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POL 351 The Research Process

The document discusses the research process in political science. It begins by outlining common reasons for conducting research such as personal observations, civil unrest, previous studies, and available funding. It then describes the scientific methods used in political science research which involve specifying questions, proposing explanations, formulating testable hypotheses, and defining concepts. A key part of the research process is selecting a good topic and translating it into a research question or propositions. Developing a good research question helps focus the scope of the study. The document also discusses proposing explanations, developing hypotheses, and defining the problem statement and its importance.

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Francis Green
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54 views

POL 351 The Research Process

The document discusses the research process in political science. It begins by outlining common reasons for conducting research such as personal observations, civil unrest, previous studies, and available funding. It then describes the scientific methods used in political science research which involve specifying questions, proposing explanations, formulating testable hypotheses, and defining concepts. A key part of the research process is selecting a good topic and translating it into a research question or propositions. Developing a good research question helps focus the scope of the study. The document also discusses proposing explanations, developing hypotheses, and defining the problem statement and its importance.

Uploaded by

Francis Green
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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POL 351
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
 Severalreasons account for the decision to
conduct a research;
1. Personal observation of political
phenomenon.
2. Civil unrest.
3. Previous research
4. Political disorder
5. Interest in a broader societal theory
6. Availability of grant money.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METHODS;

Political science is done scientifically hence


research done scientifically involves the ff...
1. Specify the questions or problems with
which the research is concerned
2. Propose a suitable or possible explanation
for phenomenon under study
3. Formulate testable hypotheses
4. Define the concepts identified in the
hypotheses.
CONT…
 Generally a research identifies a problem
and tries to solve it using the appropriate
procedures to answer questions about a
phenomenon.
 Issues that make a political science
research relevant are whether;
1. The research is significant
2. It is observable.
3. It is political.
RESEARCH TOPIC
 Every research starts with the selection of a
good topic and translate the topic or interest
into a research question or propositions
related to the research.
 Potential topics could be selected from
several sources including personal, scholarly
and non-scholarly.
 Personal sources include life experiences,
political activities, issues of family and
friends, class readings, lecture notes and
discussions.
RESEARCH QUESTION
 The construction of a good research question
puts the research on a good foundation and
limits the scope of the information to be
collected.
 Simultaneously, a poor research question makes
the research tedious and wastes time.
 A good research question must exhibit
dependence, co-variation, relationship and
association between the variables.
 Political science research is concerned with
“why” and “how” questions known as
explanatory research.
PROPOSING EXPLANATION
 Proposing explanations to the
phenomenon after the research question
involves identifying other phenomenon
that will help explain the behavior of the
variables.
 Independent variables are those
phenomenon that cause changes in the
dependent variable.
 The dependent variable is the phenomenon
caused by the independent variable.
HYPOTHESES
 It is an explicit statement that indicates
the phenomenon of interests are related.
 It is an educated guess representing a
proposed explanation and indicating how
an independent variable is thought to
impact a dependent variable.
 Since they are proposed relationships, it
may turn out to be incorrect.
TYPES OF HYPOTHESES

 There exist the null and alternative


hypothesis.

Ho: education does not have an impact on


income
H1: education has an impact on income
PROBLEM STATEMENT
 The statement of the problem should include;
 A clear statement that the problem exists
 Evidence that supports the existence of the problem
 Evidence of an existing trend that has led to the problem
 Definitions of major concepts and terms (this can be
provided below in a subsection),
 A clear description of the setting,
 Probable causes related to the problem
 A specific and feasible statement
Flow of idea in problem statement
Flow of idea

topic Research Justification for


Problem Research
Problem

Deficiencies in
Relating the
the Evidence Discussion to
Audiences
 Importance of Research Problem;
1. It establishes the importance of the topic.
2. It creates reader interest.
3. It focuses the reader’s attention on how the study will add to
the literature.
 Stating the Research Problem;
 State the problem in the opening paragraph.
 Identify an issue thus research-based research problems and
Practical problems
 Reference the problem using the literature
 Common pitfall: defining the problem based on the solution
 Justifying the importance of the research problem;
 Justification based on what other researchers have found
 Justification based on personal or workplace experiences
 Justification based on the experiences that others have had in
the workplace

 Determining whether a problem should be researched;


 Can you study the problem? Thus do you have access to the
research site?, Do you have the time, resources, and skills to
carry out the research?
 Should you study the problem? Thus does it advance
knowledge? or does it contribute to practice?
 Will your study fill a gap or void in the existing literature?
 Will your study replicate a past study but examine different
participants and different research sites?
 Will your study extend past research or examine the topic more
thoroughly?
 Will your study give voice to people not heard, silenced, or
rejected in society?
 Will your study inform practice?
 Identifying deficiencies in the evidence
 What do we still need to know?
 What else do we need to know to improve practice?
 Identify the audience: thus, Who will profit from reading
your study?
 Examples are other researchers, practitioners, policy makers,
special populations (e.g., parents)

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