Objectives After completing this module you will be able to:
Assigned Materials Topic 1: What will you do in this course? How will your work be judged? Examine the course syllabus before class. Do NOT just skim through it. Examine it. Topic 2: Why is social science research hard and why is research design critical to good social science? Read Bernard (textbook), pp. 2-6 Topic 3: Epistemology -- what is it and why should you care? Read Bernard, pp. 7-27 Epistemology, Theory & Research Look at this "cheat sheet" of mine as you watch the two videos linked below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSVuTlceBT8 As you watch this short video, think about your own scientific thinking skills. Identify three strengths and three areas where you hope this course will improve your scientific thinking skills. Be prepared to share your observations in class. Huub Rutjes on critical realism My epistemological perspective is scientific realism. What implications do you think this has for this class -- what you will learn and how I will assess your work? Think about some courses you have taken before that deal with research design, methods of data collection, or data analysis. What do you think were the epistemological stances of the people who taught those courses? Topic 4: Theory and scientific research
Learning
Guide to Scientific Reasoning & Theory Using the learning guides will save time and effort on your part. There are a few key points in most required readings that you must understand for this class. The guides steer you to those points. All you need to do for class is to look for the answers to the questions in the guide. You do not need to read everything in detail. In this case, you should spend about 15 minutes reading the critical information in this selection. There are three questions in the learning guide. I tell you exactly which pages to examine to find the information relevant to each question. I am honestly NOT interested in whether you read the other pages or not. Reed, B.G.
(2005). Theorizing in community practice: Essential tools for building
community, promoting social justice, and implementing social change. In
M. Weil (ed.), The Handbook of Community Practice, pp. 84-102,
Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. e-reserve Bibliographies
by Topic. Select any topic that interests you. All of these references
use mid-range theories in the research reported. Read the abstract
only in at least THREE of the references provided. Try to select references
that incorporate different theories (sometimes they even say the theory
in the title of the article). We will complete an activity in class that
will require that you have read the abstracts. To prepare for the activity,
think about what you learned about the use of theory in research -- how
researchers use theory, how it affects what their decisions about what
to include in an interview or some other method of collecting data, how
it affects what they hope to accomplish with the research. Also think
about your own research -- what you have already done and what you hope
to do. How will you use theory? Copies of these bibliographies are available through Canvas in the file folder labeled 01 Week Bibigraphies by Topic. Theories
and Examples of Variables for Social Science (Dr. Kelly Moore)
Look at the abstracts you reviewed. Can
you associate any of them with the theories in Dr. Moore's list? Which
ones are not on Dr. Moore's list? Have these
available during class -- no need to look at them ahead of time. Theory -- what is it in science? Theories
that Inform This Class Three
Models of Behavior Change Recommended
Readings If you have
little experience reading and understanding refereed research journal
publications in the sciences, you will find the following resources very
helpful. Being able to read and understand reports of scientific research
is a critical skill for graduate study and for this class. I will not
make these required readings but I most STRONGLY suggest that you look
at them, even if you are "pretty familiar" with such reports.
These readings will also help you with all assignments except perhaps
Assignment 1. Locke, L.F.,
Silverman, S.J. & Spirduso, W.W. (2004). Ch. 4 - How to select and
read research reports. In Reading & Understanding Research,
2nd Ed., p. 59-76. e-reserve Pyrzcak, F.
(2005). Ch. 1 -- Background for Evaluating Research Reports. In Evaluating
Research in Academic Journals, 3rd Ed., pp. 1-11. e-reserve |
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Additional Materials Published Academic Literature about the Role of Theory & Espistemology in Research. These are examples of the kinds of materials that you can consult, use and cite to meet the requirement for "using, citing and referencing" the research design literature in this class. Caputo, R.K. (2007). Social theory and its relation to social problems: An essay about theory and research with social justice in mind. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 34(1), 43-61. Dustin, D. & Montgomery, M.R. (2010). The use of social theory in reflecting on anti-oppressive practice with final year BSc social work students. Social Work Education 29(4), 386-401. Evans, J. & Davies, B. (2011). New directions, new questions? Social theory, education and embodiment. Sport, Education & Society 16(3), 263-278. Fisher, A.T., Sonn, C.C. & Evans, S.D. (2007) The place and function of power in community psychology: Philosophical and practical issues. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 17(4), 258-267. Haig, B.D. (2008) An abductive perspective on theory construction. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing 12(1), 7-10. Haslum, M.N. (2007) What kind of evidence do we need for evaluating therapeutic interventions? Dyslexia 13(4), 234-239. Heritage, J. (2011). A Galilean moment in social theory? Language, culture and their emergent properties. Qualitative Sociology 34(1), 263-270. Jacobson, N., Gewurtz, R. & Haydon, E. (2007) Ethical reviews of itnerpretive research: Problems and solutions. IRB: Ethics & Human Research 29(5), 1-8. Johnson, C.W. (2008) "Don't call him a cowboy": Masculinity, cowboy drag and a costume change. Journal of Leisure Research 40(3), 385-403. Lu, L. (2008) The individual-oriented and social-oriented Chinese bicultural self: testing the theory. The Journal of Social Psychology 148(3), 347-373. Ma, A. & Norwich, B. (2007) Triangulation and theoretical understanding. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 10 (3), 211-226. Mahootian, F. & Eastman, T.E. (2009). Complementary frameworks of scientific inquiry: Hypothetico-deductive, hypothetico-inductive and observational-inductive. World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution 65(1), 61-75. Michaelian, K. (2008) Privileged Standpoints/Reliable Processes. Hypatia 23(1), 65-98. Mills, J., Chapman, Y., Bonner, A. & Francis, K. (2007) Grounded theory: a methodological spiral from positivism to postmodernism. Journal of Advanced Nursing 58(1), 72-79. Patterson, D.A. & Keefe, R.H. (2008) Using social construction theory as a foundation for macro-level interventions in communities impacted by HIV and addictions. Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 35(2), 111-126. Thagard, P. (2006) How to collaborate: Procedural knowledge in the cooperative development of science. Southern Journal of Philosophy 44(S), 177-196. Tullberg, J. (2011). Comparatism -- a constructive approach in the philosophy of science. Journal of Socio-Economics40(4), 444-453. Wray, K.B. (2007). Who has scientific knowledge? Social Epistemology 21(3), 337-347. York, R. & Clark, B. (2010). Critical materialism: Science, technology and environmental sustainability. Sociological Inquiry 80(3), 475-499. |