Developing A Research Project: The Elements Of Research Design

Developing a Research Project

The Elements of Research Design

Three Purposes of Research  Exploration –

Generally not sufficient for dissertation project

 Description – –

This can be the goal if significant new facts or relationships are identified Usually need to at least speculate on explanation

 Explanation –

Central goal of most political science research

Getting a Project Started  Identify

a topic or area of interest  Key transition is from topic to question – – –

Identify puzzle in literature Should be able to state question in 1-2 sentences Clearly define the purpose of the project

 Once

you have a question, you need hypotheses about the answer

From Theory to Hypotheses  Once

you have a question, turn to various methods of theory development  Deduction – formal theory, computational models  Induction – building by analogy  Theory building often involves both methods

Choose a Unit of Analysis  Level

of aggregation at which your hypotheses can be observed  Individuals (citizens, leaders, etc.)  Groups (parties, social movements)  Organizations/Institutions (states, bureaucracies, firms)

Units of Analysis and Threats to Inference  Ecological –

Fallacy

Cannot infer individual behavior from collective outcomes

 Reductionism –

Cannot infer collective outcomes from individual behavior

Choose a Method of Research  Experiments  Surveys  Case – –

Studies

Field Research Archival Research

 Aggregate –

Data Analysis

Existing or Field Collection

 Use

Multiple Methods Whenever Possible

Select Observations  What

is the population to which you want to generalize?  How can you reach that population to draw a sample?  If random sampling is impossible or inappropriate, how do you select cases to avoid bias?

Operationalize Variables  Translate

theoretical concepts into observable information that can be gathered on units of analysis  How valid are your measures?  How

reliable are your measures?

Collect the Data  Be

clear and systematic about the type of data collected  Keep clear files and records of all data collected  If using quantitative data, keep “do files” for all data construction and analysis.

Analyze the Data  Make

analysis techniques transparent  To the greatest extent possible, make analyses easily replicable.  Think about presenting results in the most meaningful way possible.  Clear and meaningful results are more persuasive and more widely read.

Connect Analyses Back to Puzzle and Hypotheses  Always

draw readers back from analyses to their implications for hypotheses and your original puzzle  What does it all mean?  Try to get back to those one or two core sentences

What is a Good Dissertation?  Theory –

Is this alone enough for a dissertation?

 Theory – –

Testing

This is the goal of most projects Is it ESSENTIAL for a dissertation?

 Policy –

development

Evaluation

Is this any different from theory testing?

What is a Good Dissertation?  Historical –

When does this constitute a contribution to social science?

 Literature – –

Evaluative/Descriptive

Assessing

A viable strategy for dissertations? When does this constitute a contribution to social science?

What is a Good Dissertation?  Nomothetic

vs. Ideographic Explanation  Is one mode of explanation preferable to the other?  Is one mode of explanation inherently more “scientific?”  Can ideographic work be political science?