Advanced Search
Search Results
285 total results found
Budget Planning
12. Budget Planning Every project boils down to money. If you had a bigger budget, you could probably get more people to do your project more quickly and deliver more. That’s why no project plan is complete until you come up with a budget. But no matter wheth...
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: Data are sets of obs...
9 – Types of Logic
Why Should I Care? Your understanding of the problem depends on the type of logic you are using. The earthy – got your feet on the ground – scientists prefer an inductive approach. The distant – rather be in an office – scientists usually prefer a deductive a...
8 – Building a Hypothesis
Why Should I Care? How the data is gathered can affect the results, and the amount of time and resources needed to complete the project. You need to think this through before you start the project. Definitions Research Question: A broad question that guide...
7 – Measuring Variables
Why should I care? The accuracy of your project depends on whether or not you are measuring the right phenomenon. The type of measurement determines what kind of tables and calculations you can generate, and also determines how far you can go when you interpr...
6 – Due Diligence – Business Research
Research is about attitude. If you wish to find, you will find. If you give up, you will end up empty-handed. Ownership Company Legal Name, Type of Organization, Shareholders, or Administratorshttp://www.registreentreprises.gouv.qc.ca/fr/consulter/rechercher...
5 – Reviewing the Literature
Why Should I Care? Listing and summarizing previous research results allows you to set a foundation for your own research. You will know what needs to be verified, and what mistakes can be avoided. It is important to repeat the work of scientific studies to ...
4 – Grey, News, Opiniated and User-Generated Media
Why Should I Care? The sources you chose will determine the quality of your work. Bias in your sources will bias your work. Definitions Bias: A tendency to show one side of the story over any other aspects. Academic Literature: Journals publishing articles...
3 – Citing Sources
Why Should I Care? It’s so easy now to buy a paper online. Teachers and all sorts of readers know this. They don’t trust you. To convince the reader of your integrity, the least you can do is attribute the ideas in your paper to their rightful author. What’s ...
1 – What is Social Science?
Why Should I Care? Without science, your beliefs are based on your elders experience, on superstition, on faith and religious dogma, and personal assumptions. You might be right about many things. But you also might be wrong about a lot of things. Elements o...
1- Survey
Why Should I Care? Surveys are very common. However, many are not done well. There are many traps most people don’t know about that reduce their scientific validity. Definitions Survey: the act of measuring objects. Social survey: a research technique tha...
9 – Case Study
Why Should I Care? If you wish to study business, or any other applied field of study such as law, or medicine, much of the “how-to” knowledge comes from the accumulation of real-life events. Each “case” can help to design your playbook, which you will use to...
8 – Available Data
Why Should I Care? Many – if not most – researchers are producing reports based on data that was collected by someone else. This is convenient because it saves time and money. But it is also tricky because there may be gaps or errors in the data that the end-...
7 – Content Analysis
Why Should I Care? There are hidden messages and meanings to media that we are exposed to every day. There is a scientific way to analyze these media content, to discover their true face. Definitions Content Analysis: The systematic coding of ideas, themes,...
6 – Unobtrusive Measurement
Why Should I Care? There are hidden messages and meanings in landmarks, and objects that cannot speak. They have a story to tell if we know how to listen. Definitions Unobtrusive Measurement: The use of physical evidence, nonparticipant observations, and ar...
5 – Field Work
Why Should I Care? Some of the best social science comes from field work, but many people are not convinced because it is often exploratory, or descriptive, work. Definitions Field work: Research that involves studying social phenomena as they occur in the...
4 – Experiment
Why Should I Care? Controlling the social environment to conduct science is prone to ethical issues. But doing it right produces great science. (First Steps Ch. 6) Definitions Experiment: A study where techniques are used to isolate, control, and manipulat...
3 – Survey Interview
Why Should I Care? You would rather spend more time with respondents to dig into a topic. You prefer to reduce the size of the sample. You don’t mind open-ended questions. You want to get to the bottom of things. Objects of Measurement Interviews are about ...
2- Survey Questionnaire
Why Should I Care? Your Questionnaire can sink the scientific validity of your project. There is a right way, and a very wrong way to question your surveyed population. Sampling Typically done on large populations. Sample size magic number is 1,000 responde...
10 – Operationalization
Why Should I Care? How the data is gathered can affect the results, and the amount of time and resources needed to complete the project. You need to think this through before you start the project. Definitions Operationalization: Setting up systems of measu...