Research Methods
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WEEK 8: RESEARCH METHODS
HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW
Knowledge by tradition
But: tradition differs between cultures, traditions change
Knowledge by listening to authoritative sources
BUT: authorities are not always well informed, authorities have diff views so there is disagreement between experts
Knowledge by intuition
BUT: intuitions are not always correct (perceptual biases)
Knowledge by applying logic
BUT: reasoning process (where we get our logic may be wrong)
Knowledge by personal experience
BUT: what happened may have been just chance/ coincidence
CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Looking at things objectively, avoid assumptions and biases, avoid emotional reasoning, avoid oversimplification, consider alternative explanations
Critical thinking is important → read and evaluate rearch
THEORY BUILDING
INDUCTIVE PHASE→ draws on personal experience to form a preliminary theory
Personal observation→ your own observation, anecdotes from others, observe is theme in research literature
Preliminary Theory→ form conjecture. Take existing theory and tweak them by adding things. This forms preliminary theory
Building theory in OB
Theories are made up of construct (Concept) and relationships between those constructs
Two types of relationships; correlations and casual relationships
CORRELATION RELATIONSHIP→ unsure of what construct causes what but there seems to be some relationship e.g. move in same or opposite directions. We do not say one variable causes another variable to occur because they may both be affected by a third variable
CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP→ one construct causes another construct to increase/ decrease. Independent variables are presumed causes of dependent variable
3 requirements for causality
1) There is association between the variables e.g. correlation
2) The cause precedes the effect (in time)
3) Alternative explanations are ruled out → not another variable for the association existing
A good theory will lead to testable hypotheses
DEDUCTIVE PHASE→ SCIETIFIC METHOD IS USED TO TEST THE THEORY
1) FORMING HYPOTHESES
A formal way of defining the question you are trying to answer
Predictions must be specific