What is the unit of analysis? The unit of analysis is the major entity that is being analyzed in the study.

It is the 'what' or 'whom' that is being studied. In social science research, any of the following could be a unit of analysis in a study. This unit can be divided into individuals (most common), groups, social organizations and social artifacts. One of the litelature in International Relations gives a good example of unit of analysis. In th"Man, State and War", Kenneth N. Waltz creates a tripartite analysis with three different units of analysis: the man (individual), the state (a group), and the international system (the system in which groups interact). Why we have to know about the unit of analysis? We have to understand about the unit of analysis because it is connected with the entity of our study. The social studies. If we did not know about the unit of analysis, we will never understand the concept and the things that were going to learn in the study of politics. How to understand the unit of analysis? First, we have to know and also understand the common units of analysis in social science research. Where can we find the unit of analysis? After knew and understood the point of the unit of analysis, we can classify it into several units that are commonly used in the world, that is including:

individuals groups neighborhood geographical units (town or cities) Regions / Sections / Districts

Sovereign States such as multi-state organizations and global

Individuals Individual human beings are perhaps the most commonly used units of analysis in social science research. Researchers tend to describe and explain social groups and behaviors by analyzing and aggregating the behaviors of individuals. They can analyze the characteristics of individuals (attitude, gender, religion, age etc.) and can then mix these descriptions to provide a composite picture of the group the individuals show. Any type of individual can be the unit of analysis in social science research. Some examples of classes of individuals that might be studied include: college students, single parents, Catholic churchgoers, factory workers, gang members, etc. As the units of analysis, individuals are commonly characterized by their participation in social groups. Researchers typically study the individuals and then aggregate these individuals to make generalizations about the population they belong to. Neighborhood Neighborhood is the place where individual interact with the other and creating an atmosphere that somehow effects to every people in the neighborhood. Theyre all connected because of their environment and phenomenon that happened in the neighborhood. Groups Another unit of analysis commonly studied in social science research is the social group. A researcher study in the characteristics that belong to one group, considered as a single entity. For a second, if a researcher is studying criminals by looking at the members of a muslim gang, the unit of analysis is the individual (the member). the unit of analysis is the social gang as a group because the researcher is interested in groups rather than their members.

Other examples of units of analysis at the group level include: married couples, friendship, fraternities, etc. As with individuals, each of these terms become a status of some population. Researchers typically describe a population by generalizing from their findings about individual groups that make up that population. Geographical Units Geographical unit is another unit of analysis that is used in the social science research in the form of group that connected because of their geograpic. Such us towns and cities. Consist of the goverment and all of people that living their life in that place. Regions, Sections and Districts is part of geographical unit that is more specific than cities and towns. The study is in a smaller area than town or city, but also consist of the region goverment and people who live there. Organizations Another unit of analysis that is used in social science research is the formal social organization. For example, if a researcher is studying corporations, the unit of analysis is the organization (corporation). The researcher might characterize the individual corporations in terms of the number of employees, net annual profits, gross assets, the percentage of employees who are racial/ethnic minorities, etc. From here the researcher could look at things such as whether large corporations hire a larger or smaller number of minority employees than small corporations. Other examples of units of analysis at the organization level include: church congregations, colleges, army divisions, academic departments, and supermarkets. Conclusion No matter what kind of unit of analysis is in a research project, the important thing is to be clear about what the unit of analysis is. People have to decide whether they are studying crimes or criminals, marriages or marriage partners, corporations or corporate executives, and so on. Otherwise, there will be the risk of drawing invalid conclusions

because your statements about one unit of analysis are actually based on the analysis of another unit of analysis.
References

Babbie, E. (2001). The Practice of Social Research: 9th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson.