Page 60 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Unit 8: Types of Social Science Research

unfamiliar malady for getting some clues for identifying it. “It is ill-structured and much less focused Notes
on pre-determined objectives”. It usually takes the form of a pilot study.
Though it is a separate type of research, it is appropriate to consider it as the first stage of a three-stage
process of exploration, description and experimentation.

Objectives

The purpose of an exploratory study may be:
y to generate new ideas or
y to increase the researcher’s familiarity with the problem or
y to make a precise formulation of the problem or
y to gather information for clarifying concepts or
y to determine whether it is feasible to attempt the study
Sometimes, a scientist may find, after spending a tremendous amount of energy and time on a
research project, that it is not possible to secure the required data. A preliminary exploration could
help avoiding such dismay.

The Need for Exploratory Studies

Social sciences are relatively young. Researches in them are scarce. Many of them inevitably have to
be exploratory ones. Few well-trodden paths exist to follow for the investigators of social life. Most
existing theories in social sciences are either too general or too specific to provide clear guidance for
empirical research. Hence exploratory research is necessary to get initial insight into the problems for
the purpose of formulating them for more precise investigation. Hence it is also known as formulative
research.

Task Discuss the suitability of pure research and exploratory research.

8.4 Diagnostic Study
This is similar to descriptive study but with a different focus. It is directed towards discovering what
is happening, why is it happening/ and what can be done about. It aims at identifying the causes of
a problem and the possible solutions for it.

Purpose

A diagnostic study may also be concerned with discovering and testing whether certain variables are
associated, e.g., are persons hailing from rural areas more suitable for manning the rural branches of
banks? Do more villagers than city-voters vote for a particular party?

Requirements

Both descriptive and diagnostic studies share common requirements, viz., prior knowledge of the
problem, its thorough formulation, clear-cut definition of the given population, adequate methods

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