社會科學研究方法 –

社會科學研究方法 – The Craft of ResearchChapter3and 4 授課老師:郭育仁教授組員: 沈宗穎蘇俊旭曾暇茵黃詠芯孔博仁

Narrow it to a manageable scope, then question it to find the makings of a problem that can guide your research. Find a topic among your interests

提出一個question(質疑),而這個question的Answer (答案or回覆), 可以解決既有現存的問題. So many choices, so little time

1.不能太廣義 “in the air” • 2.A mental itch about a small question that • interests only a single researcher • 3.Does the answer to the question solve a significant problem? 提出question 之須知:

Some questions raise problems; others do not. 1.A question raises a problem if not answering it keeps us from knowing something more important than its answer. 2.A question does not raise a problem if not answering it has no apparent consequence. Question & Problem ?

1. A Research Topic • Is an interest stated specifically enough for us to imaging becoming a local expert on it. • 2. Finding a topic in a general writing • course • Library • Internet From interest to a topic

1.搜尋一特定書目,再從目錄去找尋所要資訊 2.由一個文章的大標題開始找尋, 再看該文章如何用小標題去分段研究;可藉此方法縮小主題的範圍 3. Google your topic, but not indiscriminately 4. Browse through journals and websites Finding a topic for a first research project in a particular field

常遇到的風險: 訂topic的範圍太廣解決之道: adding words & phrases，並記得加入”action words” From a broad topic to a focused one

Restate your topic as a full sentence to test whether it is a claim which could interest your reader • Caution: • Don’tnarrow your topic so much that you • can’t find data on it.

Once you have a focused topic: • Beware the beginner’s mistake • “Thus we see many differences and similarities between……” • Answer the “Five W” questions From a focused topic to questions

1. Ask about the history of your topic • How does it fit into a larger developmental • context? Why did your topic come into being? • What is its own internal history? How and why has • the topic itself changed through time? Who, What, When, and Where, but focus on How and Why

2. Ask about its structure and • composition • How does your topic fit into the context of a larger • structure or function as part of a larger system? • How do its parts fit together as a system? • 3. Ask how your topic is categorized • How can your topic be grouped into kinds? • How does your topic compare to and contrast with • others like it?

4. Turn positive questions into negative • ones • 5. Ask what if? and other speculative • questions • How would things be different if your topic never • existed, disappeared, or were put into a new • context?

6. Ask questions suggested by your • sources • If a source makes a claim you think is • persuasive, ask questions that might extend its • reach. • Ask questions that might support the same claim • with new evidence. • Ask questions analogous to those that sources • have asked about similar topics.

7. Evaluate your questions • Their answers are settled factsthat you could just • look up. • Their answers would be merely speculative. • Their answers are dead ends.

So what? Beyond your own interest in its answer, why would others think it a question worth asking? From a question to its significance

Step1: Name your topic Step2: Add an indirect question Step3: Answer "So what?" by motivating your question

You can identify the significance of your research question by three step formula: • Topic • Question • Significance From Question to a Problem

1. A practical problem creates a 2. A research problem Practical problems: What should we do?

3.It’s a familiar task that typically looks • like this: • Practical problem • Research problem • Research solution • Practical solution • 4.To solve practical problems • solve a research problem, improving understanding • decide what to do to solve • report

1. Distinguish practical research • problems from conceptual ones • A practical problem: It is caused by some • condition in the world. • A conceptual problem: We don’t understand • something about the world. Academic Research Problems: What should we think?

2. In our everyday world, a problem is • something we try to avoid. But in academic research, a problem is something we seek out, even invent if we have to. • 3. Inexperienced researchers • sometimes struggle with this notion • of a research problem. • 4. How to ensure your research has a point: • You need a research problem that focuses you on finding just those data that will help you solve it.

How to distinguish practical and conceptual problems: • conditions • costs Understanding the common structure of problems

1.Ex: I miss the bus. • I’ll be late for work and lose my job. • 2. It’s not you who judge the significance of • your problem by the cost you pay, but • your readers who judge it by the cost • they pay if you don’t solve it. • 3. To make your problem their problem, you • must frame it from their point of view, so • that they see its costs to them. The nature of practical problems

Practical and conceptual problems • have different kinds of conditions and costs. • 2. The consequence of a conceptual problem is a second thing that we don’t know or understand because we don’t understand the first one, and that is more significant, more consequential than the first. The nature of conceptual problems

Pure research : It improves the understanding of a community of researchers. Applied research: When the solution to a research problem does have practical consequences. Distinguishing “pure” and “applied” research

A typical beginner’s mistake: Don’t be a afraid of “pure” research. Connecting a research problem to practical consequences

1.Recognize a good problem when we • bump into it, or it bumps into us. • 2. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a problem at the start, but think about it early on to save hours of work along the way. Finding a good research problem

1. Talk to anyone who might be interested. 2. If you are free to work on any problem, look for a small one that is part of a bigger one. Don’t let anyone’s suggestions define the limits of your research, find something they never expected. Ask for help

1. You can find a research problem in • your sources. Where in them do you • see contradictions, inconsistencies, • or incomplete explanations? • 2. Before you set out to correct a gap or • misunderstanding, be sure it’s real, • not your own misreading. Look for problems as you read

3. Do more than just point to an error. If a source says X, but you think Y, you may have a research problem, but only if you can show that those who misunderstand X misunderstand some larger issue as well.

Critical reading can also help you discover a good research problem in your own drafts. Look at your own conclusion

1. Formulate a question that you think is worth • answering. • 2. Know how to find a problem that others think is • worth solving. Until you can do that, you risk • the worst response a researcher can get: not I • don’t agree, but I don’t care. • 3. In a lot of fields, no skill is valued more highly • than the ability to recognize a problem, then • articulate it in a way that convinces others both • to care about it and to believe it can be solved. Learning to work with problems

社會科學研究方法 –

社會科學研究方法 –

Presentation Transcript