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Thinking Like a Researcher - Coggle Diagram
Thinking Like a Researcher
Conducting good research requires first retraining your brain to think like a researcher.
Some of the mental abstractions needed to
think like a researcher include unit of analysis, constructs, hypotheses, operationalization,
theories, models, induction, deduction.
One of the first decisions in any social science research is the unit of analysis of a scientific study.
The unit of analysis refers to the person, collective, or object that is the target of the investigation.
Typical unit of analysis include individuals, groups, organizations, countries, technologies, objects, and such
Understanding the unit of analysis is important because it shapes what type of data you.
should collect for your study and who you collect it from.
Explanations require development of concepts or generalizable properties or characteristics associated with objects, events, or people.
Concepts may also have progressive levels of abstraction.
Some concepts such as a person's weight are precise and objective.
While other concepts such as a person's personality may be more abstract and difficult to visualize.
A construct is an abstract concept that is specifically chosen to explain a given phenomenon.
The former instance (weight) is a unidimensional construct, while the latter ( communication skill) is a multidimensional construct.
The distinction between constructs and concepts are clearer in multi-dimensional constructs, where the higher order abstraction is called a construct and the lower order abstractions are called concepts.
There are two types of definitions: dictionary definitions and operational definitions.
Scientific research requires operational definitions that define constructs in terms of how they will be empirically measured.
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The overall network of relationships between a set of related constructs is called a nomological network.
We must also identify and state patterns of relationships between
these constructs.
A proposition is a
tentative and conjectural relationship between constructs that is stated in a declarative form.
The empirical formulation of
propositions, stated as relationships between variables, is called hypotheses.
Propositions are specified in the theoretical plane, while hypotheses are specified in the empirical plane.
Hypotheses can be strong or weak.
Also note that scientific hypotheses should clearly specify independent and dependent
variables.
A theory is a set of systematically interrelated constructs and propositions intended to explain and predict a phenomenon or behavior of interest, within certain boundary conditions and assumptions.
Essentially, a theory is a systemic collection of related theoretical propositions.
Hence, theories can be substantially more
complex and abstract and of a larger scope than propositions or hypotheses.
A term often used in conjunction with theory is a model.
A model is a representation of
all or part of a system that is constructed to study that system.
While a theory tries to explain a phenomenon, a model tries to
represent a phenomenon.
Models are often used by decision makers to make important
decisions based on a given set of inputs.
Models can also be descriptive, predictive, or normative.
Descriptive models are frequently used for representing complex systems, for visualizing variables and relationships in such systems. An advertising expenditure model may be a descriptive model. Predictive models allow forecast of future events.
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