Scientific method

Mathematical and experimental technique employed in the sciences. More specifically, it is

the technique used in the construction and testing of a scientific hypothesis. The process of observing,
asking questions, and seeking answers through tests and experiments is not unique to any one field of
science. In fact, the scientific method is applied broadly in science, across many different fields. Many
empirical sciences, especially the social sciences, use mathematical tools borrowed from probability
theory and statistics, together with outgrowths of these, such as decision theory, game theory, utility
theory, and operations research. Philosophers of science have addressed general methodological
problems, such as the nature of scientific explanation and the justification of induction.

The scientific method is critical to the development of scientific theories, which explain empirical
(experiential) laws in a scientifically rational manner. In a typical application of the scientific method,
a researcher develops a hypothesis, tests it through various means, and then modifies the hypothesis
on the basis of the outcome of the tests and experiments. The modified hypothesis is then retested,
further modified, and tested again, until it becomes consistent with observed phenomena and testing
outcomes. In this way, hypotheses serve as tools by which scientists gather data. From that data and
the many different scientific investigations undertaken to explore hypotheses, scientists are able to
develop broad general explanations, or scientific theories.

Quantitative method

Emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical

analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-
existing statistical data using computational techniques. Quantitative research focuses on
gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a particular
phenomenon

Characteristic of quantitative reaearch

Your goal in conducting quantitative research study is to determine the relationship between
independent variable and another outcome variable within a population. Quantitative research
designs are either descriptive or experimental. A descriptive study establishes only
associations between variables; an experimental study establishes causality.

Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic, and an objective stance. Quantitative research
focuses on numeric and unchanging data and detailed, convergent reasoning rather than
divergent reasoning (i.e., the generation of a variety of ideas about a research problem in a
spontaneous, free-flowing manner).

The main characteristics are:

 The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.

 The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population.
 The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability.
 Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are
sought.
 All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.
 Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables, charts, figures,
or other non-textual forms.
 Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or
investigate causal relationships.
 Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to collect numerical
data.
 The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features, count them, and
construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

 Things to keep in mind when reporting the results of a study using quantitative methods:

1. Explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all relevant results in
relation to the research problem you are investigating. Interpretation of results is not
appropriate in this section.

2. Report unanticipated events that occurred during your data collection. Explain how the
actual analysis differs from the planned analysis. Explain your handling of missing data and
why any missing data does not undermine the validity of your analysis.
3. Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set.

4. Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure; provide a rationale for its use and a
reference for it. Specify any computer programs used.

5. Describe the assumptions for each procedure and the steps you took to ensure that they
were not violated.

6. When using inferential statistics, provide the descriptive statistics, confidence intervals,
and sample sizes for each variable as well as the value of the test statistic, its direction, the
degrees of freedom, and the significance level.

7. Avoid inferring causality, particularly in nonrandomized designs or without further

experimentation.

8. Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global effects. Keep figures
small in size; include graphic representations of confidence intervals whenever possible.

9. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures.
Identifying a research Topics

Closely related to the problem or opportunity statement is the “topic” of the study. For doctoral
students, there are several things to consider when selecting and narrowing your topic. The research
project begins with a foundation of theory and produces new knowledge and insights that contribute
back to theory. When working on a doctoral thesis/dissertation for a particular degree, the topic has to
fit within the theories, concepts, topics found in the field and disciplines for that field. For example, a
doctoral student working toward a Ph.D. in management would not be allowed or able to do a
dissertation focused on medical science. There are two reasons for this. First, the degree that is being
earned is in management, not medicine. So the topic has to match the degree. Second, the faculty in a
school of management are not qualified to supervise a research study focused on medicine. This might
seem obvious but I continue to see topics proposed that are well outside the particular degree
fields/disciplines.

Types of resources

In general, there are three types of resources or sources of information: primary, secondary, and
tertiary.  It is important to understand these types and to know what type is appropriate for your
coursework prior to searching for information.

- Primary sources :
are original materials on which other research is based, including:
o Original written works – poems, diaries, court records, interviews, surveys, and
original research/fieldwork, and research published in scholarly/academic journals.

- Secondary sources :
are those that describe or analyze primary sources, including:
o Reference materials – dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and
books and articles that interpret, review, or sythesize original research/fieldwork.

- Tertiary sources :
are those used to organize and locate secondary and primary sources.
o Indexes – provide citations that fully identify a work with information such as author,
titles of a book, artile, and/or journal, publisher and publication date, volume and
issue number and page numbers.
o Abstracts – summarize the primary or secondary sources,
o Databases – are online indexes that usually include abstracts for each primary or
secondary resource, and may also include a digital copy of the resource.

The steps in formulating reseacrh problem

1. Identify the Broad Study Area

This is a great idea to thinking about the subject area of your interest. You should identify the field in
which you would like to work a long time after your academic study or graduation. It will help you
tremendously to get an interesting research topic. For example- if you do graduation in sociology, you
must decide your research study area in sociology. You might choose social problems like
unemployment, road accident, community health, HIV/AIDS etc.
 
