6.3 Inductive and deductive reasoning

Deductive research approach is most associated with scientific investigation. The researcher studies what others have done, reads existing theories of whatever ... Skiptocontent LearningObjectives Describetheinductiveapproachtoresearch,andprovideexamplesofinductiveresearch Describethedeductiveapproachtoresearch,andprovideexamplesofdeductiveresearch Describethewaysthatinductiveanddeductiveapproachesmaybecomplementary   Theorystructuresandinformssocialworkresearch.Conversely,socialworkresearchstructuresandinformstheory.Studentsbecomeawareofthereciprocalrelationshipbetweentheoryandresearchwhentheyconsidertherelationshipsbetweenthetwoininductiveanddeductiveapproaches.Inbothcases,theoryiscrucialbuttherelationshipbetweentheoryandresearchdiffersforeachapproach. Inductiveanddeductiveapproachestoresearcharequitedifferent,buttheycanalsobecomplementary.Let’sstartbylookingateachoneandhowtheydifferfromoneanother.Thenwe’llmoveontothinkingabouthowtheycomplementoneanother. Inductiveapproachesandsomeexamples Whenaresearcherutilizesaninductiveapproach,theybeginbycollectingdatathatisrelevanttotheirtopicofinterest.Onceasubstantialamountofdatahavebeencollected,theresearcherwilltakeabreakfromdatacollectiontostepbackandgetabird’seyeviewoftheirdata.Atthisstage,theresearcherlooksforpatternsinthedata,workingtodevelopatheorythatcouldexplainthosepatterns.Thus,whenresearcherstakeaninductiveapproach,theystartwithasetofobservationsandthentheymovefromthoseparticularexperiencestoamoregeneralsetofpropositionsaboutthoseexperiences.Inotherwords,theymovefromdatatotheory,orfromthespecifictothegeneral.Figure6.1outlinesthestepsinvolvedwithaninductiveapproachtoresearch.   Figure6.1Inductiveresearch Therearemanygoodexamplesofinductiveresearch,butwe’lllookatjustafewhere.OnefascinatingstudyinwhichtheresearcherstookaninductiveapproachisKatherineAllen,ChristineKaestle,andAbbieGoldberg’s(2011)study [1]ofhowboysandyoungmenlearnaboutmenstruation.Tounderstandthisprocess,Allenandhercolleaguesanalyzedthewrittennarrativesof23youngmeninwhichthemendescribedhowtheylearnedaboutmenstruation,whattheythoughtofitwhentheyfirstlearnedaboutit,andwhattheythinkofitnow.Bylookingforpatternsacrossall23men’snarratives,theresearcherswereabletodevelopageneraltheoryofhowboysandyoungmenlearnaboutthisaspectofgirls’andwomen’sbiology.Theyconcludethatsistersplayanimportantroleinboys’earlyunderstandingofmenstruation,thatmenstruationmakesboysfeelsomewhatseparatedfromgirls,andthatastheyenteryoungadulthoodandformromanticrelationships,youngmendevelopmorematureattitudesaboutmenstruation.Notehowthisstudybeganwiththedata—men’snarrativesoflearningaboutmenstruation—andtriedtodevelopatheory. Inanotherinductivestudy,KristinFergusonandcolleagues(Ferguson,Kim,&McCoy,2011) [2]analyzedempiricaldatatobetterunderstandhowbesttomeettheneedsofyoungpeoplewhoareexperiencinghomelessness.Theauthorsanalyzeddatafromfocusgroupswith20youngpeopleatahomelessshelter.Fromthesedatatheydevelopedasetofrecommendationsforthoseinterestedinappliedinterventionsthatserveyouththatareexperiencinghomelessness.Theresearchersalsodevelopedhypothesesforpeoplewhomightwishtoconductfurtherinvestigationofthetopic.ThoughFergusonandhercolleaguesdidnottestthehypothesesthattheydevelopedfromtheiranalysis,theirstudyendswheremostdeductiveinvestigationsbegin:withatheoryandahypothesisderivedfromthattheory. Deductiveapproachesandsomeexamples