Company LOGO Lecture One: Introduction to Methodology of Scientific Research WANG Huaping Philosophy Department, Shandong University.

Company

LOGO Lecture One: Introduction to Methodology

of Scientific Research

WANG Huaping

Philosophy Department, Shandong University

Contents

What Is Scientific Research2

The Significance of MSR4

What Is Science31

What Is MSR33

What Is Science

We live in age of science. The products of science and technology have a huge effect on the way we live our lives and how we shape our environment. Imagine going through your life without using anything powered by electricity or containing plastic.

Science enjoys unparalleled prestige in society compared with other institutions. Science is often thought to be the ultimate form of objective and rational inquiry.

Science is the dominant power of our age. Science is our form of life. In order to live a better life, we have to understand science.

What Is Science

What is What is your view your view

about about science?science?

Just follow Just follow common common

sense.sense.

Some Some characters:characters:•objectivity•testability•quantified•experience

•power

Predict

Explanation

Description

Control

Science

What Is Science

Science is not just facts, conception or useful ideas about the words. It is even not systematic research about the nature.

Science is methods of discovering reliable knowledge about the world.

The method of authority, The method of intuition, The method of tenacity, The rational method, The method of empiricism.

Science derives from Latin word “scientia”, which means knowledge.

我们现在所说的“科学”一词，是日本人对 science的翻译，意为分科之学。据考察， 1874年，西周（名时懋渔人，又称修亮、周助， 1829—1897）在《明六杂志》第 22 号《知说》一文中使用“科学”一词。

What Is Science

According to its objects, science can be divided into natural science, social science and human science.

(1) The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using scientific methods.

(2) Social science refers to the academic disciplines concerned with society and human behavior. “Social science” is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to anthropology, archaeology, criminology, economics, education, history, linguistics, communication studies, political science, international relations, sociology, geography, and psychology, and includes elements of other fields as well, such as law and social work.

(3) Human science is the study and interpretation of the experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings.

What Is Scientific Research

Which of the following example is scientific research?

(1) Li Jing download several articles in biochemistry from Elsevier, and then write an article about the electrochemical feature of neuron based on them.

(2) He Jing says she has recently done a research which carried out a statistics on student’s age, grade of entrance examination and their parents’ income.

(3) Wang Jing wants to study the effect of Anti-LI-cadherin on gastric cancer. She has carried out a series of experiments, but found the results did not accord with anticipation. So she fudged the data, and then wrote an article which was published on an SCI journal whose impact factor is 10.

What Is Scientific Research

(4) A general manager of a car producing company was concerned with the complaints received from the car users that the car they produce have some problems with rating sound at the dash board and the rear passenger seat after few thousand kilometers of driving.

He obtained information from the company workers to identify the various factors influencing the problem.

He then formulated the problem and generated guesses (hypotheses).

He constructed a checklist and obtained requisite information from a representative sample of cars.

He analyzed the data thus collected, interpreted the results in the light of his hypotheses and reached conclusions.

What Is Scientific Research

You will notice in the example above that the researcher went through a sequence of steps which were in order and thus systematic.

Secondly, the researcher did not just jump at the conclusions, but used a scientific method of inquiry in reaching at conclusions.

The two important characteristics of research are : it is systematic and secondly it follows a scientific method of enquiry.

What Is Scientific Research

ResearchWebster’s New World College Dictionary careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in

some field of knowledge, undertaken to discover or establish facts or principles

Research is a structured inquiry that utilizes acceptable scientific methodology to solve problems and creates new knowledge that is generally applicable. Grinnel (1993)

Scientific research: research in scientific methods.

Re-search 再找 ..再找…再找

High Quality Research

• It is based on the work of others.

• It can be replicated (duplicated).

• It is generalizable to other settings.

• It is based on some logical rationale and tied to theory.

• It is doable!

• It generates new questions or is cyclical in nature.

• It is incremental.

• It is apolitical activity that should be undertaken for the betterment of society.

What Is Bad Research?

• The opposites of what have been discussed.

• Looking for something when it simply is not to be found.

• Plagiarizing other people’s work.

• Falsifying data to prove a point.

• Misrepresenting information and misleading participants.

• Using expensive sources to solve trivial problems.

• Using unreliable methods.

Motivation of Scientific Research

Science begins with wonder!

Personal interestRequirement of problem-solvingProviding grounds for decision-

makingImproving the the quality of human

life Making new discoveryGaining degreeRequirement of promotionRequirement of works

新生的婴儿有什么用处呢？

可是，这东西有什么作用呢？

科学研究：一种思考的方法

研究是一种技术、也是思考的方法。 批判并检验专业领域中的不同观点 探讨并形成特定程序的指导原则 发展并检验能增强专业知识的新理论

研究必须用到一系列程序和方法。 此方法必须具有可靠性与有效性。

Reliable but not valid Valid but not reliable Valid and reliable

科学研究的特征

良好的控制 探索变项间因果关系，影响因素减低到最小

严谨性—态度系统性—特定逻辑步骤有效性及可检验性

推论正确，可重复进行，得相同结论实证性—结论基于确切证据批判性—研究成果经得起批判道德性—要注意利益冲突以及伦理后果

科学研究的类型

研究应用 研究目标 资料收集方法

纯理论研究

应用性研究

描述性研究

相关性研究

解释性研究

探索性研究

量化研究

质化研究

研究类型

科学研究的类型

纯理论研究 (Baiey 1978) (Method of Social Research)或称为基础研究 主要是为发展及检验理论与假设 可能具有或不具有实际应用价值 涉及假设检验，包含非常抽象及特殊概念

应用研究 应用于收集不同情况、议题、问题或现象的信息

政策形成、管理、增加对特定现象的了解 解决特定问题

什么是科学研究方法

Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving recognition and formulation of a problemproblem, collection of datadata through observationobservation and experimentexperiment, formulation and testing of hypotheses, hypotheses, drawing conclusion conclusion and communicating the results. results.

The scientific method is a process of creative creative thinkingthinking and testing aimed at objective and verifiable discoveries.

Knowledge gained through the scientific method is self-correctingself-correcting and improves over time.

What Is MSR

The term “method” consists of two Greek terms “meta” and “hodos”, which means “along the path”.

Methodology: the study of methods themselves. For example, Aristotle’s study of deduction, Francis Bacon’s study of induction ， David Hilbert对公理化方法的研究， Norbert Wiener对控制论方法的研究， Karl Popper对否证法的研究。 研究过程所秉持的哲学 包含对研究理论基础的假设、共同特征 研究人员所主张的明确规则与程序

The Significance of MSR

Study by research and research by study.A comprehensive understanding to science,

scientific research and methods of scientific research.

Learning some fundamental scientific methods and basic skills necessary for scientific research in order to be prepared for doing scientific research in future.

Enhancing the capacity of creativity. Enhancing the capacity of reflection.

Thanks!