Definition and Scope of Social Research

Definition of social research is a scientific study about society and how people behave and affect each other.

Social research investigates outside the direct experience of researchers and helps to explain how communities are formed, for example, economic growth, the implementation of legal, politics or etc.

Scopes of Social Research are:

1. Demographic and Social Statistics, Methods and Computation

Demography is the study of changes and population trends using resources such as birth data, death and disease and others.

Social Statistics, Methods and Computational involve the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.

2. Developmental Study, Human Geography and Environmental Planning

Developmental study is a multidisciplinary branch of social sciences that discusses about various social and economic issues related to the development or study of poor countries.

Human geography studies people, society and culture, especially regarding the impact on the environmental changes.

Environmental planning explores decision-making process in managing the system of human and nature relationship.

3. Economics, Management and Business Study

Economics tries to understand how individuals interact in the social structure to answer key questions about the production and exchange of goods and services.

Management and Business Study explore various aspects related to business management such as strategic and operational, organizational psychology, work relationship, marketing, accounting, finance and logistics.

4. Education, Social Anthropology and Linguistics

Education is one of the most important social sciences that explores how people learn and develop.

Social anthropology is the study of how society and human social structures are organized and understandable.

Linguistics focuses on language and how people communicate through the spoken voice and words.

5. Legal, Economic and Social History

Legal focuses on the rule made by the government and people to make sure the society becoming more orderly.

Economic and Social History see the past events to learn from history and to more understand the process of contemporary society.

6. Politics and International Relations

Politics focuses on democracy and the relationship between humans and policy at all levels from the individual to the national and international levels.

International Relation is the study of relationship among countries, including the role of other organizations.

7. Psychology and Sociology

Psychology studies the human mind and tries to understand how people and groups experience a variety of emotions, ideas, and awareness.

Sociology involves a group of people, not individuals, and tries to understand how people relate to each other and function as a society or a social sub-group.

8. Technology Study

Technology Study relates to the role of technology in society, the policy and debates that form modern technology.

9. Social Policy

Social policy is interdisciplinary and subject concerned on community responses analysis to social needs with focus on the aspects of society, economy and the implementation of policies to improve social justice.

Definition, Objective and Benefit of Health Research

Definition, Objective and Benefit of Health Research

Health research is a step of scientific method oriented or focusing the activities on the problems that arise in the health field. Health itself consists of two principal sub-areas; the first is individual health oriented on clinical treatment. The second is sub-field oriented on group or community that is prevention. Furthermore, these sub health fields consist of various disciplines, such as medicine, nursing, epidemiology, health education, environmental health, health service management, nutrition etc. The sub-fields are interrelated and affect public health in general.

So, based on this background, health research can be interpreted as an attempt to understand the problems faced in the health in promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative and issues related to the elements; by searching for evidence and conducted through certain steps that are scientific, systematic and logic (Notoatmodjo, 1993).

Health Research Objectives

In general, health research objectives according to Notoatmodjo (1993) are:

1. Finding or testing new facts or old facts with respect to the health field.

2. Conducting an analysis of the relationship among the facts found in the health field.

3. Explaining about the facts found and the relationship with existing theories.

4. Developing a new method or concept in the health services to improve public health.

Benefits of Health Research

In short, the benefits of health research are:

1. Research results can be used to describe the health state or status of individuals, groups or communities.

2. The results can be used to describe the ability of resources and the possibility of these resources in order to support the development of health services.

3. The results can be used as study materials to find the cause of health problems or failures in the health service. So, it can be used as a reference to find an alternative solution or problem solving.

4. The results of health research can be used as a means to formulate policy of health care development.

Types of Health Research

Types of Health Research

Grouping of health research types is many kinds. It depends on the method used. Based on the method, health research can be classified into two groups:

1. Survey research method

In survey research, the results are the whole results although it is not carried out to the entire population, but only a sample. Results of the sample can be generalized as results of population. This method is classified into two parts, descriptive and analytic.

a. Descriptive Survey

In a descriptive survey, research is directed to describe a situation in one community. Such as the distribution of disease, the distribution of gender or other characteristics.

b. Analytical Survey

In analytical survey, research is directed to explain a situation. Analytic is basically used to answer the question why. Analytical survey is divided into three:

1) Cross-sectional

In a cross sectional study, data collection both dependent and independent variables and influence factors are collected at the same time.

2) Retrospective study

This study examines the phenomenon in the past. Data collection is started from the effects or consequences that have occurred and seen whether there is a connection with the past, for example, when looking for the relationship between smoking and lung cancer. Then it started by searching for data on cases of lung cancer patients and they are questioned about smoking history in the past.

3) Prospective study

This study examines the phenomenon in the future, starting by looking at the variable causes and seen the effects in the future. For example, to see the relationship between alcohol and liver Chirosis, it is started by collecting the data of alcohol users and then forwarded to the next observation, whether the users are positive in liver Chirosis or not.

2. Experimental research method

Researchers conduct experimental research in respondents and measure the effect or influence. Treatment can be either deliberate or controlled. For example, research on the effects of music therapy on anxiety level of patients who will do the surgery.

However, when viewed in terms of the benefit, the health research can be classified into:

1. Basic research (basic of fundamental research)

This research is conducted to understand the symptoms that appear in an issue. Then the symptoms are analyzed and the conclusion becomes a new theory or knowledge.

2. Applied research

This study is conducted to repair or modify the system or the existing program. The study is conducted by applying a new system or method but still trial.

3. Action Research

This research is conducted to find a practical knowledge base in order to improve the situation in a community. The research is usually conducted which the problem solving needs to be done e.g. action research to improve transmigration public health.

4. Evaluation Research 

The research is conducted to assess the implementation of a program in order to seek feedback, for example, examining the level of patient satisfaction in hospitals after applying the concept of primary nursing.