THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

ST. AUGUSTINE

THE SIR ARTHUR LEWIS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC

STUDIES

M. Phil/Ph.D. Economic Development Policy

M. Phil/Ph.D. Public Policy/Governance
M. Phil/Ph.D. Social Policy

SALI7002/SALI8002: Research Design and Management

Semester I
Academic Year 2010/2011

Lecturer: Dr. Godfrey St. Bernard

Dr. Roy Mc Cree
Dr. Sandra Sookram

Day: TUESDAY 5.00pm – 8.00pm

Starting: September 7, 2010

Venue: SALISES Conference Room, SALISES, St. Augustine Campus

Course Description

The principal purpose of this course is to enhance students’ capacity

to undertake research assignments in academic and operational
contexts as well as critically evaluate research undertaken by other
entities. The course is designed to ensure that students have an
appreciation and understanding of the role of the philosophy of
science in the research process. It also provides a medium for
further discussion and development of issues akin to research design
and ethical issues in the conduct of research. Particular emphasis is
placed upon exposing students to quantitative and qualitative
methodologies associated with scholarly research processes. In both
contexts, where appropriate, topics for discussion will include
conceptualization and measurement, data collection, survey
sampling, experimentation, secondary data analysis, data
preparation and data analytical considerations. Students will be
exposed to research writing practices and the preparation of
research proposals.

Course Content

Dr. Sandra Sookram

MODULE 1: The Relevance of Research and the Philosophy of
Science
MODULE 2: The Nature and Scope of Research Design
MODULE 3: Research Ethics and its Relevance to Research
Design
Dr. Godfrey St.Bernard
MODULE 4: Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research Design
MODULE 5: Survey Research Design: Conceptualization and
Measurement, Instrumentation, and Data Collection
Challenges
MODULE 6: Survey Research Design: Sampling Methodology
MODULE 7: Experimentation: Logic, Validation Standards,
Design Options and Analytical Challenges
MODULE 8: Quantitative Research Methodologies: Data
Processing, Elementary Data Analysis and
Secondary Data Analysis

Dr. Roy Mc Cree

MODULE 9: Qualitative Traditions: Historical Background and
Emergence
MODULE 10: Issues of Data Preparation and Validation
MODULE 11: Access to and Retrieval of research Information
MODULE 12: Writing Up: Referencing Styles, Presentation,
Editing
MODULE 13: Student Supervisor Relationships, Professional
Conduct
Course Objectives and Competencies

1. To create appreciation of the importance of the philosophy of

science in the context of research designs.

2. To empower students in their quest to design research efforts

for academic and non-academic purposes

3. To ensure that students are capable of embracing technical

rigour not only in their efforts to design research efforts but
also in their desire to critically evaluate research designs
developed by other researchers.

4. To enhance students’ writing and presentation skills in relation

to different aspects of delivery pertaining to research
intentions and research output.

5. To provide students with insights that would assist them as

they strive to organize and manage social, operational and
technical aspects of research efforts in myriad settings
whether, academic, business, public sector, etc.

Format of Sessions

- Seminars

- Individual and Group Tasks

- Group Presentations

Evaluation

- Course Work: 100%

Course Work Evaluation

- Modules of Dr. Sookram/Dr. St. Bernard: 50%

o Main Paper:
 Critical Discussion of Research Design Issue: 40%
o In – Class Presentations:
 Sookram Sessions: 5%
 St. Bernard Sessions: 5% (Additional Readings will be given)

- Module of Dr. Mc Cree: 50%

Note that there is a penalty for late submission amounting to 1% of

total course mark for each day late up to the fifth day.
Assignments more than 5 days late will not be received unless
supported by medical certificate in the case of illness. Please
also submit a soft copy and a hard copy of every assignment.

