2 – How to Build Knowledge Scientifically?
Why Should I Care?
How research is conducted can affect the results of a scientific project. The “Devil is in the details.”
Definitions
Variable: Any aspect or characteristic that varies from case to case, or over time.
Empirical data: Checking our ideas with thorough systematic observation, which can be repeated.
Anecdotal data: Basing belief on a single case observation.
Hypothesis: A statement that focuses on the possible relationships between variables, expressed in a way that involves testing through observation.
Theory: A logically coherent set of ideas that accounts for the empirical patterns discovered by empirical research.
Objects of Observation
Personal Characteristic: Height, skin color, eye color, shoe size, etc.
Socio-Demographic Characteristic: religion, gender, age, language, income, etc.
Opinion: political, hockey, moral, legal, cultural, artistic
Motivations: interests, goals, objectives, influences
Ideology: schools of thought, political parties, philosophies
Biases / Prejudice: culture, education, prior experience
Preferences: taste, culture, personality
Personal History / Background: events, people, deaths, immigration
Family Dynamics: rank in the family, role, age, etc.
Cultural History: events, people, history class, family politics
Perception / Self-Perception: how you are perceived, how you perceive yourself
Aptitude /Ability: running, jumping, typing, reading, speaking, calculating, etc.
Behaviour: doing something, not just talk.
Intention: honesty, lying, mischief, morality.
Action: cowardice, bravery, brazenness, audacity, etc.
Level of Knowledge: test, quiz, recall, response time, memory.
Modes of human expression
Verbal Communication
Recorded
Live
Non-Verbal Communication
Physical Behaviour
Art
Writings
ArtefactsArtifacts / Objects
History of Science
Science is young.
Three elementsElements at the heart of science from its beginnings (p. 6):beginnings:
- Transparency
- In objective observation this is what I recorded
- In method this is how I recorded it
- Logic explanations are of reason
- Repeatability someone else could redo the whole thing and compare results
Religion vs. Science – Giordano Bruno
Science in Quebec – each discipline has its story
See political science and economics, Psychology, Anthropology and History
What is the Research Process?
There are 8 steps to the research process.
Step 1: Choose a topic 5 W
Step 2: Review the literature What do we know / ignore?
Step 3: Formulate the problem Question or Hypothesis
Step 4: Organize research design Pick and Create the instrument
Step 5: Gather data Observe and Record
Step 6: Analyze data Crunch the numbers, facts
Step 7: Interpret data Compare to flaws, caveats
Step 8: Communicate results Write article, conference
Formal theories are used to build steps 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The latter steps aim to verify the validity of the theories with empirical data.
What are the Data Collection Methods? |
What are Data Collection Tools? |
| Survey | Questionnaire / Interview |
| Experiment | Laboratory / Questionnaire / Interview / Recordings |
| Field Work | Recordings / Interview / |
| Unobtrusive Measurement | Landscape/ |
| Content Analysis | Documentation / Media |
|
Available Data |
About journalistic, casual, and other types of non-scientific research
Deadlines
Owner – Sponsor – Commissioner
Audience
How Research Begins
Research does not begin in the lab (p. 20),lab, or in a fieldwork activity. It might begin with a newspaper clipping, a conversation with a colleague, a movie, a book, an observation as a parent, a conversation with your grand-father, etc…
Personal experience – Nazi Germany, Racial Discrimination, Family Environment, etc. may lead some people who suffered these events to study these topics as researchers (p. 21).researchers.
However, personal experience can also bias your approach. You may misinterpret the ideas and opinions of people that have another age, gender, ethnicity, mother tongue, income, social class, education, etc.
4 Values of Modern Research
(p. 23)
Objectivity: gathering data honestly, even if discoveries contradict cherished personal beliefs
Empirical Verification: research does not depend on personal experience, intuition, faith in authority, or tradition to provide answers to their questions.
Cooperation: science builds on past research (for free) and lays the foundation of future research (for free). Scientists work together on science (for free).
Transparency of Method: communicate method and results clearly, honestly, and in enough detail that other researchers can fully understand how the research was carried out, and the data interpreted.