Alan Brryman Social Research Chapter 2

632 Words3 Pages

Martyna Bies
RE 8

Chapter 2 by Alan Bryman titled Social Research Strategies goes into great detail about the variety of considerations that fall into conducting social research. Bryman emphasizes the importance of understanding types of theories and research, as well as epistemological and ontological issues in the field.
The relationship between theory and research are critical to understand because when conducting social research there are a two particular questions the researcher must answer for effective research. The first question a researcher must answer is what theory is being talked about? One type of theory is grand theory; here the researcher has little guidance or influence toward collection of empirical evidence (21). There are also middle-range theories; these theories are more likely to be focused on empirical analysis (21). When researchers cannot find a connection to either grand or middle-range theories often the research is regarded as naïve empiricism; this happens when the theory must be tested through experience, it is accumulation of facts that is the end goal of the research (23).
Next the researcher must …show more content…

Positivism, as mentioned by Bryman is extremely difficult to pin down because it is used in a number of ways by authors. One way it is used is through a descriptive category where a philosophical stance can be made note of in research. The second way is through realism, realism is another philosophical position that aims to minister the realm of nature in scientific practice (28). Next key issue is the matter of interpretivism, interpretivism is the viewpoint that the social sciences require a fundamentally different approach from that of natural sciences. The social sciences require a different logic in research because humans work in ways that contrast natural order

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