Recommended Readings
Module 1:

Durkheim, Emile (1990) The Rules of Sociological Method, The Free

Press

Hughes, John (1990) The Philosophy of Social Research, Second

Edition, Longman

Kaplan, Abraham (1964) The Conduct of Inquiry, Chandler

Publishing Company: San Francisco

Kuhn, Thomas S (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,

Second Edition, Enlarged, The University of Chicago Press
Lambert, Karel and Gordon G. Brittan, Jr. (1987) An Introduction
to the Philosophy of Science, Third Edition, Ridgeview Publishing
Company

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapter 1)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 1)

Popper, Karl (1959) The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Routledge

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
UniversityPress (Pp 3-63)

Thomson, Anne (1996) Critical Reasoning – A Practical

Introduction, Routledge

Weber, Max (1949) The Methodology of the Social Sciences, The

Free Press

Module 2:

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 4 – Research
Design)

Babbie, Earl (1986) Observing Ourselves – Essays in Social

Research, Wadsworth Publishing Company

Berg, Bruce L. (1998) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social

Sciences, Allyn and Bacon (Chapters 1 and 2)
Black, Thomas R. (1999) Doing Quantitative Research in the Social
Sciences, Sage Publications (Chapters 1 and 2)

Bryman, Alan (1988) Quantity and Quality in Social Research,

Routledge (Chapters 1, 2 and 3)

Creswell, John W. (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design,

Sage Publications (Chapters 2 and 3)

Marshall, Catherine and Gretchen B. Rossman (1995) Designing

Qualitative Research, Second Edition, Sage Publications (Chapters
1, 2 and 3)

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapters 2 and 3)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapters 3 and 6)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 4)

Module 3:

Abelson, Raziel and Marie Louise Friquegnon (1987) Ethics for

Modern Life, Third Edition, St. Martin’s Press: New York (Pp 1-5)

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 19 – The Ethics
and Politics of Social Research)

Berg, Bruce L. (1998) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social

Sciences, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 3)
Homan, Roger (1991) The Ethics of Social Research, Longman

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 17)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
UniversityPress (Chapter 16)

Module 4:

Bryman, Alan (1995) Quantity and Quality in Social Research,

Routledge (All Chapters)

Creswell, John, W. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative,

Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches, Second Edition, Sage
Publications (Chapter 9, Chapter 10 and Chapter 11)

Gray. David, E. (2009) Doing Research in the Real World, Second

Edition, Sage (Chapter 6, Chapter 7 and Chapter 8)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 6)

Module 5:

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 5, Chapter 6
and Chapter 10)

Black, Thomas R. (1999) Doing Quantitative Research in the Social

Sciences, Sage Publications (Part TWO)
Carmines, Edward G. and Richard A. Zeller (1979) Reliability and
Validity Assessment, Sage Publications

Gray. David, E. (2009) Doing Research in the Real World, Second

Edition, Sage (Chapter 9, Chapters 13-15)

Groves, Robert, M; Floyd J. Fowler Jr; Mick P. Cowper; James M.

Lepkowski; Eleanor Singer and Roger Tourangeau (2004) Survey
Methodology, Wiley (Chapter 5 , Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
and Chapter 9)

Henerson, Marlene E., Lynn Lyons Morris and Carol Taylor Fitz-
Gibson (1987) How to Measue Attitudes, Sage Publications

Kerlinger, Fred N. (1986) Foundations of Behavioural Research,

Third Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers (Part
EIGHT)

Litwin, Mark S. (1995) How to Measure Survey Reliability and

Validity, Sage Publications

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapter 9)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 7)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 5, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10)
Module 6:

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 7 – The Logic of
Sampling)

Groves, Robert, M; Floyd J. Fowler Jr; Mick P. Cowper; James M.

Lepkowski; Eleanor Singer and Roger Tourangeau (2004) Survey
Methodology, Wiley (Chapter 2, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4)

Kalton, Graham (1983) Introduction to Survey Sampling, Sage

Publication

Kerlinger, Fred N. (1986) Foundations of Behavioural Research,

Third Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers
(Chapter 8)

Kish, Leslie (1965) Survey Sampling, John Wiley and Sons

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapters 5-7)

Moser C. A. (1971) Survey Methods in Social Investigation, Second

Edition, Heinmann Educational Books (Chapters 4-8)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 9)

Rossi, Peter, James D. Wright and Andy B. Anderson (1983)

Handbook of Survey Research, Academic Press (Chapters 2 and 5)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 6)
Stuart, Alan (1984) The Ideas of Sampling, Charles Griffin and
Company Ltd.

