Defining Policy Problems and Research Questions
Week 2: Defining Policy Problems and Research Questions
Learning Objectives for Week 2
Understand the process for basic social science research.
Understand how the deductive research process is used in social science research.
Understand the steps involved in defining research questions.
Understand how research questions help define policy problems (and the difference between research questions and policy problems).
Understand the process for defining policy problems.
Overview of the Class Tonight
Lecture Topics
Overview of The Research Process.
Deductive Approach to Social Science Research.
Defining Research Questions and using Research to Help Define Policy Problems.
After Break Lecture Topics
Defining Policy Problems.
Small Group Discussions.
Instructions for Assignment #1: Policy Problem Definition (Due Week 3, September 25).
Readings for Week #3: Qualitative Research Methods, Setting Criteria and Identifying Alternatives.
Readings for Week #2
Course Text
Section 3.1 – Identifying and Collecting Data (pages 69-89).
Section 4.1 – Identifying and Defining Problems, and Section 4.2 – Developing the Problem Statement (pages 141-146).
British Columbia/Yukon Open Authoring Platform. Research Methods for the Social Sciences
Section 1.1 - What are Research Methods?
Section 1.2 - The Process of Undertaking Research.
Section 1.3 - Where Do Research Ideas Come From?
Section 1.6 - Inductive Approaches to Research.
Section 1.7 - Deductive Approaches to Research.
Section 3.1 – Normative Versus Empirical Statements.
Section 3.2 – Exploration, Description, Explanation.
Section 3.3 – Developing a Researchable Research Question.
Section 3.4 - Hypotheses.
Overview of The Research Process
Choose a topic: Select an area of interest.
Review the literature (past research): Understand existing knowledge.
Formulate the problem (find the gap in past research): Identify what is missing or undeveloped in current understanding.
Develop a research question: Frame a specific question to guide the research.
Choose and organize the research design: Select appropriate methods and structure the study.
Gather the data: Collect information relevant to the research question.
Analyze the data: Process and make sense of the collected data.
Interpret the data: Draw conclusions from the analysis.
Communicate the findings: Share the results and conclusions with others.
Four Basic Rules for Social Science Research
1. The Goal is Inference
Description is a first step: Describing phenomena, behavior, or events is important but insufficient.
Inference: A conclusion formed based on evidence, telling us something not directly observed.
Descriptive Example: Some arid countries have water shortages, so similar conditions are expected in other arid countries.
Causal Example: Arid countries have less water because they are hot, implying a direct relationship between heat and water scarcity.
2. Procedures are Public
Clarity and Replicability: Research methods must be clear and allow others to recreate the research and reach similar conclusions.
3. Conclusions are Uncertain
Interpretation is uncertain: Patterns in data can be interpreted in multiple ways.
No final answers: Social science research rarely provides definitive, final answers.
4. The Method is the Content
Transferable methods: Methods are valuable because they can be applied to different contexts.
Documentation: Detailed documentation of methods is a primary component of social science research, alongside the conclusions.
Inductive Approach in Social Science Research
Starting point: Begin with collected data.
Pattern identification: Look for patterns and regularities within the data.
Theory development: Formulate a theory that can explain the observed patterns.
Direction: Moves