ARAŞTIRMA YÖNTEMLERİ - Deneme Sınavı - 12

The case of “all swans are white” is a famous allegory in philosophical circles, which clarifies the problem of inductive generalization.

Descartes was the first philosopher in modern
era who proposed a method of science based on
deductive reasoning. He defended a rationalist
epistemology and believed that certain ideas
are innate and they provide the foundation for
development of further knowledge through
reasoning.

Anomaly: An anomaly is defined by Kuhn
as a deviation of the “paradigm-induced
expectations that govern normal science”
(Kuhn, 1962, pp. 52-53).

In summary, the position of interpretive
qualitative approach is:
Ontologically: All reality is not given (objective)
but constructed. Natural reality is constructed by the
scientists, social reality is constructed by the social
actors (members) and knowledge of it is constructed
by the social scientists who study those realities.

Spiral cycle of science includes Crisis, normal science, paradigm shift, anomaly and revolution

Political scientists define “the circumstances, topics, policies, or other phenomena that they want to understand as dependent variables”. For instance, when a researcher likes to investigate the reasons for a failing policy, the dependent variable of the study is “the failure of the policy”. Another study may attempt to find an answer why a specific country has ssuffered from several multiple coups, the dependent vvariable of the study is “the occurrence of several coup attempts in that country”. There exist multiple factors that influence the dependent variable of
a study which is called as independent variables. Independent variables may cause some changes on the dependent variable. In the example above, option A,B,C and E are independent variables that may change the dependent variable (the height of the plant.)The correct answer is D.

Meta-Analysis. Meta-analysis is performed by statistical techniques combining data from multiple studies that have analyzed the same research questions. Re-analyzing different sets of data related to the same research question provides a much better
understanding than that of a single study.The correct answer is C

Literature Search refers to discovering useful materials that would be included
in or excluded from a research project. The correct answer is A.

The following sources on the Internet are likely to be unreliable: 

1. The material on the home pages of individuals.
2. The material on organization websites that is written by enthusiasts rather than experts.
3. Free-for-all post-your-views sites (unless restricted to a recognized set of academic contributors).
4. Weblogs (blogs), chatroom pontifications, etc.

The correct answer is E.

Periodicals are more widely known as journals. They are the major information source of prior research literature. Periodicals are published a number of times a year and are sent to subscribers including the libraries. The journals which report the research findings are the most significant ones. The quality of journals varies greatly from journal to journal. The most qualified journals are refereed meaning that
the publication is evaluated by editors and/or peers expert in their fields in terms of quality assurance. The peer reviews process imply that the reviewers and the author identities are concealed from each other. The acceptance rate of submitted papers is another indicator of the quality of the journal. The best journals accept one or two percent of the papers submitted. The higher citation rates of the journals are
another indicator of the journal quality. The correct answer is B.

Exceptions and Counterexamples. It is important to control the results and
conclusions of the biases that ordinary people bear for selective critique of every
day processes. The literature reviewer is likely to recognize similar tendencies when a
conclusion goes with prevailing wisdom and or seems politically correct. The literature
reviewer should avoid such tendencies as far as possible. The literature reviewer should also avoid seeking supportive examples for the research topic. This kind of approach will cause “confirmation bias”. To overcome this threat, the literature reviewer should spend time for inconsistent evidence. The correct answer is D.

To further clarify, its basic features can be listed as follows: (1) sensitivity to natural environment, (2) participatory role of the researcher, (3) holistic approach, (4) identifying the perceptions, (5) flexibility in research design, and (6) inductive analysis.

Glaser and Strauss conclude that research studies conducted via quantitative research methods are inclined to see the facts through the same eyes all the time, and thus, fail to explain social phenomena that are constantly in a state of change. Yet, it should be remembered that social phenomena cannot be universal, are never fixed, and can change in time.

As mentioned above, case study is the most widely employed design in IR, and this is an increasing tendency in the field. The efforts to figure out complex social events or phenomena can be taken as the reason for this inclination.

Stemming from anthropology and sociology, ethnography is a research design where a researcher analyzes common behaviors, language, and action models of an intact culture within their natural environment during a long time-span.

I-Identifying the Research Focus or Problem

II-Selecting Participants

III-Data Collection Techniques

IV-Data Analysis

V-Reporting

above order should be followed in conducting a qualitative research study.

In snowball sampling, the researcher finds one participant who has experience about the topic, problem, event, or phenomenon, and then reaches out to other participants through this participant.

As a qualitative data collection tool, interview enables the researcher to gather data that observation and questionnaire techniques cannot unravel and to examine the participants’ feelings, opinions, perceptions, and attitudes. According to several sources, some interview types include structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interviews

In qualitative research, triangulation refers to the use of more than one method in order to study, define, and explain the problem as comprehensively as possible and to establish necessary credibility (reliability) and validity.

Participatory observation is a data collection technique that entails direct participation into the target setting or the daily routines of the target group via interaction with the members of that group.