Key Takeaways

• Social science research can occur at any of three analytical levels: micro, meso, or macro.
• Some topics lend themselves to one particular analytical level while others could be studied from any, or all, of the three levels of analysis.
• Different levels of analysis lead to different points of focus on any given topic.
• Paradigms shape our everyday view of the world.
• Social scientists use theory to help frame their research questions and to help them make sense of the answers to those questions.
• Some theories are rather sweeping in their coverage and attempt to explain, broadly, how and why societies (or individual psyches, or national economies, etc.) are organized in particular ways.
• The theory being invoked, and the paradigm from which a researcher frames his or her work, can shape not only the questions asked but also the answers discovered.
• Whether a researcher takes an inductive or deductive approach will determine the process by which he or she attempts to answer his or her research question.
• The inductive approach involves beginning with a set of empirical observations, seeking patterns in those observations, and then theorizing about those patterns.
• The deductive approach involves beginning with a theory, developing hypotheses from that theory, and then collecting and analyzing data to test those hypotheses.
• Inductive and deductive approaches to research can be employed together for a more complete understanding of the topic that a researcher is studying.
• Though researchers don’t always set out to use both inductive and deductive strategies in their work, they sometimes find that new questions arise in the course of an investigation that can best be answered by employing both approaches.

Exercises

• Of the four paradigms described, which do you find most compelling? Why?
• Think about a topic that you’d like to study. From what analytical level do you think it makes sense to study your topic? Why?
• Find an example of published research that examines a single topic from each of the three analytical levels. Describe how the researcher employs each of the three levels in her or his analysis.
• For a hilarious example of logic gone awry, check out the following clip from Monty Python and Holy Grail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yp_l5ntikaU
• Do the townspeople take an inductive or deductive approach to determine whether the woman in question is a witch? What are some of the different sources of knowledge (recall Chapter 1 “Introduction”) they rely on?
• Think about how you could approach a study of the relationship between gender and driving over the speed limit. How could you learn about this relationship using an inductive approach? What would a study of the same relationship look like if examined using a deductive approach? Try the same thing with any topic of your choice. How might you study the topic inductively? Deductively?

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