Understanding Scientific Research: Methods, Theories, and Design
Scientific Method and Knowledge
Scientific method: Modern science relies on knowledge obtained through objective observation, experimentation, and logical reasoning. This knowledge must be verified or rejected by observation. The goal is to use verified results to construct theories that explain why phenomena behave the way they do.
Components of the Scientific Method
- Empirical verification
- Falsifiability
- Non-normative research
- Transmissible
- Cumulative
- Empirical generalization
- Explanatory
- Predictive
- Probabilistic explanations
- Parsimony
Theory
A theory is an accumulation of related explanations, a body of statements that systematize knowledge of an explained phenomenon. It leads to specific, testable predictions. The more observations support these predictions, the more the theory is confirmed.
What Makes a Good Theory?
- Parsimony (ability to explain in relatively few terms and statements)
- Breadth of phenomena explained
- Accuracy of predictions of new phenomena
- Ability to be disproved
Generalizations
Two types of reasoning:
Deductive: Arguments are proven to be true through the use of several logical statements in which a conclusion is true because the underlying premises are true. (Example: All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal).
Inductive: One draws an inference from a set of propositions and observations. It does not rely on formal proof but gives reasons for believing in the truthfulness of the conclusion. (Example: In a particular sample, X% of As are Bs; therefore, X% of all As are Bs).
Scientific Research Process
Research question: Why or how a political phenomenon behaves.
Theory: A body of statements that synthesize knowledge of and explain phenomena.
Hypotheses: To be tested through the collection and analysis of empirical data.
Empirical analysis: Confirms or refutes hypotheses and theory and answers the research question.
Research Design
Research design: The overall framework that integrates the different components of the study in a coherent and logical way to ensure effective addressing of the research problem. It is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted and the overall plan for connecting conceptual research problems to pertinent empirical research.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research
Quantitative research: Relies primarily on the collection and analysis of numerical information. (Principal orientation: Deductive, Epistemological orientation: Positivism, Ontological orientation: Objectivism).
Qualitative research: Focuses on smaller samplings with a richer depth of data drawn from interviews, discussion groups, or careful studies of relevant source materials. (Principal orientation: Inductive, Epistemological orientation: Interpretivism, Ontological orientation: Constructionism).
Types of Research Studies
- Experimental: Determines whether a causal relationship exists between two or more variables.
- Cross-sectional: Entails the collection of data on more than one case at a single point in time to collect quantitative data.
- Longitudinal: Research that is repeated with the same sample over two or more time intervals.
- Case study: Detailed and intensive analysis of a single case.
- Comparative: To study two contrasting cases using more or less identical methods.
Good Research Question
- Relevance (empirical – theoretical)
- Type of question (how, why)
- Manageable in terms of research and your own academic abilities
- Substantial and with original dimensions
- Clear and simple
- Interesting