research+design+some+basic+and+also+key+points.ppt

TheFourCharacteristicsofSocialScienceResearch,Thegoalisinference.Theproceduresarepublic.3.Theconclusionsareuncertain.4.Thecontentisthemethod.Thecontentofscienceisinthemethods,notthesubjectmatter.,MakingaContributiontotheLiterature,Chooseahypothesisthatisconsideredimportantbutforwhichnoonehascarriedoutasystematicstudy.Chooseanacceptedhypothesisthatyoususpectisfalseandinvestigatewhetheritisfalseandifsomeothertheoryiscorrect.Attempttoresolveorprovidefurtherevidenceononesideofacontroversyintheliterature.Designresearchtoevaluateunquestionedassumptionsintheliterature.Arguethatanimportanttopichasbeenoverlookedintheliteratureandthencontributeasystematicstudy.Showthattheoriesorevidenceusedinoneliteraturecanbeappliedinanotherliteraturetosolveanexistingbutapparentlyunrelatedproblem.,Developaresearchquestion.Developatheory.Collectthedata.Usethedatatodrawdescriptiveorcausalinferences.Note:Thesestepsarenotalwaysfollowedinorder.Forexample,sometimeswecollectdatabeforewedeterminetheresearchquestion.OthertimesweGobackandredevelopourtheoryafteranalyzingthedata.,TheMajorComponentsofResearchDesign,Theresearchquestionshouldbe“important”intherealworld.2.Theprojectshouldmakeaspecificcontributiontoanidentifiablescholarlyliteraturebyincreasingourabilitytoconstructexplanationsofsomephenomenonintheworld.Inordertochooseaproperquestion,itisnecessarytoengagetheliteratureanddeterminewhichquestionshavealreadybeenansweredandwhereourquestionsfitin.,ChoosingaResearchQuestiontoStudy,DevelopingtheoryChooseatheorythatcouldbewrong.2.Chooseatheorythatisfalsifiable(generateasmanyobservableimplicationsaspossible).Beasconcreteaspossible.Parsimony?ImprovingtheoryIfthetheoryisconditionalonseveralvariables,wemaydropacondition.Wecanmakethetheoryapplytoawiderrangeofphenomena.2.Modifythetheoryandcollectnewdatawithwhichtotestit,ifpossible.,DevelopingandImprovingtheTheory,Alwaysreporttheproceduresbywhichthedatawerecollected.Collectdataonasmanyobservableimplicationsaspossible.CollectmoredataontheDV.CollectdataonnewDVs.Makesureyouaremeasuringwhatyouthinkyouaremeasuring.Makesurethedatacollectionmethodsarereliable.(Applyingthesameprocedureinthesamewaywillalwaysproducethesamemeasure.)5.Thestudyshouldbereplicable.,ImprovingData,Mostoften,thepointofresearchistodrawcausalinferences.Wewanttodetermine,tothebestofourability,ifachangeinanIVcausesaachangeinaDV.Causalinference,however,isNOTcausality.TheDefinitionofCausalityThedifferencebetweenthesystematiccomponentofobservationsmadewhentheexplanatoryvariabletakesonevalueandthesystematiccomponentofcomparableobservationswhentheexplanatoryvariabletakesanothervalue.YiI-YiNWecanthencalculatethemeancausaleffectforuniti=(pg.81).,Causality,TheFundamentalProblemofCausalInference,WecanneverobservethesameDVwithtwodifferentvaluesoftheIV.GettingAroundtheProblem:AssumptionofUnitHomogeneity(valuesoftheDVarethesamewhentheIVtakesonthesamevalue)orConstantEffectsAssumptionofConditionalIndependence(valuesoftheIVareindependentofvaluesoftheDV)EndogeneitySelectionBiasOmittedVariableBias,RulesforConstructingCausalHypotheses,Constructfalsifiabletheories.Buildtheoriesthatareinternallyconsistent.3.SelectDVscarefully.Theyshouldbedependent.Itshouldvary.FindaDVthatrepresentsthevariationyouwanttoexplain.4.Maximizeconcreteness(defineyourconcepts!)5.Statetheoriesinasencompassingwaysasfeasible.,Pause,DeterminingWhattoObserve,Oftenitisnotpossibletochooseobservationsbyrandomselection,especiallyincase-studyresearch.Wemustthenchoosebyintentionalselection.1.UnitHomogeneity(orconstanteffect)2.ConditionalIndependenceWhenneitherconditionismet,wehaveanindeterminateresearchdesign.,IndeterminateResearchDesigns,Thenumberofinferencesisgreaterthanthenumberofobservations.(Seepg.121)2.Multicollinearity(TwoIVsareperfectlycorrelated.),ThreatstoCausalitySelectionBias,Selectionbiasoccurswhenobservationsarechoseninsuchawayastobiasthedirectionoftherelationshipobservedinthedata.Twotypesofselectionbias:TheDVdoesntvary!(Porter)ThevariationintheDVislimited.TheDVandtheIVvaryinpatternsthatsupporttheresearcherstheory.Selectionbiascanbeintroducedbytheresearcherortheworld.,Pause,AvoidingSelectionBias,SelectobservationsonthekeyIV!Aimforarangeofvaluescoveringeachsideofthespectrum.SelectobservationsonanunrelatedIV3.Selectobservationsonacontrolvariable.4.SelectobservationsatthehighandlowendsoftheDV.,ThreatstoCausality-Endogeneity,EndogeneityoccurswhentheIVcausestheDV,ratherthanviceversa.Endogeneityisoneofthemostcommonproblemsinresearchdesign.,Pause,CorrectingforEndoge