Advanced Communication Theory and Process 09 09 2013 o Not WHAT we have learned from science o HOW to DO science o Social vs natural sciences not so different in terms of Introduction What is Theory Science scientific method Ways of knowing Epistemology Authority Intuition Tenacity tradition Empiricism science What is a theory Informal nonscientific theories o Common knowledge common sense o Aphorisms maxims o Folktales superstitions urban legends Scientific theories o Hypothesis o Theory model o Law Social science theory An educated guess about how the social world works constructed with the goals of describing explaining and or prediction human behavior Basics of Theory Building Concepts o Constructs o Variables o Concepts o Linkages Theoretical statements e g hypothesize Theoretical A B Operational Types of variable roles and linkages o Control variables o Contingent conditions moderations o Intervening variables mediation Advanced Communication Theory and Process 09 09 2013 What is NOT a theory Lack of agreement about o Whether a model and a theory can be distinguished o Whether a typology is properly labeled a theory o Whether the strength of a theory depends on how interesting it is o Whether falsifiability is a prerequisite for the very existence of a theory Roadblocks on theory Inconsistent beliefs about what is theory Differing epistemological perspectives differing opinions of valid ways of knowing Building theory is difficult tradeoffs between generality generalizability simplicity and accuracy Things that are NOT theory References to prior work o NOT theory o Better o NOT theory o Better Name dropping classic theories Summarizing how your research hypotheses are DERIVED from a prior theory Summarizing prior empirical findings data Suggesting connections between prior findings a theory that EXPLAINS prior data Data o NOT theory o Better Preponderance of evidence for an effect relationship between two variables Suggest WHY the relationship exists List of Variables Constructs o NOT theory Diagrams Hypotheses predictions List of variables that are related to one another o Hypotheses should logically follow FROM theory o Are not in themselves theory Strong theory Answers the question WHY Described the connections between social phenomena Explains why acts events structures and thoughts occur delves into underlying processes so as to understand the systematic reasons for a particular occurrence or nonoccurrence Can have implications we have not seen with our naked or theoretically unassisted eye May have implications that run counter to our common sense Explains predicts and delights Meta theory Paradigms 09 09 2013 Meta theory Meta o Used to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept used to complete or add to the latter o More comprehensive transcending usually used with the name of a discipline to designate a new but related discipline designed to deal critically with the original o About itself i e meta data meta memory Theory about a theory Paradigm A worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject A philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories laws and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated Examples o Cybernetic information processing o Feminism o Social constructivism o Marxism Philosophical questions Paradigms differ in their meta theoretical assumptions about the nature of the social world and the role of the researcher in the research process Ontology the study of the nature of being o A branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being o A particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence o Assumptions about what exists and the nature of being e g mind body problem Epistemology study of knowledge and its sources o The study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity o How we go about knowing and what counts as knowledge related to research methods which methods are valid ways of acquiring knowledge Ontological epistemological viewpoints o Nature of reality ontology Objectivism a real objective world exists apart from the observer Subjectivism the world exists only as experience reality is subjective o Goal of research Objectivism explanation of the world Subjectivism probe the relativism of the world o Position of the researcher Objectivism separate Subjectivism involved o Goal of theory Axiology the study of value o Philosophical study of value Aesthetics Ethics Objectivism to generalize about many like cases Subjectivism to illuminate the individual case o Position of value in science research Original position that research should be value free Limited as much as possible unavoidable desirable Evaluation of theory Scope o Broad narrow Logical consistency Parsimony Utility Testability Heurism Test of time o Say a lot in a few words concise o How useful it is in real life and in general Meta theory Part 2 Ontological paradigms 09 09 2013 Covering laws objective rules subjective and systems perspectives not associated with any type of approach Epistemological axiological paradigms Empiricism hermeneutics and critical theory Empiricism positivism Assumes the existence of an objective reality Goal is to uncover reality through evidence data closely associated with covering laws perspective In purest form research is explicitly value free and objective control Usually quantitative Hermeneutic Interpretive Approach Views truth as subjective research is not uncovering an objective truth but interpreting communication and experience Does not necessarily strive to be objective but may take a middle ground subtle realism Studies the individual person Critical Approach Believes knowledge truth and power to be inextricably linked Those in power control and shape knowledge to reify their own Science cannot exist without ideology power both intentionally and unconsciously Scholars believe it is a researcher s responsibility to work to change society not value neutral Ontological Paradigm Covering Laws Perspective o Or classical model or logical positivist model o Assumes an ontology where social world like the physical world is governed by immutable laws o If X then Y o Purpose of research is to uncover the laws that underlie human behavior o Ultimate goal is to use laws to predict behavior o Scholars use