INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Topics  The role of Knowledge  Understanding science & the scientific method  Thomas Kuhn and the path towards normal science  Paradigms in the social science  Reasoning (deductive and inductive)  Research and Public Administration

 "Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." -- Pat Robertson  Would you consider the above statement to have any scientific merit?

The role of knowledge  The French philosopher Auguste Comte has been considered by many as the father of sociology and he has been very influential in the social sciences. Comte identified three types of knowledge that human beings have used to explain the natural and social world. 1. Theological 2. Metaphysical 3. Positivist or scientific

Types of knowledge 1. Theological  Humans explain nature as the wish of a superior force (s) beyond the control of human beings 2. Metaphysical  Normative view of the world. The focus is not on what it is, but how it ought to be 3. Positivist, scientist, objectivist  Nature follows some laws and patterns that can be studied, modeled and replicated objectively using standard procedures So what type of knowledge is Mr. Pat Robertson using to analyze feminism?

Goals of Scientific Research According to Mc Nabb (2002) the goals are  To describe some event, thing or phenomenon  To predict future behavior or events based on observed changes in existing conditions  To provide for greater understanding of phenomena and how variables are related

The path towards Normal science (Thomas Kuhn)  According to Kuhn science can be divided into two groups: paradigmatic or normal and pre-paradigmatic science 1. What is a paradigm? 2. What is the process through which a field acquires a paradigm? 3. Can any field achieve scientific recognition if it lacks of a paradigm? 4. What role does a paradigm play?

What is a paradigm?  A paradigm is what the members of a scientific community share and likewise a scientific community consists of people who share a paradigm  A paradigm governs in the first instance, not a subject matter, but a group of practitioners  A paradigm commits the group of practitioners to a disciplinary matrix  Paradigms are formed to share examples that result in “tacit knowledge” acquired by doing science

What is the process through which a field acquires a paradigm? A paradigm or a theory is accepted by the scientific community when it can be said to explain the phenomenon of a field better than its competitors by  Becoming a better instrument for discovery  Becoming a better instrument to solve puzzles  Representing better nature or society

Can a field achieve scientific recognition if it lacks a paradigm?  There will be “paradigm shifts” or “paradigm competition” but never a lack of paradigm (s) unless the field becomes simply speculative and unscientific. To reject a paradigm without substitution is to reject science itself

What role does a paradigm play?  It guides research on problems and solutions  It governs groups of practitioners or communities committed to some standards and methods  It is the common property of a group  Institutionalizes the way knowledge is being taught and transferred  It provides problems or questions to be studied  It offers a disciplinary matrix

What is a disciplinary matrix? A disciplinary matrix is defined by Kuhn as the “common possession” of the practitioners of a particular discipline.  Symbolic generalizations: a common language to communicate among practitioners Y = α + βX  Metaphysical paradigms: commitment to particular models  Values: Kuhn argues that prediction is perhaps the most important value shared by a community of scientists.  Examplars: the concrete problem-solutions the field deals with.

The route to normal science

Paradigms and social science  Based on Kuhn’s ideas and concept of paradigm. Can we conclude that the social sciences are really scientific?  What is (are) the paradigm (s) that governs the social sciences in general and public administration in particular?

Paradigms and social research 1. Positivism  Social physics  An objective reality exists that can be measured, analyzed, modeled & replicated  Ideas and theories are confronted with facts  Regularities and patterns are present  Social reality can be analyzed systematically  Social reality can be quantified and measured systematically  Example: poverty exists and can be measured

Paradigms and social research 2. Interpretivism (ethnographic research)  An objective reality does not exist; instead reality is socially constructed  The goal is to understand what meaning people give to reality  Reality is relative depending on how the group or the person perceives it  Example: poverty is in the eye of the beholder

Paradigms and social research 3. Constructivism  Reality is constructed by the actors  Explores how different stakeholders in social settings construct their beliefs  Example: I have less than average Joe, therefore, I must be poor

Paradigms in public administration  Public administration started out as part of political science and focused on the study of government (ethics, accountability, transparency, bureaucracy, administrative law, public participation, etc.).  Public administration went through a paradigm shift and established itself as its own discipline borrowing from other fields such as economics, management science, public policy, etc. (human resources management, public finance, policy evaluation, strategic planning, public sector economics, etc.).  In sum, public administration has moved from of a normative (values) to a positivist (facts) approach

Public administration research Policy outputManpower modeling methods Adaptation to scarcityProductivity measures Local attitudes and leader opinion Effects of federal aid Licensure effectivenessPublic participation Policy outcomesCooperative management style Organizational costsJob managing effectiveness Attitudes, beliefs, and valuesStaff burnout Cash-management strategies School effectiveness Tax-limitationsRisk-management practice Research validity & reliabilityAffirmative action- effectiveness Source: McNabb (2002:18)

Social research strategies Ideas: What we think THEORY DATA Reality: What we observe DEDUCTIVE REASONING INDUCTIVE REASONING

Deductive and Inductive Logic  Research that comes from observation with little prior theory is inductive, whereas logical theory tends to be more deductive.  However, the formulation of new research questions usually contains elements of both since the real world must motivate our curiosity, although reformulations of questions may be more deductively motivated based on work of others.

Data (facts) analysis  No matter what research strategy we use (deductive or inductive) data analysis is needed.  Data analysis refers to understanding what the facts are telling us  Data analysis also refers to being able to communicate facts  “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it”  Statistics is a research tool to help us understand and communicate facts

Most common statistical techniques in PA research Univariate37ANOVA3 Bivariate correlation20Path analysis3 Multiple regression25Bivariate regression1 Cross-tabulations22MANOVA1 Factor Analysis5Nonlinear regression1 Chi square4Other3 Source: McNabb (2002:19) N= 125