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FOR 500 Research Methods

FOR 500 Research Methods . Today’s Pro Tip: As you write your proposal, put it into the university’s final thesis template. It will end up there anyway. Research Is Simply Knowledge Creation. Alternatives to Research. Overgeneralization Selective observation Premature closure Halo effect.

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FOR 500 Research Methods

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  1. FOR 500 Research Methods Today’s Pro Tip: As you write your proposal, put it into the university’s final thesis template. It will end up there anyway.

  2. Research Is Simply Knowledge Creation

  3. Alternatives to Research • Overgeneralization • Selective observation • Premature closure • Halo effect

  4. Key Terms

  5. Empirical • Empirical (adj.) – data gathered directly by sensory perception • By instrumentation extending sensory input • More generally, data gathered through research

  6. Data • “Data” is plural. • “I gathered these data.”

  7. Methodology vs. Methods After Neuman 2006

  8. Positivist, interpretive, critical, feminist Research Paradigms

  9. Positivist Paradigm • Logical empiricism, postpositivism, naturalism, etc. • Emphasis on exact measures, dispassionate research, determinism • Reductionist: convert phenomena to numbers • Truth is spelled with a capital “T”

  10. The Positivist View of Religion

  11. The Positivist View of Religion

  12. The Positivist View of Religion

  13. The Positivist View of Religion

  14. The Positivist View of Religion

  15. The Positivist View of Religion

  16. The Positivist View of Religion

  17. Interpretive Paradigm • Study of social phenomena toward empathic understanding • Relative values • Free will, volition, morality • Meaningful social action: the phenomenon affects others

  18. Idiographic vs. Nomothetic

  19. Idiographic Research • Explanation of a case • Complete • Detailed

  20. Nomothetic Research • The Truth Is Out There: logic and reasoning • Causal law governs all into patterns • Covering Law Model • Few big abstract laws permit deduction of cases • Disproof of current factual model

  21. The Scientific Method

  22. Deductive Reasoning

  23. Inductive Reasoning

  24. Induction Deduction

  25. Topical Lifecycle • Exploratory research – What • Descriptive research – When Where Who • Explanatory research –Why / How

  26. The Story So Far • Research paradigms • The Scientific Method • Inductive vs. deductive reasoning • Exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory research

  27. Where The Story Goes • Formulation of research question(s) • Literature search and synthesis

  28. Exploratory Research • Useful for emergent phenomena • Less commonly published • “Pilot” “preliminary” studies

  29. Getting To Research Question Drafts • First, identify: descriptive vs. explanatory work

  30. Descriptive Research • Details understanding of phenomenon • Much social research • Early physical sciences research • Examines correlation • Examples?

  31. Descriptive vs. Explanatory Descriptive Explanatory Y = f(x,z) Necessary cause Sufficient cause Contributory cause Dose-response Divines process/mechanism • Central tendency values • Range • Variables’ distributions • Crosstabulation

  32. Sandbox 1 • Campus awareness of sustainability issues • Descriptive statistics? • Summary statistics? • Statistical causality tests? • Qualitative or quantitative

  33. Explanatory Research • Tests mechanisms described in phenomenon • Examines causality • Novel / test competing / extend existing causality • Examples?

  34. Sandbox 2 • Effects of balsam fir on understory & soil • The descriptive phase would deliver what? • Composition changes? • Altered understory vigor? • Altered wildlife utilization? • Altered soil chemistry/structure? • The Explanatory phase would deliver what?

  35. Testing for Causality • Temporal order • Association • Exceptional cases • Necessary vs. sufficient • Disproof of alternatives/fail to disprove cause • Confounding factors • Spurious factors

  36. Causality Examples • Males perform better on standardized math and engineering tests than do females • The rare Saluki Leopard’s home range is upland pine • For undergraduates, more studying results in better grades • The Colorado Rockies score more runs at home • Sugar maples are sap-productive in Februaries

  37. Time in Research • Cross sectional • Longitudinal • Time series / “trend” study • Panel • Cohort

  38. Cross Sectional Studies • Simple, cost-effective • Usually descriptive

  39. Time Series (Longitudinal) • Repeatedly measures the group of interest • Not necessarily the same individuals • Trends through time • U.S. Census • Animal populations

  40. Panel Study (Longitudinal) • Tracks same individuals with repeated measures • Long-term health studies • Forestry and plant research

  41. Cohort Studies (Longitudinal) • Tracks members of specified group, not individuals • Birth cohorts • Graduation cohorts

  42. Examples Studies Study Types Cross sectional Longitudinal Time series Panel Cohort • ACAD hiker study • OZAR river user study • OZAR river user studIES

  43. Large n vs. Small n Studies Large n Small n Case study Intensive scrutiny of small set Meso timescale • Cross-section • Time series • Panel • Cohort

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