SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

An Introduction

‘Research’ is “ a careful study of a

subject especially to discover new facts
or information about it .”
We Observe and/or Relate Phenomena and fix
up belief on their behavior and their
relationships.
We generalize them which is useful in a variety
of situations relating to decision making.
 Fixing belief on Behavior of Phenomena
[Commonsense and Scientific Approach]
A common man and the scientist both fix up
beliefs and test hypotheses relating to behavior
of phenomena: Consider the following:
Women are more religious than men in India
Sales and advertizing expenditures are +ly related
Brand Loyalty and Economic status are positively related
Demand and prices of normal commodities are inversely
related.
For all these, a common man may give arguments which
could be termed as unsystematic and based on simple
commonsense where generalization would not be scientific.
 Science and commonsense differ in a
variety of ways in fixing beliefs.
Commonsense observes and relates
variables in an unsystematic i.e.
unorganized & unplanned way.
It often generalizes behavior of
phenomena in an uncontrolled way.
It tests hypotheses in a selective way i.e .it
selects evidences and gives explanation
simply because it is consistent with his
hypothesis.
The Scientist's approach is different.

Scientific approach is a systematically built

theoretical structure ( with a structured design
and a plan of investigation).
It tests beliefs/theories empirically and in a
controlled condition, where ever possible and
necessary.
A scientist knowing the selection tendency of
human being to be a common psychological
phenomenon, carefully guards his research
against his own preconception and predilections
(liking).
 DEFINING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Scientific research is
“ a systematic, controlled, empirical and
critical investigation of hypothetical
propositions about presumed relations
amongst observed phenomena.”
Critical Investigation emphasizes the logic
and a priori arguments on the relationship or
interrelationship.
The definition emphasizes absolute empiricism with
controlled condition.
Absolute control is not possible in social sciences.
The definition has this limitation.
 DEFINING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Scientific research can also be defined as

“a systematic study of hypothetical
propositions on presumed behavior of and
relationship or interrelationship between the
observed phenomena in any discipline.”
This definition hints at both empirical and
qualitative observations.
In Scientific Research ‘Subjective beliefs are
checked against objective reality with
empiricism or qualitative articulation.’
 Aim of Scientific Research
Aim of scientific research is theorizing
the behavior of phenomena/variables
and/or relationship between them.
It establishes general laws covering the
behavior of empirical events. It enables
us to connect together our knowledge
of separately known events or explain
the relationship or interrelationship
between variables and make reliable
predictions/explanations.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
In social science we study the behavior of
socio-economic phenomena and the
behavior of human being.
Questions arises here is
“Can human behavior be subjected to
scientific enquiry ?”
To answer this, we examine the
characteristics & a few concepts used in
social sciences.
We then relate them to the definition of
scientific research and arrive at a conclusion
on this aspect.
1. Social scientists like the physical scientists
seek to discover regularity and order in social
behavior
This is done through observations and measurement
in social sciences.
i) Observation of regularities in social sciences on
the behavior of human beings and socio-economic
variables in the market.
ii) Measurement of social behavior of human beings /
socio-economic and market related variables.
However, Observations and Measurement are done in
both the sciences.
We examine these two aspects taking examples from
both sciences.
(i) Discovering/observing regularities and framing theories in
physical & social sciences.

Consider the following:

An object falling to earth, water flowing downstream,H2 O is

water, application of fertilizer results in a good crop etc.

Women are more religious than men, advertising and sale

volumes are related, EPS is positively related to profit, buying a
share of company X is profitable etc.

Behavior of phenomena in physical sciences are more regular

than social sciences

Regularities in social science represent probabilistic pattern

since they are more subjective in nature.
(ii) Measurement in Physical and Social
Sciences
Variables in physical sciences such as weight,
height, acceleration have specific and objective way
of measurement.
In social sciences both Qualitative and quantitative
variables are observed and could be related e.g.
Income, Profits, Expenditure, Sales Revenue
Intelligence, Economic Status , Brand loyalty etc
These could be measured with specific
methods/ways and used in the analysis.
However, a systematic measurement must be
judged on the basis of its utility rather than absolute
truth in social sciences.
2. Logical reasoning in social sciences.
Reasoning: deductive and inductive

Deductive reasoning is a process from general

principle to specific instances.
Inductive reasoning is a process from specific
observations to general principles.
Deductive method is stronger in having theoretical
support whereas, inductive method is stronger in
empirical support.
A cyclical process of induction and deduction are
followed with respect to theorizing the
behavior/phenomena.
Theories are tested and restated with the use of
these processes.
 3.Determinism in social science

Consider the following phenomena in the

economy.
There is a steady growth of FDI in India after 1990s
BSE Sensex is falling over the last few months.
Cost of production of a product is increasing.
Increase in advertisement expenditure has not
resulted in increase in the market share of a product.
Price rise of car over the last few years has not been
associated with a decline in demand.
A mobile manufacturing company has lost it market
share recently.
 Nothing just happens
All events have antecedent causes or a priori
reasons
There could be single or multiple causes for
all the phenomena.
Very often the causes leading to the
occurrence of an event/ phenomenon are
known as determinants .
There is a probabilistic determinism in the
behavior of socio-economic phenomena.
This refers to the ‘Theory of Causation’ in the
philosophy of science.
However, causation in Physical Sciences are
more deterministic and accurate as
compared to the social sciences.
 4. Generalization
A social scientist begins to explain a limited range of
social behavior or behavior of a limited sub-set of
population and then normally extends his/her
findings to explain the behavior of other sub-sets (i.e.
S/he generalizes the behavior of variables ).
The process of induction is useful in generalization.

