Political Science Research Methods Midterm

steps for developing theories of change

1. Issue/goal identification 2. Backward mapping - we trace our intervention and our processes back from the ultimate outcomes that we would like to see while identifying intermediate and immediate outcomes. 3. Identify benchmarks for each outcome in order so we may identify progress. 4. Trace benchmarks to the activities that will produce our desired outcomes and then trace these back to the resources that are present. 5. Identify the causal links that connect resources to programs and results

3 conditions justified true belief must satisfy

1. belief condition 2. truth condition 3. justification condition

3 guidelines the US government bases research on

1. beneficence 2. respect for others 3. justice

logic model characteristics

1. challenges 2. inputs 3. outputs 4. outcomes

casual arguments

1. co-vary 2. follow temporal order 3. specific causal mechanism 4. not spurious

good research question characteristics

1. interesting 2. not already have a definitive answer 3. be testable 4. iterative proves

3 groups of empirical research

1. quantative 2. qualitative 3. mixed-methods

characteristics of the best theories and hypotheses

1. testable 2. generalizable 3. parsimonious 4. good causal arguments

5 factors that dictate research design

Sampling Validity Reliability Bias/Error Ethical Issues

internal validity

ability to establish causality, depends on true randomness of sampling procedures

external validity

ability to generalize

comparison cases

allow us to collect data from more than one situation

respondent validation

allows respondents to view our results before they are released

ethnography

an in-depth data collection and analysis effort about some group of people/phenomena

empirical analysis

analysis of how things actually are in reality

Comprehensive Community Change Initiatives

are used to describe community change initiatives that are focused on making broad-based improvements in stressed communities

logic models

are used to identify the key elements of an issue and look at the linkages between them

normative analysis

based on how things ought to be

inductive reasoning

begin with facts to form theories

deductive reasoning

begin with theories to apply to instances

interpretists

believe that knowledge is socially constructed and situated, making truth imposable to obtain

positivists

believe that world is comprised of realities and truths and the accumulation of evidence will best enable us to understand reality

transparency

clearly articulating our data collection process for public consumption

triangulation

collects information on a single topic from a variety of sources using a variety of methods

etic

conducted by an outside observer, believed to be objective and culturally neutral and is driven by empirical data (quantative)

degree of control

describes the conditions in and around the conditions we wish to study

non-experimental design types

direct obserbation focus group case study content analysis elite interview survey

before-and-after designs

do not use control groups, always use pretests and posttests, and use intervention analysis over time

randomness can be achieved by

ensuring that individuals have average characteristics, ensuring that groups have average characteristics, randomly assigning individuals to groups with similar conditions, or ensuring matching characteristics

independent variable

explanation (x)

factorial designs

generally use one control and several experimental groups

logic model

graphic representation of a theory of change

inductivism

holds that science requires the collection of data and testing of hypotheses that are unbiased

snowball sampling

identify a few units within a population that fit our criteria and acquire, from our initial sample, other sources to interview

grand theory

includes the big ideas that guide the types of research questions we ask

paradigms

incremental and cumulative study using common ways of thinking about problems

emic

information refers to research that is conducted and written from the perspective and cultural lens of the subject (qualitative)

exploratory research

investigates a new phenomena and contributes to the development of new theories

quota sampling

involves determining in advance which characteristics of a population we want to focus on and selecting a sample in proportion to those characteristics

theory of change

is a theoretical description of a problem, a program that will address the problem, and the expected outcomes of the program

middle-range theory

is concerned with developing explanations for specific phenomenon

rationalist justification

knowledge is more than sensory perceptions. We can "know" information that we cannot experience

multiple-pretest design

many pretests and one posttest

quasi-experimental design types

nonequivililent control group design before-and-after designs factorial designs

multiple-posttest design

one pretest and many posttests

dependent variable

phenomena (y)

research design

plan to go about collecting data

meta-theories

present a perspective combining metaphysics and epistemology and tend to guide our methodologies

empirical theory

reformulates the research question based on current knowledge from research, observation, and logic about the phenomena under investigation

two major errors in qualitative research

researcher bias reactivity

quasi-experimental designs

resemble experimental designs but fail to qualify as "pure" experiments due to some failure of the design itself

structured interviews

seek to identify numbers of responses that fall into pre-determined categories

limitations to experimental designs

selection bias attrition endogenous change history/external events contamination low external validity

experimental design

studies the effect of one specific variable in an environment that is sufficiently highly controlled as to rules out other possible explanations.

epistemology

study of knowledge

metaphysics

study of reality

axiology

study of values

researcher bias

the assumptions a researcher brings to the research process may influence the outcomes of the research

reactivity

the effect that researchers have on subjects that would not have happened if the researcher were not there

empiricist justification

the source of all knowledge comes down to immediate sensory experience.

post-normal science

the values inherent in the study of matters of public concern are evidence of an environment different from the physical world

falsification

theorized by Karl Popper and believed that no matter how much data we collect, they will not be sufficient to warrant any universal statements

grounded theory

theory that emerges from exploratory research grounded in interpretations of observations

randomized comparative change design

uses a pretest and a posttest

randomized comparative posttest design

uses only a posttest

nonequivalent control group design

utilize both a control and experimental group, assignments to each group are made on a case-by-case basis as individuals become available, or some similar characteristic of an overall group is used to select members

iterative process

we continually review and refine our work while we are working in each step and across the steps