- Give examples of empirical questions you would be interested in finding answers for.
- What are the central tenets for empirical research?
- Find examples of questionable presentation of opinion polls in media.
- In what ways do you think you will have use for an understanding of research methodology?
Do inmates of privatized prisons have a higher recidivism rate than inmates of publicly-driven prisons?
Do states with legalized same-sex marriage have higher divorce rates among their heterosexual marriages than states that do not feature legalized same-sex marriage?
Would the United States' Social Security program have retained solvency if its surplus had been invested into a sovereign wealth fund?
Is same-sex marriage/equal marriage implicitly guaranteed by the United States' federal constitution?
Are infection rates of sexually transmitted diseases higher in states that mandate either abstinence-only sex education or emphasis on abstinence as part of their sex education than in states that do not include such a mandate?
The research should correspond to reality; while an emphasis on research's correspondance with the material reality might not always be in vogue, it is currently in fashion and serves the purpose of affecting change in our real condition.
The research should be meticulous in its use of data, with the researcher taking care to seek valid/sustainable (repeatable) conclusions, that the conclusions follow from the research and that the research corresponds to real conditions.
The researcher should take care to not cloud the research with prejudice or predetermined desires for particular results or conclusions.
The research should add to the cumulative body of empirical research, drawing on and either supporting or detracting from general social theory.
[the ones I forgot]
The research should draw on a systematic (non-arbitrary) choosing of data.
The research conclusions should be presented so as to allow external control, checking, and critiques.
In general, political pundits and media personalities abuse approval and disproval polls; they take polls and tack on a explanation without accounting for the explanation without presenting any kind of research to back up the story. Their explanation inevitably backs up their preconceptions of what the poll's population should think. These preconceptions do not necessarily stem from the reporters' own political biases; they may instead stem from predominant socio-political narratives.
Specific examples of this can be found in the United States, where the predominant narrative is to assume that the US is a centre-right nation, that persons not affiliated with either of the two major political parties (signified with the term "Independents") desire moderation and compromise over political decisiveness, and that the two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, represent the two edges of political spectrum, left and right, respectively. This narrative colors the interpretation of polls in the mainstream media and is frequently referred to without questioning its assumptions.
The most immediate way I will use for this understanding is for my classes. Understanding (at least the basics of) research methodology will allow me to properly formulate my research papers, make informed judgments on the research material I choose to use, and critically review my own work as well as the work of my classmates. It will also help in my review of the curriculum and my evaluations of what parts of the curriculum readings provide the more cogent points/perspectives.
I may also have use for it in future work opportunities, where I may have to perform research or evaluate options for myself, my work, or my exployer.
It could also be useful when choosing who I will vote for, reflecting on why I want to vote for a particular candidate, and receiving reports on how elected politicians (both the ones I vote for and the ones I don't vote for) are performing.
Should I choose to have children, this understanding will also be useful when explaining the world to them and backing up my explanation with durable proof.
Vocabulary
Empirical data - data/information that corresponds to our shared material / social reality
Methodology - means of how a researcher can collect, treat, and analyze data
Quantitative methods - means of research that primarily systematically gathers comparable data on multiple research subjects of a certain kind, then expresses these data in through numbers, and then finally analyze patterns within the numbers
Qualitative methods - means of research where the researcher embeds herself/himself into and conceives of a pattern through a multitude of sensory impulses
Truth criteria - the means by which the researcher decides what is true or accurate for the research; these will not necessarily hold empiricism as the primary truth and instead hold philosophical, moral, or social values as the primary truth (for example, that all humans are created equal)
Checking - the means by which researchers (both the original and external) validate or invalidate the research's consclusions
Cumulative research - an effort by researchers to build upon each other's research, enabling further specification and continued validity for the research that passes external checks
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