社會科學研究方法 – 授課老師 : 郭育仁 教授

The Craft of ResearchChapter3 and 4

組員 : 沈宗穎 蘇俊旭 曾暇茵 黃詠芯 孔博仁

Find a topic among your interests

Narrow it to a manageable scope, then question it to find the makings of a problem that can guide your research.

So many choices, so little time

提出一個 question(質疑 ),而這個 question的 Answer (答案 or回覆 ), 可以解決既有現存的問題 .

提出 question 之須知 :

1. 不能太廣義 “ in the air” 2.A mental itch about a small question that interests only a single researcher 3.Does the answer to the question solve a significant problem?

Question & Problem ?Some questions raise problems; others do not.

1.A question raises a problem if not answering it keeps us from knowing something more important than its answer. 2.A question does not raise a problem if not answering it has no apparent consequence.

From interest to a topic1. A Research Topic

Is an interest stated specifically enough for us to imaging becoming a local expert on it.

2. Finding a topic in a general writing course

Library

Internet

Finding a topic for a first research project in a particular field1. 搜尋一特定書目 , 再從目錄去找尋所要資訊2. 由一個文章的大標題開始找尋 , 再看該文章如何用 小標題去分段研究 ; 可藉此方法縮小主題的範圍3. Google your topic, but not indiscriminately

4. Browse through journals and web sites

From a broad topic to a focused one

常遇到的風險 : 訂 topic 的範圍太廣

解決之道 : adding words & phrases ，並記得 加入” action words”

• Restate your topic as a full sentence to test whether it is a claim which could interest your reader

• Caution: Don’t narrow your topic so much that you can’t find data on it.

From a focused topic to questions

Once you have a focused topic:

• Beware the beginner’s mistake “Thus we see many differences and similarities

between……”

• Answer the “Five W” questions

Who, What, When, and Where, but focus on How and Why

1. Ask about the history of your topic

• How does it fit into a larger developmental context? Why did your topic come into being?

• What is its own internal history? How and why has the topic itself changed through time?

2. Ask about its structure and composition• How does your topic fit into the context of a larger structure or function as part of a larger system?

• How do its parts fit together as a system?

3. Ask how your topic is categorized• How can your topic be grouped into kinds?

• How does your topic compare to and contrast with others like it?

4. Turn positive questions into negative ones

5. Ask what if? and other speculative questions

• How would things be different if your topic never existed, disappeared, or were put into a new context?

6. Ask questions suggested by your sources

• If a source makes a claim you think is persuasive, ask questions that might extend its reach.

• Ask questions that might support the same claim with new evidence.

• Ask questions analogous to those that sources have asked about similar topics.

7. Evaluate your questions

• Their answers are settled facts that you could just look up.

• Their answers would be merely speculative.

• Their answers are dead ends.

From a question to its significance

So what?

Beyond your own interest in its answer, why would others think it a question worth asking?

Step1: Name your topic

Step2: Add an indirect question

Step3: Answer "So what?" by motivating your question

From Question to a Problem

You can identify the significance of your research question by three step formula:

• Topic

• Question

• Significance

Practical problems: What should we do?

1. A practical problem creates a

2. A research problem

3.It’s a familiar task that typically looks like this:• Practical problem • Research problem• Research solution • Practical solution

4.To solve practical problems

(1) solve a research problem, improving understanding

(2) decide what to do to solve

(3) report

Academic Research Problems: What should we think?

1. Distinguish practical research problems from conceptual ones

• A practical problem: It is caused by some condition in the world.

• A conceptual problem: We don’t understand something about the world.

2. In our everyday world, a problem is something we try to avoid. But in academic

research, a problem is something we seek out, even invent if we have to.

3. Inexperienced researchers sometimes struggle with this notion of a research problem.

4. How to ensure your research has a point:

You need a research problem that focuses you on finding just those data that will help you solve it.

Understanding the common structure of problems

How to distinguish practical and conceptual problems:

• conditions

• costs

The nature of practical problems1.Ex: I miss the bus. I’ll be late for work and lose my job.

2. It’s not you who judge the significance of your problem by the cost you pay, but your readers who judge it by the cost they pay if you don’t solve it.

3. To make your problem their problem, you must frame it from their point of view, so that they see its costs to them.

The nature of conceptual problems1. Practical and conceptual problems have different kinds of conditions and

costs.

2. The consequence of a conceptual problem is a second thing that we don’t know or understand because we don’t understand the first one, and that is more significant, more consequential than the first.

Distinguishing “pure” and

“applied” research

Pure research : It improves the understanding of a community of researchers.

Applied research: When the solution to a research problem does have practical consequences.

Connecting a research problem to practical consequences

A typical beginner’s mistake:

Don’t be a afraid of “pure” research.

Finding a good research problem1.Recognize a good problem when we bump into it, or it bumps into us.

2. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a problem at the start, but think about it early on to save hours of work along the way.

Ask for help1. Talk to anyone who might be interested.

2. If you are free to work on any problem, look for a small one that is part of a bigger one. Don’t let anyone’s suggestions define the limits of your research, find something they never expected.

Look for problems as you read1. You can find a research problem in your sources. Where in them do you see contradictions, inconsistencies, or incomplete explanations?

2. Before you set out to correct a gap or misunderstanding, be sure it’s real, not your own misreading.

3. Do more than just point to an error. If

a source says X, but you think Y, you may have a research problem, but only if you can show that those who misunderstand X misunderstand some larger issue as well.

Look at your own conclusion

Critical reading can also help you discover a good research problem in your own drafts.

Learning to work with problems1. Formulate a question that you think is worth answering.

2. Know how to find a problem that others think is worth solving. Until you can do that, you risk the worst response a researcher can get: not I don’t agree, but I don’t care.

3. In a lot of fields, no skill is valued more highly than the ability to recognize a problem, then articulate it in a way that convinces others both to care about it and to believe it can be solved.