FRHD 3070 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Social Impact Assessment, Content Analysis

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Family Relations and Human Development
• Course: FRHD 3070
• Professor: Carol Anne Hendry

Document Summary

Social research: a process in which a researcher combines a set of principles, outlooks, and ideas with a collection of specific practices, technques and strategies to produce knowledge. Science: social institution: data: empirical data (qualitative or quantitative, empirical evidence: observations through senses. Steps in research process: topic focus question design study collect data analyze interpret inform. Cross sectional research: usually simplest and least costly, cannot capture social processes or change, can be exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory but most consistent with descriptive approach. Longitudinal: examines features of people and other units at more than one time, more complex and costly than cross sectional. Time series: gathers the same type of information across two or more periods, researchers can observe stability or change in features of units or can track conditions over time. Panel: powerful type of longitudinal: researcher observes some people, group, or organization across multiple time points, difficult and costly, but very valuable.