School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
Introduction and outline of the first 5 weeks of lectures - Welcome to the course!
Purpose of this Course
1. To introduce you to fundamental concepts in research methodology and specific research
methods.
2. To prepare you to undertake a Master’s level Dissertation in the field of Business & Social Science.
Operation of the Course
1. This is NOT an accounting, finance or economics course. It applies to all the social sciences.
2. There are TWO assignments and NO examination. One assignment is a Critical Review of a
published research paper (my lectures relate to this assignment). Dr. Ammar Ahmed will provide the
other assignment.
3. BOTH assignments must be submitted by 1700 GMT on the Wednesday of WEEK 12.
COURSE MATERIAL
You will find the following materials on the HW system:
PP slides; Readings relevant to the PP slides; Self-activities relevant to each lecture; Previous
accounting & finance dissertation titles; three Journal articles (choose one for your qualitative
assignment); CW assignments and Marking Guide. You may also find the below website useful:
Navigating the Knowledge Base | Research Methods Knowledge Base (conjointly.com)
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Week 1
Lecture Outline: Fundamental Concepts – Reading 1
1. Research Methodology
2. Research Method vs Research Methodology
3. Methodology as Philosophy
4. Discussion question
5. Falsification & Verification
6. Rules of Evidence
7. Summary
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Two dominant Philosophies:
Induction: To draw general conclusions from a finite
number of particular observations. That is,
Moving from the SPECIFIC to the GENERAL
Deduction: To ‘TEST’ universal LAWS (hypotheses)
against the predictions of the laws themselves. That is,
Moving from the GENERAL to the SPECIFIC
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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2. RESEARCH METHOD v RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Many people, including students, get very confused between a
Research Method and a Research Methodology. The details of
what these two concepts mean are discussed at length in the
textbook. Remember you will be studying RESEARCH METHODS
not research methodology. Here is a summary of the main
points we want you to understand regarding these two concepts.
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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3. Methodology as Philosophy
Methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods; it relates
to the rationale and the philosophical assumptions that underlie a
particular study. – for example: “We conducted a survey of 50
people over a two-week period and subjected the results to
statistical analysis.”
This is typical of the confusion we see between a METHOD or TOOL
and the methodology of what a researcher has done, therefore we
need to be clear that; Research methodology is the science and
philosophy behind ALL research.
It goes to the heart of how we know what we know and allows us to
understand the very strict constraints placed upon our concept of
what knowledge actually is.
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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It also allows us to understand the different ways in which knowledge
can be created. This is especially important since if we know how
knowledge and ‘answers’ to research questions can be created then we
are also in a position to understand what might be wrong with how
these answers were created.
So in work that is pure research the word methodology is often used
wrongly but it is used wrongly in other fields such as Project
Management, Business Processes, Accounting, Software Engineering
and many others but in fact the ‘methodologies’ captured in all the
documentation and ‘rules’ for such activities are nothing more than a
set of tools and techniques.
Does this matter? YES!
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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SYLLOGISTIC REASONING
A SYLLOGISM is a statement in 2 parts from which a conclusion is drawn.
WE all make these statements often without knowing how ridiculous they are in terms
of the formal rules of logic. But this is at the heart of methodology – so it does matter
if the concept of the term methodology is not understood by researchers.
Syllogistic reasoning arises in both DEDUCTIVISM and INDUCTIVISM often considered
the PARENT EPISTIMOLOGIES (i.e. how we know what we know). Note that both of
these contain a spectrum of philosophical ideas concerning the nature of knowledge,
proof and disproof including Rationalism, Empiricism, Positivism, Constructivism,
Contextualism, Scepticism and Fallibilism.
Both deductivism and inductivism are the two main STYLES OF REASONING that we
have but they are fundamentally flawed, for example:
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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(a) Affirming the Consequent: this is a breach of the formal rules of logic:
1. If A1 and A2, A3...AN are true, then B is true
2. B is true;
3. Therefore A1 and A2, A3...AN are true.
Here, the minor premise (2) is an affirmation of the consequent (3), not the
antecedent (1). The rules of formal logic would require (3) to read as;
3. Therefore A1 and A2, A3...AN are not necessarily - not - true.
e.g. All Crows are black; B is black; Therefore B is a crow.