Researcherstakingadeductiveapproachwillstartwithacompellingsocialtheoryandthentestitsimplicationswithdata.Inotherwords,theyutilizethesamestepsasinductiveresearch,buttheywillreversetheorder,movingfromgeneraltomorespecificlevels.Deductiveresearchapproachismostassociatedwithscientificinvestigation.Theresearcherstudieswhatothershavedone,readsexistingtheoriesofwhateverphenomenontheyarestudying,andthentestshypothesesthatemergefromthosetheories.Figure6.2outlinesthestepsinvolvedwithadeductiveapproachtoresearch.   Figure6.2Deductiveresearch Althoughnotallsocialscienceresearchersutilizeadeductiveapproach,therearesomeexcellent,recentexamplesofdeductiveresearch.We’lltakealookatacoupleofthosenext. InastudyofUSlawenforcementresponsestohatecrimes,RyanKingandcolleagues(King,Messner,&Baller,2009) [3]hypothesizedthatlawenforcement’sresponsewouldbelessvigorousinareasofthecountrythathadastrongerhistoryofracialviolence.Theauthorsdevelopedtheirhypothesisfromtheirreadingofpriorresearchandtheoriesonthetopic.Theytestedthehypothesisbyanalyzingdataonstates’lynchinghistoriesandhatecrimeresponses.Overall,theauthorsfoundsupportfortheirhypothesis.Onemightassociatethisresearchwithcriticaltheory. Inanotherrecentdeductivestudy,MelissaMilkieandCatharineWarner(2011) [4]studiedtheeffectsofdifferentclassroomenvironmentsonfirstgraders’mentalhealth.Basedonpriorresearchandtheory,MilkieandWarnerhypothesizedthatnegativeclassroomfeatures,suchasalackofbasicsuppliesandevenheat,wouldbeassociatedwithemotionalandbehavioralproblemsinchildren.Onemightassociatethisresearchwithsystemstheory.Theresearchersfoundsupportfortheirhypothesis,demonstratingthatpolicymakersshouldbemoreattentivetothementalhealthoutcomesofchildren’sschoolexperiences,justastheytrackacademicoutcomes(AmericanSociologicalAssociation,2011).[5] Complementaryapproaches Whileinductiveanddeductiveapproachestoresearchseemquitedifferent,theycanberathercomplementary.Insomecases,researcherswillplanfortheirstudytoincludemultiplecomponents,oneinductiveandtheotherdeductive.Inothercases,aresearchermightbegintheirstudyplanningtoutilizeonlyoneapproachbutthendiscoveralongthewaythattheotherapproachisneededtohelpilluminatefindings.Hereisanexampleofeachsuchcase. Theoriginalauthorofthetextbookfromwhichthistextbookisadapted,Dr.AmyBlackstone,relatesastoryabouthercollaborativeresearchonsexualharassment. Webeganthestudyknowingthatwewouldliketotakebothadeductiveandaninductiveapproachinourwork.Wethereforeadministeredaquantitativesurvey,theresponsestowhichwecouldanalyzeinordertotesthypotheses,andalsoconductedqualitativeinterviewswithanumberofthesurveyparticipants.Thesurveydatawerewellsuitedtoadeductiveapproach;wecouldanalyzethosedatatotesthypothesesthatweregeneratedbasedontheoriesofharassment.Theinterviewdatawerewellsuitedtoaninductiveapproach;welookedforpatternsacrosstheinterviewsandthentriedtomakesenseofthosepatternsbytheorizingaboutthem. Foronepaper(Uggen&Blackstone,2004), [6]webeganwithaprominentfeministtheoryofthesexualharassmentofadultwomenanddevelopedasetofhypothesesoutlininghowweexpectedthetheorytoapplyinthecaseofyoungerwomen’sandmen’sharassmentexperiences.Wethentestedourhypothesesbyanalyzingthesurveydata.Ingeneral,wefoundsupportforthetheorythatpositedthatthecurrentgendersystem,inwhichheteronormativemenwieldthemostpowerintheworkplace,explainedworkplacesexualharassment—notjustofadultwomenbutofyoungerwomenandmenaswell.Inamorerecentpaper(Blackstone,Houle,&Uggen,2006),[7]wedidnothypothesizeaboutwhatwemightfindbutinsteadinductivelyanalyzedinterviewdata,lookingforpatternsthatmighttellussomethingabouthoworwhetherworkers’perceptionsofharassmentchangeastheyageandgainworkplaceexperience.Fromthisanalysis,wedeterminedthatworkers’perceptionsofharassmentdidindeedshiftastheygainedexperienceandthattheirlaterdefinitionsofharassmentweremorestringentthanthosetheyheldduringadolescence.Overall,ourdesiretounderstandyoungworkers’harassmentexperiencesfully—intermsoftheirobjectiveworkplaceexperiences,theirperceptionsofthoseexperiences,andtheirstoriesoftheirexperiences—ledustoadoptbothdeductiveandinductiveapproachesinthework.(Blackstone,n.d.,p.21) Researchersmaynotsetouttoemploybothapproachesintheirwork,butsometimestheiruseofoneapproachleadsthemtotheother.OnesuchexampleisdescribedeloquentlyinRussellSchutt’sInvestigatingtheSocialWorld(2006). [8]AsSchuttdescribes,researchersLawrenceShermanandRichardBerk(1984) [9]conductedanexperimenttotesttwocompetingtheoriesoftheeffectsofpunishmentondeterringdeviance(inthiscase,domesticviolence).Specifically,ShermanandBerkhypothesizedthatdeterrencetheorywouldprovideabetterexplanationoftheeffectsofarrestingaccusedbatterersthanlabelingtheory.Deterrencetheorypredictsthatarrestinganaccusedspousebattererwillreducefutureincidentsofviolence.Conversely,labelingtheorypredictsthatarrestingaccusedspousebattererswillincreasefutureincidents.Figure6.3summarizesthetwocompetingtheoriesandthepredictionsthatShermanandBerksetouttotest.   Figure6.3Predictingtheeffectsofarrestonfuturespousebattery Afterconductinganexperimentwiththehelpoflocalpolice,ShermanandBerkfound,thatarrestdiddeterfutureincidentsofviolence,thussupportingtheirhypothesisthatdeterrencetheorywouldbetterpredicttheeffectofarrest.Afterconductingthisresearch,theyandotherresearcherswentontoconductsimilarexperiments[10]insixadditionalcities(Berk,Campbell,Klap,&Western,1992;Pate&Hamilton,1992;Sherman&Smith,1992).[11]Thefollow-upstudiesyieldedmixedresults.Insomecases,arrestdeterredfutureincidentsofviolencewhileinothercases,arrestdidnot.Theseresultslefttheresearcherswithnewdatathattheyneededtoexplain,sotheyutilizedaninductiveapproachtomakesenseoftheirlatestempiricalobservations.Thenewstudiesrevealedthatarresthasadeterrenteffectonindividualsthataremarriedandemployed,whilearrestmayencouragefuturebatteringoffensesinindividualsthatareunmarriedandunemployed.Researchersthusturnedtocontroltheorytoexplaintheirobservations,asitpredictsthatstakesinconformityaredevelopedthroughsocialtieslikemarriageandemployment.   Figure6.4Predictingtheeffectsofarrestonfuturespousebattery:Anewtheory [12] ShermanandBerk’sresearchandtheassociatedfollow-upstudiesdemonstratethatresearcherscanstartwithadeductiveapproachandmovetoinductiveapproachwhenconfrontedwithnewdatathatmustbeexplained.   