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what is research

defining research

the research process

how does research matter to every one.

the implication of your researcher

how does research matter to you

purposes of research

  • identifying problems
  • addressing uncertainties
  • identifying relationships between variables
  • finding solutions
  • developing theories
  • planning for the future

research as a cyclical process

1 identifying and analyzing the problem

2 finding and reading the literature

3 formulating you question or hypotheses

4 choosing an approach

5 writing your research proposal

6 pretesting your research data collection methods or instruments

7 sample and collect you data

8 analyzing and interpreting your information

9 writing your report

research topics

exploratory research

explanatory research

descriptive research

stage 2: focus on articles that contain key words and info relevant

stage 3

stage 1: research databases

a hypotheses is a statement the you will ether attempt to accept or reject at the end of your research

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feasibility

ethical implementations

what are you researching

why is it worth doing

how are you going to gather

research paradigms and traditions

ways of generating knowledge

the three dominant research traditions.

what is a paradigm

describes a cluster of beliefs and dictate which for scientists in a particular discipline influence what should be studied, how research should be done and how results should be interpreted

the three cognitive interests or sciences, by habermas

historical hermeneutic

empirical analytical (empirical research is concerned with phenomena that is conformable through observation)

critically oriented (to free people from all forms of domination and oppression and to use knowledge to empower people to do so, ideally researchers should use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in their search for the truth)

(primary goal is to gain understanding, more interested in symbolism and the way in which people use them to gain understanding)

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objective knowledge (free from culture and absolutely certain)

subjective (the researcher's own interests and expectation)

interpretivism

critical realism

positivism

positions

to expose myths and empower people to transform society radically.

epistemological position knowledge should supply people with the tools needed to change their own world.

ontological position reality changes over time and is governed by underlying structures.

ontological position reality is external and objective and the laws that govern it can be discovered

methodological position reliability is important, objective quantitative research is used

to discover causal relationships in order to predict and control events

meta-theoretical position by establishing causal relationships we can predict effects and therefore take action to manipulate or control phenomena

epistemological position the only valid knowledge is knowledge produced by empirical observation

methodological position subjective qualitative methods are used

meta-theoretical position theory should tell a story in order to create an in depth understanding of other peoples realities.

  • axiological position* uniqueness is valued

ontological position reality is fluid and subjective and is created by human interaction

methodological position mixed methods are used (quantitative, qualitative and quantitative methods are combined.

meta-theoretical position theory should be a critique that reveals true social conditions and that helps people to see the way to a better world.

to understand and describe meaningful social action and experiences

epistemological position something is seen as knowledge when it feels right to those being studied. common sense is an important source of knowledge.

axiological position freedom, equality and emancipation are valued.

methodological position

epistemological position (ontos-being) the study of being, existence or realty

meta-theoretical position (meta-about) theory of theory

epistemological position (episteme- knowledge) (the study of knowledge) deals with what counts as knowledge)

axiological position (axios-worthy) study of values and judgments

axiological position objective research, truth and reason is valued.

theory in research

defining theory (is a systemic description of the concepts, constructs and relationships of specific processes of phenomena in a given discipline)

types of theories

the nature of theory

the basic components of theories

functions of theories

evaluating theories

theories vs models

characteristic of theories

the systems approach

the theoretical framework

working theories

scholarly theories

commonsense theory

theories are abstractions and hence are partial and incomplete explanations or description of a phenomenon.

theories are constructions that provide ways to view a phenomenon.

theory is a conceptual representation or explanation of a phenomenon. theories are abstract concept and construction of a phenomenon

assumptions (theoretical statements that cannot be confirmed by direct observation

concepts have a label and a definition

relationships theories describe relationships between concepts

prediction and explanation.

prediction (is a statement that an event or out come of a research study will occur.)

explanation can either be ordinary or theoretical. an ordinary explanation describes aspects of every day life in order to make it more understandable. a theoretical explanation includes a logical argument or poisons and explains the concepts and underlying principals that establish the argument.

identify and select what concepts or key areas of a phenomenon to study

explain the relationships between concepts

organise experiences into smaller categories

validity

parsimony

heuristic value

appropriateness

theoretical scope

external constancy (how understandable is it in comparison to other theories )

internal consistency (the logical use of ideas and constructs in the development of a theory)

openness

direction of theorizing

inductive (from more specific to the more general)

deductive (reasoning from general assumptions to more specific assumptions.)

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levels of analysis

macrotheory

mesotheory

micro theory

paradigm or tradition

interpretivist theorizing

interpretivist theorizing

positivist theorizing

critical theorizing

a set of elements that are dependent on one another and work together in a stable way as a total and whole unit or entity.

specific collection of though and theories that relate to the phenomenon

functions of a theoretical frame work

it points to concepts on which we focus

to outline the theoretical scope

assists us identifying key variables

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