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THEORY AND OTHER ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH
BUSN 364 – Week 4Özge Can
A research example:
Neuman, Chapter 3 (pg.55) Question: Why do people smoke cigarettes? Theory of social resources:
More educated, high income people tend to smoke less
However, smoking is more than a health issue... Theory of cultural taste:
Pampel (2006): Is taste in music related to smoking because of the different life styles?
Finding: Jazz lovers in general are more likely to smoke than nonjazz lovers of the same social class.
8
Theory...
Helps us to understand the complexities of social life
Explains why people do what they do Clarifies and systematize thinking, extends
understanding, deepends discussions and enriches analysis
Plays critical role in advancing knowledge and organizing the way we conduct research
Theory...
Has multiple meanings in daily life so don’t confuse!
Theory is NOT: Our explanations in daily life General worldviews; the way of seeing,
interpreting and understanding events Criticisms based on a political or moral
viewpoints; belief/value-based critiques Philosophical commentaries
What is THEORY?
A system of interconnected ideas that condenses and organizes the knowledge about the world and explains how it works
Classical social theorists => e.g. Durkheim, Marx, Smith, Mills, Weber
More recent theorists => e.g. Bourdieu, Giddens, Goffman, Foucault, Krugman
Although they generate many new ideas and theories, we all can use theory!
What is THEORY?
A good research involves theory. If theory remains unclear, incomplete or poorly formulated => it is a weak research
Theories are not static: we constantly modify older theories and develop new ones
Validity = Accuracy of a theory in explaining/ predicting things
Parsimony = the idea that simple is better; everything else being equal, a theory that explains more with less complexity is better
“There is nothing so practical as a good theory.”
- Kurt Lewin
Basis of Difference
Ideology Theory
Certainty of asnwers
Absolute, certain asnwers with no questions
Tentative conditional answers that are incomplete and open ended
Type of knowledge
Closed, fixed belief systems
Open, expanding
Type of assumptions
Based on faith, moral belief or social position
Based on open, informed debate and rational discussions
Use of normative claims
Descriptions, explainations and normative claims all merged
Seperation of descriptions, and explanations from normative claims
Empirical evidence
Selective use, avoiding direct tests; resistance or denial of contrary evidence
Considering all evidence, seeking repeated tests, change with new evidence
Logical consistency
Contradictions and logical fallacies
Highest level of consistency; avoiding logical fallacies
Summary Table: Theory versus Ideology
The Parts of Theory
Assumptions An un-tested starting point in a theory that is
necessary in order to build a theoretical explanation
Concepts An idea that is thought, carefully defined and
made explicit in a theory that we can express as a word or symbol
Relationships Whether the concepts are connected to one
another and if so, how
Concepts
They are everywhere, we use them all the time Concepts have two parts: a symbol (a word,
term, a written character) and a definition. We find them easy to use but difficult to define
or describe For example: “Height” A characteristics of a physical object
indicating the distance from top to bottom. The word “height” refers to an abstract idea. We
associate a sound and a written symbol to this idea.
Relationships
Proposition A theoretical statement about the relatipnship
between two or more concepts Hypothesis
An empirically testable version of a theoretical proposition that is yet to be tested or verified with empirical evidence
It is most used in deductive theorizing
Unit of analysis => In research, we must fit the concepts to a specific type of unit of social life: individual people, groups, organizations, movements, exchanges, institutions, countries etc.
Abstract and Empirical Levels
Treatment to
employees
Employee
loyalty
Social security &
other benefits
Annual turnover
Abstract level
Empirical level
Proposition
Hypothesis
Some Important Aspects of Theory Direction of theorizing
Either deductive or inductive Level of analysis
Micro, macro or meso Forms of explanation
Causal, structural, interpretative Range of a theory
Empirical generalization, a middle-range theory, a framewoek
Direction of Theorizing in Research Deductive Approach: Start with abstract
concepts and propositions then evaluate them against empirical evidence We go from ideas, theory or a mental picture
toward observable empirical evidence
Inductive Approach: Start with specific observations of the empirical world and then generalize from this evidence to build toward abstract ideas We go from empirical observations toward
theoretical concepts and propositions
Causal Explanation
A theoretical explanation about why events occur or how things work in terms of a cause-effect relationship among concepts/variables Example: “Higher poverty causes crime rates to
increase”
Three requirements of causality:1. Temporal order2. Empirical association3. Elimination of alternative explanations
Causal Explanation
1) Temporal order: The cause must come earlier in time than
an effect
Difficult in cross-sectional research: Like a chicken-and-egg problem
To resolve it researcher needs to bring in other information or a research design to test for temporal order
Simple causal relations are unidirectional (single direction). More complex relationships: mutual or simultaneous causation
Causal Explanation
2) Association: Two phenomena occur together in a
patterned way or appear to act together.