The above fallacy is at the root of the problems involved in the verification
of all theories and extremely common in deductive reasoning.
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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(b) ‘After this because of this’
1. A recession has always followed a ‘boom’ in the business cycle
2. What has happened in the past will continue to happen in the
future.
3. Therefore there will be a recession after the current ‘boom’ is
over.
This syllogism shows the nature and fallacy of inductive reasoning.
The essential problem with this methodological approach is the MINOR
premise (2) i.e. it relies on a PRINCIPLE of REGULARITY, which in essence
can only be a matter of FAITH!
The material truth of the minor premise can NEVER be demonstrated and
therefore a UNIVERSAL statement cannot be logically derived (with
certainty).
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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4. Discussion Question
The government wants to know how much money per week the
average household spends on non-food items.
How would you get the answer to this?
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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5. Falsification and Verification
Verification of theory is not possible but falsification is.
1. If A1 and A2, A3...AN are true, then B is true.
2. B is false.
3. Therefore at least one of A1...AN is false and therefore the theory
encapsulated by them is false.
This is a process of denying the consequent (3) since logically the
antecedent (1) is false to begin with.
In designing a research project and implementing it you should bear in
mind that it is easy to fall into the trap of making statements or arguments,
which may appear reasonable but in fact are logically incorrect. This is
particularly the case when interpreting data, whether quantitative or
qualitative. Consider the following:
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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The premises of an argument may be materially true or false and the conclusion derived
logically true but a logically true conclusion cannot be materially true if its premises are
materially false. If the premises of the argument are materially true then the conclusion
derived must be materially true.
That is: the truth of an argument may be logically true in terms of the argument but will not
necessarily be materially true. So, what does this mean in terms of undertaking your
research? Basically three golden rules:
It is not possible to verify a theory, only to falsify it or elements of it.
Be modest in your claims of what you have found!
Do any of your findings make sense in terms of being logically true (from your
assumptions) but they cannot possibly be materially true?
A methodology must be logically sound and not simply a set of methods of information
gathering.
All of the above lies at the root of the Rules of Evidence whether applied in mathematics,
sociology , finance, economics or a even a courtroom!
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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6. Rules of Evidence
There are four of these but each contain ‘sub-rules’ that may apply to each type.
We have:
1. Real Evidence
Real evidence is a thing the existence or characteristics of which are relevant and
material. To be acceptable real evidence must be relevant, material, and
competent. These three criteria are applied in order to minimise the tendency to
break formal rules of logic in relation to a ‘thing’ being materially true. In this
regard QUALITATIVE DATA is very weak (that is, often non-replicable).
2. Demonstrative Evidence
This involves offering an illustration to support an argument (a diagram, a
quotation etc) however it is evidence that can easily be shown to be materially
false even if its premise is logically true.
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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3. Documentary Evidence
Often seen as a type of real evidence but will normally require authentication by other
evidence. For example a completed questionnaire is a form of documentary evidence
but what it contains is not necessarily materially true. A death certificate is not in itself
evidence of death – but merely an authentication of real evidence that a person is
actually dead. A current example of the weakness of such evidence is passports!
4. Testimonial Evidence
This is the most basic type of evidence and often does not require authentication per
se. However the existence of bias, interest, prejudice, and other grounds that would
raise doubts about the credibility of testimonial evidence can only contribute to the
weight of its value and do not affect its competence. However this type of evidence,
more than the others, suffers from a greater probability that its content is not in fact
materially true.
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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EXAMPLE 1: Cost of Heating the Central Court in a major city in Scotland, 2018.
WINTER SUMMER
COST
DOES THIS GRAPH SURPRISE YOU? What is it evidence of?
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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EXAMPLE 2: Registered deaths (Age 70 and over) in Arizona, USA, 2007 - 2011
2007
What happened in Arizona? What is it evidence of?
2008 2009 2010 2011
225
436
992
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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7. Summary
What has been covered in this Lecture?
Method vs Methodology
Methodology as Philosophy
Falsification & Verification
The rules of evidence
School of Social Sciences – C31M (Research Methods)
Lecturer: Prof. John Adams
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