LIS 570

Ways of knowing and the research

process
 Research is everywhere

 The need for research methods literacy

 to protect yourself from misleading research
conclusions
 to empower yourself to use valid social science
research
 to enable the essential function of research
communication
 the partnership between the researcher and the
consumer of research
 Sources of understanding

 How do we know what we know?

 Variations in explanations e.g. deviance
 Personal experience
 Tradition
 can be a powerful force operating against inquiry
 Sources of understanding

 Authority
 how do we select?
 Public opinion
 people can agree on things that are inaccurate
 Common errors in understanding
 we can observe inaccurately
 we can overgeneralise
 we can be guilty of selective perception
 Research

 “Disciplined way of coming to know something

about ourselves or our world“(Bouma)

 “. .the systematic effort to secure answers to

questions” (Reinard)

 “. . a process by which we answer questions

and try to draw conclusions from information
gathered..” (Reinard)
 Research in the social sciences

 Features of the scientific method

 empirical
 verifiable
 cumulative
 self-correcting
 deterministic
 ethical and ideological neutrality
 statistical generalizability
 Research

 Disciplined Inquiry
 Problem based
 Systematic: Methodical

 Established sources of evidence

 Sound argument

 Concern for Error

 Anticipation
 Control (Elimination)
 Discussion of the Margin of error
 Public
 Original, Novel
 Research in LIS570
 Purpose
 Description
 What is ….

 Search for Relationships

 Association Between Ideas (Concepts)

 Search for Explanations

 Cause and Effect Relationships
 The Phases of Research
 Phase 1: Essential First Steps

 Phase 2: Data Collection

 Phase 3: Analysis and Interpretation

 Essential First Steps

 Phase 1
 Select, Narrow and State Problem
 Exploratory Qualitative Research
 Select a Research Design
 Design and Devise Measures for Variables
 Measurement Process
 Select Tables for Analysis
 Select a Sample