Summary of the book "Research Design in Political Science".
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Universiteit Leiden (UL)
Public Administration
Research Design
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Research Design
Brief contents
Week 1: Introduction, types of research. Theory & Concepts..........................................................1
Lecture 1: Introduction: Types of Research. Theory & Concepts.......................................................1
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter 2: types of research and research questions......................................................................12
Chapter 3: Theory in the Research process.....................................................................................20
Chapter 4: Concepts and Operationalization...................................................................................23
Week 7: Within-case analysis............................................................................................................ 92
Lecture 7: Withing case analysis...................................................................................................... 92
Chapter 10: Single-Case Study Designs..........................................................................................96
Additional stuff for exam................................................................................................................. 101
Chapter 11: Mixed and Nested Designs.........................................................................................101
Chapter 12: Communicating Research.......................................................................................... 103
Week 1: Introduction, types of research. Theory & Concepts
Literature: RD Chapter 1t/m4
April 6th, 2022
Lecture 1: Introduction: Types of Research. Theory & Concepts
What is this course about?
- The design of research
What are good questions to ask?
1
, How do we build on existing knowledge to ask and answer good research
questions?
How do we plan for data collection?
How do we set up empirical models that can answer our questions?
How do we communicate our research and how do we assess the research
of others?
What are we going to learn?
- Learning objectives
Critically assess empirical research in the field of public administration,
broadly defined
Understand pros and cons of different designs
To be prepared to write a research proposal and conduct research
The process of research
Why is RD important?
- As a student, you produce original research
- As a (public service) professional, you will:
Use research to make decisions
Assess research when doing so
Commission (ask others to do for you) research
- As a citizen, research informs your choices
Examples of research questions
- What is the impact of the lockdown on the spread of the COVID-19 virus?
- What is the effect of immigration on the economy?
- How to encourage global action for environmental protection?
2
, - Does online learning work?
- Does moderate drinking increase longevity?
- What will be the effect of Brexit on British society?
- Is there discrimination in university admissions processes?
- Did Facebook win the 2016 US election for trump?
Assessment:
- Geen definitie vragen bij examen
- What are the main reasons that..
Types of research
- Normative
- Positive
Positive research can be complimented by normative research in that
positive research can be motivated by normative research
Normative research cannot be answered with empirical research methods
- Major research goals
Descriptive
Predictive
Explanatory
All scientific research requires inference
Normative Research
- Prescriptive (what ought to be)
- Norms and values
- Cannot be answered with empirical data
- In frequent dialogue with positive research
Positive Research
- Relationships between concepts and empirical facts
- Can be purely theoretical (rare)
Positive political theory: relationships between theoretical concepts without
direct reference to empirical facts or to value judgements.
Examples: principal-agents models; Arrow’s Theorem etc.
- Usually, positive research is empirical
Empirical Positive Research
- Connect theoretical concepts to facts
- Goals of empirical research:
Description
Prediction
Explanation
Other research types and goals
- Exploratory as ‘advanced’ descriptive (generally not a goal on its own)
- Interpretive research as descriptive OR explanatory
Some important points
3
, - Explanatory questions can be about the future (prospective), but they are
about more than pure prediction: they’re about conditional prediction
(prediction, conditional on a certain policy or programme or even taking place)
- All (empirical) research requires (scientific) inference, even descriptive and
predictive research. Explanatory research requires a special type of inference,
called causal inference.
Some more important points
- All empirical research incorporates and builds on descriptive research.
- Lesson-drawing requires double causal inference (what worked in case 1,
how would it work in case 2). Policy recommendations require normative
research on top of explanatory research on top of descriptive research.
What is theory?
- Theory is a collection of interrelated abstract concepts and ideas about a
phenomenon of interest.
- We focus on explanatory theories: theories that provide explanations of
general patterns and individual facts of the social and political worlds.
What kind of theory? (1)
- Normative political theory is different: it deals with values and normative
judgements.
- (Pure) positive theory is also different: it only examines relationship between
concepts
What kind of theory? (2)
- Meta-theories, paradigms and theoretical frameworks are different: they are
too general.
- Game theory is very different: it is actually a method for theorizing, not a
substantive theory
- Interpretations are similar to explanatory theories, but only apply to a
particular case
- A model – a symbolic representation of reality – is very similar to an
explanatory theory
A statistical model (should) reflect a theory but, as such, is not a
substantive theory
Theories and maps
- Theories and models are like maps:
They inevitably ignore some features of reality to focus on others
Different versions are useful for different purposes
More detail is not necessarily better
You cannot always compare theories and maps as to how ‘true’ they are
The functions of theory
- Explanatory theories:
Set the research agenda
o Direct research attention
o Identify puzzles
Direct data collection
4
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