Читать книгу Social Work Research Methods - Reginald O. York - Страница 76

The purpose of explanatory research, on the other hand, is to explain things by examining the relationship between variables. Are people who are regular exercisers less likely to have recent minor illnesses? This question requires the measurement of two variables: (1) whether the individual engages in regular exercise and (2) whether the individual has experienced recent minor illness. It also requires the examination of the relationship between these two variables. You would examine the data to see if the proportion of exercisers who experienced recent minor illness is lower than the proportion of those with recent minor illness who do not engage in regular exercise. And you would engage in the statistical analysis of data to see if the degree of differences between the two groups can easily be explained by chance. When you examine data for an explanatory study, you will always have two or more variables in your analysis of data.

A key issue for the explanatory study is the conceptual framework or theory, which provides guidance on the selection of the variables to be measured and your expectations of what you will find from your data. A theory is an attempt to explain. It can often be a display in a chart that shows the expected relationships between things. For example, you might find a graphic that shows that stressors cause stress but stress can be reduced by more social support.

The conceptual framework shows a connection between the knowledge base gathered from the literature review and the methods used to find the answer to the research question. Why would you expect to find that people who exercise are less likely to have minor illnesses? Why would you expect to find that people with more social support have less stress? Why would you expect to find that parents with more knowledge about child development will be less likely to be abusive parents? These are among the questions on which your knowledge base will provide guidance.