Epistemology, Theory, and Research Methods. This is a very simplistic look at the differences among the major epistemological schools in social science. You do need to understand these differences because they directly affect a researcher's entire approach to instrument development, data collection, and the nature of conclusions that can be drawn.

Short version of what is scientific realism on YouTube by Jan Willem Lindemans This is a 5-minute video, short, kind of fun video on what the term scientific realism means.

Maxwell, J.A. (2012) What Is Realism, and Why Should Qualitative Researchers Care? Pp. 3-13 in J.A. Maxwell, A Realist Approach for Qualitative Research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. e-reserve The only required reading in this book starts with the last paragraph on page 6 and extends through the second paragraph on page 10 (you can ignore the table). These pages reflect my epistemological stance and the implications of that stance for both quantitative and qualitative research. If you are interested in epistemology, you have the entire chapter from Maxwell on e-reserve, but it can be "heavy" reading.

The Druckman & Donohue article referenced below is a sophisticated presentation of current discussions (sometimes arguments) about epistemology in social science and the challenges to traditional epistemological stances that are emerging related to changing world orders, the growth of social media, the development of a single global economy and other attributes of the Anthropocene Era. For those of you with a serious interest in developing your epistemological stance, this is a very good foundational piece. Preparation Required - Read This Please. I am assigning each of you to a discussion group for this week. Your group will be responsible for presenting the key points made in a specific section of the Druckman article -- based on group consensus that you will reach during a 20 minute discussion in a breakout room. You will have 5 minutes to present your consensus to the class as a whole immediately after the breakout room closes. See the Week 9 discussion board on Canvas for a list of the groups.

Druckman, D. & Donohue, W. (2020) Innovations in social science methodologies: An overview. American Behavioral Scientist 64(1):3-18. DOI: 10.1177/0002764219859623

Discussion of Ethics in Social Science Research"

Please read this very short (3 pages) discussion of the relationships between advances in data collection and analysis in the social sciences and the ethical requirements of human subjects research. We will have a class discussion regarding the adequacy (or not) of current ethical standards in social science research. Knight, J. (2019) The need for improved ethics guidelines in a changing research landscape. South African Journal of Science. 115(11/12), Art. 6349. DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2019/6349.