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Lecture One:
Introduction to Methodology
of Scientific Research
WANG Huaping
Philosophy Department,
Shandong University
Contents
1
3
What Is Science
2
What Is Scientific Research
3
What Is MSR
4
The Significance of MSR
What Is Science
 We live in age of science. The products of science
and technology have a huge effect on the way we live
our lives and how we shape our environment.
Imagine going through your life without using
anything powered by electricity or containing plastic.
 Science enjoys unparalleled prestige in society
compared with other institutions. Science is often
thought to be the ultimate form of objective and
rational inquiry.
 Science is the dominant power of our age. Science is
our form of life. In order to live a better life, we have
to understand science.
What Is Science
Control
What is
your view
about
science?
Just follow
common
sense.
Predict
Explanation
Description
Science
Some
characters:
•objectivity
•testability
•quantified
•experience
•power
What Is Science
 Science is not just facts, conception or useful ideas
about the words. It is even not systematic research
about the nature.
 Science is methods of discovering reliable
knowledge about the world.
 The method of authority, The method of intuition, The
method of tenacity, The rational method, The method
of empiricism.
 Science derives from Latin word “scientia”, which
means knowledge.
 我们现在所说的“科学”一词，是日本人对science的翻译，意
为分科之学。据考察，1874年，西周（名时懋渔人，又称修亮、
周助，1829—1897）在《明六杂志》第22号《知说》一文中使
用“科学”一词。
What Is Science
 According to its objects, science can be divided into natural
science, social science and human science.
(1) The natural sciences are branches of science that seek to
elucidate the rules that govern the natural world by using
scientific methods.
(2) Social science refers to the academic disciplines concerned with
society and human behavior. “Social science” is commonly used
as an umbrella term to refer to anthropology, archaeology,
criminology, economics, education, history, linguistics,
communication studies, political science, international relations,
sociology, geography, and psychology, and includes elements of
other fields as well, such as law and social work.
(3) Human science is the study and interpretation of the experiences,
activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings.
What Is Scientific Research
Which of the following example is scientific research?
(1) Li Jing download several articles in biochemistry
from Elsevier, and then write an article about the
electrochemical feature of neuron based on them.
(2) He Jing says she has recently done a research which
carried out a statistics on student’s age, grade of entrance
examination and their parents’ income.
(3) Wang Jing wants to study the effect of Anti-LIcadherin on gastric cancer. She has carried out a series of
experiments, but found the results did not accord with
anticipation. So she fudged the data, and then wrote an
article which was published on an SCI journal whose
impact factor is 10.
What Is Scientific Research
(4) A general manager of a car producing company was
concerned with the complaints received from the car users
that the car they produce have some problems with rating
sound at the dash board and the rear passenger seat after few
thousand kilometers of driving.
He obtained information from the company workers to
identify the various factors influencing the problem.
He then formulated the problem and generated guesses
(hypotheses).
He constructed a checklist and obtained requisite
information from a representative sample of cars.
He analyzed the data thus collected, interpreted the results
in the light of his hypotheses and reached conclusions.
What Is Scientific Research
You will notice in the example above that the
researcher went through a sequence of steps
which were in order and thus systematic.
Secondly, the researcher did not just jump at
the conclusions, but used a scientific method
of inquiry in reaching at conclusions.
The two important characteristics of research
are : it is systematic and secondly it follows a
scientific method of enquiry.
What Is Scientific Research
Research
Webster’s New World College Dictionary
careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in
some field of knowledge, undertaken to discover or
establish facts or principles
 Research is a structured inquiry that utilizes acceptable
scientific methodology to solve problems and creates
new knowledge that is generally applicable. Grinnel
(1993)
Scientific research: research in scientific
methods.
Re-search
再找..再找…再找
High Quality Research
• It is based on the work of others.
• It can be replicated (duplicated).
• It is generalizable to other settings.
• It is based on some logical rationale and tied to
theory.
• It is doable!
• It generates new questions or is cyclical in nature.
• It is incremental.
• It is apolitical activity that should be undertaken
for the betterment of society.
What Is Bad Research?
• The opposites of what have been discussed.
• Looking for something when it simply is not to
be found.
• Plagiarizing other people’s work.
• Falsifying data to prove a point.
• Misrepresenting information and misleading
participants.
• Using expensive sources to solve trivial problems.
• Using unreliable methods.
Motivation of Scientific Research
Science begins with wonder!
可是，这
东西有什
么作用呢？
 Personal interest
 Requirement of problem-solving
 Providing grounds for decision-making
 Improving the the quality of human life
 Making new discovery
 Gaining degree
 Requirement of promotion
 Requirement of works
新生的婴
儿有什么
用处呢？
科学研究：一种思考的方法
研究是一种技术、也是思考的方法。
 批判并检验专业领域中的不同观点
 探讨并形成特定程序的指导原则
 发展并检验能增强专业知识的新理论
研究必须用到一系列程序和方法。
 此方法必须具有可靠性与有效性。
Reliable but not valid
Valid but not reliable
Valid and reliable
科学研究的特征
良好的控制
 探索变项间因果关系，影响因素减低到最小
严谨性—态度
系统性—特定逻辑步骤
有效性及可检验性
 推论正确，可重复进行，得相同结论
实证性—结论基于确切证据
批判性—研究成果经得起批判
道德性—要注意利益冲突以及伦理后果
科学研究的类型
研究类型
研究应用
研究目标
纯理论研究
描述性研究
量化研究
应用性研究
相关性研究
质化研究
解释性研究
探索性研究
资料收集方法
科学研究的类型
纯理论研究(Baiey 1978) (Method of Social
Research)或称为基础研究
 主要是为发展及检验理论与假设
 可能具有或不具有实际应用价值
 涉及假设检验，包含非常抽象及特殊概念
应用研究
 应用于收集不同情况、议题、问题或现象的
信息
 政策形成、管理、增加对特定现象的了解
 解决特定问题
什么是科学研究方法
 Principles and procedures for the systematic
pursuit of knowledge involving recognition and
formulation of a problem, collection of data
through
observation
and
experiment,
formulation and testing of hypotheses, drawing
conclusion and communicating the results.
 The scientific method is a process of creative
thinking and testing aimed at objective and
verifiable discoveries.
 Knowledge gained through the scientific method
is self-correcting and improves over time.
What Is MSR
The term “method” consists of two Greek terms
“meta” and “hodos”, which means “along the path”.
Methodology: the study of methods themselves. For
example, Aristotle’s study of deduction, Francis
Bacon’s study of induction，David Hilbert对公理化
方法的研究，Norbert Wiener对控制论方法的研究，
Karl Popper对否证法的研究。
 研究过程所秉持的哲学
 包含对研究理论基础的假设、共同特征
 研究人员所主张的明确规则与程序
The Significance of MSR
Study by research and research by study.
A comprehensive understanding to science,
scientific research and methods of scientific
research.
Learning some fundamental scientific methods
and basic skills necessary for scientific research
in order to be prepared for doing scientific
research in future.
Enhancing the capacity of creativity.
Enhancing the capacity of reflection.
Thanks!