Introduction to Research Methods

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 1Introduction to research methods1: Preface & Foundations1

2Click on the speaker to hear the audio for each slidehere first

and here second.

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 2Guess my ruleSequenceFits my rule?What is the rule for the sequence? How sure are you?2, 4, 6, , ___ %__, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, __, When you get to 100% certainty, turn your paper over1

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 3For this introduction...General goals of the courseObjectives (what do I want to achieve?)Research and its place within graduate educationSystems of belief ways of knowingAuthorityIntuitionConfirmation biasAstrologyPsychic readingAssociationScienceIs science natural?Nope, but it worksWe basically spend the semester learning a way of knowing thats tried and tested and is good science1

2

3

4

5

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 4Foundations of researchPositivism vs. post-positivismPositivismScience can only address that which is directly observableObservation and measurement is the only means to the truthPost-positivism & critical realism & critical naturalismSimply put all measurements are potentially faultyTruth, though it exists, is unlikely to ever be known with certaintyThe point of science is to maintain the search for the truth despite knowing that one may never reach itHence seek reality, while being critical of ones current estimation of it 2

3

4

1

1KNR 497FoundationsSlide 5Foundations of researchPost-positivism & critical realism & c. naturalismBecause we are critical of our grasp on reality, weTake multiple measuresCritique the measures we haveEngage in hearty arguments about our perspectives and their influence on our thought processes (that we might not be aware of)It is only through such critique that objectivity can be approximated an individual cannot be objective, but if a viewpoint is generalizable across many perspectives and cultures it may possess some objectivity

2

3

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 6Foundations of researchPost-positivism & critical realismThe natural selection theory of knowledgeThat which survives can claim a degree of objectivity or approximation to the truthHere lies the value of research that we do, and the criticism to which we subject itIts pretty much the only way that our (eventual) understanding can claim a degree of objectivity(according to critical realism, that isnow, if youre a relativist) And so back to graduate education

1

2

3

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 7Figure 2 The Yin and Yang of Research1

2

3

4

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 8Foundations of researchThe language of researchEmpiricism, theory, probabilities & causationTypes of studiesThree basic types:DescriptiveRelationalCausalTime in researchCross-sectional vs. longitudinal designsRepeated measures vs. time series designs1

2

3

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 9Foundations of researchVariables Value or attribute = a property of something (may or may not be numeric) examples:Your ageMy ageYour genderMy genderVariableHow about all our ages?We all have an age, but they are all differentAge is something we vary byAge is a variable that describes a property of our group

1

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 10Foundations of researchVariablesIndependent variableWhat you or nature manipulates in some wayE.g. 1: What happens when you get older?Age is the independent variable (nature is the manipulator)E.g. 2: What happens when you drink?Blood alcohol level is the IV (you are the manipulator)Critiquing IVs: Exhaustive? Mutually exclusive attributes? See also construct validity (later)1

2

KNR 497FoundationsSlide 11Foundations of researchVariablesDependent variableThe thing that is influenced (changed) by your independent variableE.g. 1 (IV = Age): Skin sag, baldness, frequency of urine expulsion, memory strengthE.g. 2 (IV = Alcohol consumption): Balance, inhibition, frequency of urine expulsionCritiquing DVs: see operationalization, reliability, measurement validity (all later)1

2

3