Chapter 1 - The Scientific Approach to Politics

Question 1

4 Examples of the Ubiquity of Social Science Research

Answer 1

1. Public Opinion Data
2. Behavioural Data
3. Official Statistics
4. Economic Data

Question 2

Social Science Influences these 3 Things

Answer 2

1. Political Debates
2. Popular Beliefs
3. Policy (sometimes)

Question 3

3 Challenges for Consumers of Social Science Research

Answer 3

1. Assessing the quality of studies
2. Assessing the relevance of studies
3. Ensuring objectivity

Question 4

Definition of Evidence and the 2 Types

Answer 4

Information that is used to provide a basis for a point of view

1. Facts
2. Observations

Question 5

2 Ways to Determine Values of Evidence

Answer 5

1. Quality (validity, reliability)

2. The body of evidence

Question 6

Argument Definition

Answer 6

Series of logical statements that lead to a conclusion, with reasons offered to support the conclusion.

Question 7

Research Nihilism

Answer 7

That extreme end of critically evaluating research. There is no perfect research, but this belief posits that no research can have meaning because of inherent human bias and possible design flaws.

Question 8

The 4 Parts of the Evidence Quality Continuum

Answer 8

Misleading Evidence
No or limited evidence
Best available evidence
Strong evidence

Question 9

How to Distinguish and Approach Evidence

Answer 9

We examine how to distinguish between evidence that, despite its relatively minor limitations, merits guiding our practice versus more seriously flawed evidence that should be viewed more cautiously.

Question 10

Four Portions of POLS 256 and what we will look at

Answer 10

1. Scientific Method
   - Positivism and its critics
   - theory
2. Design Issues
   - Ethics
   - Concepts and measures
   - Sampling
   - Comparative case study
3. Quantitative Research Designs
   - Surveys and official statistics
   - Experiments
   - Quantitative analysis
4. Qualitative Research Designs
   - Textual analysis
   - Interviews, focus groups, observation
   - Qualitative analysis

Question 11

5 Steps to Evidence-Based Practice and Policy

Answer 11

1. Formulate Question
2. Search for best evidence available
3. Critically appraise evidence
4. Select intervention based on appraisal of evidence, expertise, and context
5. Monitor Progress

Question 12

Type-of-Evidence Continuum (Three types)

Answer 12

1. Opinion
2. Assertion (some that is held to be true but that cannot or has not yet been demonstrated to be true)
3. Fact

Question 13

Why is social science science?

Answer 13

Because social scientists still use the same steps / scientific method and have similar philosophical assumptions about the world, reality, and causal relationships
The only difference is the objects of research

Question 14

Normative v Empirical Analysis

Answer 14

Empirical is descriptive, explanatory, observation

Normative is prescriptive, ideals, value judgements

Question 15

4 Underlying Assumptions of Positivism

Answer 15

1. Causality / Determinism
2. Measurable / Empiricism
3. Objectivity
4. Replication

Question 16

Causality / Determinism Explained

Answer 16

Causal relationships exist, are the reason for the the state of the world.
Events are determined by previously existing causes.

Question 17

Measurable / Empiricism

Answer 17

Things in the world are measurable through human perception / observation. Through this we are capable of understanding the causes of effects.

Question 18

Objectivity

Answer 18

Despite being biased subjects, if we used certain methods we can objectively observe the single reality.

Question 19

Replication

Answer 19

1. Ideas and theories are continuously tested to ensure their place in reality. No amount of replication with the same result can lead to certainty, but one replication that disputes a claim ruins it forever.
2. We can determine universal truths about the objective world by having many subjects use the scientific method to observe things.

Question 20

4 Criticisms of Empirical Analysis / Evidence

Answer 20

1. Evidence can change over time
2. Evidence has its limits - humanistic element
3. Evidence is filtered through power (postmodernism)
4. Measurements - always imperfect, always things that are immeasurable

Question 21

5 Challenges of Evidence-Based Policy

Answer 21

1. Evidence searching, time consumption
2. Studies may not exist
3. Studies may point in different directions
4. Studies may have poor design
5. Intervention may not fit context

Question 22

3 Challenges to Objectivity

Answer 22

Confirmation Bias
Disconfirmation Bias
Motivated Reasoning
- When you find evidence that should threaten your belief but you rationalize and find a way to make it fit)

Question 23

Intersubjectivity

Answer 23

Empirical facts must be independently observed and agreed upon by many people.
(Two people, acting independently, perceive the same thing)

Question 24

9 Step of the Scientific Method

Answer 24

1. Identify the problem
2. Hypothesize the cause of the problem
3. Provide clear definitions of the concepts
4. Operationalize the concepts
5. Gather empirical data
6. Test the hypothesis
7. Reflect back on the theory
8. Publicize the results
9. Replicate the results

Question 25

Empirical Analysis

Answer 25

Descriptive in nature; the goal is to describe and to explain the political as it is rather than as it should be.

Question 26

Epistemology

Answer 26

An approach to knowledge

Question 27

Independent Variable

Answer 27

The observable characteristics of phenomena that can take on more than one value; specific and concrete measurements of a concept

Question 28

Epistemology

Answer 28

An approach to knowledge

Question 29

Confounding

Answer 29

The presence of some unobserved difference between groups that is considered correlated both with the outcome and the independent variable of interest, thereby making causal inference impossible.

Question 30

Treatments

Answer 30

The intervention of interest; also known as stimulus.

Question 31

Postmodernism

Answer 31

Reality is socially constructed and the observer cannot be separated from what they purport to see.

Question 32

Variance

Answer 32

In the context of the scientific method, there must be enough variance when the independent variable is removed to be measurable by human perception.

Question 33

Interpretivism (Aka anti-positivism)

Answer 33

The view that reality does not exist independent of individuals and that all knowledge is socially constructed; no objective reality

Question 34

Operationalizatoin

Answer 34

Moving from the general or conceptual level to the specific or concrete. Moving from concepts to variables. In quantitative research, it would be assigning an abstract concept with a numerical value.

Question 35

Postmodernism

Answer 35

A philosophical position that states that it is impossible to identify objective knowledge because all knowledge is embedded within the power, class, gender, and racial structure of society.

Question 36

Correlation

Answer 36

The measurement or observation of a common variation among multiple concepts or measures; can exist without a causal relation.

Question 37

Falsifiable

Answer 37

It must be possible, through both the logic of analysis and the design of research, to demonstrate the absence of a causal relationship between the concepts being examined.

Question 38

Null Hypothesis

Answer 38

The opposite of the hypothesis - that there is no causal relationship between two variables. This must be tested in addition to the normal hypothesis.

Question 39

Measurement Validity

Answer 39

The extent to which the measurement of a particular concept matches its operational definition.