Plan for Today Tool Orientation Administrata Readings Cheque Discussions Epistemology, Methodology & Methods Individual Team Consultations

Tool Orientation

Administrata Readings Cheque Discussions mple_Discussion_of_Reading_Questions

Example Discussion of Reading Questions 1. What are the tradeoffs in working in the different traditions? One of the downsides of working in the objectivist / positivist / quantitative tradition (the one I'm more familiar with!) is that it limits the types of things you can look at to just what can be controlled and measured. There's lots of things, both in the social sciences and the "hard" sciences, that simply can't be examined quantitatively because they resist control or have too many interacting variables. XXX 15:58, 10 May 2008 (PDT) One weakness of contructivist/qualitative tradition, in my perspective, is the analysis of the qualitative research data is more easily influenced by the researchers' personal bias and epistemological beliefs. Another problem is that data collected in the qualitative research is difficult to be analyzed and quantitatively predicted. It might also be possible the research outcomes are not generalized enough to be applied to a larger group of population than the groups in the research. YYY 16:18, 11 May 2008 (PDT)

Epistemology, Methodology & Methods

Epistemology Personified Image Sources: ; Objectivism Subjectivism Constructionism The MinerThe TravelerThe Activist Meaning exists in the world Meaning comes from our interactions with the world We impose meaning on the world

Contrasting the Approaches ObjectivismConstruct- ionsim Subjectivism Goal:ExplanationExplorationEmpowerment Looking for:TruthUnderstandingProgress Subjectivity:ErrorEmbrace Multiple Perspectives Specific Perspective Look at:States (static), PiecesProcesses (active), Whole Design is:Pre-plannedEmergent Logic:Causal, “hard”Constraining Factors, “Soft” Extrapolation:Generalization (given representative sampling) Lessons learned, “petite generalizations” Kinds of Questions “Does…” “What…” “How…”

Tradition Assumptions & Implications ObjectivismConstructionismSubjectivism AssumptionsLooking for truth Subjectivity = error Look at the pieces Design is pre-planned Hard logic Want generalization Looking for understanding Embrace multi perspectives Look at the whole Design is emergent “Soft” logic Lessons learned / petite generalizations Looking for progress Often has a specific persp. Look at the whole Design is emergent “Soft” logic Lessons learned / petite generalizations Implications

Tradition Tradeoffs ObjectivismConstructionismSubjectivism Advantages Limitations

How Epistemology Drives the Research Process Epistemology Research Approach Topic / Problem Methodology Data Collection Knowledge Claims Data Analysis Research Questions using the logic of answer

Examples of Approaches in Each Epistemology Objectivism Postivism Post-positivism  Experiment  Correlational Studies  Survey Research Constructionism Phenomenology Hermenuetics Ethnography Grounded Theory Case Study Subjectivism Post-modernist Structuralist Post-structuralist Critical Inquiry

Constructionist Ethnography

Objectivist Ethnography

Of Course It’s Not Really that Simple… Objectivism Subjectivism Constructionism Experiment Phenomenology Survey Research Case Study Ethnography Feminist Research Critical Inquiry Questionnaires Documents Observation Interviews Theme Analysis Thick Description Inferential Statistics Descriptive Statistics

For Next Week Read & discuss posted discussion questions on wiki w/ team Ercikan & Roth (2006) Course Research Ethics Guidelines Excerpts from SFU Policy on Ethics Continue to move forward in 3 strands of project work 1. Narrowing research focus (topic-problem-purpose-questions) 2. Moving from epistemology to methodological approach 3. Planning for participants Begin to document your decisions and rationale for report Bring Statement of Research Purpose & Draft RQs next week