What is Social Science Research? How is it Done?

1. What is Social Science Research? How is it Done? PO 390W: Research Design For Political Science

2. What is Science? • How do we DEFINE “science”? • What are the GOALS of science? • What is NOT science? • Why/when is science PREFERABLE to other forms of inquiry (e.g., intuition, philosophy?)

3. The Definition of Science • Science is a system of knowledge which seeks to describe, explain, and determine general regularities about phenomena through standardized procedures of inquiry • Thus, science is constituted of both a product and a process; the understanding of each component is essential

4. What are the Goals of Science? (PRODUCT) • Derive answerable questions from the empirical realm • Produce systematic answers to these questions through further empirical observation, which meet generally accepted requirements of description, explanation, prediction, and understanding • Ultimately increase collective knowledge

5. Ideally, How is Science Done? (PROCESS) • Formulate a research question about an empirical relationship • Develop precise definitions of concepts (abstractions about phenomena) • Link concepts to empirical objects and events (variable measurement)

6. Ideally, How is Science Done? (PROCESS) • Develop hypothesesabout the causal relationships between variables, citing general networks of established propositions and conclusions (theories) to explain causation • Gather appropriate empirical observations (data), based on concepts,for the purposes of systematically testing hypotheses • Conduct tests using the scientific method to arrive at empirical generalizations • Determine support for hypothesis • Determine how findings impact the existing body of knowledge concerning the phenomena

7. S & S’s Process Flowchart Deduction Subject General Principles to Observations Theories Empirical Generalizations Hypotheses Induction Infer Generalizations from Observations Systematic and Cyclical Process of Knowledge Development and Accumulation Observations

8. What is NOT Science? • Science generally seeks to avoid subjectivity and value judgments in inquiry • Does not seek to address morality or desirability of phenomena • Still, subjectivity is always an issue, because science is conducted by humans • As such, science does not seek to ascertain “truth,” as it pertains to issues of faith regarding existence and the essence of being • Truth is the realm of philosophy and religion; fact, as understood by empirical regularity, is the realm of science

9. Why/When is Science Preferable? • Science does not condemn philosophy or religion; it is simply speaking to another realm of inquiry • Within that realm – empirical fact – science likely has no equal as a mode of inquiry • Its systematic nature allows for reliability and verifiability (superior to intuition) • The scientific method establishes reasonable and updatable standards for the acceptance or rejection of notions • At the same time – science is an ongoing endeavor, with knowledge of any area ALWAYS being incomplete