1 SRM (Introduction/Research design ) Flashcards
What is research? 3 types of it.
Research is characterized as a systematic process involving the gathering and analysis of information. The primary goal of research is to discover, interpret, and increase knowledge in order to address questions or solve problems effectively.
a. Mode 1 - Basic/Pure/Academic Research:
- This type of research is primarily driven by curiosity and the quest for fundamental understanding. It aims to expand the existing knowledge base without an immediate or direct application. Mode 1 research is often theoretical and seeks to uncover new principles or concepts.
b. Mode 2 - Applied/Practical Research:
- Applied research is more focused on solving practical problems or addressing specific issues. It involves the application of existing knowledge to develop practical solutions or innovations. The emphasis in Mode 2 research is on the direct relevance and applicability of findings in real-world situations.
c. Mode 3 - Appreciation of Current and Future Human Condition:
- Mode 3 research is characterized by its focus on understanding and appreciating the current and future human condition. It involves interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to address complex societal challenges. This mode often integrates perspectives from various disciplines to provide holistic insights.
Thesis structure
Title page
Summary
Table of contents
List of figures
List of tables
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Dependent variable (definition and variation; relevance of the variation; alternative explanations of the variation)
Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework (Definition of variation of the independent variable; the effects of the variation in the independent variable; the logic behind the hypothesis)
Chapter 3 - Empirical research
(Sample, variable operationalization, data analysis methodology; finding)
Conclusions
Appendices
The voting behaviors:
- Sociological Voting Behavior:
Explanation: Influenced by social factors such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and religion.
Example: A voter supporting a candidate based on shared cultural or social identity. - Partisan Voting Behavior:
Explanation: Driven by loyalty to a particular political party.
Example: Voting for a candidate solely because they belong to the voter’s preferred political party. - Retrospective Voting Behavior:
Explanation: Based on the evaluation of a candidate’s past performance or actions.
Example: Voting for an incumbent if satisfied with their previous term in office. - Prospective Voting Behavior:
Explanation: Based on expectations and perceptions of a candidate’s future policies and actions.
Example: Choosing a candidate because of their proposed plans for the future. - Strategic Voting Behavior:
Explanation: Voting with the intention of influencing the outcome rather than expressing true preferences.
Example: Voting for a candidate who is not the voter’s first choice but has a better chance of winning.
What to write in Introduction? What to keep in mind?
State topic, relevance; research questions, finish with hypothesis.
- no points, citations, visuals, subheadings, use present tense instead of future tense
What research strives to do?
-Understand the phenomena and their underlying cause, predict
the future based on the past (pure/basic research).
-Help find ways to improve policy making (applied research)
What research cannot do?
-Give comprehensive understanding of people’s behaviour and
recipes how to manipulate it
* E.g. study of drunken driving
Remove the responsibility for decision-making.
* 1987 Beecham lawsuit against a market research firm blaming its
“significant errors in forecasting” for loss of potential income.
Accurately predict the future
* Human understanding and perception is based on projecting the
past onto the future.
* Principle of uncertainty.
* Human self-awareness
What does scientific correctness include?
Purposiveness – a clear goal in mind – you have to
know what you’re looking for (but not what you’ll
find).
Rigour – good theoretical base & carefully
thought-out methodology, not based on hunches
and intuition.
Testability – testing hypotheses applying actual
data.
Replicability – ensure that others can get the same
results if they use the same methods & data.
Validity – how well the methods and data measure
what they claim to be measuring
Precision and confidence level – findings should
be as close to reality as possible; probability of
errors should be minimized to less than 5%.
Objectivity – conclusions are based on factual
findings and not on our preferences or values.
Generalizability – applicability of findings of this
case to other settings.
Parsimony – fewer variables explaining variance
more efficiently is preferable to a complex set of
variables that only marginally increase explained
variance
IN/CORRECT CONDUCT AND USE OF RESEARCH?
