GOVT2044 – RESEARCH METHODS IN GOVERNANCE I

Beginning your Research Project

Department of Government
Faculty of Social Sciences
Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
SR10

Gavin Daley, Ph.D.

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Last lecture: Political Science Research Strategies

Discuss the different research strategies used in Political Science Research:

Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed-methods
- Definitions
- Ontological and Epistemological Assumptions
- Appropriateness
- Examples
- Advantages & Disadvantages
- Similarities & Differences

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Today’s seminar: Beginning your research project:

- Selecting your research topic

- Framing your research statement/ question
- Determining your research strategy
- Hypothesis and Variables
- Identifying your units of analysis and observation
- Conceptualization
- Operationalization
- Identifying the limitations and delimitations of the study

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Research Proposal/ Paper Structure and Procedure

1. Introduction
– Context and background of the study
– Research question or statement
– Research objective
– Significance of the study
– Research hypotheses
– Unit of analysis
– Unit of observation
– Conceptualization
– Operationalization
– Delimitations
– Limitations

Theoretical framework/ Conceptual framework

2. Literature Review

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3. Research Design
– Ontology and epistemology
– Strategy
– Methodology
– Typology
– Sampling
– Data collection procedures
– Data analysis procedures

5. Presentation and analysis of findings

6. Discussion of findings/ Reporting of results

7. Conclusions and recommendations

References

Appendix

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Things to consider when beginning your research project:

§ Research topic
§ Context and background
§ Research question/ statement
§ Research objectives
§ Significance of the study
§ Unit of analysis
§ Unit of observation
§ Hypotheses
§ Conceptualization
§ Operationalization
§ Limitations and delimitation
§ Developing your theoretical framework/ conceptual framework

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What is a research topic?
A particular issue that a researcher seeks to investigate through use of the
scientific approach.

Research topic examples:

- The Impact of climate change on global security
- The role of international organizations in conflict resolution
- The impact of social media on political political participation among Jamaican
youth
- The impact of socio-economic factors on voting behaviour in the last general
elections in Jamaica
- Community policing and its impact on crime reduction in Jamaica
- Recidivism and re-entry programs in Jamaica: Assessing effectiveness
- Restorative Justice Programs: Alternatives to Traditional Punishment

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Research topic sources:

§ Practical Problem of concern to you that needs to be solved

§ Personal Experience
§ Curiosity
§ Literature in your specific field
§ Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

However, for this course, research topics are provided…

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The context of the problem or the research background

Once you have identified your research topic you will need to demonstrate
to provide the reader with some background information on the topic. This
is normally captured in the INTRODUCTION section of the Research Paper/
Proposal. For the proposal there is a brief 1–2-page discussion. However,
for the Research Paper, this is usually expanded to a 3-5-page discussion.

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What is a research question/ statement?
§ A research question is an over-arching question that guides the study.

What is the role of a research question?

§ They organize the project, and give it direction and coherence
§ They delimit the project, showing its boundaries
§ They keep the researcher focused during the project
§ They provide a framework of writing up the project
§ They point to the data that will be needed

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The role of the literature reviewed:

§ It helps us to formulate our research questions more sharply.

§ It helps us to make explicit what we already know and think about
the area and topic and how they relate to our research questions
and/or hypothesis as well as possible outcomes.
§ It helps us to communicate ideas about ideas about the research to
make out arguments more convincing.
§ It helps in delimiting the research (set boundaries).

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Example #1
Research Question: What is the impact of social media on teenagers’
mental health?
Research Statement: This study aims to investigate the relationship between
social media usage and the mental well-being of
teenagers.

Example #2
Research Question: What are the factors that contribute to employee job
satisfaction in the public sector?
Research Statement: This study seeks to identify and analyze the
determinants of job satisfaction among public sector
officials.

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There are essentially two types of research questions: Descriptive and
Inferential.

1. Descriptive questions
§ How do students rate on critical thinking skills (a descriptive question
focused on the independent variable)
§ What are the student’s achievement levels (or grades) in science classes?
(A descriptive question focused on the dependent variable)
§ What are the student’s prior grades in science classes and their critical
thinking skills? (A descriptive question focused on the moderating
variable of prior grades)
§ What is the educational attainment of the parents of the eighth graders?
(A descriptive question focused on a control variable, educational
attainment of parents)

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2. Inferential questions
§ How does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement? (An
inferential question relating the independent and dependent variables)
§ How does critical thinking ability and prior grades influence student
achievement? (An inferential question relating critical thinking times
grades and student achievement).
§ How does critical thinking ability (or critical thinking ability times
grades) relate to student achievement, controlling for the effects of the
educational attainment of the eight-graders’ parents? (an inferential
question relating the independent and the dependent variables,
controlling for the effects of the controlled variable).

