Essay on "Social Research the Modern Day Consumer"

Essay 8 pages (2267 words) Sources: 29

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Social Research

The modern day consumer is more pretentious than the consumer of two decades ago and this modification can be attributed to elements such as globalization and market liberalization, increasing competition among product or service providers and the incremental access to information, all which create higher consumer expectations. In order to better understand and satisfy the needs of the customers, economic agents conduct thorough researches by which they integrate the consumers into target audiences, characterized by specific needs and demands. At the basis of this research stands the social research.

The social research is simply understood as the research conducted in the study of societies, but its applications are far more vast and complex than its sources. Social research can be used, as it has previously been mentioned, in the satisfaction of the customers' needs, but it can also serve functions such as an understanding of the electorate or the thorough study of social problems -- such as familial maters, unemployment, income gap and so on. In the very words of Sarah Valek (2010), "social research is the scientific study of society. More specifically, social research examines a society's attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, trends, stratifications and rules. The scope of social research can be small or large, ranging from the self or a single individual to spanning an entire race or country. Popular topics of social research include poverty, racism, class issues, sexuality, voting behavior, gender constructs, policing and criminal behavior."

Given this wide importance and application of social research, the current report strives to assess and present the most important findings in the specialized literature referring to social research.

2. Literature Review

Social research is a complex and important process, but due to its importance and complexity, the offering of a universally accepted definition becomes a challenging task. Yet, at a general level, the social study could be understood as the totality of efforts, tools and techniques integrated in the study of the society with the purpose of helping one better understand the respective society.

Social research commences at the individual inquiries of the person and then increases in complexity and in impact. In other words then, social research is born out of the peoples' curiosity, search for knowledge and desire for development. Since the free inquiry of the human mind is a given in all individuals, social research becomes a natural course of social development (Kerry, 2009). And in order to support this system of mental, social and economic progress, it is of the utmost importance to ensure the development of universities (Cole, 2009).

In this order of ideas, Charles C. Ragin (1994) identifies seven distinct goals of social research, as follows:

The identification of general patterns and relationships

The testing and refining of social theories

The issuing of predictions

The cultural and historic interpretation of the significant phenomena

The exploration of diversity

The forwarding of a message, and finally

The advancement of new theories (Ragin, 1994).

When conducting social research, social science specialists have to take several political dimensions into consideration. These political aspects to consider are not clearly pointed out in a manual, but they are rather implied. At an overall level, political considerations of social study refer primarily to the means in which the social data would be collected and utilized. Thee distinct elements to which attention must be paid throughout the social research process refer to the objectivity of the study, the ideology it promotes and the treatment of race relations -- the matter of race relationships has been a recurrent one in the field of social studies and it has raised various complications and problems (Babbie, 2009).

In terms of the dimensions of social research, Allan J. Kimmel (1988) approaches the topic from a different angle -- that of the ethical issues which could arise. The author argues that ethical issues could easily arise at the various stages of social research. The most common ethical issues in social research occur when the results of a social study are misused or when generally accepted tools and techniques are improperly utilized. At a general level, Kimmel identifies five types of ethical issues in the social study, as follows:

Ethical problems related to the treatment of the participants to the social research process

Ethical problems related to the responsibility towards the society

Ethical problems related to the integrity of data collection

Ethical problems related to the integrity of data analysis

Ethical problems related to the integrity of data reporting (Kimmel, 1988)

In terms of the actual tools and techniques used in the social studies, these can be divided into two main categories -- qualitative research models and quantitative research models (Walliman and Walliman, 2006). Four of the more common means of qualitative research are those of participant observation, direct observation, unstructured interviewing and case studies. The participant observation is the most complex tool as it requires long periods in which the researcher be accepted as a member of the studied community. Generally confounded with participant observation, direct observation also constructs conclusions on the observation of the community, but the researcher maintains a neutral and more distant position. Unstructured interviewing is constructed on direct interactions between the researcher and various respondents. Finally, case studies refer to gradual and sustained studies of a particular topic and they are created through a combination of the previous tools (Trochim, 2006).

Relative to the quantitative methods, the survey is the most common tool. Quantitative and qualitative researches are different in the meaning that the qualitative research strives to identify the behavior of an individual or group and it works towards this understanding from a subjective point-of-view; additionally, the results cannot often be extrapolated and applied to the larger community in order to explain social relations. Quantitative research on the other hand is more precise and objective; it is based on facts and figures and its findings can be generalized for the larger community (De Vaus, 2002).

Quantitative research tools reveal a series of advantages over the qualitative methods. For instance:

They create respondent anonymity, increasing as such the rate of response and the sample on which to conduct the analysis

When the number of respondents is sufficient, the findings can be extrapolated to the community

They support the future planning activities as they offer reliable and repeatable conclusions

Yet, in spite of these advantages, quantitative research reveals a series of limitations. In this order of ideas:

The application of the quantitative research methods can be expensive

The researcher has a limited ability to verify the correctness of the answers offered by the respondent, and finally

The answers offered by the respondent might not be representative for the entire audience (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education).

The selection of the social research tool to be utilized in a respective research depends strictly on the necessities of the respective research, the nature of the results sought, the nature of the variables and so on. Generally however, researchers will not limit their study to a single methodology, but will make use of a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research tools (Walliman and Walliman, 2006).

While Matt Henn, Mark Weinstein and Nick Foard (2009) agree with the integration of more research methodologies within a single research project, they take their assessment to a deeper level. The authors of a critical introduction to social research mention that the combined usage of multiple research methodologies is called triangulation and that it reveals numerous benefits over the usage of single method approaches. In their own words, "many social researchers use 'multiple strategies of field research in order to overcome the problems the steam from studies relying upon a single theory, single method, single set of data and single investigator' (Burgess, 1984). This approach is frequently referred to a triangulation. It suggests that research conclusions that are derived from converging evidence -- using a variety of different research methods -- are likely to be more credible than research findings which are based on only one source of evidence" (Henn, Weinstein and Foard, 2009).

Aside the traditional models of social research, Stephen a. Small (1995) introduces four new models: action research, participatory research, empowerment research and feminist research. All these new models are constructed on the recent tendency to develop social research models which stimulate change within the society. Action research is concentrated on a simultaneous study of the community and the change of the community by promotion of action. The participatory research is a complex method of social research in which the researcher and the researched interact to create more knowledge (social capital) and then use this knowledge to drive change within the respective community. The empowerment research methodology is focused on the identification of the implications of empowerment and the promotion of these concepts within the community. Last, the feminist research is focused on promoting the agenda of the feminist movement by reducing the domination of men and promoting the social, political and economic equality between genders (Small, 1995).

Thomas Janoski, March Musick and… READ MORE

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