Notes
Week 1/Day 1
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Lecture: Science, social science, and research process
A.
What is science?
·
Origins of the word “science”
o
From Latin
§
Scientia,
which means “knowledge”
§
Scire,
which means “to know”
o
From Greek, the science of knowing is called epistemology
·
Basic assumptions of science
o
Nature is orderly: there is recognizable
regularity and order in the world; events do not just occur at random
o
We can know nature: human beings are a part and
product of nature, and so can e studied as such
o
All phenomenon have natural causes: we can
identify regularities in the world, and use these to study cause-effect
relations
o
Nothing is self-evident: claims for truth must
be demonstrated empirically
o
Knowledge is based on both experience and
intuition….
·
Aims of science
o
Explanation: relating a phenomenon to be
explained to one or more other phenomena
o
Prediction: combines explanation with antecedent
conditions to predict one or more outcomes
o
Understanding
§
Max Weber: researchers must” put themselves into
the place of the subject of inquiry”
§
Empathy: Capacity o recognize and share in the
experiences (e.g., emotions) of others.
o
Basic versus applied science
§
Basic science: Pure science; science for its own
sake
§
Applied science: Practical science; science for
the sake of application (e.g., policy)
o
Natural versus social sciences
§
Natural sciences: sciences of naturally occurring
phenomena
·
Physical sciences
·
Earth sciences
·
Life sciences
§
Social sciences: science of people and/or
collections of people in the form of groups, networks, institutions
·
Sociology
·
Anthropology
·
Political science
·
Economics
·
Psychology
§
Approaches to social science
·
Positivist…and variants thereof
o
Is a reality “put there” that can be tested and
measured
·
Verstehen tradition
o
Versteen means “empathy”
o
Rooted in the idea of understanding
o
Basis of “interpretist” methods, case studies
·
Forms a continuum
o
Underlies the ideas of mixed methods
·
What unites science?
o
Content? No!
o
Methodology? Yes!
B.
Scientific methodology
·
Rules
o
Communication
o
Reasoning
o
Intersubjectivity
·
Hallmarks
o
Precision: Definition of theoretical concepts
o
Parsimony: simplest or most economical
explanation
§
Occam’s razon
o
Falsifiability: Explanation (theory, hypothesis,
etc) can be potentially disproven
§
Versus verification such that an explanation can
be proven
o
Replicability: others should be able to
independently replicate (or not) the work of others
C.
Research Process
·
Componens
o
Theory versus observation
§
Theory: systematic explanation of an underlying
phenomenon or behavior
§
Observation
o
Deductive versus indctive
§
Deductive
·
Tes hypotheses
·
Test concepts and patterns known from theory
using empirical data
·
Top down
§
Inductive
·
Generalize from observations
·
Develop and infer theoretical concepts and
theories from observed data
·
Bottom up
·
Approach research process through paradigms
o
Paradigm: Mental model or frame of reference
(Thomas Kuhn 1962)
§
Normal science
§
Revolutionary science (Karl Popper)
·
Structure
o
Stages
o
Exploration
o
Design
o
Executions
·
Transitions
o
Linking theoretical/conceptual to
empirical/actual worlds
o
Linking designs to data to analysis, and then
back to the exploration components
·
Types of research
o
Exploratory: conducted in new areas of inquiry
where the goals of the research are:
§
To document (in some form or fashion) a phenomenon
§
To develop ideas about the phenomenon
§
To test the feasibility for carrying out a study
of the phenomenon
§
E.g., a pilot study
o
Descriptive detailed documentation of a
phenomenon of interest
§
E.g., examining self-reports of rapes in a
survey over time
o
explanatory: seeks [casual] explanations of an
observed phenomenon
§
Cause and effect relationships
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- University Social Research Methods Note on Week 1/Day 1, created by halle074 on 11/02/2015.
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- halle074 · Feb 2015
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- Feb 19, 2016
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