doing social research: some personal reflections
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Doing Social Research
Some Personal Reflections
BABU P GEORGE, PhD
Associate Professor of Business
Alaska Pacific University
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Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes every
word, but the prudent considers well his
steps.
Isaiah 1:18 God said: Come let us reason
together.
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The Foundations
What do researchers strive for? TRUTH? No!
Models that explain phenomena? Yes Scientific realism Vs Scientific instrumentalism
Science Vs Pseudoscience
The central property of science is falsifiability You can never prove anything with science
If a scientific claim can stand tests of refutation, it is likely to be true
What is a scientific explanation? a scientific explanation succeeds by subsuming a phenomenon under
a general law
Why do researchers do what they do? What are your personal motivations?
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Analysis, Induction, Deduction
Analysis is the process of decomposing complex
phenomena into simpler constituent components Reductionism refers to an extremist form of analysis
In the final analysis, you can explain everything, including
human behavior, in the language of physics and chemistry!
Induction refers to weaving together the whole
picture (general principle) from its parts.
Deduction refers to explaining a particularphenomenon as a realization of a general principle
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Empirical Verification
The predictions implied by hypotheses should
be in agreement with observations
Observations are NOT limited to observations by
Multiple observers and multiple observations
fortify the value of observations
It is difficult (if not impossible) to find inter-
subjectively agreeable observations in human
sciences
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Duhem-Quine thesis
It is impossible to test a theory in isolation
Interaction with the nomological network If a particular test doesnt support a theory, dont
immediately discard the theory
Look for compounding factors that would solve theissue!
The danger is that you might be able to resist rejecting atheory despite compelling counter observations, just byadding ad-hoc excuse hypotheses
Occams razor warns against this tendency
Kuhns Dominant Design
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How do you Know what you Know?
Can we possibly know a thing as it is?
No. We know in human way.
Not yet; we know in Indian way/female way/introvert
way/young way/ ./ I know in my unique way
You dont know a rose until you become a rose; fromthen you will cease to know a rose as others see it.
Me and my Father are One: Atman Brahman oneness!
This is also the root of differences between Subjectivist-
Qualitative and Objectivist-Quantitative researchers
Now, are you a subjectivist or an objectivist?
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The Scientific Method
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Research Problems and Hypotheses
Research problems are opportunities for
grasping the world better Why are some satisfied customers not repeat
Hypotheses are competing alternative
solutions trying to address the research
problem Might be, they are variety seekers.
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Instrument Development
Construct
Validity and Reliability
Test-retest reliability, inter-subjective reliability
ace, convergent, scr m nant, an nomo og cavalidity
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Multi-Stage Mixed Designs
Qualitative first stage followed by quantitative
secon stage stu es ave t e greatest mpact Identify the phenomenon via qualitative study
Quantify and universalize the findings via
quantitative study
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Qualitative Methods are NOT
Stepchildren!
Case studies
Critical incident technique Projective technique
Content analysis
Exegesis
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Nuances with PhD Research Move away from the single supervisor centered solar system
Faculty-Scholar research committees
Leverage social media for rich interaction
Be flexible with the topic, research problems, methods,.andeverything! Make surprises, be prepared for surprises!
Observations and literature reviews offer the first opportunities forwr ng researc papers Why not begin writing blogs?
Networking with other research scholars and academicians ingeneral is vital
Attend conferences!
Prepare active CVs: Google Scholar Profile, academia.edu, LinkedIn,etc
Dont ever plan for systematic progress Knowledge rarely reveals herself linearly!
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Nuances with PhD Research Copyrights are 20th century things
The best way to protect your knowledge is to makepublic imprints of it Publish work-in-progress papers online
SSRN, Scribd, etc
The politics of research Close-minded supervisors
Sensitive research topics
Issues with college / university administrators
Ethical issues Human subjects
Synergizing teaching, research, and service
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QUESTIONS???
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