Introduction

POLS7060 RESEARCH METHODS FOR

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PRACTITIONERS

1 Dr Yew Wei Lit

Department of Government & International Studies
Hong Kong Baptist University
2 Today’s Aims

 Introductions
 To help familiarise yourselves with the course organisation and
direction
 To check and deepen your knowledge on plagiarism
 To recognise and differentiate the features of “social research”
3 A Bit about Myself

 YEW Wei Lit

 AAB902T
 yewweilit@hkbu.edu.hk
 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wei
_Lit_Yew
4 What This Course is about

 “Not what we know [but] how we know it” (Babbie 2021, 3)

 Research methodology: the “science of finding out” (ibid, 5)
 Social research
5 Course Structure

 Week 2-4: Research design and strategies

 Week 5-6: Qualitative research methods
 Week 7-8: Quantitative research methods
 Week 9-11: Mixed methods, data analysis, and research writing
 Week 12-13: Presentations
6 Group Presentation + Discussion
Facilitation (15%)
 Each student must sign up once
 No more than 3 persons in a group
 Presentation (15 mins) + Discussion (15 mins) <= 30 mins
 Distribute online handouts of your presentation and questions
to everyone before class
 Peer evaluation feedback will inform grading, if necessary
7 Group Presentation (7.5%)

 Summarise briefly the substance and significance of the key

arguments and assumptions (5 mins)
 Review the methodology: what are its strengths/weaknesses? Do
the chosen methods help make the argument more convincing?
What are the trade-offs being made? (5 mins)
 Demonstrate the connections: how do the texts connect to one
another for that week, and to previous weeks? (5 mins)
8 Discussion Facilitation (7.5%)

 1-2 guiding questions (be thoughtful or

even provocative, but they must be
relevant to the text)
 Time management is important!
 Engage your classmates
9 Critical Memos (2 x 20% = 40%)

Two approaches to arguing about a particular research

approach/strategy, engage with relevant methodological concepts,
theories, practices, and tradeoffs:
 pick a English-language scholarly source and critically assess the
research methods/strategy used by the author(s)
 2 x 1000-1200 words: a research approach/strategy for a specific
project/work
 advance a viewpoint about a particular methodological
issue/strategy (e.g. “Are qualitative methods useful for theory-
testing in public administration studies?”)
 1 x 2500 words: a general research approach/strategy
10 Critical Memos (2 x 20% = 40%)

 Additional research and incorporation of relevant materials

outside the course will help elevate the grade
 Memo #1: qualitative methods
 Due by 15 Oct (Sun), 23:59
 Memo #2: quantitative or mixed methods
 Due by 19 Nov (Sun), 23:59
11 Project Proposal (35%)

 In a group of no more than 3 persons

 Identify a research topic that speaks to the programme
 Approval of topic is required before proceeding
 Peer evaluation feedback will inform grading, if necessary
12 Project Proposal (35%)

 Presentation of draft proposal (5%): 24 Nov and 1 Dec class

sessions
 Research proposal (30%): due by 17 Dec (Sun), 23:59
 No more than 8 pages after excluding the references
 Outline/draft paper
13 Policy on the use of generative AI tools

 Ethical and transparent use

 https://chatgpt.hkbu.edu.hk/
 A learning tool, not a copy-and-paste plagiarism machine
 Email me a completed declaration and acknowledgment form for
every assessed assignment
 Always keep a record of your use of generative AI tools for all
assessed assignments
 Improper use and/or failure to declare will result in grade penalties
14 Class Participation (10%)

 Read the classroom participation tips in the syllabus

 Speak out but also listen to others
 Quality, not quantity, is more important in the assessment of
your discussion contributions
 Might be helpful to organise your thoughts first, before
speaking out
 Show your command of the course materials in your
interventions
15 Class Participation (10%)

 It’s okay if you are unfamiliar with the case study or topic!
 Personal insights and experiences are welcome!
 Other means of participation are available (e.g. Moodle forums,
personal write-ins etc.)
 Reach out to me if you’re struggling with this
16 Late Assignment

