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LOM 7393: the Philosophy of Science & Qualitative Research Methods

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LOM 7393: the Philosophy of Science & Qualitative Research Methods LOM 7393: The Philosophy of Science & Qualitative Research Methods Dr. Mary C. Lacity Curators’ Professor 233 Computer Center Building (314) 516-6127 (work) (314) 516-6827 (fax) mailto:[email protected] http:/www.umsl.edu/~lacity COURSE MEETING TIMES: Thursdays 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm; Lucas 206 COURSE PREREQUISITES: Only students officially admitted to a Ph.D. Program at UMSL are allowed to register for class. WHY TAKE THIS COURSE? The abbreviation “Ph.D.” stands for the Latin term “philosophiae doctor”, or Doctor of Philosophy. My strong and passionate belief is that no student should earn a Ph.D. without a basic understanding of the philosophy of science and of the positivist tradition underlying the research methods we teach Ph.D. students at UMSL. Do you believe that laws govern social phenomena? Do you believe that as a researcher, you are a detached and objective observer? Do you believe you can study social phenomena by mathematically modeling it? If you do, you have subscribed to positivist assumptions. There is nothing wrong with holding these assumptions, but they should be examined, reflected upon and chosen judiciously in light of alternative views like antipositivism. Antipositivism (or interpretive approaches) assume that meaning in the social world (including business) is socially constructed and temporally fluid. Interpretive researchers are concerned with understanding what is specific, interesting and unique about social phenomena and how such understanding is bounded by time, context, and culture (Dudovskiy 2015; Walsham 1993). With interpretive approaches, researchers engage closely and naturalistically with “participants” to collaboratively co-construct meaning. Interpretive researchers treat research participants as contributors to the sense-making process of inquiry; they are not passive “subjects” to be remotely observed and analyzed. Furthermore, the researcher is not presumed to be an objective witness. The researcher even may take on the additional roles of consultant, activist, or emancipator. Qualitative methods, particularly interviewing, text analysis, and participant observation can be used in positivist, antipositivist, and critical research approaches. Qualitative methods can be used with quantitative methods, or used on their own as a valid approach to scientific inquiry. As a Ph.D. student, if you are delighted with the quantitative methods you have learned, then this course will better help you understand the traditions that created them. If you are a bit lost concerning a method to use in your dissertation, you might find a qualitative research approach that complements your own interests. Above all else, a Ph.D. should change the way one thinks, which will change the way one experiences the world. COURSE DESCRIPTION: This seminar presents an introduction to philosophical concepts and qualitative research methods underlying scientific inquiry in business research. The philosophical and methodological foundations are largely built upon the philosophies, theories, and methods from the physical and social sciences. In this course, we survey a variety of philosophical perspectives and qualitative methods from other disciplines by reading the original works, critical responses to these works, and representative applications of these ideas in business/LOM domains. Beyond reading about and discussing research, students gain valuable experience by doing two qualitative research projects. Logically, we should first cover all of philosophy of science, followed by qualitative methods. Practically, we have a brief introduction of sociological paradigms (part of philosophy of science), followed by the study qualitative research methods because students need the entire semester to complete the qualitative research projects. The final sessions cover more philosophy of science. TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE: Session 1: August 27 Introduction to the Course Session 2: September 3 Sociological Paradigms Session 3: September 10 Sociological Paradigms in SCM/LOM Session 4: September 19 Interviewing (9:00am to 11am Saturday) Session 5: September 24 The Case Study Method Workshop October 1 Qualitative Research Project Workshop Session 6: October 8 Participant Observation and Project Workshop Session 7: October 15 Action Research Session 8: October 22 Methods that Build Theory Session 9: October 29 Beyond Either/Or Integrating Paradigms Session 10: November 5 Nature of Scientific Inquiry Session 11: November 12 The Social Construction of Reality Session 12: November 19 Oral Presentations: Participant Observation Session 13: December 3 Qualitative Research Project: Coding Review Day Session 14: December 10 Oral Presentations: Qualitative Research Project LEARNING OBJECTIVES Philosophy of Science Learning Objectives: Understand the ontological and epistemological assumptions of the nature of social science Understand the assumptions of the nature of society Understand the four paradigms of organizational analysis Understand the criticisms of the four paradigms of organizational analysis Understand how scientific knowledge advances Understand inductive and deductive research approaches Understand how social reality is constructed and changed over time Qualitative Research Learning Objectives: Each student will conduct five or more interviews from a positivist perspective. Interviewing is an important skill associated with qualitative research. The learning goals from this project include: Designing a qualitative research study Defending the use of a qualitative method Developing an interview guide, usually based on theory Pro-actively finding appropriate participants to interview Interviewing five or more people Interpreting the interviews (cross interview analysis) Communicating findings orally and in writing Each student will do one participant observation exercise. The learning goals from this project focus on improving field research skills, including: Developing research questions that are best answered with participant observation Building the courage to engage in new situations with new people Developing observational skills Developing interpretive skills Learning your strengths and weaknesses as a field researcher Ph.D. Readiness Objectives: All Ph.D. students enrolled in the NIH course will obtain Protecting Human Research Participants certification. Upon completion of the NIH course, students will be able to: Describe the history and importance of human subjects protections Identify research activities that involve human subjects Discover the risks a research project might pose to participants Understand how to minimize the risks posed by a research project Describe additional protections needed for vulnerable populations Understand additional issues that should be considered for international research Describe appropriate procedures for recruiting research participants and obtaining informed consent Identify the different committees that monitor human subjects protections Understand the importance of study design in the protection of research participants Instructions: Go to: https://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php Register to create an account Read through the modules and take the quizzes until you earned the certificate Email me a copy of your certificate: All Ph.D. students enrolled in the course will obtain Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of certification. Learning Objectives: State how the U.S. federal government has defined research misconduct. Differentiate among the three types of research misconduct: fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. Identify factors that can contribute to the occurrence of research misconduct. Describe strategies that individuals and organizations might use to prevent or mitigate the occurrence of research misconduct. Describe how research misconduct allegations should be managed. Describe core issues about data management that arise during the research process. Discuss methodological, technological, and legal-regulatory considerations that affect data management decisions. Describe ethical issues relating to the design and reporting of research data. Discuss ethical issues relating to data ownership, data sharing, and data stewardship. Describe the primary criteria used to determine who should be listed as an author on a scholarly publication. Describe the range of acceptable authorship practices, including different conventions used to determine the order of authors. Discuss the circumstances under which an acknowledgement may be appropriate. Describe the ethical responsibilities related to being an author. Discuss challenging and problematic authorship practices. Discuss the history and evolution of peer review. Describe different types of peer review. Discuss the value of peer review as it relates to publications and grant awards. Identify ethical issues associated with peer review. Describe the ethical obligations of a peer reviewer. Explain the importance of collaborative research and why it is increasingly common. Discuss challenges associated with interdisciplinary research collaborations and ways to meet them. Describe ethical considerations in international collaborative research and in academic-industry partnerships. Identify regulations, policies, and ethical guidelines that affect collaborative research. Describe practices for establishing and maintaining effective research collaborations Instructions: Go to: https://www.citiprogram.org/default.asp?language=english Register under UMSL Select
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