Research Methodologies

Research Methodologies equip public administrators with the tools to systematically investigate and analyze data, fostering evidence-based decision-making. Mastery of these methods enhances the ability to address complex policy issues, ensuring effective and efficient governance.

Research Methodologies

1 Logic of Inquiry in Social Research

  1. A Science of Society
  2. Comte’s Ideas on the Nature of Sociology
  3. Observation in Social Sciences
  4. Logical Understanding of Social Reality

2 Empirical Approach

  1. Empirical Approach
  2. Rules of Data Collection
  3. Cultural Relativism
  4. Problems Encountered in Data Collection
  5. Difference between Common Sense and Science
  6. What is Ethical?
  7. What is Normal?
  8. Understanding the Data Collected
  9. Managing Diversities in Social Research
  10. Problematising the Object of Study

3 Diverse Logic of Theory Building

  1. Concern with Theory in Sociology
  2. Concepts: Basic Elements of Theories
  3. Why Do We Need Theory?
  4. Hypothesis, Description and Experimentation
  5. Controlled Experiment
  6. Designing an Experiment
  7. How to Test a Hypothesis
  8. Common Methods of Testing a Hypothesis
  9. Sensitivity to Alternative Explanations
  10. Rival Hypothesis Construction

4 Theoretical Analysis

  1. Premises of Evolutionary and Functional Theories
  2. Critique of Evolutionary and Functional Theories
  3. Turning away from Functionalism
  4. What after Functionalism
  5. Post-modernism
  6. Trends other than Post-modernism

5 Issues of Epistemology

  1. Some Major Concerns of Epistemology
  2. Rationalism
  3. Empiricism
  4. Idealism
  5. Phenomenology: Bracketing Experience

6 Philosophy of Social Science

  1. Foundations of Science
  2. Science, Modernity and Sociology
  3. Rethinking Science
  4. Crisis in Foundation

7 Positivism and its Critique

  1. Heroic Science and Origin of Positivism
  2. Early Positivism
  3. Consolidation of Positivism
  4. Critiques of Positivism

8 Hermeneutics

  1. Methodological Disputes in the Social Sciences
  2. Tracing the History of Hermeneutics
  3. Hermeneutics and Sociology
  4. Philosophical Hermeneutics
  5. The Hermeneutics of Suspicion
  6. Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

9 Comparative Method

  1. Relationship with Common Sense; Interrogating Ideological Location
  2. The Historical Context
  3. Elements of the Comparative Approach

10 Feminist Approach

  1. Relationship with Common Sense; Interrogating Ideological Location
  2. The Historical Context
  3. Features of the Feminist Method
  4. Feminist Methods adopt the Reflexive Stance
  5. Feminist Discourse in India

11 Participatory Method

  1. Relationship with Common Sense; Interrogating Ideological Location
  2. The Historical Context
  3. Delineation of Key Features

12 Types of Research

  1. What is Research?
  2. Types of Research

13 Methods of Research

  1. Centrality of Research Methods in Social Sciences
  2. Interface between Methodology and Methods
  3. Elements of Research Methodology
  4. Types of Data Used in Social Research
  5. Research Methods

14 Elements of Research Design

  1. Structuring the Research Process
  2. Defining Your Research Problem
  3. Choice of Field Site(s)
  4. Consideration of Time and Resources
  5. Reviewing Secondary Material
  6. Hypothesis
  7. Theoretical Orientation
  8. Universe and Unit of Study
  9. Pilot Study
  10. Sampling
  11. Data Collection
  12. Analysis and Report Writing

15 Sampling Methods and Estimation of Sample Size

  1. Sampling
  2. Classification of Sampling Methods
  3. Sample Size
  4. Probability Sampling
  5. Non-Probability Sampling

16 Measures of Central Tendency

  1. Mean
  2. Median
  3. Mode
  4. Relationship between Mean, Mode and Median
  5. Choosing a Measure of Central Tendency

17 Measures of Dispersion and Variability

  1. The Range
  2. The Variance
  3. The Standard Deviation
  4. Coefficient of Variation
  5. Measures of Dispersion and Variability

18 Statistical Inference- Tests of Hypothesis

  1. Statistical Inference
  2. Steps in Hypothesis Testing
  3. Types of Errors in Hypothesis Testing
  4. Tests of Significance: Chi-Square Test
  5. Tests of Significance: Student’s t Test

19 Correlation and Regression

  1. Correlation
  2. Method of Calculating Correlation of Ungrouped Data
  3. Method of Calculating Correlation of Grouped Data
  4. Regression

20 Survey Method

  1. Rationale of Survey Research Method
  2. History of Survey Research
  3. Defining Survey Research
  4. Sampling and Survey Techniques
  5. Operationalising Survey Research Tools
  6. Advantages and Weaknesses of Survey Methods

21 Survey Design

  1. Preliminary Considerations
  2. Stages / Phases in Survey Research
  3. Formulation of Research Question
  4. Survey Research Designs
  5. Sampling Design

22 Survey Instrumentation

  1. Techniques/Instruments for Data Collection
  2. Questionnaire Construction
  3. Issues in Designing a Survey Instrument

23 Survey Execution and Data Analysis

  1. Problems and Issues in Executing Survey Research
  2. Data Analysis
  3. Ethical Issues in Survey Research

24 Field Research – I

  1. History of Field Research
  2. Ethnography
  3. Theme Selection
  4. Designing Research
  5. Gaining Entry in the Field
  6. Key Informants
  7. Participant Observation

25 Field Research – II

  1. Genealogy
  2. Interview, its Types and Process
  3. Feminist and Postmodernist Perspectives on Interviewing
  4. Narrative Analysis
  5. Interpretation

26 Reliability, Validity and Triangulation

  1. Concepts of Reliability and Validity
  2. Three types of “Reliability”
  3. Working towards Reliability
  4. Procedural Validity
  5. Field Research as a Validity Check

27 Qualitative Data Formatting and Processing

  1. Qualitative Data Processing and Analysis
  2. Description
  3. Classification
  4. Making Connections
  5. Theoretical Coding

28 Writing up Qualitative Data

  1. Problems of Writing Up
  2. Grasp and Then Render
  3. Writing Down and “Writing Up”
  4. Write Early
  5. Writing Styles

29 Using Internet and Word Processor

  1. What is Internet and How Does it Work?
  2. Internet Services
  3. Searching on the Web: Search Engines
  4. Accessing and Using Online Information
  5. Uses of E-mail Services in Research

30 Using SPSS for Data Analysis Contents

  1. Starting and exiting SPSS
  2. Creating a data file
  3. Univariate analysis
  4. Bivariate analysis
  5. Multivariate analysis

31 Using SPSS in Report Writing

  1. Why to Use SPSS
  2. Charts
  3. Working with SPSS Output
  4. Copying SPSS output to MS Word Document
  5. Conclusion

32 Tabulation and Graphic Presentation- Case Studies

  1. Structure for Presentation of Research Findings
  2. Data Presentation: Editing, Coding and Transcribing
  3. Case Studies
  4. Qualitative Data Analysis and Presentation through Computer Software
  5. Types of ICT used for Research

33 Guidelines to Research Project Assignment

  1. Overview of Research Methodologies and Methods (MSO 002)
  2. Research Project Objectives
  3. Preparation for Research Project
  4. Stages of the Research Project
  5. Supervision During the Research Project