The Relevance of Deweyan Inquiry to Teaching Social Science Research Methods

1. The Relevance of Deweyan Inquiry to Teaching Social Science Research Methods Shane J. Ralston, Ph.D. Penn State University-Hazleton Penn State University-World Campus

2. Organization of the Paper • Teaching Social Science Research Methods • Why Deweyan Inquiry is Relevant • Dewey’s Empiricism, Not Scientism • Some Pedagogical Suggestions • Conclusion

3. Teaching Social Science Research Methods • Focus on explanatory and predictive research • Kinds of questions, conceptual frameworks, methods/techniques, statistical approaches • Pattern of Social Scientific Inquiry • Problem Definition • Hypothesis Construction • Research Design • Measurement • Data Collection • Data Analysis • Generalization

4. Why Deweyan Inquiry is Relevant • Not specific to formal empirical research, but generally applicable to political/administrative practice (Poli Sci MA or MPA program) • Dewey’s How We Think (1910/1933) • Dewey’s Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938) • A Felt Difficulty or Indeterminate Situation • Locating and Defining the Problem • A Suggested Solution • Refining the Suggestion • Testing the Suggestion

5. Felt Difficulty Problem Location and Definition Suggestion of a Possible Solution Refine the Suggestion Test Suggestion 3. Suggesting a solution 4. Refining the suggestion Secondary, reflective experience 2. Specifying the problem 5. Testing the suggestion 1. Indeterminate situation Primary, non-reflective experience Settled situation/ Warranted assertion Deweyan Inquiry vs. Social Scientific Inquiry Problem Definition Hypothesis Definition Research Design Measurement Data Collection Data Analysis Generalization

6. Dewey’s Empiricism, Not Scientism • Dewey, “Philosophy’s Future in Our Scientific Age”: • “What is needed is not the carrying over of procedures that have approved themselves in physical science, but new methods as adapted to human issues and problems, as methods already in scientific use have shown themselves to be in physical subject-matter” • Dewey, Logic: • “The difference between physical and social inquiry does not reside in the presence or absence of an end-in-view [i.e., an intermediary goal], formulated in terms of possible consequences. It consists in the respective subject-matters of the purposes. The difference makes a great practical difference in the conduct of inquiry: a difference in the kinds of operations to be performed in instituting the subject-matters that in their respective interactions will resolve a situation”

7. Some Pedagogical Suggestions • Felt Difficulty and Doubt • The Notebook Method • Conceptual Framework • Theories as tools • Better way to distinguish conceptual/operational definitions • Add exploratory, descriptive and understanding research • Fact-Value Continuum

8. Conclusion • Familiar student objection: “What difference does social science research make for political practice?” • Flyvbjerg’s distinction between phronetic and epistemic inquirer • Building a pragmatic bridge across the research/practice divide