Advanced Research Methods

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Advanced Research Methods

• K. Peter Kuchinke
• Professor, Human Resource Development
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Yuan-Ze University, April 2008

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Outline

• Research Paradigms
• Traditional social science research
• Critical/emancipatory research
• Action Research
• Postmodern Research
• Criteria of good Research
• Publishing Research

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Traditional Views of Research

• Finding the truth
• Knowledge based on objective evidence
• Knowledge gained through strict methods
• Knowledge gained by experts
• Open to the public
• Open to scrutiny and inspection
• Expert way of finding things out
• Privileged way of knowing

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Brief History of Science

• Age of Enlightenment
• Physics and Astronomy
• Liberation from Tradition and Religion
• Advancement and Progress
• Social Sciences
• Positivism Debate
• Objectivism vs. subjectivism (ontology)
• Realism vs. nominalism (epistemology)
• Parallel modalities
• Critical Realism
• Qualitative and quantitative methods

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Critical Science

• Knowledge and Interest (Habermas)
• Types of Interest
• Instrumental
• Understanding
• Emancipatory/liberation
• Uses traditional social science methods but with
  different goals

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Postmodernism

• Philosophical movement in Literature, Arts,
  Humanities, Social Sciences
• Questions traditional goals of science
• Key ideas
• Impossible to decide meaning objectively
• Grand Narratives are not plausible
• Language and power determine reality
• Understanding/interpreting our world through
  history and deconstructing meaning
• Implications for research
• Researcher and subject constitute each other
• Knowledge driven by interests
• Ongoing dialogue
• Research is story telling

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Good Research

• Advances knowledge/understanding in an important
  area
• Builds on existing scholarship
• Is methodologically/technically sound
• Addresses important/interesting questions
• Leads to some practical insights
• Helps us understand world better/differently
• Leads to alternative possible action strategies

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Research Journals

• Human Resource Development International
• Importance of the topic
• Theoretical importance
• Practical Importance
• Appropriateness
• Problem Statement
• Relevance of Literature Review
• Research Design and Methods
• Results and Conclusions
• Contributions to the field

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Publishing in International Research Journals

• Why publish?
• What to publish?
• Where to publish?
• How to succeed in publishing
• Mistakes to avoid

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Purpose of Publishing

• Scientific progress based on written
  contributions
• Scientific ideas evaluated based on written
  contributions
• Extrinsic Reasons
• Requirement for graduation/promotion
• Prestige, reputation, visibility
• Reaching a wide (international) audience
• Intrinsic Reasons
• Pride, Self-efficacy
• Sense of accomplishment
• Determine standing in the academic community

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Types of Contributions

• Empirical Research
• Meta-Analyses
• Theory Development
• Model/Conceptual Development
• Integrated Reviews of Literature
• Exploratory Studies (Research Notes
• Opinion Pieces
• Responses to Published articles
• Book Reviews

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Maturity of Contributions

• Emerging Fields/Areas
• Exploratory research
• Descriptive research
• Definitional writing
• Developing research agendas
• Established Fields/Areas
• Hypothesis testing
• Theory development
• Construct validation
• Meta-analyses

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Types of Research Journals

• SSCI listing
• Standing within Disciplines/Fields
• Tier 1, 2, 3 etc.
• Domain-specific journals
• E.g. Cross-Cultural Management Human Resource
  Development International
• Regional Focus
• E.g. Asia Pacific Journal of Management
• Audience specific journals
• E.g. Harvard Business Review
• Special sections, topical monographs

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Successful Submissions

• Quality of contribution to the literature
• Originality
• Rigor
• Relevance
• Match with journal scope and aims
• Conforms to editorial guidelines
• Quality of writing
• Willingness to revise

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Common Mistakes in Submitting Papers to Research
Journals

• Practitioner Papers
• Introductions for the Uninformed
• No Original Relevance
• Targeted at another discipline
• Replica of already published work
• Guideline violations
• Not theory-based
• Uninvited resubmissions
• Source Kilduff, 2007- AMR

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Publishing Violations

• Submitting to several journals at once
• Misrepresenting authorship Misrepresenting
  ownership of ideas and data
• Plagiarizing
• Using identical data set in multiple submissions

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Tips for Novice Scholars

• Non-refereed contributions
• Conference Proceedings
• Match quality of contribution and rating of the
  journal
• Maybe build on practitioner focused publications
• Be prepared to revise and revise and revise and
  revise
• Be prepared to resubmit
• Second author
• Use masters thesis or dissertation
• Dont get discouraged!