The scientist is not interested in the specific

observation. He generalizes the behavior of
phenomena and frames theory.
A few examples on this will clarify the point.
A few examples from social sciences :

A researcher is less interested in the individual

response to a price change; rather he is interested in
the general behavior of the consumers.

A discovery of a certain behavior of a group of

people in the market or society is less useful than
that has universal application.

However, generalization in social science is related to

probabilistic determinism.

Hypothesis are tested with F, t, Chi-square and other

statistical measures to arrive at generalization.
 5. Parsimony

In social sciences Multiple Causation suggests that

socio-economic phenomena are explained using
multivariate models where several variables are used.
There are two types of multivariate models such as
dependency and interdependency techniques.
Consider an example from the Dependency
Technique.
Additional variables increase explanatory power of a model (in a
dependency relationship), but it also complicates the
relationship (model) and makes estimation difficult.
Use of more variables decreases generalizability since different
variables may have different impact on different population sub-
set. And they may have high correlation amongst them .
 Consider the following

Expenditure of H.H.s on a Commodity may depend on

the following:
Income of the households, Number of family members,
Cost of living, Standard of living, Price of the
commodity, Location of H.H.. Season, Attitude of a
person, Demonstration effect, Management of the house
hold, Durability of the product, Price of substitute,
Cultural back ground ,Proximity to market, Sex ratio in
the h.hs. Media advertisement for the product, Price of
complimentary goods. Quantity of consumption etc.
etc.
 Are all the variables equally important?
One has to identify the more or less relevant
variables with “a priori” reasoning.
A judicious decision is warranted in
explaining socio-economic behavior.
Parsimony in social science refers to “more
understanding from least variables”
More understanding often refers to explanatory
power in a dependency relationship
 6. Specificity: It refers to the specification of
methods of measurement of variables
Conceptualization of variables and use of proxy
variables
Conceptualizing and measuring of variables differs
in physical and social sciences e.g.
 acceleration, force, gravitation in physical sciences.
 Variables in Social sciences: Consider the following.
Income, profits, expenditure on the one hand and
Industrialization, brand preference, spendthriftness,
literacy, Intelligence. religiosity etc on the other.
We use proxy variables in social sciences when we do
not have a set measuring standard.This mostly
happens for qualitative variables in any branch of
social science.
 7. Empirical verification
Formulation of general laws or models are not useful unless
they can be verified through collection and manipulation of
data and have a priori reasoning.
Explanation of models must make sense and they must
correspond to what is being actually studied/observed. E.g.
See Parsimony and
Expenditure = f ( Income)
Brand Loyalty = f (Awareness and Socio-economic Status)
Economic Development = f (Industrialization)
Performance = f( Employees ’Satisfaction and Commitment)
Relationship is redundant and spurious unless variables are
correctly specified and data could be collected on them.
 8. Inter-subjectivity
Subjectivity differs between social scientists. It is a
specific feature which is observed in Social Sciences.
Inter-subjectivity refers to situations in which different
social scientists will arrive at different conclusions using
their own ideas and perceptions on variables and their
relationships.

Relates to measurement and interpretation

But when the study is replicated using a reported design
and methodology the ideas may converge.

If it is not, then there is a “paradigm shift” or change in

the theory.
 9. Modifications/Restatement of Theories

Physical and social sciences are open to countless

modification and restatement of theories. Examples could be
many
Recent research in physics ( Atoms Large Hadron Collider) and
new research findings in medical sciences & other physical
sciences reported in the journals.
Modifications/restatement of in the theories of social sciences
such as psychology, economics, management etc is a feature
These modifications are possible with the use of logical
reasoning.
 Scientific Research and Social Sciences
A Concluding Remark
The above mentioned characteristics/features of social
science uggests that scientific research is possible in
the field of social sciences to some extent when the four
aspects of scientific research are considered.
(systematic, controlled, empirical and critical
investigation)
 However, the degree of exactness differs with respect to
the nature of different social sciences such as
economics, management, psychology, education,
sociology, philosophy etc.
 Subjective beliefs are checked against objective reality in
social science but the process and out come are
relatively less exact as compared to the physical
sciences.
 References
Foundations of Behavioral Research by
Kerlinger, F.N.
The Practice of Social Research by
Babbie, E.R.
Business Research Methods by
Mishra,P. (Chapter 1)