POLI 343 Introduction to Political Research Session 4-The Scientific Method and Research Process Lecturer: Prof. A. Essuman-Johnson, Dept. of Political Science Contact Information: aessuman-johnson@ug.edu.gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017 godsonug.wordpress.com/blog
Scientific Method Social science research is based on the scientific method of inquiry. There is therefore the need to understand what the scientific method involves. First we need to understand what the characteristics of a science are. The characteristics of a science are as follows: a.It is empirical i.e. it is based on observation b.It is theoretical i.e. it attempts Slide 2 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research to summarize complex
Scientific Method c. It is cumulative i.e. theories build up upon one another with new theories correcting, extending and refining the older ones. d. It is non-ethical i.e. social scientists do not ask whether particular social actions are good or bad; they merely seek to explain them. Slide 3 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
Diagram of Scientific Method Slide 4 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
Scientific Method Social Science research relies on the scientific method. The scientific method is cyclical. It begins with facts, progresses through theories and predictions and returns to new facts that form the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The Scientific method refers to the body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. Slide 5 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. A scientific method consists of the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. One of the first to clearly outline the specifics of a scientific method was John Stuart Mill. Slide 6 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge. Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results. Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many hypotheses together in a coherent structure. Slide 7 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: This in turn may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context. Among other facets shared by the various fields of inquiry is the conviction that the process be objective to reduce biased interpretations of the results. Another basic expectation is to document, archive and share all data and methodology so they are available for careful scrutiny by other scientists, thereby allowing other researchers the opportunity to verify results by attempting to reproduce them. Slide 8 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: This practice, called full disclosure , also allows statistical measures of the reliability of these data to be established. We can call Political Science a science if its theories are progressively refined and tested by observation and if the ideals of objectivity and exactness guide inquiry. The characteristics above constitute the scientific method of social science investigation. However, the ͞sĐieŶtifiĐ ŵethod͟ aloŶe does Ŷot ŵake a disĐipliŶe a science e.g. assuming a student sets out researching social or political Slide 9 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research behaviour.
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: He objectively observes that people stop and talk to each other along the street in town and he notes that the frequency of the conversation differs from one situation to another. He therefore theorizes that people interact at different rates. As his observation continues he notes that people usually talk to each other when they are close to each other along the road, so he improves his theoretical statement and says that ͞people aƌe ŵoƌe likely to have a conversation when they Slide 10 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research are closer than when they are far apart
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: Such a student has been empirical, theoretical, has cumulatively refined his theory and has made no ethical judgment as to whether it is good or bad to shout across the street. But ǁhat the studeŶt has doŶe is Ŷot ͞sĐieŶĐe͟ ďeĐause it is trivial. The reason is that we all knew his result before he began his investigation and there was no doubt about it. If he had found that people are less likely to talk to each other when they are closer along the ƌoad, theŶ that ǁould haǀe ďeeŶ ͞sĐieŶĐe͟ . Slide 11 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: Usually we say that an empirical theoretically connected body of knowledge is science only when the people who know the theories in the subject area, know more about the real world than those who do not know the theories. There are arguments that there can never e a real science of human behaviour because it is intrinsically different than physical behaviour and that those differences preclude scientific description e.g. it is pointed out that physical phenomena are determinate and regular while human behaviour is subject to whim and fancy and so is not all regular and determinate and therefore cannot be scientifically described. Slide 12 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: To such scholars, human beings are the least controllable, verifiable, law obeying and predictable of subjects. This however is not the point. Human behaviour may or may not be subjects to whim or fancy. The point is that science does not require determinism and regularity e.g. the highly successful theories of probability and statistics specifically deal with phenomena that are not regular but are in fact quite random in their behaviour. Slide 13 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: In human behaviour, random theory is used very much e.g. while we cannot name the specific Ghanaian women whose social behaviour will put them in the state of pregnancy in a year, we can say confidently predict that 5% of Ghanaian women will be in that state based on rates of pregnancy. Slide 14 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: Social science research relies on the scientific method which is cyclical. It begins with facts progresses through theories and predictions and returns to new facts that form the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next. The first step in the scientific method is the process called induction . In induction, observed facts are used to generate a theory consistent with the facts. From the induction process the researcher moves to deduction. In deduction the researcher would ask ͞ǁhat aƌe the ĐoŶseƋueŶĐes of the theoƌy, Slide 15 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research aŶd the iŵpliĐatioŶ the geŶeƌal theoƌy ƌefleĐts?͟
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: The process of collecting new facts which allows the researcher to decide whether the theory is supported or refuted is the next stage and is called verification. The new findings make the researcher to accept, modify or reject the theory - this leads to a new cycle of induction, deduction and verification. The ultimate aim of every social scientist is to establish the general course of empirical events. Slide 16 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Scientific Method ;Cont’d: The social scientist uses the scientific approach to achieve this by relying mainly on observation and its methods to make and analyze the observations. There are four distinct operations that are necessary when formulating social science research. Slide 17 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Research Process The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures which will ensure relevant, reliable and unbiased information. Any social research therefore goes through a process that ensures that scientific methods have been used. The research process therefore is the overall programme or scheme of activities conducive to the systematic execution of operations which help to formulate scientific explanations. Slide 18 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
The Research Process ;Cont’d: Scientific research is thus a process involving seven interrelated activities or themes and each of these activities may be regarded as a stage in the research process. The process normally proceeds from the conception of a theme for a study through t5he gathering of data to the production of a report and the application of the findings. These are all closely interrelated. It is rare to have a mechanically consecutive sequence of procedures in which one research activity is entirely completed before the next one is begun. Slide 19 Poli 343: Introduction to Political Research
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