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Research Methods in Politics 3

Research Methods in Politics 3. Philosophy and Principles of Research. Teaching and Learning Objectives :. to appreciate the main philosophic and theoretical principles to introduce the concept of causality to distinguish between inductive , deductive and grounded research.

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Research Methods in Politics 3

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  1. Research Methods in Politics3 Philosophy and Principles of Research Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  2. Teaching and Learning Objectives: • to appreciate the main philosophic and theoretical principles • to introduce the concept of causality • to distinguish between inductive, deductive and grounded research Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  3. Two paradigms • ontology: branch of philosophy devoted to the nature of being • epistemology: branch concerned with theories of knowledge • positivism and naturalism are competing ontologies Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  4. Positivism • Auguste Comte (1798-1859) • final, ‘positive’ stage of knowledge when rational logic and humanity prevailed • application of methods of natural sciences • JS Mill, Durkheim • Vienna circle of logical positivists • cosmos rather than chaos • Popper: falsifiability (fallibilism) Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  5. developments of positivism • Empiricism: doctrine that only source of real knowledge is experience gained by the senses by observation and experiment • Behaviouralism: application of positivism and empiricism by social scientists to test and extend exploratory theory. Principal exponent, RobertDahl – Who governs? (1969) study of government in Connecticut Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  6. Naturalism • rejects positivism • humanistic, hermeneutic, experiential • focus of study as ‘subjects’ rather than objects • studies subjects’ social context, situation, language, concerns • researcher is involved, empathetic rather than objective onlooker • researcher is critical • Weber’s verstehen • Feminism – critique of quantification and masculinity • Postmodernism – talk and text, discourse Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  7. Causality • ‘cause and effect’: causation x (cause) y (effect) • causes = independent variables, drivers • effect = dependent variables, outcomes • David Hume (1711-76): eight general rules including: • covariation • constancy of association • cause before effect • variables must be discrete • non-spuriousness Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  8. Spuriousness • spurious association p • addivity • x y • Intervention • p+ x y p • Interaction • x y • spurious correlation • p x y Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  9. Inductive research • ‘moving from the particular to the general’ • creative, theory-building research • idealised research process: • select topic • choose research question • collect data (by repeated observation of phenomena) • interpret data • develop theoretical explanation • collect new data to test explanation • repeat until conclusions meet tests of falsifiability Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  10. Deductive research • ‘moving from general to particular’ • adopted by positivist, empiricist and behaviouralist researchers to apply and test application of accepted theory • idealised research process: • select theory • frame research question • state hypothesis – hunch, initial answer to research question • collect relevant data • analyse and interpret data • confirm (or infirm, disprove) or qualify hypothesis Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  11. Grounded research • developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) from critique of inductive and deductive research in US • offered more adventurous, lower-cost research of contemporary social phenomena • findings would be entirely grounded in the new data collected • idealised research process: • select variables (ideally at random) • collect data from small sample • advance explanation • test against larger sample • revise explanations • repeat until theoretical saturation is reached • widely adopted in variants by UK graduate researchers Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

  12. Questions for Discussion or Assignments • What is positivism? What are its strengths and weaknesses? • Critically compare positivism and naturalism • Explain Popper’s concept of ‘falsifiability’. In what circumstances might it be used in Politics research? • Grounded research: another useless US import? Discuss • You have been asked to explore the relationship between social class, party identification and turnout in the UK. Which idealised research model would you adopt? Why? • What is verstehen? Is it ever possible? In what circumstances is it most likely to be achieved? • Discuss the distinction between facts and truth in Politics research Research Methods in Politics: Chapter 3

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