 You are entitled to one 24-hour free pass

 A late submission incurs 5% grade deduction and another 5%
penalty for every 24 hours after the deadline
 Use an MC or other supporting documents to be exempted
from deadlines
17 Attendance

 Attendance is mandatory
 Absences will generally only be “excused” if you can provide a
MC or other supporting documents
 If there are no documents: just inform and discuss with me
(certain situations can’t be validated with a document, after all)
 Alternatively, do a make-up work to compensate for your
absences
18 Before and During Class

 Moodle announcements: overview of the upcoming readings

and reading instructions
 A lecture at the start of the class - the PowerPoint slides will be
posted to Moodle near class time
 Small-group and whole-class discussions
19 Before and During Class

 Complete the methodological readings (e.g. assigned Earl R.

Babbie’s book chapters)
 The lecture will elaborate on the methodological discussions
 For the accompanying empirical research articles, focus more on
the introduction (research questions and brief context), literature
review (gaps and contributions), the methodological section, and
how the methods help the authors reach their conclusions
20 Discussion Norms

 Moderator
 Equal speaking time
 Entering conversations: raise your hand, or just jump in
 Mutual respect and disagreeing
 Please approach me if there are issues
21 Consultation

 Office hours by appointment

 Tuesdays: 1pm-3pm
 Fridays: 3.30pm-5.30pm
 https://yewweilit.youcanbook.me/
 Email me for alternative times/for longer duration, pull me aside,
email inquiries
22 What is Plagiarism?

 “Taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own.”

(https://library.hkbu.edu.hk/services/research-support/academic-
integrity/avoiding-plagiarism/)
 Theft, cheating, dishonesty
 Usually happens when you copy and paste information into
assignments, and when the deadline is looming and you are
facing time constraints and high pressures
 https://youtu.be/fmuAB5MqP0Y
23 What is Plagiarism?

 Carelessness and ignorance

 Unintentional plagiarism is still plagiarism
 Don’t do it! Not if but when
 https://tinyurl.com/yxcab8mk
 Do three things to avoid plagiarism
24 Avoiding Plagiarism

Note taking:
 Be systematic and organised when doing literature research
 Annotate your readings
 Use note-taking software like Notes, Evernote and EndNote
Citing sources:
 Always consistently follow the rules of a particular citation style
(APA, Chicago, Harvard, etc.)
 Use citation generating software like EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley
etc. or sites like Google Scholar, Library websites, and
citethisforme.com
25 Avoiding Plagiarism

Quotation, paraphrasing, and summarising:

 Always use quotation marks if you use the words of someone
else directly
 But directly quoted text should be used sparingly
 It is almost always better to paraphrase (i.e. put into your own
words) the ideas of others!
 Paraphrased ideas read better and show better that you have
mastered the material
26 What is Social Research?

 It is one among many ways of constructing

representations of social life—of telling about
society. It is the product of the efforts of an
individual (or group of individuals) that addresses
socially significant phenomena, engages directly or
indirectly with ideas or social theory, incorporates
large amounts of appropriate evidence that has
been purposefully collected, and results from
systematic analysis of this evidence (Ragin and
Amoroso 2011, 8)
27 What is Social Research?

 But how are social researchers

different to others?
 They tend to, but not always, have
a specialised audience and use a
scientific method
 The Scientific Method
28

 A set of research steps intended to

further the acquisition of
knowledge such that researchers
can avoid making subjective
conclusions based on biased
evidence
 Literature/theory -> hypothesis ->
research design -> collect data ->
analyse data
 Research strategy (qualitative,
quantitative, comparative): the
matching of goals and methods
29 Seven Goals of Social Research

 Identifying general patterns and

relationships
 Advancing new theories
 Testing and refining theories
 Making predictions
 Interpreting culturally or historically
significant phenomena
 Exploring diversity
 Giving voice
30 Wrap-up

 A lot like journalism, but…

 Social research addresses socially significant phenomena, engages
directly or indirectly with ideas or social theory, incorporates large
amounts of appropriate evidence that has been purposefully
collected, and results from systematic analysis of this evidence
 Research concepts and design: What are some common
strategies? Qualitative or quantitative? What do we mean by
conceptualisation, operationalisation and measurement?