2. Dissect the Broad Study Area into Subareas
In this stage, you need to dissect and specify your research broad study area into some subareas. You
would consult with your supervisor on this regard. Write down subareas. For example- if you select
unemployment as your broad study area, then dissect it into unemployment & social stability,
unemployment & crime, unemployment & individual frustration etc. In this case, your research title
maybe how unemployment produces criminal activities. Or how it creates frustration in mind among
unemployed people.
3. Mark-up your Interest
It is almost impossible to study all subareas. That’s why you must identify your area of interest. You
should select issues in which you are passionate about. Your interest must be the most important
determinant of your research study. Once you selected your research study of interest, you should
delete other subareas in which you do not feel interested. Keep in mind that if you lose your interest in
your research study it won’t bring any results eventually.

4. Study Research Questions

In this step in formulating a research problem, you would point out your research questions under the
area of interest as you decided in the previous stage. If you select unemployment as your study area,
your questions might be “how unemployment impact on individual social status?” “How it affects
social stability?” “How it creates frustration on individuals?” Define what research problem or
question you are going to study? The more you study the research problem it will be just as relevant
and fruitful to solve the problem indeed.

5. Set Out Objectives

Set out conspicuously your research root objectives and sub-objectives. Research objectives
essentially come from research questions. If you do study “Impact of unemployment on individual
social status” as your research problem or research question. Then, set out what would you like to
explore to address. For Example- your main objective might be to examine the unemployment status
in a particular society or state. And sub-objectives would be its effects on individuals social life. So,
setting out specific main and sub-objectives are so crucial. 

6. Assess your Objectives

Now, you should evaluate your objectives to make sure the possibility of attaining them through your
research study. Assess your objectives in terms of time, budget, resources and technical expertise at
your hand. You should also assess your research questions in light of reality. Determine what outcome
will bring your study. If you can assess accurately the purpose of the research study it will bring
significant results in the long run. In fact, research objectives determine the value of the study you are
going to work out.

7. Check Back
Before you go on research work you should review all steps in formulating a research problem and all
the things what you have done till now in the purpose of your research study. Then, ask yourself about
your enthusiasm. Do you have enough resources to step up? If you are quite satisfied, then you
forward to undertake your research work. You can change any of your plans in the light of reality if it
requires.
Narrowing a topic

You may not know right away what your research question is. Gather information on the broader
topic to explore new possibilities and to help narrow your topic.

• Choose an interesting topic. If you’re interested in your topic, chances are that others will be, too.
Plus researching will be a lot more fun!

• Gather background information.

• For a general overview, reference sources may be useful.
• The database OneSearch@IU is also a good place to start narrowing your focus and finding
resources (libraries.iub.edu/onsearch).
• Ask yourself:
- What subtopics relate to the broader topic?
- What questions do these sources raise?
- What do you find interesting about the topic?
• Consider your audience. Who would be interested in the issue?

From Topic to Research Question

After choosing a topic and gathering background information, add focus with a research question.
• Explore questions.
- Ask open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your general topic.
- Consider the “so what” of your topic. Why does this topic matter to you?
Why should it matter to others?
- Reflect on the questions you have considered. Identify one or two questions you find
engaging and which could be explored further through research.

• Determine and evaluate your research question.

- What aspect of the more general topic you will explore?
- Is your research question clear?
- Is your research question focused? (Research questions must be specific enough to be well
covered in the space available.)
- Is your research question complex? (Questions shouldn’t have a simple yes/no answer and
should require research and analysis.)

• Hypothesize. After you’ve come up with a question, consider the path your answer might take.
- If you are making an argument, what will you say?
- Why does your argument matter?
- How might others challenge your argument?
- What kind of sources will you need to support your argument?
Assumptions

An assumption is an unexamined belief: what we think without realizing we think it. Our inferences
(also called conclusions) are often based on assumptions that we haven't thought about critically.

Hypothesis

Is the specific statement of prediction, It describes in concrete (rather than theoretical) terms what you
expect will happen in your study. Not all studies have hypotheses. Sometimes a study is designed to
be exploratory. There is no formal hypothesis, and perhaps the purpose of the study is to explore some
area more thoroughly in order to develop some specific hypothesis or prediction that can be tested in
future research. A single study may have one or many hypotheses.

Type of Hypothesis

The alternative hypothesis

States that there is a relationship between the two variables being studied (one variable has an effect
on the other).
It states that the results are not due to chance and that they are significant in terms of supporting the
theory being investigated.

The null hypothesis

States that there is no relationship between the two variables being studied (one variable does not
affect the other).
It states results are due to chance and are not significant in terms of supporting the idea being
investigated.

Non-directional hypothesis
A two-tailed predicts that the independent variable will have an effect on the dependent variable, but
the direction of the effect is not specified.
E.g., there will be a difference in how many numbers are correctly recalled by children and adults.

Directional hypothesis
A one-tailed predicts the nature of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
characteristics of a usable hypotheses.

1. A hypotheses should be empirically testable. It should be so stated that it is possible to deduce

logically certain inferences close to the level of concrete observation so that they can be tested by
observation in the field. That is, the hypotheses should have empirical referents.
The concepts embodied in the hypothesis must have clear empirical correspondence and should be
explicitly defined. For example, ‘Bad parents beget bad children’ is hardly a statement that can
qualify as a usable hypothesis, since ‘bad’ cannot be explicitly defined.

