Understanding Society: The Role and Significance of Research Methods

This essay delves into the pivotal role of research in comprehending human society. It begins by defining research and highlighting its importance in advancing knowledge, practice, and policy. The essay then explores various research methods, emphasizing the use of qualitative approaches in social sciences, including quantitative and mixed-method approaches. It discusses research philosophies like positivism and constructivism, along with specific data collection and analysis techniques such as grounded theory and content analysis. Ethical considerations, including beneficence, integrity, and respect for participants, are underscored as integral to social science research. The essay concludes by emphasizing how qualitative research, guided by inductive approaches, enables us to understand social interactions, customs, and predict societal trends.

Running head: ROLE OF RESEARCH IN UNDERSTANDING SOCIETY
Role of Research in Understanding Society
Student’s name
University
Author’s note

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The purpose of this essay is to identify the role and importance of research in
understanding the human society. Research satisfies human curiosity. Since the dawn of human
civilization, curiosity has propelled human society forward. It is the wonder of the world and the
appetite for understanding the unknown that have always driven mankind to move forward and
achieve the flourish that we have attained till date. Without research, the progress of human
society would have been stopped short. And life would never be the same as we know it, and as
such, it encompasses every aspect of human life. To this end, the present essay will try to explore
the meaning of research, and how does it impact human understanding of the society and its
processes. In this regard, it is also essential to understand the processes and methods used in
research. Hence, after discussing about the meaning, nature and importance of research in
studying the nuances of the society in brief, the essay will further proceed to explore the various
research methods and techniques, and review the particular research methods that are used in the
study of human society. Also, it will try to estimate the ethical considerations and their
significance as embedded in research.
John W Creswell defines research as “a process of steps used to collect and analyze
information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue" (Creswell and Poth 2016). The
Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines research in an more elaborate manner, describing it
as "studious inquiry or examination; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new
facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws". From these definitions, it
is evident that research, in its widest sense, is a process of rational enquiry undertaken to increase
and refine the entire stock of human knowledge, including the natural processes, society and
culture, and thereafter developing novel techniques of application based on the newly acquired

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knowledge. At a fundamental level, research includes three basic steps, namely i) identification
of a problem, ii) collection of data to examine the research question and iii) arrival at a
conclusion that comprehensively answers thee research question. In the contemporary field of
academia, research is used to examine novel problems as well as to expand the knowledge of
past works conducted in a particular field. It has, therefore, both theoretical and pragmatic
values, which in entirety contributes to the satisfaction of rational inquiry (Rwegoshora 2016).
In the light of fulfilling the goals of rational enquiry, it can be stated that the importance
of academic research can be demonstrated in a threefold way. First, research enhances the stock
of human knowledge by adding new information and understandings. Second, research advances
practice by developing new strategies and techniques to implement theoretical knowledge into
pragmatic usage, and finally, research is also significant in policy debates, as it informs the
policy makers to identify the gaps and drawbacks of existing policies, as well as facilitates them
to examine the effectiveness of the proposed policies for their future implementations (Gorard
2017). Research is not only instrumental in the field of science and technology, but it has led
human beings to understand the society itself. It helps us understand the social and cultural
phenomena, and their role in human life. Research also enables us to explore new ideas
regarding the human society, which in turn facilitates the understanding of human experiences,
values, norms, customs and the functioning of human society (Rwegoshora 2016).
The particular procedures and techniques of research vary from discipline to discipline.
However, the major research methods, as used in academic research is threefold, namely
qualitative, quantitative and mixed method. Researchers choose the specific empirical design
according the nature and aim of their research. Quantitative research methods involve the
systematic empirical investigation of quantitative research phenomena and their relationships, by