Module 7:

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 8 –
Experiments)

Kerlinger, Fred N. (1986) Foundations of Behavioural Research,

Third Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers
(Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19 and Chapter 22)

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapter 8)

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 8 – Experimental Research)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 7 and Chapter 8)

Spector, Paul E. (1981) Research Designs, Sage Publications

Module 8:

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapters – Quantifying
Data and Elementary Analyses)
Bohrnstedt, George, W and David Knoke (1994) Statistics and
Social Data Analysis, Third Edition, Itasca, Illinois, F. E. Peacock
Publishers, Inc. (Chapter 5)

Bryman, Alan and Duncan Cramer (2000) Quantitative Data

Analysis witrh SPSS Release 8 for Windows – A Guide for Social
Scientists, Routledge. (General Reading)

Couper Mick (2000) “Web Surveys – A Review of Issues and

Approaches” Public Opinion Quarterly Volume 64 Number 4, Pp
464-494

Frankfort-Nachmias, Chava and Anna Leon-Guerrero (2000) Social

Statistics For A Diverse Society, SecondEdition, Pine Forge Press
(Chapter 6 and Chapter 7)

Gray. David, E. (2009) Doing Research in the Real World, Second

Edition, Sage (Chapter 17)

Groves, Robert, M; Floyd J. Fowler Jr; Mick P. Cowper; James M.

Lepkowski; Eleanor Singer and Roger Tourangeau (2004) Survey
Methodology, Wiley (Chapter 10)

Maxim, Paul S. (1999) Quantitative Research Methods in the Social

Sciences, Oxford University Press (Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and
Chapter 13)

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 14 and Chapter 15)
Module 9 – Module 11

Babbie, Earl (2001) The Practice of Social Research, Eleventh

Edition, Wadsworth Publishing Company (Chapter 11 –
Unobtrusive Research)

Berg, Bruce L. (1998) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social

Sciences, Allyn and Bacon

Creswell, John W. (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design,

Sage Publications

Denzin, Norman and Y. S. Lincoln, eds. (1994) Handbook of

Qualitative Research, London: Sage

Hammersley, M. (1989) The Dilemma of Qualitative Method:

Herbert Blumer and the Chicago Tradition, London: Routledge

Hammersley, M. (1992a) What’s Wrong with Ethnography:

Methodological Explorations, London: Routledge

Lee, Raymond M (1993) Doing Research on Sensitive Topics, Sage

Publications

Lee, Raymond M (1995) Dangerous Fieldwork, Sage Publications

Lee, Raymond M (2000) Unobtrusive Methods in Social Research,

Open University Press

Kirk, Jerome and Marc L. Miller (1986) Reliability and Validity in

Qualitative Research, Sage Publications

Marshall, Catherine and Gretchen B. Rossman (1995) Designing

Qualitative Research, Second Edition, Sage Publications
Mitchell, Richard G (1993) Secrecy and Fieldwork, Sage
Publications

Neuman, W. Lawrence (1997) Social Research Methods, Third

Edition, Allyn and Bacon (Chapter 11)

Patton, Michael Quinn (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research

Methods, Second Edition, Sage Publications (Parts TWO and
THREE)

Pryce, Ken (1979) Endless Pressure: A Study of West Indian Life-

styles in Bristol. New York: Penguin.

Seale, Clive (1999) The Quality of Qualitative Research, Sage

Publications

Silverman, David (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data: Methods for

analysing Talk, Text and Interaction, London: Sage

Silverman, David (2010) Doing Qualitative Research, Third Edition,

London: Sage

Singleton, Royce A., Bruce C. Straits and Margaret Miller Straits

(1993) Approaches to Social Research, Second Edition, Oxford
University Press (Chapter 12)

Journals: Qualitative Inquiry

Qualitative Sociology
Qualitative Research
Module 12 – Module 13

Chicago Manual of Style

Gibaldi, Joseph (1995) MLA Handbook for Writers of Research

Papers- Fourth Edition, New York: Modern Language Association
of America

Hart, Chris (2001) Doing a Literature Search – A Comprehensive

Guide to the Social Sciences, Sage Publications

Northey, Margot and Lorne Tepperman (1986) Making Sense in the

Social Sciences, Oxford University Press (Pp 90-196)

Phillips, Estelle, M (2000) How to Get a Ph. D – A Handbook for

Students and their Supervisors – Third Edition

Potter, Stephen (2001) Doing a Post-Graduate Research, Sage

Publications

Rudestam, Kjell Erik (2000) Surviving Your Dissertation – A

Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process, Sage Publications