Summary
Summary DRI Final Exam Study Guide
- Course
- Institution
- Book
study guide for the final exam of the course Doing Research, an Introduction
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
Seller
Followmynymn
Content preview
Lecture 1: Chapters 1&2● Learning goals:
○ Explain the importance of scientific inquiry
○ Identify the steps in the research process
○ Understand and apply important concepts in social science (inductive/deductive,
epistemological/ontological considerations)
● Why is research important?
○ What is research?
■ Systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts
and reach new conclusions
■ Careful study done to find and report new knowledge about something
■ Why research?
● Research allows us to test ideas/assumptions in a structured way, rather than
referring to authority, common sense, personal experience, or intuition to answer
the question “how do you know” or “why do you think so”.
○ Scientific Research:
■ Logical and systematic methods
■ Science allows us to inspect and evaluate its methods
■ It develops knowledge that is continually refined
● Because beliefs are rejected or confirmed on the basis of testing empirical
evidence
■ The importance of scientific research:
● Observing: systematic measurement/observation of information
(operationalization and measurement)
● Generalizing: systematic selection of cases for measurement/observation
● Reasoning: drawing correct conclusions from collected information
● Re-evaluating: less biased application of information to update world model
○ Relevance:
■ Scientific relevance:
● formulate/extend theory
● Empirical discoveries
● Innovations in methods/techniques
■ Applied relevance:
● Evaluate intervention/program or policy
● Innovations in business/technology
● What are the steps in the research process?
○ Formulate a research question (explicit, unambiguous)
○ Literature review
○ Concepts (organizing principles that describe aspects of the world) and theories (coherent system
of ideas intended to explain/predict regularities in the world)
■ Concepts are key ingredients of theories
○ (Formulate hypothesis: testable, falsifiable)
○ Decide on method, design (framework for the collection of data), sample (segment of the
population that is selected for research)
○ Collect data/information
○ Analyze data/information
■ Quantitative: application of statistical techniques to the data to test your hypotheses
, ■ Qualitative: analysis that focuses on the description, understanding, interpretation of
information
○ report/disseminate results
● Important concepts in social science:
○ Epistemology: what is knowledge and how can it be acquired? (about the method you are
using/acquiring knowledge)
■ Positivism: the application of natural science methods to the study of social reality;
universal laws, experiments, numbers (often quantitative)
■ Interpretivism: subjective meanings play a crucial role; focus on interpretation and
meaning of social reality, i.e. extracting concepts out of interviews (often qualitative)
○ Ontology: what is the nature of reality? (about the concepts you are looking at)
■ Objectivism: social phenomena exist independently from social actors
(mind-independent)
■ Constructionism: social phenomena are dependent on social actors and social interaction;
focus on chance; subjectivity (also as a researcher)
● Questions the existence of a concrete, objective social reality
● Constructionism + positivism: measuring anger that is different for everyone
using facial expressions
○ Deductive research: research in which a specific expectation (hypothesis) is inferred from theory
and then tested
■ Theory → hypotheses → observations/findings
○ Inductive research: in which general conclusions/theory are drawn from data
■ observations/findings → theory
● Types of Social Research/Research Strategies
○ Quantitative research: commonly deductive; relies on the collection of numerical data and
statistical analysis of those numbers
■ Descriptive research strategy: define/describe phenomenon; describing the social
phenomenon; usually focus of the first research
■ Explanatory research strategy: seeks to identify causes/effects of social phenomenon and
predict how one phenomenon will change in response to a variation in other phenomena
● Deductive because a specific explanation is deducted from a general premise
● Hypothesis formulated before data analysis
○ Qualitative research: commonly inductive
■ Evaluation: examines programs, politics that affect social patterns; can include other
types or research within it
■ Exploratory research strategy: investigating a phenomenon without specific expectations;
finding out how people get along in the setting under question, what concern them, what
is going on, usually uses qualitative methods
● Inductive
● Hypothesis formulated after data analysis
● Formulating research questions:
○ Research questions will guide your literature search/hypothesis/decisions about research
designs/data collection (measurements, sample, etc.)
■ Describing a phenomenon: what is y like?
■ Evaluating a phenomenon: does y exhibit benefits/disadvantages?
■ Predicting an outcome: does y happen more under circumstance x?
■ Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon: is y affected by x? Is y a
consequence of x?
■ Developing a good practice: how do we improve y?
, ■ Comparison: do a and b differ in terms of y?
○ Criteria for a research question:
■ clear/precise/unambiguous
■ Researchable
■ Connection with established theory and research
■ Not too broad, not too narrow
■ Original contribution (?)
○ Interdisciplinary research questions: integrate data,methods, tools, etc. from different scientific
disciplines to create a common understanding of a complex issue
● Common mistakes in social science:
○ Selective observation: looking at things that align with our beliefs
○ Inaccurate observation: false perception of empirical reality
○ Generalizability theory
■ Overgeneralization: things we know that are true for some is concluded to be true for
most or all cases; could be reduced by systematic procedures to select groups/events/ etc.
○ Illogical reasoning: concluding based off of invalid assumptions
■ Reduced by using explicit criteria for events and causes to determine whether the criteria
is met at particular instance
○ Resistance to change: reluctance to reevaluate our ideas in light of new information
■ Ego-based and institutional commitments
■ Excessive devotion to tradition
■ Uncritical agreement with authority, unquestioning
● Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: the distinction is not merely the type of data (not quantified vs
numerical data).
○ Quantitative is used for research with motives of explanation, description, evaluation,
■ usually guided by positivism: our perceptions can mistaken us but scientific methods
would clarify.
○ Qualitative methods, exploration:
■ Usually guided by constructionism: social reality is socially constructed and the goal of
social scientists is to understand what meanings people give to reality
● Rejects positivism that says there is a concrete, objective reality, understood by
scientific methods
● Believes that people construct an image of reality based on individual
preferences
● Empirical generalization: a statement that describes patterns found in a data
● Deductive research can lead to inductive when these patterns are found in data:
○ Anomalous findings: unexpected patterns in data
○ Serendipitous findings: unexpected patterns in data that stimulate new explanations
Lecture 2: Chapters 2&4
● Learning goals:
○ Understand and apply the process of operationalization
○ Understand the difference between DV and IV
○ Understand and apply important criteria in scientific research
○ Understand and reproduce often used research designs
● Operationalization and variables
○ How do you test your RQ?
■ Conceptualization: identifying concepts you want to study; process of specifying what we
mean by a term; translates theory into specific variables
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller mynymn. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.44. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67866 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now