-Pseudo-research
Sugging, frugging, pugging.
Push polls (political campaigning)
Bogus surveys vs. advocacy research vs. thought leadership
(“95% children are victims of crimes”).
Justification of already made decisions or ideological positions
and shifting responsibility.
*Climate change
* “Nature vs. nurture”
*IQ studies and racism (“nation of morons”)
* Separated twins
Whose interests are being served & whose interests are being damaged?
-Confusing causality and correlation
The classic “storks and babies”
Ice-cream and murder
-Bias
Biased research design (questions, sampling, data,
analysis, interpretation).
*“Asking respondents whether they believed “the government’s
responsibility to bail out private companies with taxpayers’
dollars“ – a majority said no.
*VS. asking respondents if “investing billions to try and keep
financial institutions and markets secure” was the right thing to
do – a majority said yes.”
-Falsification (punishable) or misrepresentation of findings
(under/overstating results, concealing errors).
*Australian study of weight issues of emergency room patients
(almost 60% of “Australians who end up in emergency wards” vs.
of “750 patients in the emergency ward of the Melbourne Austin
Hospital observed over 6 months in 2008-2009” are overweight or
obese)
-Ethical dilemmas
Asch’s conformity experiment
Milgram’s 1963/5 study on obedience
Ethics definition and level of ethic
Ethics – norms for conduct that
distinguish between acceptable and
unacceptable behaviour.
Levels of ethics
Societal
Professional
Individual
Key principles of research ethics (1978 Belmont
report)
- Justice (treat equals equally; beware of exploitation of
vulnerable populations; balance costs & benefits
among stakeholders) - Beneficence (minimize social/psychological/legal hurt
and discomfort to participants & maximize benefits) - Respect of persons (fundamental value of freedom/
autonomy/ free will, privacy, dignity)
-> Ethics addresses the need to balance conflicting
interests of stakeholders in research (sponsor vs.
researcher vs. respondent vs. society)
Key tools of ethical behaviour towards research
participants
1)Voluntary participation.
2)(Reasonably) Informed consent:
Competence (assumption that a reasonable individual will
make a correct decision if given relevant information).
Voluntarism (consent given freely, participation by choice,
not because of social position).
Full information (answering any inquiries; explanation of
procedures and their purpose, of expected benefits and
risks, of possibility to withdraw consent).
Comprehension (ensure understanding of risks and
procedures).
3)Debriefing
4)No harm to participants’ rights or welfare (original focus in
medical research):
Respect for privacy:
Sensitivity of information being given (income or intelligence
vs. age or rank).
Setting being observed (home vs. public).
Dissemination of information (possibility of identification).
Anonymity (researcher cannot associate participant
with data).
Confidentiality (only researcher can identify particular
participants, but no one else; legal issues).
5) Transparency (be upfront about conflicts of
interest, potential risks, etc.).
3 key criteria to assess the quality of your research
question:
Relevant
Feasible
Interesting
How to answer if research question is relevant?
Relevant from a practical/ policy perspective, if
relates to:
* a problem that currently exists in the real world.
* an area that a policy-maker believes needs to be improved in
their domain.
Relevant from an academic perspective, if:
* nothing is known about the topic.
* a lot is known about the topic, but the knowledge is scattered
& not integrated.
* a lot of research is done on the topic, but results are
contradictory.
* established relationships do not hold in certain situations.
How to answer if research question is feasible?
If you can answer the Q within the constraints of
your research project:
Time and money.
Availability of respondents/ data sources – especially
important to ensure before you start.
Expertise of researcher.
Characteristics of a good research
question:
Is not trivial, does not ask what we already know or
what is not significant or does not make a difference.
Is not rhetorical or based on value judgments.
Indicates the target population.
Clearly identifies the variables/constructs, their
proposed relationship, what we want to know about
them.
Matches the research design.
Is answerable based on the data we plan to gather.
