Invitation to Social Research

Matthew Wall is Associate Professor, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations at Swansea University.

• PART I: SETTING THE SCENEFrom the outside in: entering the world of social researchAn ongoing conversation: how research pieces interest and interactA tangled web: traditions, theory and methodsThe why and how of research: the purpose of research and the nature of dataPART II: EXPLAINING THE SOCIAL WORLD THROUGH NUMBERSMay I ask you a few questions?: survey methodsSociety as a laboratory: experimental methodsLies, damn lies, and statistics: observational statistical methodsFrom words to numbers: quantitative content analysisThrough a glass, darkly: forecasting and predictionPART III: EXPLORING THE SOCIAL WORLD THROUGH WORDSIt’s good to talk: the interview methodGroup chat: focus groupsMining text: qualitative analysis of text Language in context: discourse analysisBeing there: observational methodsPART IV: INTEGRATIVE RESEARCHThe best of both worlds: mixed methods researchParallel lines: multiple methods researchPART V: CHANGING THE SOCIAL WORLD THROUGH RESEARCHBeyond the malestream: feminist research methodsPart of the solution: action research methodsMad world: critical research methodsJudgement calls: evaluative researchPART VI: CONCLUSIONSWhere to from here? From consumer to creator of new knowledgeDo the right thing: research as an ethical practice