These two types of research questions are not mutually exclusive and
may be incorporated in a single study

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 Exploratory Research
(Unaware of Problem)
“Our sales are declining and
possible situation
we don’t know why.”
“Would people be interested
in our new product idea?”
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Descriptive Research Causal Research
(Aware of Problem) (Problem Clearly Defined)
“What kind of people are buying “Will buyers purchase more of
our product? Who buys our our products in a new package?
competitor’s product?”
“Which of two advertising
“What features do buyers prefer campaigns is more effective?”
in our product?”
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 Examples of Bad and Good Research Questions

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Guidelines for your research questions:

The use of variables in research questions is typically limited to three basic

approaches (Creswell, 2013: 142-150):

1. The inclusion of two or more concepts or variables.

2. The researcher may compare groups on an independent variable to see
its impact on a dependent variable.
3. The research may relate one or more independent variables to one or
more dependent variables (this would be a survey that correlates
variables).
4. The researcher may describe responses to the independent, mediating,
or dependent variables (this would be a descriptive Study).

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Guidelines for your research questions (Cont’d):

• The most rigorous form of quantitative research follows from a test of theory
and the specification of research questions or hypotheses that logically
follow from the relationship among variables in the theory
• The independent and dependent variables must be measured separately
and not measured on the same concept. The procedure reinforces the
cause-and-effect logic of quantitative research
• Quantitative research uses both research questions and hypotheses.

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Guidelines for your research hypothesis:

§ A hypothesis is a proposition that is empirically testable. It is an empirical

statement concerned with the relationship or difference among variables
and attempts to predict a particular outcome.
§ The research hypothesis states the existence of a relationship between the
variables of interest and the specific direction of that relationship.

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Hypothesis can be categorized according to how they are derived or how
they are stated.

§ Hypothesis are inductive if they are derived from observations – tentative

hypothesis are formulated after data is collected and analyzed (these are
usually associated with qualitative studies)
§ Deductive hypothesis is derived from theory – These provide evidence
that support, expand or contradict a given theory. These are formulated
before data is collected. These types of hypotheses are usually associated
with quantitative studies.

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A research hypothesis may be non-directional or directional. Both are
also called ‘Alternative Hypotheses’

§ A non-directional hypothesis merely indicates that you expect that a

relationship or difference exists.
§ A directional hypothesis indicates the nature of the expected relationship
or difference
– Voters in the “25 years and under” age group are more likely to have a
preference for environmentally friendly political parties than do voters
in the 25 years and over age group
– There is a significant relationship between age of voters and their
preference for a political party

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§ Directional hypotheses tend to be used in situations when You are very
confident about the nature of relationship of difference.

§ Whether you use non-directional or directional hypotheses it is

important when you carry out statistical tests to ascertain the nature of
any relationship or difference between the given variables.

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A hypothesis is presented in two forms: Null and Alternative

§ The null hypothesis is the traditional approach

§ A null hypothesis is a statement indicating that no relationship or
difference is expected between the two variables.
§ Null hypotheses are especially important If you are using statistical
tests of significance sine it is the null that these tests evaluate.
§ Tests of significance helps you to make the decision either to reject the
null hypothesis or fail to reject (retain) it.
§ Example: There is no significant relationship between age of voters
and their preference of political party.

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 Exercise: Characteristics of a hypothesis

1. It must be clearly and unambiguously stated. If not, you may

collect insufficient or irrelevant data from unsuitable participants,
and in the end, be unable to test your hunch adequately.

2. ?

3. ?

4. ?

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The research objective is captured in the “Purpose Statement” or the
“Statement of the Problem” another component of the INTRODUCTION

When writing the Purpose Statement:

§ Use words such as “purpose”, “intent” and “objective” to signal
attention to this statement as the central controlling idea in a study
§ Identification of the independent and dependent variables to indicate
that they are being related. Use “the relationship between” two or
more variables or “comparison of” two or more groups.
§ Mention the specific type of strategy or inquiry used in the study. By
incorporating this information, the researcher will anticipate the
methods discussed and enable a reader to associate the relationship of
variables to the inquiry approach.
§ Reference to the participants (or units of observation) in the study and
mention of the research site for the study

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Research objectives:
§ Describe (Descriptive Research) - depiction of a behaviour, phenomena,
event, institution, place, thing, person or a domain
§ Explore (Descriptive Research) - to examine a behaviour, phenomena,
event, institution, place, thing, person or a domain which is not well
understood to develop preliminary ideas and move towards refinement
research questions by focussing on the what question
§ Explain causal connections (Correlational Research) – systemic
explanation of how a behaviour, phenomena, event, institution, place,
thing, person or a domain arise looking at causes as well as
consequences. This kind of research is usually undertaken to:
ü Test the soundness of theories or to confirm the previous findings or
a researcher – resolving conflicts
ü Revise these theories
ü Extend the range of applicability of existing research
§ Make Predictions

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Putting all three together:

Research Question

What are the factors that may influence voting behaviour in the next general
election?