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using numerical data and statistical analysis. The data collection methods rely largely on surveys
and close ended questionnaires distributed by random sampling and structured data collection.
Qualitative methods, on the other hand, focus on investigating causal relations and construction
of meanings, using non-numerical data. Mixed-method approach, on the other hand, combines
the methods of both quantitative and qualitative data (Kumar 2019).
The research aimed at understanding the systems and phenomena of society essentially
adopts qualitative research methods. The philosophical underpinning of such research is often
grounded in positivism. The philosophical notion of positivism holds that knowledge is
essentially based on natural phenomena as well as their relations and properties. Adhering to this
epistemological presumption, positivist research methodology maintains that factual knowledge,
which is obtained through empirical observation, can be regarded as valid and reliable
knowledge (Ryan 2018). As opposed to positivism, constructivism maintains that knowledge is
construed from human experience. Aligning with this ontological presumption, social
constructivism forms another significant research philosophy that interprets the categories of
social knowledge and reality as an outcome of human experience of social relations and
interactions (Tsang 2016).
Following either of these research philosophies, the research designs of the researches in
the field of social sciences adhere to a qualitative design. It accumulates data through multiple
modes, including case studies, interviews, personal experiences, introspections and interpretation
of texts. As opposed to hypothetico-deductive model of basic scientific researches, researches in
social sciences majorly rely on inductive approach, where they try to develop independent
theories rather than understanding the world with a hypothesis (Mohajan 2018). Researchers of
social science, upon collecting a large body of empirical data, organize them in either field notes

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or interview transcripts, based on their particular data collection method. Both these
accumulations yield an enormous volume of data, which is further categorized by identifying
themes and patterns. This minute analysis enables the researchers to identify the gaps and
inconsistencies present in the data, corroborating the data compilation with the established
coding of the particular research. The data, in this particular form of research, is analysed by
several techniques, such as grounded analysis, content analysis, discourse analysis, narrative
analysis, and even social network analysis. However, the analysis does not yield any meaningful
findings until it is linked with established theory. Thus, research in social sciences is an active
process of constructing meaning, which facilitates theorization and creates opportunities for
future research. However, it is not a linear process. Data collection, analysis, reanalysis and
theorization is an overlapping and reiterative process in the field of social science (Tracy 2019).
Ethical practices are a significant part of research, especially investigating the systems
and nuances of the society, as it is directly connected with human subjects. While conducting a
research on individuals, the respect for the participants’ autonomy, rights, dignity and anonymity
where required has to be maintained. Beneficence, integrity and justice, regarded as the
cornerstones of ethical considerations of research, stipulate that the process by no means yield
any maleficence in the part of the participants. These guidelines also require the researchers to
treat the participants with respect and the data to be preserved with utmost security. Also, the
researchers have to clarify the source of funding for the research, to make sure there is no vested
interest or ill-intentions fuelling the research (Iphofen 2017).
Therefore, it can be concluded that the investigation of social processes and features of
the society is primarily conducted by qualitative research, which is usually grounded in positivist
or social constructivist epistemological perspectives. Such researches necessarily rely on non-

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quantitative data and utilize an array of qualitative data analysis process. As opposed to scientific
research, social scientist often follow an inductive, meaning-making method, which enables them
to develop new theories and meanings. And such researches are important to understand the
society, as it enables us to comprehend the intricacies of social relations, interactions and
customs, and apply the findings in predicting the future of the human society.

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References
Creswell, J.W. and Poth, C.N., 2016. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches. Sage publications.
Gorard, S., 2017. An introduction to the importance of research design. SAGE.
Iphofen, R. ed., 2017. Finding common ground: Consensus in research ethics across the social
sciences. Emerald Group Publishing.
Kumar, R., 2019. Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage Publications
Limited.
Merriam Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus. 2016. Available at: www. merriam-webster. com/.
Accessed 4/4/2020
Mohajan, H.K., 2018. Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects.
Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), pp.23-48.
Rwegoshora, H.M., 2016. A guide to social science research. Mkuki na Nyota publishers.
Ryan, G., 2018. Introduction to positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Nurse researcher,
25(4), pp.41-49.
Tracy, S.J., 2019. Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis,
communicating impact. John Wiley & Sons.
Tsang, E.W., 2016. The philosophy of management research. Taylor & Francis.

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