Declarative vs. Non-Declarative Research in Social Sciences – Differences and the Importance of Biometric Methods
In social sciences, user and consumer research can be divided into two main categories: declarative research and non-declarative research. Each of these methods plays a crucial role in analyzing attitudes, behaviors, and emotions of individuals and social groups. Traditionally, declarative research has dominated sociology, psychology, and political science. However, the growing role of biometric research in social sciences allows for a deeper understanding of cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying decision-making processes.
What is Declarative Research in Social Sciences?
Declarative research relies on conscious responses from participants and is widely used in sociology, social psychology, marketing, and political sciences. Respondents are asked to express their opinions, values, beliefs, and experiences. Popular methods include:
- Surveys and questionnaires – a fundamental tool for quantitative research in social sciences,
- Individual and group interviews (FGI) – essential in qualitative research on attitudes and experiences,
- Social experiments – allowing hypotheses about behaviors in specific conditions to be tested,
- Discourse and content analysis – used in media, political, and communication studies.
Although declarative research is easy to conduct and interpret, it has some limitations. Responses may be imprecise due to conscious and unconscious distortions, such as social desirability bias, researcher expectations, or memory errors.
What is Non-Declarative Research and Why is it Important?
Non-declarative research involves analyzing user reactions objectively, without engaging their conscious reflection. Biometric research plays a key role here, recording physiological responses of the body to social and situational stimuli.
Examples of Biometric Research in Social Sciences:
- Eyetracking – analyzing eye movements in media studies, political advertising, and voting behaviors,
- Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) – measuring emotional reactions in psychological experiments,
- Face coding – analyzing facial expressions as indicators of emotions in interpersonal communication,
- EEG (Electroencephalography) – measuring brain activity in studies on perception and decision-making,
- Heart Rate Variabilit
