Topic 11: Research Methods

Question 1

For what reasons might we think something is true?

Answer 1

• Tradition (It has always been true)
• Authority (expert says so)
• Intuition (we feel it is true)
• Experience (it happened to me)
• Reasoning (I worked it out)

Question 2

What is positivism?

Answer 2

The only authentic knowledge is that which is based on actual sense experience, and declares sensless and false everything else.

Question 3

What is logical positivism?

Answer 3

A school of phiolosophy that combines positivism with empricism, the idea that obverservational knowledge is indespensable for world knowledge

Only two types of meaningful statemetns:

• Logical or mathematical statements (rationalism)
• Factual statements that can be validated

Question 4

What are theories?

Answer 4

Made up of constructs, and two types of relationships between them:

Correlation & Causation.

Constracts are abstract idea sthat can be linked to observable information. Thoeries must be able to be falsified.

Question 5

How do we catategorize studies & experiments?

Answer 5

• Experimental (control, treatment)
• Non-Experimental (no control or even treatment)
• Quasi-Experimental (natural forming groups or treatement)

Question 6

What are daughertys principles for Grounded Theory Building

Answer 6

• Capture inherent complexity of social life
• Researchers must interact deeply in the data
• Grounded theory interwines research task
• Grounded theory building stands on it’s own merits

Question 7

What are some issues in organizational behavior research?

Answer 7

• Multiple causation
• Multiple levels of analysis
• Multiple times

Question 8

Show the theory building and testing process.

Answer 8