URBDP 591A Advanced Research Design: Theoretical and Practical Challenges

1. URBDP 591A Advanced Research Design:Theoretical and Practical Challenges • Fall Quarter 2013 • Tue-Thu 9:00-10:20 • Gould 422 • 4 Credits • Instructor: Marina Alberti • Department of Urban Design and Planning • E-mail: malberti@u.washington.edu • Tel: 206 616 8667

2. URBDP 591A Research Design in Complex Settings: Opportunities and Challenges of Interdisciplinary Collaborations This course is designed to provide graduate students in the applied social and natural sciences with theoretical and practical skills for conducting research in complex settings with a particular emphasis on integration and synthesis of theories, concepts, and data across disciplines Students will learn how to • frame a research question • develop testable hypotheses • provide operational definitions of research variables • select appropriate analytical methods, and • evaluate alternative research designs and strategies.

3. Learning objectives • Gain exposure to and familiarity with a wide variety of research approaches and methodologies. • Gain an understanding of the philosophical/theoretical perspectives that underlie alternative research approaches. • Gain an understanding of major research problems and apply a variety of problem-solving strategies at various stages of the research process. • Enhance your creative skills to evaluate alternative research approaches and develop a research design.

4. Course Structure The course is structured around two components: (1) a theoretical/methodological component and (2) an applied component. The theoretical component is organized around a series of lectures on research design. The applied research component focuses on the practice of scientific research through interactions with diverse scientists on research challenge in practice and experience in their laboratories.

5. Course Assignments • 15-page research design proposal which will articulate: a research question, testable hypotheses, appropriate research design and methods. • A journal discussion through a collaborative research blog. • Four exercises: 1) frame research question, 2) literature review, 3) critique of two research articles, and 4) evaluation of alternative research design.

6. Readings The readings will be available on the class web-site. The books include: Robert Alford (1998), The Craft of Inquiry: Theories, Methods, Evidence, Oxford University Press. Jeffrey A. Gliner and George A. Morgan (2000), Research Methods in Applied Settings, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. David Ford (2000), Scientific Method for Ecological research, Cambridge University Press. Thomas S. Kuhn (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, The University of Chicago Press.

7. Course Structure

8. What is Science? Science is a set of logical, systematic, documented methods with which to investigate human and natural processes; also, the knowledge produced by these investigations.

9. Characteristics of Science • Produces objective evidence that can be replicated • Unearths observable, objective evidence that either supports or refutes existing beliefs • Creates new knowledge • Is open-minded about claims, even those that go against common sense • Is skeptical about ideas that, even though they make sense, have not been supported by any research evidence.

10. Objectives of Science • Theory building • Explanation • Modeling • Prediction • Problem-solving

11. Validity in Science Conclusion Validity: Is there a relationship between two variables? Internal Validity: Assuming that there is a relationship in this study, is the relationship a causal one? Construct Validity: Assuming that there is a causal relationship, can we claim that the program reflected our construct External Validity: Assuming that there is a causal relationship in this study between the constructs of the cause and the effect, can we generalize this effect to other persons, places or times?

12. Science is a process The game of science is, in principle, without end. He who decides one day that scientific statements do not call for any further test, and that they can be regarded as finally verified, retires from the game. Sir Karl Popper The Logic of Scientific Discovery

13. Two Criticisms of Science 1. Thomas Kuhn (1962\1970) Structure of Scientific Revolutions 2. Paul Feyerabend (1975, 1981) Against Method Problems of Empiricism

14. Thomas Kuhn Structure of Scientific Revolutions • Basic Premise is that Science is not a steadily accumulating body of knowledge • Historical process of competition amongst segments of scientific community

15. Development of a paradigm Stage 1 Pre-Science Unification Stage 2 Stage 5 Generates new Normal Science Resolution Anomalies build Stage 4 Stage 3 Revolution Crisis!! Competition

16. What is a paradigm Paradigms are operating rules about the appropriate relationships among theories, methods, and evidence that constitute the actual practice of the members of a particular scientific community. Examples: - Copernican Astronomy - Newtonian dynamics - Wave optics

17. Paradigms of inquiry Positivism Naturalist/Constructivist Post-Positivism Critical theory/Postmodernism

18. Paradigms of inquiry Positivism There is a real world out there, whose characteristics can be observed, measured and generalized in a way that come close to truth. Naturalist/Constructivist The world is socially constructed by language, and language is constituted by cultural meanings negotiated by people with identities shaped by their historical experience and social location.

19. Paradigms of inquiry Post-positivism There imperfect reality and only somewhat apprehensible. Rigorous procedures are used to apprehend what is apprehensible. Critical Theory/Postmodernism Reality is shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic, gender values; the dialogue between investigator and subjects is considered a dialogue to transform ignorance into informed consciousness.

20. Comparing paradigms • Ontology: the nature of the "reality”? What is real? • Epistemology: validation of knowledge claims: the relationship of the "knower" to what is "knowable." How do we know what we know about the world around us? • Methodology: how we know what we know; what ways we think are legitimate for generating knowledge • Causality: the possibility of causal linkages, distinction between cause and effects • Neutrality: the role of value, degree of subjectivity

21. Definitions THEORY A formulation of apparent relationships or underlying principles of certain observed phenomena which has been verified to a certain degree. POSTULATE A conjecture, a new or unexplored idea written in the form of a proposition. HYPOTHESIS A statement based on empirical or theoretical assumptions constructed to give a test to a postulate.

22. Hypothesis Research Question Define Design Research Design Process Theory Select method Interpretation Evaluation Data Collection Data Analysis

23. Typology of research • A. Description/descriptive research: The purpose of research is intended to answer two general questions: a) Who possesses this attribute, thing, or phenomenon?, and b) How is this related to other phenomena? • B. Exploration/formulative research: The basic purpose of research in this case is to explore he nature of the phenomenon, to formulate a better understanding of its nature. As a result, this type of research generally asks the question "What is it?". • C. Explanation/experimental research: The purpose is to explain how the phenomenon is affected by or affects other things: causation. The main interest is to examine how a certain thing is caused by changes in something else, or how changes in this thing causes change in another.

24. Typology of research • D. Evaluation/evaluative research: The purpose is to evaluate the effects of an intervention (policy/plan/management strategy). The focus is on the effectiveness of the intervention in achieving a defined objective. • E. Historical/Critical: Historical/critical research is a reconstruction of the past in a systematic and objective manner. To ascertain the meaning and reliability of facts concerning the past. To appraise or evaluate past events. To study trends and the mechanics by which past events have occurred.

25. Types of Research Questions 1. Descriptive Research: What Examples: What are the characteristics of urban sprawl? 2. Exploratory Research: How Example: How do patterns of urban development vary across space and time? 3. Explanatory Research: Why Example: What explain land development at the urban fringe? 4. Evaluation Research: How it is working Example: How effective is growth management in controlling sprawl? 5. Historical Research: How it has happened Example: How did growth management legislation emerge?

26. Research Design Approaches • Experimental • Quasi-Experimental • Cross-Sectional • Longitudinal • Observational

27. Complexity Science

28. Scope of Urban Research Urban Processes: Demographic Social Dynamics Economic Markets Land Development Biophysical/Ecological Institutional/Policy Urban Patterns: Population Economic Activities Land Use/Land Cover Transportation Infrastructure Morphology Drivers Agents Relationships History Dynamics Urban Changes: Social Equity Economic Development Landscape Change Ecological Conditions Policy Scenarios