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INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE & RESEARCH Topics The role of Knowledge Understanding science & the scientific method Thomas Kuhn and the path towards normal science Paradigms in the social science Reasoning (deductive and inductive) Research and Public Administration "Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." -- Pat Robertson Would you consider the above statement to have any scientific merit? The role of knowledge 1. 2. 3. The French philosopher Auguste Comte has been considered by many as the father of sociology and he has been very influential in the social sciences. Comte identified three types of knowledge that human beings have used to explain the natural and social world. Theological Metaphysical Positivist or scientific Types of knowledge Theological Humans explain nature as the wish of a superior force (s) beyond the control of human beings 2. Metaphysical Normative view of the world. The focus is not on what it is, but how it ought to be 3. Positivist, scientist, objectivist Nature follows some laws and patterns that can be studied, modeled and replicated objectively using standard procedures So what type of knowledge is Mr. Pat Robertson using to analyze feminism? 1. Goals of Scientific Research According to Mc Nabb (2002) the goals are To describe some event, thing or phenomenon To predict future behavior or events based on observed changes in existing conditions To provide for greater understanding of phenomena and how variables are related The path towards Normal science (Thomas Kuhn) According to Kuhn science can be 1. 2. 3. 4. divided into two groups: paradigmatic or normal and pre-paradigmatic science What is a paradigm? What is the process through which a field acquires a paradigm? Can any field achieve scientific recognition if it lacks of a paradigm? What role does a paradigm play? What is a paradigm? A paradigm is what the members of a scientific community share and likewise a scientific community consists of people who share a paradigm A paradigm governs in the first instance, not a subject matter, but a group of practitioners A paradigm commits the group of practitioners to a disciplinary matrix Paradigms are formed to share examples that result in “tacit knowledge” acquired by doing science What is the process through which a field acquires a paradigm? A paradigm or a theory is accepted by the scientific community when it can be said to explain the phenomenon of a field better than its competitors by Becoming a better instrument for discovery Becoming a better instrument to solve puzzles Representing better nature or society Can a field achieve scientific recognition if it lacks a paradigm? There will be “paradigm shifts” or “paradigm competition” but never a lack of paradigm (s) unless the field becomes simply speculative and unscientific. To reject a paradigm without substitution is to reject science itself What role does a paradigm play? It guides research on problems and solutions It governs groups of practitioners or communities committed to some standards and methods It is the common property of a group Institutionalizes the way knowledge is being taught and transferred It provides problems or questions to be studied It offers a disciplinary matrix What is a disciplinary matrix? A disciplinary matrix is defined by Kuhn as the “common possession” of the practitioners of a particular discipline. Symbolic generalizations: a common language to communicate among practitioners Y = α + βX Metaphysical paradigms: commitment to particular models Values: Kuhn argues that prediction is perhaps the most important value shared by a community of scientists. Examplars: the concrete problem-solutions the field deals with. The route to normal science PARADIGM COMPETITION A PARADIGM EMERGES AS BETTER THAN OTHERS PARADIGM ENTERS IN CRISIS NOVEL THEORIES EMERGE Paradigms and social science Based on Kuhn’s ideas and concept of paradigm. Can we conclude that the social sciences are really scientific? What is (are) the paradigm (s) that governs the social sciences in general and public administration in particular? Paradigms and social research 1. Positivism Social physics An objective reality exists that can be measured, analyzed, modeled & replicated Ideas and theories are confronted with facts Regularities and patterns are present Social reality can be analyzed systematically Social reality can be quantified and measured systematically Example: poverty exists and can be measured Paradigms and social research 2. Interpretivism (ethnographic research) An objective reality does not exist; instead reality is socially constructed The goal is to understand what meaning people give to reality Reality is relative depending on how the group or the person perceives it Example: poverty is in the eye of the beholder Paradigms and social research Constructivism Reality is constructed by the actors Explores how different stakeholders in social settings construct their beliefs Example: I have less than average Joe, therefore, I must be poor 3. Paradigms in public administration Public administration started out as part of political science and focused on the study of government (ethics, accountability, transparency, bureaucracy, administrative law, public participation, etc.). Public administration went through a paradigm shift and established itself as its own discipline borrowing from other fields such as economics, management science, public policy, etc. (human resources management, public finance, policy evaluation, strategic planning, public sector economics, etc.). In sum, public administration has moved from of a normative (values) to a positivist (facts) approach Public administration research Policy output Manpower modeling methods Adaptation to scarcity Productivity measures Local attitudes and leader opinion Effects of federal aid Licensure effectiveness Public participation Policy outcomes Cooperative management style Organizational costs Job managing effectiveness Attitudes, beliefs, and values Staff burnout Cash-management strategies School effectiveness Tax-limitations Risk-management practice Research validity & reliability Affirmative actioneffectiveness Source: McNabb (2002:18) Social research strategies Ideas: What we think THEORY DEDUCTIVE REASONING INDUCTIVE REASONING DATA Reality: What we observe Deductive and Inductive Logic Research that comes from observation with little prior theory is inductive, whereas logical theory tends to be more deductive. However, the formulation of new research questions usually contains elements of both since the real world must motivate our curiosity, although reformulations of questions may be more deductively motivated based on work of others. Data (facts) analysis No matter what research strategy we use (deductive or inductive) data analysis is needed. Data analysis refers to understanding what the facts are telling us Data analysis also refers to being able to communicate facts “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” Statistics is a research tool to help us understand and communicate facts Most common statistical techniques in PA research Univariate Bivariate correlation Multiple regression 37 20 25 ANOVA Path analysis Bivariate regression 3 3 1 Cross-tabulations Factor Analysis Chi square 22 5 4 MANOVA Nonlinear regression Other 1 1 3 N= 125 Source: McNabb (2002:19)