INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Topics

The role of Knowledge Understanding science & the scientific method Thomas Kuhn and the path towards normal

science Paradigms in the social science Reasoning (deductive and inductive) Research and Public Administration

"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."  --  Pat Robertson

Would you consider the above statement to have any scientific merit?

The role of knowledge

The French philosopher Auguste Comte has been considered by many as the father of sociology and he has been very influential in the social sciences. Comte identified three types of knowledge that human beings have used to explain the natural and social world.

1. Theological

2. Metaphysical

3. Positivist or scientific

Types of knowledge

1. Theological Humans explain nature as the wish of a

superior force (s) beyond the control of human beings

2. Metaphysical Normative view of the world. The focus is not

on what it is, but how it ought to be 3. Positivist, scientist, objectivist Nature follows some laws and patterns that

can be studied, modeled and replicated objectively using standard procedures

So what type of knowledge is Mr. Pat Robertson using to analyze feminism?

Goals of Scientific Research

According to Mc Nabb (2002) the goals are To describe some event, thing or

phenomenon To predict future behavior or events

based on observed changes in existing conditions

To provide for greater understanding of phenomena and how variables are related

The path towards Normal science (Thomas Kuhn) According to Kuhn science can be

divided into two groups: paradigmatic or normal and pre-paradigmatic science

1. What is a paradigm? 2. What is the process through which a

field acquires a paradigm? 3. Can any field achieve scientific

recognition if it lacks of a paradigm? 4. What role does a paradigm play?

What is a paradigm?

A paradigm is what the members of a scientific community share and likewise a scientific community consists of people who share a paradigm

A paradigm governs in the first instance, not a subject matter, but a group of practitioners

A paradigm commits the group of practitioners to a disciplinary matrix

Paradigms are formed to share examples that result in “tacit knowledge” acquired by doing science

What is the process through which a field

acquires a paradigm?

A paradigm or a theory is accepted by the scientific community when it can be said to explain the phenomenon of a field better than its competitors by

Becoming a better instrument for discovery

Becoming a better instrument to solve puzzles

Representing better nature or society

Can a field achieve scientific

recognition if it lacks a paradigm?

There will be “paradigm shifts” or “paradigm competition” but never a lack of paradigm (s) unless the field becomes simply speculative and unscientific. To reject a paradigm without substitution is to reject science itself

What role does a paradigm play?

It guides research on problems and solutions It governs groups of practitioners or

communities committed to some standards and methods

It is the common property of a group Institutionalizes the way knowledge is being

taught and transferred It provides problems or questions to be studied It offers a disciplinary matrix

What is a disciplinary matrix?

A disciplinary matrix is defined by Kuhn as the “common possession” of the practitioners of a particular discipline.

Symbolic generalizations: a common language to communicate among practitioners

Y = α + βX Metaphysical paradigms: commitment to particular

models Values: Kuhn argues that prediction is perhaps the most

important value shared by a community of scientists. Examplars: the concrete problem-solutions the field

deals with.

The route to normal science

PARADIGM COMPETITION

A PARADIGM EMERGES AS BETTER THAN

OTHERS

PARADIGM ENTERS IN CRISIS

NOVEL THEORIES EMERGE

Paradigms and social science

Based on Kuhn’s ideas and concept of paradigm. Can we conclude that the social sciences are really scientific?

What is (are) the paradigm (s) that governs the social sciences in general and public administration in particular?

Paradigms and social research

1. Positivism Social physics An objective reality exists that can be

measured, analyzed, modeled & replicated Ideas and theories are confronted with facts Regularities and patterns are present Social reality can be analyzed systematically Social reality can be quantified and measured

systematically Example: poverty exists and can be

measured

Paradigms and social research

2. Interpretivism (ethnographic research) An objective reality does not exist; instead

reality is socially constructed The goal is to understand what meaning

people give to reality Reality is relative depending on how the group

or the person perceives it Example: poverty is in the eye of the beholder

Paradigms and social research

3. Constructivism Reality is constructed by the actors Explores how different stakeholders in

social settings construct their beliefs Example: I have less than average

Joe, therefore, I must be poor

Paradigms in public administration Public administration started out as part of political

science and focused on the study of government (ethics, accountability, transparency, bureaucracy, administrative law, public participation, etc.).

Public administration went through a paradigm shift and established itself as its own discipline borrowing from other fields such as economics, management science, public policy, etc. (human resources management, public finance, policy evaluation, strategic planning, public sector economics, etc.).

In sum, public administration has moved from of a normative (values) to a positivist (facts) approach

Public administration researchPolicy output Manpower modeling methods

Adaptation to scarcity Productivity measures

Local attitudes and leader opinion

Effects of federal aid

Licensure effectiveness Public participation

Policy outcomes Cooperative management style

Organizational costs Job managing effectiveness

Attitudes, beliefs, and values Staff burnout

Cash-management strategies

School effectiveness

Tax-limitations Risk-management practice

Research validity & reliability Affirmative action-effectiveness

Source: McNabb (2002:18)

Social research strategies

Ideas: What we think

THEORY

DATA Reality: What we observe

DEDUCTIVEREASONING

INDUCTIVEREASONING

Deductive and Inductive Logic

Research that comes from observation with little prior theory is inductive, whereas logical theory tends to be more deductive.

However, the formulation of new research questions usually contains elements of both since the real world must motivate our curiosity, although reformulations of questions may be more deductively motivated based on work of others.

Data (facts) analysis

No matter what research strategy we use (deductive or inductive) data analysis is needed.

Data analysis refers to understanding what the facts are telling us

Data analysis also refers to being able to communicate facts

“If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” Statistics is a research tool to help us

understand and communicate facts

Most common statistical techniques in PA research

Univariate 37 ANOVA 3

Bivariate correlation 20 Path analysis 3

Multiple regression 25 Bivariate regression 1

Cross-tabulations 22 MANOVA 1

Factor Analysis 5 Nonlinear regression 1

Chi square 4 Other 3

Source: McNabb (2002:19)

N= 125