Sources of Error in Social Science Research: A Comprehensive Analysis Example

Introduction

Social science is an activity that involves a close interaction between various aspects involves interaction between people within society. In most cases, there are occurrences within science that hinder the efficiency of operation because it is impossible to conduct. Social science research involves gathering, conducting analysis, and interpreting information interconnected to political, social, economic, and educational purposes. Errors are evident in most research because they hinder a researcher from finding resourceful information to make their research successful. This paper seeks to explain the various sources of error that interfere with social science research.

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Researchers try to ensure that they can conduct research and achieve research goals and objectives without facing challenges that can negatively impact their general research. Errors in research enable researchers to handle data with care so that they can be able to avoid such errors when conducting other research in the future (Jaffe and De-Rassenfosse, 2019). In most cases, researchers use the errors in the research they conduct to find effective strategies that can help them make sure that other researchers are successful. In social science research, errors have to be avoided since they make it difficult to ensure that research is successful and that the goals and objectives have been achieved.

The Environment

The environment where research is being conducted determines the research results since it dictates how research is conducted. A researcher needs to choose an effective environment that can favor the nature of the research conducted. In most cases, choosing the wrong environment for careful research makes it difficult for the researcher to draw conclusions and make assumptions that can be used to conclude the findings and get a long-lasting solution within the given range of time. Social science is surrounded by an environment that is relatively flexible because it can alter the overall reach and assumptions, thus causing errors during data collection and analysis.

Instruments Used

Instruments used in conducting various types of research are important since they help ensure that the researcher obtains the correct data and can analyze the data to come up with findings that relate to the research goals and objectives (Jaffe and De-Rassenfosse, 2019). Some instruments used in conducting social science research are not effective and cannot provide a researcher with the correct data that can be used for the general findings in research analysis. Researchers need to choose appropriate instruments so that they can be able to carry out their research effectively and avoid errors such as incorrect records, incorrect observations, and miscalculations during research.

Misleading Information from Correspondents

Social science research interaction between a researcher and people from various settings within the society. In most cases, researchers have to talk to correspondents within the field of study so that they can be able to create assumptions about the research question and develop strategies that can help in finding a solution to the topic under study (McKinney, 2019). In every research, the researcher has to involve respondents who know the research topic and how they can react to the questions the researcher asks them. Misleading information from the respondents is a major source of errors since it makes it difficult to ensure that the researcher can reach a conclusion in research and give the general findings of a particular research question (Frid-Nielsen et al., 2019). Researchers have to ensure that they can determine whether the respondents' information is true or false e whenever they are conducting any form of research within a specific study area. Misleading information in research makes it difficult for a researcher to reach a conclusion and find an effective solution for a particular research question within a limited range of time and resources. Information error is a result of receiving misleading information from respondents within a particular area of study. Research participants may decide not to disclose every piece of information to the researcher, thus making it difficult to find proof for some assumptions within the research, making it difficult to find appropriate data, resulting in errors within the research.

Personal Interviews

Personal interviews are advantageous since they are not convincing when dealing with researches that involve Social Science Research. Some researchers are not good at conducting interviews, making it difficult to get deep and get information from the interviewees. Some interviewees are not reliable sources of information since most people fear that what they say can be used against them on different occasions (McKinney, 2019). In most cases, personal interviews limit an individual from being free with the researcher, thus making them leave behind many points thinking that the researcher can conclude the other part of the story without their help. Social science research involves gathering and analyzing data within the political, social, and economic setting of a field of study, thus making it necessary to interview respondents to get a clue and build on assumptions that can be used to generate other research questions that can help find answers to the research question. The researcher has the right to choose the people to interview so that it can be easy to prevent errors that result from giving wrong information to the interviewees.

Inadequate Research Resources

Research is very expensive since it requires commitments so that an individual can be able to achieve research goals and objectives within a given range of time. There are resources that can be used in finding solutions to a research question; thus a surety that a researcher will be able to find the expected results and be able to get the most effective answers that explain the research and at the same time give reasons why a researcher decided to choose careful research. Research cannot be successful when a researcher does not have adequate resources to supplement and trigger the research. Most research conducted without effective resources in most cases does not have good outcomes since some research is critical in the sense that it requires specific resources for the surety of success. Social science research involves an interaction between the social, political, and economic aspects within a [particular field of study, thus making it necessary for a researcher to find the appropriate and adequate resources to collect data to prevent errors.

Wrong Information from Enumerators

Enumerators are essential when conducting social science research, especially within a competitive society. They are responsible for ensuring that the researcher can get information at a distance, even without being present in the study field. In most cases, enumerator acts like agents since they are the ones that go out in the field so that they can be able to find the information that is effective and elaborate to find answers and conclusions for thorough research and be able to generate findings that can help in triggering other future researches (Frid-Nielsen et al., 2019). Some enumerators end up conveying wrong information to the researcher, thus making it difficult to analyze the collected data and at the same time ensure that it is possible to find strategies that can enable the researcher to conduct other research effectively. Researchers have to ensure that they can find enumerators who are keen when interacting with respondents within the field of research so that they can be able to collect information that is reliable and important in making conclusions about a particular topic of study in research.

Conclusion

In summary, researchers have to be careful when carrying out research, especially if it is social science research. Errors occur when researching because of various reasons, thus making some research unsuccessful. In most cases, there are occurrences within science that hinder the efficiency of operation because it is impossible to conduct. Social science research involves gathering, conducting analysis, and interpreting information interconnected to political, social, economic, and educational purposes. The errors that occur when carrying out research in most cases are traced to the researchers and the resources essential for particular research success. Researchers choose to use the instruments while conducting their research matters since they are the determinants for the general outcome of the research. Social science research involves a close interaction between the factors that determine society and the determinants that can be used to determine society's overall setting. Since social science involves an interaction between political, economic, and social variables, researchers have to be wise when choosing research mechanisms to avoid errors that may lead to disruptions of the comprehensive research forcing them to repeat.

References

Frid-Nielsen, S. S., Rubin, O., & Baekkeskov, E. (2019). The state of social science research on antimicrobial resistance. Social Science & Medicine, 242, 112596.

Jaffe, A. B., & De Rassenfosse, G. (2019). Patent citation data in social science research: Overview and best practices. In Research Handbook on the economics of intellectual property law. Edward Elgar Publishing.

McKinney, D. W. (2019). The authoritarian personality studies: An inquiry into social science research's failure to produce demonstrable knowledge (Vol. 8). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.