Answer week 2 question 250 words. Respond to 3 classmates 250 words each.
Week2 Question: To what degree can research within the social science be considered “scientific?” What does it mean for a line of research to be “scientific?” What are some of the challenges that coincide with carrying out scientific research? Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.
Classmate 1 Francisco: Good Day,
Research is used in investigating a topic in question, using systematic methods to prove or disprove through findings in a quest to gain knowledge. What I believe is considered scientific research is when there is a topic of interest that is in question, or when there is a gap that can be expounded on. In a nutshell, if you have a question about something and want to know more about it, then it can be considered scientific research. There are many sciences out there ranging from life, applied, earth, and social sciences to name a few. All these require investigation in a quest to gain or expand the knowledge that is already out there. “Research conducted for the purpose of contributing towards science by the systematic collection, interpretation and evaluation of data and that, too, in a planned manner is called scientific research” (Donmez, Ozhan, 2016).
This is where the challenge comes in. When conducting scientific research, we want to know the who, what, where, when, why, and how? Researchers use the scientific method to answer these questions by formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and drawing up conclusions about their hypothesis. Biases can be involved conducting research, especially if resources are not checked for its credibility, reliability, and validity. The outcome of the experiments may not always produce the same results or coincide with your hypothesis, which if the researcher is stubborn, may not accept the results and continue to find other ways to prove their point. ” Authors typically do not report their exploratory procedures, so opportunistic biases are very difficult to detect just by reading the final version of a research report” (DeCoster, Sparks, 2015).
-Frank
Bibliography
Çaparlar, Ceyda Özhan, and Aslı Dönmez. “What Is Scientific Research and How Can It Be Done?” Turkish journal of anaesthesiology and reanimation. Turkish Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Society, August 2016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5019873/.
DeCoster, Jamie, Erin A Sparks, Jordan C Sparks, Glenn G Sparks, and Cheri W Sparks. “Opportunistic Biases: Their Origins, Effects, and an Integrated Solution.” American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association, 2015. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-39598-002.
Classmate 2 Chloe: When talking about scientific research it is important to know what the meaning of it is. Scientific research is conducted for the sole purpose of contributing towards science by the systematic collection, interpretation and evaluation of data (Caparlar, 2016). There are many important steps to conducting scientific research but before conducting the research the subject needs to be determined first. Scientific research can be classified in several ways such as observational, experimental, descriptive, and analytical to name a few (Caparlar, 2016). Descriptive research is the presence of a comparison group that are categorized as observational and interventional research (Caparlar, 2016).
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines research as systematic and creative actions taken to increase knowledge about humans, culture, and society and to apply it in new areas of interest (Erol, 2017). Scientific investigators start with specific research questions and the formulation of a hypothesis to answer their question. Some challenges that coincide with carrying out scientific research is the data that goes into these research questions have to be factual, and have many different approaches to them. Without these types of approaches the scientific research can become affected and not have as much information that necessarily needs to be input into research.
Ceyda Ozhan Caparlar, August 1 2016. What is Scientific Research and How Can it be Done? U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5019873/
Almila Erol, June 1 2017. How to Conduct Scientific Research? U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5491675/
Classmate 3 Darrel: Research is deemed to be “scientific” when another researcher can replicate a research design and achieve similar results to a research question previously studied (Lesson 2 2021, Slide 4). To assist in the research process, researchers use The Scientific Method to gain insight into what was previously unknown about their subject matter to build scientific knowledge (Lesson 2 2021, Slide 5). Clauser (2008, 44) lists the four steps in order: (1) researcher makes observations; (2) researcher proposes a hypothesis; (3) researcher conducts experiment; (4) researcher compares results to hypothesis. If the outcome of the experiment matches initial predictions, the hypothesis is considered valid. In addition to validity, a conclusion or theory resulting from the scientific method must meet four characteristics; repeatable, precise, falsifiable, and parsimonious (Lesson 2 2021, Slide 5).
When I think of “science”, the first topics that come to mind are Biology and Chemistry; matters of the physical and natural world around us. Social science such as Psychology and Sociology on the other hand focuses on human behavior from a social and cultural perspective. While there is ongoing debate whether social science is actually “scientific”, Clauser (2008, 45) suggests the scientific method is also relevant to nonscientific research. In this case, nonscientific applies to social science. The same steps to research a naturally scientific question can be applied to a socially scientific question. For example, patterns and trends are observable human behaviors. A hypothesis can be made based on observation and the incorporation of variables. An experiment can be conducted in the form of interviews/surveys and results can be analyzed to prove (or disprove) the hypothesis. Coulter (n.d., 19) states “something which is genuinely worthy of the name of “science” is considered to have succeeded in generating knowledge of a rigorous kind, is considered to have transcended mere “common sense”, is thought to be trustworthy, reliable and, above all, “objective” rather than subjective in nature”. If it were up to me, “science” or being “scientific” is simply the systematic pursuit of knowledge through research, regardless of discipline or area of focus.
All scientific research begins with a question which stems from a knowledge gap or a desire to know more about a particular topic. Ethical, political, or ideological interests can also influence what a researcher decides to study (Coulter n.d., 20). As such, personal and emotional attachment can be a challenge when conducting research. It is important to set biases aside and have facts and findings of research reflect itself rather than the researcher to achieve genuine scientific value.
Reference List
American Military University. 2021. “SSGS500 Lesson 2 Framing Research.” Accessed November 8, 2021. https://myclassroom.apus.edu/d2l/le/enhancedSequen…
Clauser, Jerome. 2008. “Types of Inquiry and the Nature of Proof.” In An Introduction to Intelligence Research and Analysis. Edited by Jan Goldman. 38-50. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Coulter, Jeff. n.d. “‘Science’ in the Social Sciences.” e-Source: Behavioral & Social Sciences Research. 1-28. https://obssr.od.nih.gov/sites/obssr/files/Science…
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