When one event happens or is present, the other one is likely to happen or be present as well.
It is a necessary but not a sufficient condition of causality: An association exists between the day of the
week and the exam grades.
Causal Explanation
3) Eliminating Alternatives: We must show that the effect is due to
the causal variable, not to something else.
In experiments, we build controls into the study design
In non-experimental research, we identify possible alternative causes and measure them. Once we measure them, we can use statistical techniques to control them
Causal Explanation
A positive relationship means that a higher value on the cause goes with a higher value on the effect or outcome Example: As the number of years of a person’s
schooling increases, the longer the person’s life expectancy is.
A negative relationship means that a higher value on the cause goes with a lower value on the effect or outcome Example: As the number of years of a person’s
schooling increases, his/her prejudice decreses.
Positive relationship:
Positive and negative relationship:
Positive path relationship:
Examples of Causal Relationships
Role of Theory in Research Process: Close interaction between theory and
research findings: Helps to make connections and see the broader
significance of research findings: To see the forest instead of just a single tree
We refuse, extend or modify a theory based on empirical results of a research.
More central to basic-explanatory research; more indirect impact in applied-descriptive research
Social Theory Examples:
The Philosophy of Science
We can define science in two ways:1) What practicing scientists actually
do?2) What philosophers have claimed as
the core meaning of science?
What makes social science scientific? There is no single answer; there is no one
way to do science => There are multiple alternative approaches
Ontology: The issue of what exists; the fundamental
nature of being. Asks the question: “what reality is?”
Two basic positions: Realist => see the world as being “out there”.
The world exists independent of humans and their interpretations of it.
Nominalist (subjectivist) => humans never directly experience reality “out there”. Our experience is always occuring through the lenses of interpretations and subjectivity.
The Philosophy of Science
The positions are on a continuum:
Epistemology: The issue of how we know the world
around us; the knowledge of the world “How we know what we know or what are
the most valid ways to reach truth”
Realist position: we can produce knowledge and learn about reality by making careful observations of it.
Nominalist position: making observations will not lead to knowledge about reality because interpretations and subjective views influence all observations
The Philosophy of Science
Three Major Approaches:
Positivist social science Emphasizes discovering causal laws, careful
empirical observations and value-free/ objective research
Interpretive social science Emphasizes meaningful social action, socially
constructed meaning and value relativism Critical social science
Emphasized competing surface-level distortions, multiple levels of reality and value-based activism for human empowerment
Positivist Social Science:
The purpose of science is to discover laws The reality is empirically evident Humans are rational thinking View on human agency: deterministic Scientific knowledge is different from and superior to all other
knowledge Explanations are causal and advance by deductive reasoning Explanations are verified using replication by other researchers Social science should be value-free and objective
Interpretive Social Science:
The purpose of science is to understand social meaning in context
The reality is socially created Humans interact and create shared meaning View on human agency: voluntaristic/ autonomy Scientific knowledge is no better than other knowledge forms Explanations are in-depth descriptions and advance by
inductive reasoning Scientific evidence is contingent and context specific Social science should be relativistic regarding social positions
Critical Social Science:
The purpose of science is to reveal what is hidden The reality has multiple layers Social life is relational View on human agency: bounded autonomy Scientific knowledge is imperfect but can fight false
consciousness Explanations are based on critiques and verified through praxis Social science contains a moral-political dimension there is
unequality in terms of human freedom and empowerment
Common Features of the Three Approaches:
All are empirical. All are systematic. All are theoretical. All are public.
All research studies are explicit and shared; transparent
All are self-reflective. All are open-end processes.
All see research as constantly moving, evolving, changing and asking new questions