Session 2/3

Front 1

Why a theorys so complicated?

Back 1

• Popper: we can never know something is true
• Idea of falsifiability: every good theory must potentially be wrong

Front 2

We can never know something is true. What does it mean for research?

Back 2

• moves forward through bold conjectures (auffallende Vermutungen)
• Importance of replication
• Conduct in research process
• Philophical questions

Front 3

Factors for good theory

Back 3

• Falsifiability
• Accuracy
• Generalizability
• Parsimony (Sparsamkeit): which theory needs less assumptions, Occam's razor)

Front 4

Limits of the hypothetico-deductive method

Back 4

• Deduction: reasoning from general proposition/theory to specific implications
• Induction – abstracting a proposition from data

• Theory usually moves forward by combining both approaches

Front 5

The value chain of empirical research

Back 5

• State of the current research
• Research design
• Data collection
• Data anlysis
• Publication

Front 6

What is a "field of research"?

Back 6

• Shared phenomenon of interest
• Shared level/object of analysis
• Shared theoretical perspective
• Nested structures of specialization
• Anne Huff: the "conversation" metaphor

Front 7

Theory as ongoing conversations

Back 7

• Identify conversation through textbooks, articles etc
• Make a contribution that is new, interesting and relevant

Front 8

Research ethics

Back 8

• ­set of rules for scientific behaviour(no plagiarism, unethical experiments etc.), rules, procedures do exist and must be adhered to

• Part of the very fabric of science

• Guarantee proper conduct of researchers

• Essential drivers of public perception of research

• Consequences also with regards to funding, future participation, etc.

• ­important to know research methods to identify unethical research behaviour