2. Hypotheses should be closest to things observable. Failing this, it would not be possible to test their
accord with empirical facts. Cohen and Nagel rightly remark”… hypothesis must be formulated in
such a manner that deductions can be made from it and consequently, a decision can be reached as to
whether it does not explain the facts considered.”

3. The hypotheses must be conceptually clear. This point is implicit in the proceeding criterion. The
concepts utilized in the hypothesis should be clearly defined not only formally but also, if possible,
operationally.
Formal definition or explication of the concepts will clarify what a particular concept stands for, while
the operation definition will leave no ambiguity about what would constitute the empirical evidence
or indicator of the concept on the plane of reality.
An ambiguous hypothesis characterized by undefined or ill-defined concepts cannot be tested since,
understandably, there is no standard basis for knowing what observable facts would constitute its test.
It is advisable that the concepts embodied in the hypotheses be defined in a manner commonly
accepted and communicable. This would ensure continuity in researches and go a long way in
bringing about a cumulative growth of scientific knowledge.

4. The hypotheses must be specific. One may hypothesize that something will happen in next five
minutes, with absolute confidence but just because it is refuted it is empty of concrete information.
We need to know what will happen and as soon as we commit ourselves to one view or another we
become vulnerable; our prediction will be refuted if what was said would happen does not happen.
A scientific statement is useful to the extent it allows itself to be exposed to a possible refutation.
Often the researchers are tempted to express their hypotheses in terms so general and so grandiose in
scope that they are simply not amenable to test.
This temptation can be suicidal. The researchers would do well to avoid employing concepts in their
hypotheses for which suitable tangible indices have not developed. An hypothesis should include a
clear statement of indexes which are to be used. For example, the concept of social class needs to be
explicated in terms of such indicators as income, occupation, education, etc.
Such specific formulations have the obvious advantage of assuring that research will be practicable
and significant. It also helps to increase the validity of the results because more specific the statement
or prediction, smaller the probability that it will actually be borne out as a result of mere accident or
chance.

5. Advisedly, the hypotheses should be related to a body of theory or some theoretical orientation.
This requirement concerns the theoretic rationale of a hypothesis, i.e., what will be the theoretical
gains of testing the hypothesis?
If the hypothesis is related to some theory, research will help to qualify, support, correct or refute the
theory. A science can become cumulative only through interchange between the existing body of fact
and theory.
Will not deriving hypotheses as a rule from some theoretical base throttle ventures into new fields in
which no articulate theoretical system has developed? Will not such hypotheses lead to unnecessary
repetitions? Doubts of this order may be raised by some.
Theses objections do not have much substance since such hypotheses formulate imaginatively,
besides serving the function of elaborating, extending and improving the theory, they may also
suggest important links between it and certain other theories.
Thus, the exercise of deriving hypotheses from a body of theory may also be an occasion of a
scientific leap into newer areas of knowledge. As Parsons put it, “Theory not only formulates what
we know but also tells us what we want to know.”
If hypotheses were derived from a body of theory, to that extent it would be possible to formulate
them as statements about what will happen, that is, the roots of hypotheses in theory would invest
these hypotheses with the power of prediction.
One of the valuable attributes of a good hypothesis is its power of prediction. The potency of
hypotheses in regard to predictive purposes constitutes a great advancement in scientific knowledge.
To quote Cohen and Nagel, “… the hypothesis to be preferred is one which can predict what will
happen, and from which we can infer what has already happened, even if we did not know (it
had happened) when the hypothesis was formulated.”
In the example cited earlier, the hypothesis that lower suicide rates should be expected among the
Catholics than among the Protestants besides having a predictive potential would also afford by virtue
of its theoretical moorings, the basis for saying that married persons or a minority community or a
tribal community by virtue of high social cohesion would have lower suicide rates.
It is in this sense that a ‘good’ hypothesis helps us make statements about what is already there or
what has already happened although we were not aware of it.

6. Hypotheses should be related to available techniques. This is, of course, a sensible methodological
requirement applicable to any problem when one is judging its research ability. The researcher who
does not know what techniques are available to test his hypotheses is in a poor way to formulate
usable questions.
In other words, the hypotheses should be formulated only after due thought has been given to the
methods and techniques that can be used to measure the concepts or variables incorporated in the
hypotheses. This should not mean as implying, however, that formulation of hypotheses which are at
a given time too complex to be handled by contemporary technique is a taboo.
We must not forget that if the problem is significant enough as a possible frame of reference, it may
be useful regardless of whether or not it is amenable to verification or test by the techniques available
at the time. The works of Marx and Durkheim have been of paramount importance to sociology even
though at that time their larger ideas were incapable of being handled by available techniques.
Lastly, it would be well to remember that posing of ‘impossible’ questions may stimulate the growth
and innovations in technique. There is no doubt that some amount of impetus to modern
developments in technique has come from criticisms against significant studies which were at that
time considered inadequate because of limitations of available techniques.