Agenda

1. Agenda • Scientific Inquiry: Invention and Test • A Case History as an Example • Basic Steps in Testing a Hypothesis • The Role of Deduction & Induction • Falsification

2. Agenda • Science, Society and Social Research • Learning About the Social World • Avoiding Errors • Science and Social Science • Alternative Research Orientations

3. Agenda • Research Ethics and Philosophies • Historical Background • Ethical Principles • Philosophical Issues

4. Scientific Inquiry: Invention & Test

5. Carl G. Hempel

6. Carl Gustav Hempel (1905—1997) Carl Gustav "Peter" Hempel (born January 8 , 1905 in Oranienburg , Germany died November 9 , 1997 in Princeton , New Jersey ) was a philosopher of science and a major figure in 20th-century logical empiricism . He is especially well-known for his articulation of the Deductive-nomological model of scientific explanation , which was considered the "standard model" of scientific explanation during the 1950s and 1960's.

7. Origins of Research Questions and Hypotheses Must be invented, imagined • Problematic or interesting phenomenon • Implications? (what difference does it make?) • How you might change or alter this condition? (what differences lead to it?)

8. Scientific Inquiry: Invention & Test • Semmelweis Case Study • 1844-1848 Vienna General Hospital • Childbed Fever

9. Hempel: “Scientific hypotheses and theories are not derived from observed facts, but invented in order to account for them.”

10. Possible Explanations • Epidemic Influences? • Overcrowding? • Diet? • Rough Examination? • Psychological? • Delivery Position? • Cadaver Infections? • Putrid Matter?

11. Scientific Inquiry: Invention & Test • Comparison with identifiable facts • Logic • But usually more complicated • Testing • If “H” Then “I”

12. Scientific Inquiry: Invention & Test • Deduction • Induction • Falsification • The Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent • Interation & Probability

13. Learning About the Social World • Observing • Generalizing • Reasoning • Reevaluating

14. Avoiding Errors • Observing • Selective Observation • Inaccurate Observation • Generalizing • Overgeneralization • Reasoning • Illogic • Reevaluating • Resistance to Change

15. Science • A set of logical, systematic, documented methods for investigating nature and natural processes; The knowledge produced by these investigations.

16. Social Science • The use of scientific methods to investigate individuals, societies, and societal processes; The knowledge produced by these investigations

17. Specific Challenges of Social Science • Our own biases in studying “ourselves” • The agency or lack thereof of “subjects” • Ethics

18. Motives for SocialResearch • Policy • Academic • Personal • Normative?

19. Types of Social Research • Descriptive Research • Exploratory Research • Explanatory Research • Evaluation Research

20. Alternative Research Orientations • Quantitative vs Qualitative • Multimethods (Triangulation) • Basic vs Applied

21. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Historical Background • U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Research • Nuremberg War Crime Trials • Milgram Experiments

22. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Historical Background • National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1979) • Respect for Persons • Beneficence • Justice • HHS & FDA Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (1991) • Institutional Review Boards • NIH Office for Protection from Research Risks

23. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Historical Background • Professional Associations • E.g., ASA • Codes of Ethics • ICA http://www.icahdq.org/aboutica/ethics.asp

24. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Ethical Principles (ASA) • Achieving Valid Results • Honesty and Openness • Protecting Research Participants • No Harm • Voluntary: Informed Consent • Researcher Disclosure • Anonymity or Confidentiality (unless waived) • Benefits Outweigh Risks --The Uses of Research

25. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Philosophical Issues • Positivism & Post-positivism • Inter-subjective Agreement

26. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Philosophical Issues • Positivist Research Guidelines • Test ideas without too much personal investment in the outcome • Plan & carry out the investigation systematically • Document & disclose • Clarify assumptions • Specify meanings of all terms • Maintain skepticism of current knowledge • Replicate and build social theory • Search for regularities & patterns

27. Research Ethics and Philosophies • Philosophical Issues • Interpretivism & Constructivism • The Hermeneutic Circle • Guidelines • Identify stakeholders and solicit their claims, concerns and issues • Introduce these claims to other stakeholders and elicit reactions • Focus on areas of disagreement among stakeholder interpretation • Negotiate with stakeholders to reach consensus on meaning

28. Core Distinctions and Processes • The interplay of theory and observation • The interplay of inductive and deductive logical processes • Quantitative vs Qualitative Research • Empirical vs Quantitative Research • Basic vs Applied Research • Ordered steps including invention, investigation, and revision

29. For Thursday The Process and Problems of Social Reseach • Stinchcombe: Constructing Social Theories • Schutt: Chapter 2; section of Chapter 4