Epistemological Foundations Flashcards
The study of politics can trace its origins at least as far back as
King Hamurrabi and Plato
The American Political Science Association was formed in.
1903
There is no universally accepted definition of politics. As a result of this, the Quality Assurance Agency for UK Higher Education (QAA)negotiated a benchmark statement on politics.
•According to QAA, politics is
concerned with “developing a knowledge and understanding of government and society. The interaction of people, ideas and institutions provides the focus to understand how values are allocated and resources distributed at many levels, from the local to the sectoral, national, regional and global. The analyses of ‘who gets what, when, how, why and where’ are central
In what two ways can politics be defined
field of study of politics with reference to particular sets of institution
a social process that can be observed in a variety of settings.
Feminists have been in the forefront of demands for a wider definition of politics with “
the emphasis on power relations between men and women and whenever and wherever they occur.
The study of knowledge in philosophy is
Epistemology
What is research
The deliberate seeking of knowledge through common sense intuition science and authority
Typologies of research
Based on the purpose of research
Eh pure and applied research
The method deployed In executing research
Quantitative experimental descriptive
Experimental and Non-Experimental Research
Quantitative research is generally associated with
The positivist paradigm
Mixed Method (Pragmatic Approach)
Mixed method or pragmatic approach is the combination of various research methods in the course of conducting a research.
Triangulation is
the application and combination of several research methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon.
Relevance of Research in Political Science
•
The relevance of research in political science include the following amongst others:
•i)To know the limits of existing knowledge and the possibility of expanding its frontiers;
•ii)To know for the sake of being able to do something better or more efficiently;
•iii)To develop and evaluate practices, concepts and theories of political relations and to develop and evaluate methodologies that test these practices, concepts and theories;
•iv)To improve the quality of political, economic and social life of the people;
What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is a concept that is subject to multiple meanings.
who acknowledges, “attempting to understand the nature of knowledge has been a major theme of philosophical enquiry for thousands of years”.
As Ein-Dor (2011:1490)
, Johnson (2008:478) conceptualizes knowledge within
the context of holding “…accurate information or warranted understandings and beliefs about the universe and anything or idea or concept that resides within it.
According to Plato, Knowledge is seen as “
justified true belief”
There are several methods through which knowledge could be acquired. These are:
Experience (empiricism); Common sense Reason (rationalism); Faith (Fideism) and, Science (scientific method) There are other methods, which include: Testimony Intuition Tradition Authority
Research can be classified in two ways:
1). Classification based on the Purpose of Research;
Pure and Applied Research
2). Classification based on the Method deployed in executing Research.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research;
Experimental and Non-Experimental Research;
Historical, Descriptive, Ex-post Facto and mixed methods Research.
Pure and Applied Research
Pure research (also known as “basic”, “academic” or “fundamental” research) is exploratory in nature and is conducted without any practical end-use in mind.
It is concerned with seeking knowledge for its own sake and to satisfy intellectual curiosity
It is driven by gut, instinct, interest, curiosity or intuition, or desire to know or understand and simply aims to advance knowledge and to identify/explain relationships between variables.
However, pure research may provide a foundation for further, sometimes applied research.
Applied research (also called action, policy, useful, social accounting research) is primarily aimed at finding solutions to specific behavioural or organisational problems of society.
In general, applied research is not embarked on or carried out for its own sake. It is always engaged in to solve specific, practical questions or problems.
What this means is that applied research tends to be descriptive, rather than exploratory.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Quantitative research is generally associated with the positivist/postpositivist paradigm.
(the essence of positivism is the application of natural science methods, that is those used in astronomy, maths, physics, chemistry and quantitative biology, in the study of social science phenomena).
It usually involves collecting and converting data into numerical form so that statistical calculations can be made and conclusions drawn.
In other words, quantitative research places emphasis on statistical data and the use of same to test hypotheses.
Qualitative Research, on the other hand, is research that gives detailed descriptions and explanations of the phenomenon studied rather than providing and analyzing statistics.
Qualitative research is associated with the social constructivist paradigm which emphasises the socially constructed nature of reality.
Experimental and Non-Experimental Research
Experimental research is one that involves taking action to influence a phenomenon under study and then observing the consequences of the influence.
The logic of experimentation is driven by a situation where the researcher does not just observe but intervenes to observe the effect of that intervention.
Experimental research has three essential components:
i)independent and dependent variables;
ii)experimental and control groups
iii)pre-testing and post-testing exercise or activity.
An experimental research may be carried out in a laboratory setting or the natural setting.
Non-Experimental research
Non-Experimental research does not require the use of experimental and control groups. It does however involve the use of independent and dependent variables in its investigations.
Types of Non-Experimental research include:
Naturalistic ObservationWatching someone or something in its natural setting to gather information about the mind and behaviour.
Clinical MethodUsing information gathered from psychology patients to come to conclusions about mental states and behaviours.
Case StudyIn-depth research focusing on all aspects of a single person or small group.
Survey MethodUse of written or verbal questionnaires to answer psychological questions.
Historical Research
This form of research relies on archival materials.
It involves the evaluation and analysis of past events for the purpose of gaining a clearer insight of the present in order to make a more reliable prediction of the future.
Descriptive Research
Descriptive research is a research that attempts to unravel the major elements and characteristics of any phenomenon or attribute.
According to J. Best (1970) in Research in Education, Descriptive research is concerned with “conditions or relationships that exist; practices that prevail; beliefs, points of view or attitudes that are held; processes that are going on; effects that are being felt; or trends that are developing. They look at individuals, groups, institutions, methods and materials in order to describe, compare, contrast, classify, analyse and interpret the entities and events”.
According to Sellitz et al (1974) in Research Methods in Social Relations, the focus of descriptive research includes:
Estimating the proportion of people in a specified population who hold certain views or attitudes or who behave in certain ways;
Discovering or testing whether certain variables are associated;
Describing the structure of organisations, or the major patterns of behaviour in them;
Establishing specific prediction.
Scholars have identified the following types of descriptive research:
Case Study (In-depth focus on a particular phenomenon);
Trend Study
Trend Study (Selecting few factors in a phenomenon and studying them continuously over time)
Longitudinal Study
Longitudinal Study (collecting and collating data on the same phenomenon at different points in time);
Cross-sectional Study
Cross-sectional Study (collecting and collating data at one point in time, but with different sub-groups as samples);
Correlational Study
Correlational Study (measuring the degree of relationship between two or more variables);
Sample Survey
Sample Survey (focussing of certain phenomenon by deploying questionnaire, interview etc, to gather information from a part of a population of that phenomenon);
