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A class in research methods is not just a class where you learn a lot of specific techniques.  It is at least as importantly a class where you think about questions of what we can know and how much confidence we can have in what we think. You get to start to make decisions about the kinds of research you will make  deeper commitment to learning so that you can use them for your dissertation project.  Related to this you need to think about your theoretical stances, both in terms of big theoretical and paradigmatic perspectives and at the middle range, what is practical and makes sense.

Developing a researcher habit of mind.

Becoming a researcher means becoming someone who looks at the world differently. At a certain point of the process you start to see the world in variables and empirical questions. You will think about how to measure things and the extent to which causal statements are appropriate. These are just a few aspects of this mindset.

Methods and Methodology

One important consideration is the difference between methods and methodology.

We can consider “methods” as specific research techniques that you can learn an apply.  Survey research, ethnography and systematic social observation are all examples of specific methods (and if anything are overly general).  There are dozens of other specific methods. Conversation analysis, network analysis, focus groups, qualitative interviewing are just a few.  Our goal in this course is not to go through a checklist of methods. Rather, we will look in depth at a few methods (mainly survey research related).   But what we want to get to is a point where now and in the future you have the ability to think about and learn whatever methods are appropriate for a given study.

Methodology, in contrast, is concerned with more general concerns about  how we think about a more abstract set of issues that impact our research practices.  It is overly simplistic to say that particular theoretical perspectives imply the use of particular methods. However, theory is often connected to methodology.

Some key concepts:

Scientific method

Unit of Analysis

Qualitative

Quantitative

Variable

Epistimology

Ontology

Paradigm

Design

Theoretical framework

Read

Byrne, D. (2023). Philosophy of Research. Project Planner. 10.4135/9781526408495.  https://methods-sagepub-com.lehman.ezproxy.cuny.edu/project-planner/philosophy-of-research

Bhattacherjee Chapter 2, but chapter 1 also recommended.  https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3/

Horne, C. (2018). A quick, free, somewhat easy-to-read introduction to empirical social science research methods. Open Educational Resources. https://scholar.utc.edu/oer/1

Farrow, R. (ed.), Weller, M., Pitt, R., Iniesto, F., Algers, A., Almousa, S., Baas, M., Bentley, P., Bozkurt, A., Butler, W., Cardoso, P., Chtena., N., Cox, G.,  Czerwonogora, A., Dabrowski, M.T., Derby, R., DeWaard, H., Elias, T., Essmiller, K., Funk, J., Hayman, J., Helton, E., Huth, K., Hutton, S. C., Iyinolakan, O., Johnson, K. R., Jordan, K., Kuhn, C., Lambert, S., Mittelmeier, J., Nagashima, T., Nerantzi, C., O’Reilly, J., Paskevicius, M., Peramunugamage, A., Pete, J., Power, V., Pulker, H.,  Rabin, E., Rets, I., Roberts, V., Rodés, V., Sousa, L., Spica, E., Vizgirda, V., Vladimirschi, V., & Witthaus, G. (2023). The GO-GN Open Research Handbook. Global OER Graduate Network / Open Education Research Hub. https://go-gn.net/gogn_outputs/open-research-handbook/   pages 1-32

Poldrack, Russell What is Statistical Thinking?  (Just one paragraph)