Rethinking Research

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Rethinking Research

• Deane Neubauer
• Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, Manoa
• Presented to the School of Social Science and
  Languages
• King Mongkuts University of Technology Thonburi
• August 27, 2006

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Why Should We Rethink Research?

• Lack of meaning in research
• Tendency to do what we know, rather than to do
  what may be needed
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Why Should We Rethink Research?

• New problems require new research questions
• Good research is cumulative--as knowledge
  accumulates, we need to ask new questions
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Why Should We Rethink Research?

• Keeping up novelty and innovation in research
  care constant
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Why Do Research?

• Obviously--to gain knowledge. Butwhat kind of
  knowledge?
• The centrality of the research question to the
  research endeavor.
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Why Do Research?

• What do you want to know?
• Why do you want to know it?
• How might you go about it?
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What Do You Want to Know?

• Whatever the subject, it is critical to know
  whether others have done it before you. Research
  is done on the efforts of our predecessors.
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What Do You Want to Know?

• The first step always is researching the research
  question--then one can ask how is my question
  similar or different? How can I build on what has
  been done?
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Yins Approach (1984)

• Is it exploratory? Seek to describe the incidence
  or distribution of some phenomenon?
• What is happening?
• What are the salient themes, patterns, categories
  in participants meaning structures?
• How are these patterns linked to one another
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Yins Approach (1984)

• Or, does it try to explain some phenomenon?
• What events, beliefs, attitudes, policies etc.
  are shaping the environment
• How do these forces interact to result in the
  phenomenon?
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Description and Prediction

• Is it descriptive? What do you seek describe?
  Documenting the phenomenon.
• What are the salient behaviors, events, beliefs,
  attitudes, structures, processes occurring in
  this phenomenon?
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Description and Prediction

• Is it predictive? Predicting outcomes or
  forecasting events.
• What will occur as a result of the phenomenon?
• Who will be affected? In what ways?
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Developing Research Proposals Introducing the
Study

• Describe the substantive focus of research
• Frame as larger theoretical, policy or practice
  problem--develop its significance
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Developing Research Proposals Introducing the
Study

• 3. Pose initial research questions
• 4. Forecast literature to be discussed in
  literature review
• Discuss limitations of Study
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Developing Research Proposals Review of Related
Literature

• Four functions of literature review
• Demonstrate underlying assumptions behind general
  research questions
• Demonstrate knowledge of researcher in related
  research and its traditions
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Developing Research Proposals Review of Related
Literature

• Demonstrate that researcher has identified gaps
  and that proposal will fill needs
• Refines and redefines the research question and
  any related hypotheses
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Developing Research Proposals Research Design
and Research Methods

• What is your research intended to do? What is it
  not intended to do? (Bounding the study.)
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Developing Research Proposals Research Design
and Research Methods

• Which methods will you employ?
• Why these? Why not others?
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The tension and complementary nature of
quantitative and qualitative research approaches

• Quantitative research of one variety very good
  for doing macro research in politics, sociology,
  economics, environment, etc.
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The tension and complementary nature of
quantitative and qualitative research approaches

• Quantitative survey research is very useful in
  identifying characteristics of populations, but
  requires care in control of sample size and
  representative nature of the sample. Power of
  significance dictated by the rigor of sample
  selection.
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The tension and complementary nature of
quantitative and qualitative research approaches

• Critiques of survey biases.
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Complementary Nature of Qualitative Research

• More detailed examination of survey
  characteristics
• Deeper exploration of meanings
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Complementary Nature of Qualitative Research

• Ability to do micro level research--the focus in
  much qualitative research on lived-life issues
  and activities
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Complementary Nature of Qualitative Research

• In general survey research tells us what and
  qualitative research can tell us how and why.
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