Harald Kjellins lectures in Scientific Writing and Research Methodology
How to create and present a line of argumentation
Material: Craft of Research, chapter 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, MP3-file for first hour, MP3-file for second hour
- 7. Making good arguments. Communication theory
and meta-communication.
- Arguments and conversation.
- What is your goal when you talk?
- Basic claims on reasons.
- Basic reasons on evidence.
- What do you offer. The difference between normal communication and scientific communication.
- Acknowledging and responding to alternatives.
- What arguments of questions can arise against the claims.
- Warranting the relevance of reasons.
- Can you present a theory that validates how you use your evidence.
- Building complex arguments out of simple ones.
- Researcher have many arguments. Triangulation.
- Arguments and your ethos. Neutrality.
- To describe all aspects. Also the contradictory ones.
- 8. Claims. Why is this thing interesting
for you and for the reader?
- What kind of claim.
- Evaluating you claim.
- Not to general and not to specific
- 9. Reasons and evidence. What kind of reasons
have you chosen. Using an "argumentation-tree" when reasoning
- Using reasons to plan your argument.
- Logic is a very useful tool for structuring information.
- The distinction between reasons and evidence.
- There can be evidence backing up your reasons.
- Evidence versus reports of evidence.
- Is it possible to check the references.
- Reliable evidence.
- Test the evidence.
- Make sure the reader can test it.
- 10. Acknowledgements and responses. Create
a discussion that supports the reader in following all aspects of your argumentation.
- Questioning your argument. "REFUTATIO" and how you can win your opponents on your
side.
- Finding alternatives to your argument. Explore all other possible explanations.
- Deciding what to acknowledge. Avoid to much argumentation. Gives a hint that you hide something
- Responses as subordinate arguments. Clarify and explain how there can be exceptions.
- 11. Warrants. General commonsense warrants.
Are the principles behind it valid.
- How warrants work.
- You make them agree on your explanation of the warrant. The accept it and your use of it.
- What warrants look like.
- The theoretical assumptions behind the reasoning.
- Knowing when to state a warrant.
- When readers are unfamiliar with your reasoning.
- Testing your warrants.
- Find evidence that the warrants hold.
- Challenging the warrants of others.
- What kind of evidence are there?
Research strategies, Levels of variables, Quantitative and qualitative research processes
Introduction
MP3-file for first hour,
- Advantages and disadvantages of Quantitative and
Qualitative research processes
- When is engineering an art and when is it quantitative science
- The systemic perspective versus the analytical/rational perspective
- A discussion about dimensions dimensions that can be used when classifying approach and how
they relate to the perspective of the Quantitative and Qualitative research processes
- Inductive/Deductive
- Positivistic/Interpretative/Design
- Positivisticis is encountered by an interactionist approach where there is a naturalistic perspective
where you allow yourself to be more unstructured in order to not disturb what you are studying
- Constructionist where the researcher and that which is studied is part of a history of social
constructions
- Reflexive. Not how things are but how they should be
- Reductionism versus Holism (Systemic)
- Objective/Critical Realism
- Rational and analytical versus Systemic
- Study the part or the whole
- From tacit to Explicit or from Explicit to Tacit
- Measuring in relation to comparing
Material: Data Collection and Analysis, Part 1: Design Issues, Chapter 1 + 2
- 1. Validating evidence
- What is valid evidence. does the data measure what the author claims
- Validity of population versus validity of measurements
- Time series design, Trends, Longitudinal studies ( you ask the same persons questions to detect
the change)
- From a positivistic approach: How to measure properly
- Reductionism: To divide into parts, measure and tehn sum up the results of the measures.
- Reliability in relation to Validity
- Why it is easier to determine reliability
- Counting cases MP3-file for second hour
- The advantages of preprocessing classifications into numerical values
- Which approach should you choose if there is available quantitative data?
- Artificial scales
- Determining on what levels interpretations should be made
- When it can be farfetched to try to make numerical estimations
- Comparing groups
- How do people and organizations do benchmarking in ordinary life
- Conclusion & Key terms
- Regression to the mean
- How do you really know that the effect is not caused by some hidden variable
- You need to plan and systemize all measures and comparisons
- Is it reasonable
- Is it practical
- 2. Survey sampling
- Sampling
- What constitutes a relevant survey population
- Sampling frame
- Selecting a sample
- Randomized, Stratified random sampling from non-overlapping groups, Cluster
sampling (First one class in each school and then randomely in each
class), Quota sampling until all proportions are balanced
- Estimation of population parameters
- What variables are used for selecting the population
- What variables are disregarded
- What variables are measured
- What does the most discriminiting value refer to?
- How is the most discriminitative values used in inductive reasoning?
- Error, Sample size and Non-response
- Confidence interval in relation to the normalized distribution
- Means, Median, Variance and standard deviation
- When is it enough with 30 and when is a 100 not enough
- Missing values can be treated by either ignoring them or by filling in reasonable values
- Outliers can sometimes be ignored
- Conclusion & Key terms
Presenting your findings in front of a live audience
- Basic theories about presentation techniques
- The students test the theories while presenting the essence of their presumed scientific contribution