hypotheses and Variables 3. Research Designs: Experimental and Quasi Experimental J.S. Mill and the Experimental Method The Experiment Experimental Designs Quasi-Experimental Designs 4. Aggregate Data Analysis What are Aggregate Data? Sources of Aggregate Data? Uses of Aggregate Data Analysis of Aggregate Data 5. Survey Research: Data and Analysis Definition, Origin and Development of Survey Research Techniques of Survey Research Survey Data Analysis Problems and Limitations of Survey Research Conclusions: Some Solutions to the Problem of Survey Research 6. Content Analysis History of Content Analysis Definition and Nature of Content Analysis Description of the Technique Examples of Content Analysis Qualitative-Quantitative Continuum in Content Analysis Assessment of Content Analysis7. The Logic and the Practice of Participant Observation Meaning Understanding and Sociology Meaning Understanding and Social Anthropology Participation and Understanding the Political Process Participant Observation: How to Practice It 8. Focus Group Research History of Focus Group Research Nature and Types of Focus Group Research Description of the Technique Examples of Focus Group Research Focus Group Discussion as a Standalone Method? Focus Group, Participant Observation and Interview: A Comparative AssessmentPART II9. Measurement: the Cornerstone of Research Levels or Scales of Measurement: Nominal scale Ordinal scale Interval scale Ratio scale10. Organizing the Data: Frequency Distribution Frequency Distribution of Nominal Data Frequency Distribution of Ordinal Data Frequency Distribution of Interval/Ratio Data Cumulative Frequency and Cumulative Percentage Application of the Method of Simple Interpolationxi 11. Measures of Central Tendency Mode, Median (Quartiles, Deciles, Percentiles) Arithmetic Mean Choosing an Appropriate Measure of Central Tendency Exercise 12. Measures of Dispersion Range Mean Deviation Quartile Deviation Standard Deviation Selecting the Best Measure of Dispersion Relative Measures of Dispersion Skewness Exercise 13. Correlation and Regression Strength of Association Direction of Association Correlation Coefficient Regression Properties of Linear Regression Exercise 14. Nonparametric Measures of Correlation Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient Phi Correlation Coefficient Chi Square Contingency Correlation Coefficient Cramer’s V Exercise List of Important FormulasBibliographyIndex