1. Research problem
1.1. Sources of research problems
1.1.1. People
1.1.2. Problems
1.1.3. Programmes
1.1.4. Phenomena
1.2. Selecting research problems
1.2.1. Interest
1.2.2. Magnitude
1.2.3. Measurements of concepts
1.2.4. Relevance
1.2.5. Availability of data
1.2.6. Ethical issues
1.3. Steps in formulating research problems
1.3.1. 1) Identify an area of interest
1.3.2. 2) Dissect the broad area into subareas
1.3.3. 3) Select what is of most interest to you
1.3.4. 4) Raise research questions
1.3.5. 5) Formulate and assess objectives
1.3.6. 6) Double check everything
2. Quantitative research
2.1. Main preoccupations
2.1.1. Globalization
2.1.2. Measurement
2.1.3. Causality
2.1.4. Replication
3. Quantitative research
3.1. Main preoccupations
3.1.1. Seeing through eyes of those being studied
3.1.2. Emphasis on context
3.1.3. Emphasis on process
3.1.4. Concepts and theory grounded in data
4. Units of Analysis
4.1. Individuals
4.2. Social artifacts
4.3. Groups
4.4. Organizations
4.5. Social interactions
5. Validity
5.1. Criterion-related
5.1.1. Predictive validity
5.1.2. Concurrent validity
5.1.3. Convergent validity
5.1.4. Discriminant validity
5.2. Translation-related
5.2.1. Face validity
5.2.2. Content validity
6. Sampling
6.1. Types of probability sampling
6.1.1. Simple random
6.1.2. Systematic sampling
6.1.3. Stratified random sampling
6.1.4. Multi-stage cluster sampling
6.2. Types of non-probability sampling
6.2.1. Convenience sampling
6.2.2. Snowball sampling
6.2.3. Quota sampling
6.3. Sampling in qualitative research
6.4. Sampling in quantitative research
7. E-research
7.1. online-polling
7.2. surveys on the Internet
8. Theory
8.1. Assumptions
8.2. Concepts
8.3. Relationships
8.4. Units of analysis
8.5. Forms of explanation
8.5.1. theoretical
8.5.2. causal
9. Social Research
9.1. Literature Review
9.2. Concept and Theories
9.3. Research Questions
9.4. Sampling
9.5. Data Collection
9.6. Data Analysis
9.7. Writing Up
10. Purposes of research
10.1. Exploration
10.2. Explanation
10.3. Description
11. Types of Reliability
11.1. Test-Retest Method
11.2. Split-Half Method
11.3. Usage of established measures
12. Research Designs
12.1. Experimental
12.1.1. field experiment
12.1.2. lab experiment
12.1.3. quasi experiment
12.1.4. natural experiment
12.2. Cross-sectional
12.3. Longitudinal
12.4. Case-study
12.4.1. critical case
12.4.2. unique case
12.4.3. typical case
12.4.4. longitudinal case