Download Lecture 2

Scientific Method
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ESTABLISH THE PROBLEM
FORMULATE HYPOTHESIS
REFINE THE HYPOTHESIS
CREATE RESEARCH DESIGN
COLLECT DATA
TEST HYPOTHESIS,
EVALUATE & CONCLUDE
RE-TEST (REPLICATE)
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Beginning the Research Process
Theory, Questions, Hypotheses
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Theory and Research
Theory functions three ways in research:
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Theories prevent our being taken in by
flukes.
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Theories make sense of observed patterns in
ways that can suggest other possibilities.
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Theories can direct research efforts, pointing
toward likely discoveries through empirical
observation.
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Theoretical Perspective
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Conflict Theory
Rational Choice
Institutionalism
Feminist theory
Modernization theory
Etc., Etc., Etc.
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Linking Social Scientific Theory
and Research
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Deduction - Deriving expectations or
hypotheses from theories.
Induction - Developing generalizations
from specific observations.
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Developing Your
Research Question
I know what general area, but
I’m not sure of my research question?
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The Importance of Good Questions
A good research question:
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Defines the investigation
Sets boundaries
Provides direction
Helps produce good research
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Concept Map of Potential
Research Topics
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Minding Practicalities
Research directions are not always at the
full discretion of the researcher.
Practicalities include:
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Appropriateness of the topic
Your ability to get supervisory support
Funding opportunities and commitments
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From Interesting Topics to
Researchable Questions
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theory
observations/personal experiences
contemporary issues
engagement with the literature
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Narrowing and Clarifying
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Narrowing, clarifying, and even
redefining your questions is essential to
the research process.
Forming the right ‘questions’ should be
seen as an iterative process that is
informed by reading and doing at all
stages.
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The Hypothesis Dilemma
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Hypotheses are designed to express
relationships between variables. If this
is the nature of your question, a
hypothesis can add to your research
If your question is more descriptive or
explorative, generating a hypothesis
may not be appropriate
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The Hypothesis Dilemma
A hypothesis may not be appropriate if:
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You do not have a hunch or educated guess
about a particular situation
You do not have a set of defined variables.
Your question centres on phenomenological
description
Your question centres on an ethnographic
study of a cultural group
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Good Question Checklist
 Is the question right for the field?
 Will the findings be considered
significant?
 Will it make a contribution?
 Are the terms and concepts well
defined?
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Good Question Checklist
Is the question doable?
 Can information be collected in an attempt to answer
the question?
 Do I have the skills and expertise necessary to access
this information? If not, can the skills be developed?
 Will I be able to get it all done within my time
constraints?
 Are costs likely to exceed my budget?
 Are there any potential ethics problems?
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Good Question Checklist
Does the question get the tick of
approval from those in the know?
 Does my supervisor think I am on the
right track?
 Do ‘experts’ in the field think my
question is relevant/ important/ doable?
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Working with Literature
What should I be reading and
what do I do with it all?
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The Importance of Working with
Literature
Working with literature is an essential part
of the research process that:
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generates ideas
helps form significant questions
helps identify definitions, measures, variables
Provides information on how other scholars
answer similar questions
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Working with literature
Working with
Literature
Find it!
Manage it!
Use it!
Review it!
Knowing the literature
types
Reading efficiently
Choosing your
research topic
Understanding the lit
review’s purpose
Using available
resources
Keeping track of
references
Developing your
question
Ensuring adequate
coverage
Honing your search
skills
Writing relevant
annotations
Arguing your
rationale
Writing purposefully
Informing your work
with theory
Working on style
and tone
Designing method
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Mapping the literature
Equality in the Judicial
System
Race
Gender
Economic
Other
White v. non-white
Threat perception
representation
Age
Minority Specific
Judicial perception
Occupation
culture
Minority v. Minority
Access to
resources
Status
sexuality
Judicial elections
nationality
Stages of the
Process
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Intersecting Areas of Literature
BODY PIERCING
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FOUCAULT
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TEENAGERS
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RITES OF PASSAGE
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background literature
moderate relevance
high relevance
highest relevance
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Intersecting Areas of Literature
Crime
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Modernization
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Political Economy
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Democracy
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background literature
moderate relevance
high relevance
highest relevance
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Using the Literature
Literature is used for many purposes throughout
the research process:
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focusing interests
defining questions
arguing a rationale
theoretically informing your study
developing appropriate research design/methodology
every stage of the research process demands literary
engagement
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Fundamental Concepts of
Statistics
Measurement - any result from any procedure that assigns a value to an
observable phenomenon. Problems - our observations are based on our
ability to observe, count, etc. Accuracy is always an issue. It is virtually
impossible to achieve the same measurement twice.
Variation - this brings us to the idea of variation. Statistics is based on the
idea that almost everything varies in someway or has variation.
Two reasons for variation:
1. measurement inaccuracies or random error
2. true differences b/w observations, measurement and groups
Probabilistic causation - because of this property we can only deal with
probabilities of being correct or incorrect in our determination of
differences in crime rates.
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Three Types of Statistics
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Descriptive - Techniques employed in the presentation of collected
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Inferential -Linked with the concept of probability. Statistical
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Predictive- Deals with relationships and the idea that knowing
data. Tables, charts, graphs and the formulation of quantities that
indicate concise information about our data.
methods that permit us to infer (probabilistically) something about the
real world and about the "true" population from knowledge derived
from only part of that population. Methods that allow us to specify
how likely we will be in error.
information about on characteristic or variable can help us predict the
behavior of another variable. Methods and tools that help predict
future observations in other populations or time periods.
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Causation
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1. TIME-ORDER: the presumed cause
must always precede the presumed
effect
2. COVARIATION: the presumed cause
and effect must vary with each other
3. ELIMINATION OF ALTERNATIVE
EXPLANATIONS: there must be no
equally plausible explanations for the
presumed effect (in this specific
instance)
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Theory and Research
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Deduction - Deriving expectations or
hypotheses from theories.
Induction - Developing generalizations
from specific observations.
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Data Driven Research
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Are the questions developed from
theory or just data mining.
Pose the question then get the data
But in reality, we are given the data and
then (after a little data mining) we pose
a question.
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SPSS and statistical analysis is not for
everyone.
Many researchers dispute the relevance of
conclusions made from statistical analysis
But we are going to make you learn it
anyway.
Why?
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What is SPSS?
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Statistical software:
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Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
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There are lots of others
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SAS
STATA
R
SHAZAM
Specialized software
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HLM
LISREL
BUGS
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Why SPSS?
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Although SPSS is not the most powerful
statistical software - It is the easiest to
learn and use!!!!!!
It is very flexible and can do most
everything we need
It can examine a large amount of data
very quickly
It is competitively priced
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Where to start?
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Get some data
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Your books have some datasets
ICPSR: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/
Wait!!!!! I forgot. Get a research
question and theory first.
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