LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 1, students should be able to do the following: 1. Distinguish research from other ways of knowing about the world. 2. Understand the limitations of relying on authorities or personal experience as a basis for knowing about the world. 3. Identify four steps of the scientific method. 4. Understand how the scientific method contributes to greater objectivity and intersubjectivity. 5. Appreciate the varied purposes of research. 6. Understand the value and importance of basic and applied research. 7. Identify the distinctions among descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, and evaluative research. KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses) Applied Research (11) Authorities (4) Basic Research (11) Descriptive Study (14) Evaluation Research (16) Explanatory Research (15) Exploratory Research (13) Factually testable (9) Intersubjectivity (7) Objectivity (7) Overgeneralize (9) Personal Inquiry (5) Positivist View of Science (6) Post-Positivist View of Science (7) Premature Closure (6) Qualitative Data Analysis (14) Quantitative Data Analysis (15) Research Question (2) Scientific Method (6) Theory (10) Unit of Analysis (3) CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Introduction a. What is a research question? • A question about one or more topics or concepts that can be answered through research. II. Research versus Other Ways of Knowing a. Knowledge from Authorities • Examples: Mom, Census Bureau, Social Institutions (Religion, School, Media) 1. Problems: may be misleading and/or incorrect b. Knowledge from Personal Inquiry • Inquiry that employs the senses’ evidence for arriving at knowledge