WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH?

1. WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH? Scientific Research: The systematic, controlled, empirical, and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among [various] phenomena When did we start doing things this way? (Jon Bond’s article): The behavioral revolution takes root in 1930s, 40s. Becomes completely dominant in 1990s with the information revolution. In last two decades, it has shifted to become a major component of undergrad training in psc, soc, and econ (Not as bad as Hill describes) The scientific method: The method of testing theories and hypotheses by applying certain rules of analysis to the observation and interpretation of reality under strictly delineated circumstances • The practical way we do this: • Choose topic that is important and explain what we know and what’s missing • Formulate a theory… Aiming for parsimony(Occam's razor) without over-simplifying (which usually means leaving out either obviously variables or ones that impact the dependent and independent variable). • Operationalizethe theory with testable hypotheses • Select the appropriate research techniques • Observe behavior or proxies of attitudes • Analyze data (and try to prove yourself wrong!) • Interpret the results with respect to the theory ; maybe change your mind.

2. WHAT ATTRIBUTES DOES RESEARCH HAVE TO HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED SCIENTIFIC • We typically focus on aggregates, not individuals, to make statements about reality. • Probabilistic statements. We don't have to be right in every case to know something(necessary vs. sufficient cause). Think about rain or political prediction polls. • Open to empirical verification. What direct/indirect evidence can we look at to understand Trump’s motivations/incentives to understand why he does what he does? • Research has to be logical, systematic, and controlled. • Research must be subject to falsifiability(Karl Popper) • Transmissible (other scholars must know your methods) and replicable (Rogoff, austerity, and Excel… Should have used Stata!). A study coming out in Nature: less than two-thirds (13 of 21 examined) of major findings reported in leading psych. Journal held up to replication. This is a good thing!

3. SOCIAL SCIENECE AS A DISCPLINE AND AN “INSTITUTION” (a set of norms or rules that guide behavior in predicable ways) • Thomas Kuhn’s notion of a paradigm • Universalism. Ideas are supposed to be independent of their author (blind review) • Communalism: Knowledge is supposed to belong to everyone and thus data is supposed to be open for replication • Honesty. Why must we cite so carefully (it’s only partially about giving credit)? Why does journalism have a much looser standard? Why is the temptation among academics to cheat so high? How do social scientists sometimes cheat? What happens if you cheat? Michael LaCour, Donald Green and “their” homophobia study. • Professionalization (gatekeeping) What does this mean for limits on what ideas are expressed and which questions are pursued? Why does Kuhn believe that the professionalization is not a bad thing (what are its links to "revolutions")?

4. DEBATES ABOUT THE SCIENTIFCATION OF SOC SCI RESEARCH • The biggest concern: Relevancy. Are we too specialized, too “cutting edge,” and too quantitative to either understand in explain in understandable ways important issues? Think about a mosaic. • How objective do we need to be in (1) what we study… (2) what we report… (3) in whether we let familiarity with the topic carry over into normative areas? • The liberal arts college professor critique: Are social scientists focused on getting better at research or just going from one type of gatekeeping to the next? • Congressional funders, the Supreme Court, and “real” scientists: Is human behavior is just too complex to predict? Is there something creepy about social science, since human agency is what makes us human? • Post-modern critique—You can’t be unbiased (scientific) even if you adopt the scientific method… even the scientific method and its way of proving things is biased. Think about baseball as a completely constructed activity with facts. • Anthropologists and Kuhn—When you come from a paradigm, you see what you want to see (old lady’s nose cancer, sea urchins cluster in the sun). Popper’s solution