KeyTakeaways Theinductiveapproachbeginswithasetofempiricalobservations,seekingpatternsinthoseobservations,andthentheorizingaboutthosepatterns. Thedeductiveapproachbeginswithatheory,developinghypothesesfromthattheory,andthencollectingandanalyzingdatatotestthosehypotheses. Inductiveanddeductiveapproachestoresearchcanbeemployedtogetherforamorecompleteunderstandingofthetopicthataresearcherisstudying. Thoughresearchersdon’talwayssetouttousebothinductiveanddeductivestrategiesintheirwork,theysometimesfindthatnewquestionsariseinthecourseofaninvestigationthatcanbestbeansweredbyemployingbothapproaches.   Glossary Deductiveapproach–whenaresearcherstudieswhatothershavedone,readsexistingtheoriesofwhateverphenomenontheyarestudying,andthentestshypothesesthatemergefromthosetheories Inductiveapproach–whenaresearcherstartswithasetofobservationsandthenmovesfromparticularexperiencestoamoregeneralsetofpropositionsaboutthoseexperiences   Allen,K.R.,Kaestle,C.E.,&Goldberg,A.E.(2011).Morethanjustapunctuationmark:Howboysandyoungmenlearnaboutmenstruation.JournalofFamilyIssues,32,129–156.↵Ferguson,K.M.,Kim,M.A.,&McCoy,S.(2011).Enhancingempowermentandleadershipamonghomelessyouthinagencyandcommunitysettings:Agroundedtheoryapproach.ChildandAdolescentSocialWorkJournal,28,1–22.↵King,R.D.,Messner,S.F.,&Baller,R.D.(2009).Contemporaryhatecrimes,lawenforcement,andthelegacyofracialviolence.AmericanSociologicalReview,74,291–315.↵Milkie,M.A.,&Warner,C.H.(2011).Classroomlearningenvironmentsandthementalhealthoffirstgradechildren.JournalofHealthandSocialBehavior,52,4–22.↵TheAmericanSociologicalAssociationwroteapressreleaseonMilkieandWarner’sfindings:AmericanSociologicalAssociation.(2011).Study:Negativeclassroomenvironmentadverselyaffectschildren’smentalhealth.Retrievedfrom:https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110309073717.htm↵Uggen,C.,&Blackstone,A.(2004).Sexualharassmentasagenderedexpressionofpower.AmericanSociologicalReview,69,64–92.↵Blackstone,A.,Houle,J.,&Uggen,C.“AtthetimeIthoughtitwasgreat”:Age,experience,andworkers’perceptionsofsexualharassment.Presentedatthe2006meetingsoftheAmericanSociologicalAssociation.↵Schutt,R.K.(2006).Investigatingthesocialworld:Theprocessandpracticeofresearch.ThousandOaks,CA:PineForgePress.↵Sherman,L.W.,&Berk,R.A.(1984).Thespecificdeterrenteffectsofarrestfordomesticassault.AmericanSociologicalReview,49,261–272.↵Theresearchersdidwhat’scalledreplication.↵Berk,R.,Campbell,A.,Klap,R.,&Western,B.(1992).Thedeterrenteffectofarrestinincidentsofdomesticviolence:ABayesiananalysisoffourfieldexperiments.AmericanSociologicalReview,57,698–708;Pate,A.,&Hamilton,E.(1992).Formalandinformaldeterrentstodomesticviolence:TheDadecountyspouseassaultexperiment.AmericanSociologicalReview,57,691–697;Sherman,L.,&Smith,D.(1992).Crime,punishment,andstakeinconformity:Legalandinformalcontrolofdomesticviolence.AmericanSociologicalReview,57,680–690.↵AllfiguresinthissectionarecopiedfromBlackstone,A.(2012)Principlesofsociologicalinquiry:Qualitativeandquantitativemethods.SaylorFoundation.Retrievedfrom:https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_principles-of-sociological-inquiry-qualitative-and-quantitative-methods/SharedunderCC-BY-NC-SA3.0License(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)↵ Previous/nextnavigation Previous:6.2Paradigms,theories,andhowtheyshapearesearcher’sapproach Next:7.0Chapterintroduction Backtotop License ScientificInquiryinSocialWorkbyMatthewDeCarloislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense,exceptwhereotherwisenoted. 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