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The Foundations of Research

An Introduction to Inquiry in Communication

Overview
History The Tradition Today: The Modern Researcher A Student Orientation Characteristics of the Student Researcher To Remember

The Enlightenment
Galileos 1633 trial Frances Bacon, First Book of Aphorisms (1620)
There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immovable, proceeds to judgment and the discovery of middle axioms. And this way is now in fashion. The other derives from axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by gradual and unbroken assent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried.

The Enlightenment
Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method (1637)
The Cartesian Mind and Hypertext: David Jay Bolter, Writing Space

John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

The Great European Sociologists


Karl Marx (1918-1883) Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) Max Weber (1864-1920)

The Philosophy of Positivism


Richard Lipsey, Positivist Economics (1963)

Quantitative Methods
The legacy of Comte The legacy of Karl Pearson (1857-1936)
The scientific method is the surest way to produce efficient knowledge. The effective use of knowledge could be used to bring about social reform and the improvement of human lives.

The American Social Surveys


Jacob Riis (1849-1914) Jane Addams (1860-1935) W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)

The Chicago School


Robert Park (1864-1944)
The city as a social laboratory Human ecology

Qualitative Methods
Claude Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind (1966)
a bricoleur (a professional do-it-yourself person) produces a bricolage (a close-knit set of practices that provide solutions to problems in concrete situations

The Reaction against Positivism


Ferdinand C. S. Schiller (1864-1937)
Since the contents of science are the produces of human thought, reality and truth could not be external to human consciousness

William Dilthey (1833-1911)


The methods of the physical sciences are not appropriate for humans.

Qualitative Methods
Norman K. Denzen and Yvonne S. Lincoln. The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues (1998)

Qualitative research is an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and sometimes counterdisciplinary field. It cross-cuts the humanities, the social sciences, and the physical sciences. Qualitative research is many things at the same time. It is multiparadigmatic in focus. Its practitioners are sensitive to the value of the multimethod approach. They are committed to the naturalistic perspective and to the interpretive understanding of human experience. At the same time, the field is inherently political and shaped by multiple ethical and political positions. Qualitative research embraces two tensions at the same time. On the one hand, it is drawn to a broad, interpretative, postmodern, feminist, and critical sensibility. On the other hand, it can also be drawn to more narrowly defined positivist, postpositivist, humanistic, and naturalistic conceptions of human experience and its analysis.

Qualitative Methods
Multimethod in focus an interpretative, naturalistic focus (studies behavior in its natural environment) use of a variety of empirical materials observational case study narrative interviews historical biographical visual materials

Qualitative Methods
Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln. Introduction: Entering the Field of Qualitative Research.1-34 Arthur J. Vidich and Stanford M. Lyman. Qualitative Methods: Their History in Sociology and Anthropology. 41-110

Traditional (1900-1950) Malinowski in New Guinea (1914-1918) The Chicago School and Robert E. Park slice of life; represent the ills of society Modernist or Golden Age (1950-1970) Glaser and Strauss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967) to give voice to those at risk

Qualitative Methods
Blurred Genre (1970-1986)
Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973) and Local Knowledge (1983)

Crisis of Representation (1986-1990)


Clifford, The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art (1988)

The Postmodern Present (1990-Present)

The Tradition Today: The Modern Researcher


Research Traditions Theory and Models Empiricism Measurement Behaviorism The Limits of Knowledge

Research Traditions
The Social Sciences
contribute to an understanding of the forces that modify the conduct of individuals, control their behavior, and shape their lives

The Humanities
contribute to an understanding of the unique aspects of human culture and are concerned with our attempts to express values and to discover meaning

Research Traditions
Natural Science the natural environment in which humans live physics and chemistry: the laws of matter, motion, space, mass, and energy the biological sciences Engineering that field of technological activity devoted to organizing the design, production, and operation of technology in order to meet practical human needs.

Research Traditions
Interdisciplinary studiesScience, Technology, and Society:
explores the foundations and impact of science and technology by examining the values, language, history, politics, and economics of modern technological society examines the interrelated worlds of the scientist, engineer, politician, and citizen develops ethical awareness and public responsibility through global, multicultural, and environmental perspectives prepares the student to integrate the scientific and technical disciplines with the humanities and social sciences

Research Traditions
Communication
The use of signs The study of the ways that communities use signs
Rhetorical Theory: The construction of language in culture Literary Theory: The interpretation of texts in the academy Composition Theory: The construction of written texts in the academy Technical Writing Theory: The construction of written texts in nonacademic settings. Mass Communication: The impact of information on everyday life Hypertext Theory: The impact of computers and the reinterpretation of print

Theory and Models


Theory
Establish a universal typology Yield insight due to the typology Postulate sequence Postulate relationship Address operational issues

Model
A prediction rule

Empiricism
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) William James (1843-1910) The use of logic aided by observation and measurement
Positivism: any approach which applies scientific method to human affairs conceived as belonging to a natural order open to objective enquiry. Empirical reasoning: evidence based on observation.

Measurement
Karl Pearson (1857-1936) Robert M. Yerkes (1876-1956) Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)

Behaviorism
B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) Behavioral Science
A term that encompasses disciplines in which empirical inquiry is used to study motivation, cognition, and behavior

The Limits of Knowledge


Martin Hollis, The Philosophy of Social Science: An Introduction (1994) Humans construct meaning, with no obvious parallel in physics and little parallel in biology:
Human actions have meaning. This distinction between the meaning of an action and what the actor means by it related to one between what words mean and what people mean by them. Human practices are imbued with normative expectations. Human beings create theories.

A Student Orientation
Phase 1: Situate the Research Tradition Phase 2: Define the Research Problem Phase 3: Limit the Research Problem Phase 4: Define the Occasion of Inquiry Phase 5: Define the Mode of Inquiry Phase 6: Define the Measurement Process Phase 7: Identify Problems and Solutions Phase 8: Begin Research Phase 9: Conduct Research Phase 10: Report Research: Updates and Final Report

Characteristics of the Student Researcher


Authenticity Enthusiasm Consistency and care about details Planning Commitment Ability to tolerate rejection and persevere Good sense Role taking ability Desire to learn how to do research

For Further Reading


Earl R. Babbie. The Practice of Social Research Fred N. Kerlinger, Howard B. Lee. Foundations of Behavioral Research Ralph L. Rosnow, Robert Rosenthal. Beginning Behavioral Research: A Conceptual Primer William M. K. Trochim. The Research Methods Data Base H. Russell Bernard. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches Robert S. Lockhart. Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences

For Further Reading


Janice M. Lauer, J. William Asher. Composition Research: Empirical Designs Lynette R. Porter, William Coggin. Research Strategies in Technical Communication

To Remember
Do not accept value dualism
In the relationship between theory and research In research orientation In selection of methods

Accept a tendency toward empiricism and method Acknowledge the limits of knowledge

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