Prof. Dr. Yaprak Gülcan Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İşletme Fakültesi İktisat Bölümü

Transcription

1 Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Prof. Dr. Yaprak Gülcan Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi İşletme Fakültesi İktisat Bölümü

2 What is Research?

3 Research can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The definition seems to view knowledge as like fruit on a tree in a forest. The process of research covers finding the tree and picking the fruit

4 Knowledge is what is believed to be true about something, what is believed to be a correct understanding of something. Facts are just data. Knowledge is facts with meaning. Results from a lab: Data Researcher s interpretation of the data: Knowledge

5 Research is not searching for the facts. Research is defined as the creation of knowledge. Facts are discovered, knowledge is created

6 Science vs nonscience Scientific questions are questions of objective facts: what causes earthquakes, what causes economic growth.. OBJECTIVE Nonscientific questions are questions about the affective realm: what is the meaning of life, how do you feel when you sit in a calm seashore in a cool fall afternoon... SUBJECTIVE

7 Select a scientific problem or question. Apply a theory to derive a hypothesis about the problem in question. Test the hypothesis by comparing its predictions to evidence from the real world. If the hypothesis fails the test, modify it and retest or reject it. If the hypothesis passes the test, provisionally accept it. Test the hypothesis in a new context

8 It is not a linear process. Often it may be necessary to go back after completing each step. 1. Developing an effective research question. 2. Surveying the literature on the topic. 3. Analyzing the issue or problem. 4. Testing. 5. Interpreting results. 6. Communicating the findings

9 A good research question A Testable hypothesis (or more than one hypotheses) A good data set An empirical methodology that adequetly tests the hypothesis

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11 It's absolutely essential to develop a research question that you're interested in or care about in order to focus your research and your paper. For example, researching a broad topic such as EU Social Policy" is difficult since there may be hundreds of sources on all aspects of business management. On the other hand, a focused question such as What are the differences across EU countries with respect to social policies? is easier to research and can be covered more fully and in more depth

12 1. Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough to spark my own thoughts and opinions? 2. Is the question easily and fully researchable? 3. What type of information do I need to answer the research question? E.g., The research question, "What impact has deregulation had on commercial airline safety?," will obviously require certain types of information: statistics on airline crashes before and after statistics on other safety problems before and after information about maintenance practices before and after information about government safety requirements before and after 4. Is the scope of this information reasonable 5. Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question too broad, too narrow, or okay? 6. What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the research question (journals, books, Internet resources, government documents, people)? 7. Can I access these sources? 8. Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a good quality research question that I actually will be able to answer by doing research?

13 Research topic: The general area the project will cover (for example: unemployment in the EU). Research question: Specific focus of the research (for example: how do different levels of education affect unemployment) must be a complete sentence. Research hypothesis: The researcher s proposed answer to the research question (for example: Individuals with higher levels of education will tend to have lover levels of unemployment)

14 Problem oriented Analytical (rather than descriptive) Interesting and significant Amenable to economic analysis Feasible given time and resources available

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16 The aim is to find out the state of knowledge on the research question. Literature refers to the research that has been completed on the topic. The researcher aims to answer the following questions when surveying the literature: What is currently known? What has been discovered to date on a given topic?

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18 Analysis is the central part of the process. Apply the theory to the issue Theoretical support Analyzing is conceptualizing the research hypothesis. Research question: What is the impact of Europeanization on FDI inflows to Turkey? A tentative hypothesis: Europeanization has a positive impact on the inflow of EU firms to invest in Turkey

19 So how do you fill the dots? What is the theory behind it? There is a well developed theory of FDI.. There is also a well developm theory about Europeanization.. So following the theory on FDI and Europeanization and interaction between this two phenomena, we can develop a testable hypothesis

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21 Locating a data set Secondary data Primary data Data collection procedures Analytical tools to make a meaning out of the data (qualitative and quantitative tools)

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23 What are the results of an empirical test? Are the results consistent with the theory? Are there any problems? Are there any shortcomings of the methodology or data? To what extent do the results support the hypotheses? How do the results compare with the earlier studies? What can you conclude from your results?

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25 Written report Draft Revisions Reviews, revisions... Final paper

26 References used in preparing for this lecture: Greenlaw, Stevan A. (2006). Doing Economics: A Guide to Understanding and Carryiong Out Economic Research. Boston: Houghton Miffin