Research Objectives

1. Determine if politicians social media usage is a factor that may influence

voting behaviour in the next general election.
2. Determine if the Government management of the economy is a factor that
may influence voting behaviour in the next general election.
3. Determine if the implementation of electronic voting is a factor that may
influence voting behaviour in the next general election.
4. Determine if a change in Jamaica’s electoral system may influence voting
behaviour in the next general election.

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Hypotheses:

Social Media Usage

H0: There is no statistically significant relationship between politicians’ social
media usage and Jamaicans voting behaviour.
H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between politicians’ social
media usage and Jamaicans voting behaviour.

Government Management of the Economy

H0: There is no statistically significant relationship between the Government
management of the economy and voting behaviour in Jamaica.
H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between the Government
management of the economy and voting behaviour in Jamaica

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Hypotheses (Cont’d):

Electronic Voting
H0. There is no moderate statistically significant relationship between the
introduction of electronic voting and voting behaviour in Jamaica.
H1. There is a moderate statistically significant relationship between the
introduction of electronic voting and voting behaviour in Jamaica.

Electoral Systems
H0. There is no strong statistically significant relationship between Jamaica's
electoral system and voting behaviour in Jamaica.
H1. There is a strong statistically significant relationship between Jamaica's
electoral system and voting behaviour in Jamaica.

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 Significance of the study

§ The significance of the study is essentially outlining the importance and

implications of the study for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.
§ In designing this section, one might include three or four ways in which the
study helps to improve – the discipline, theorizing, methodology and or
policy

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Unit of Analysis
§ One of the most important ideas in a research project, in your research
topic is knowing your unit of analysis.
§ The analysis you do in your study that determines what the unit is
§ The unit of analysis is the major entity that you are analysing in your study.
It is the 'what' or 'whom' is being studied.
§ The most typical units of analysis are individual people. Other units of
analysis can be:
ü groups
ü artefacts (books, photos, newspapers)
ü geographical units (town, census tract, state)
ü social interactions (dyadic relations, divorces, arrests)

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Unit of Observation
• …is the who or what is used to drive the research. Other units of analysis
can be:
– groups
– artefacts (books, photos, newspapers)
– geographical units (town, census tract, state)
– social interactions (dyadic relations, divorces, arrests)

Both unit of analysis and unit of observation refer to the entities or elements
that are examined in a research study

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Unit of Analysis
Example: Suppose a study examines the relationship between state-level
policies and obesity rates in the United States. In this case, the unit of analysis
is "U.S. States.”
Unit of Observation
Example: Continuing with the previous example, if the study collects data on
individual residents' weight and eating habits within each state, then the unit
of observation is "individual residents."

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Conceptualization

§ The mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are
made more specific and precise.
§ Process of specifying what we mean when we use particular terms.
§ Produces an agreed upon meaning for a concept for the purposes of
research.

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Operationalization

§ The process of specifying the operations that will indicate the value of
cases on a variable. It is moving from a construct’s conceptual definition
to specific measures that will allow the researcher to observe it
empirically. In other words, defining events in observable terms in order
to operate with the reality necessary to do research – how will you
measure the variable.
§ Describes the indicators that researchers use to measure the concept
and the different aspects of the concept
§ Example: Gender will be measured based on the response on the
questionnaire. Two attributes are used to define gender – male and
female, 1 is given to the attribute male and 2 for the attribute female.
Respondents will be required to select from these attributes on the
questionnaire which will provide us with a relevant measure for gender.

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NEUMAN , 2006: P. 184
How do you develop Operational Measures

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 How do you develop Operational Measures
NEUMAN , 2006: P. 184

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How do you set out your Hypothesis?

Hypothesis: ““The lower the salary of a business manager, the more likely
the official will participate in a corrupt activity”.

Conceptualization:
Dependent Variable: Participation in Activity
Independent Variable: Salary Level

Operationalization
Dependent Variable: Participation in Activity
Independent Variable: Salary Level

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Delimitations and limitations of the Study
§ Delimitations: It is important for the researcher to establish the boundaries,
exceptions, reservations and qualifications inherent in every study:
delimitations and limitations. They are found in proposals for qualitative,
quantitative and mixed method studies.
§ Use delimitations to narrow the scope of a study. For example, the scope
may focus on specific variables or a central phenomenon, delimited to
specific participants or sites, or narrowed to one type of research design.
§ Provide limitations to identify potential weaknesses of the study. At the
proposal stage, it is often difficult to identify weaknesses in the study before
it has begun. However, it is good to anticipate the potential weaknesses in
the study to try and avoid them where possible.

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Examples:

Delimitations of the Study

Initially, this study will confine itself to interviewing and observing the
psychiatric staff nurse in a downtown private hospital

Limitations of the Study

The purposive sampling procedure was to identify the interviewees. This
sampling procedure decreases the generalizability of the findings. Thus, this
study will not be generalizable to all areas of nursing.

In this qualitative study, the findings could be subject to other

interpretations

What are the mitigation strategies?

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 THE END

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 Next Lecture:

Measurements

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 Questions & Answers

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