Research Methods

Yanıt Açıklaması: Validity of any inductive conclusion assumes that nature acts in a regular way, however there is no guarantee that the things will happen in the same way in future, this issue is known as the problem of induction. It is called ‘problem’ because it is always possible that one or more future cases will have a disconfirming case. Thus, inductivist theories provide probabilistic knowledge at best, or provide knowledge that is based on what is observed so far. The correct answer is C.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Ontology

Yanıt Açıklaması: Axiological knowledge can also be called a “theory of experience”. This kind of knowledge is created by practitioners who share their long-term experiences. The correct answer is D.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Ontology is a concept that means the study of being/existence and the nature of reality. Ontology asks questions such as “What is the essential substance of (or the underlying foundation of) existence?”, “What is the nature of reality?” and “Is it possible for us to perceive reality as is?” The correct answer is B.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Epistemology

Yanıt Açıklaması: For the empiricists, all knowledge is a posteriori, that is, it comes from experience or is dependent on experience. Thus, empiricism does not have any claim about existence of any underlying reality beyond experience. In short, all our knowledge is induced from our sense experiences and sense experience is the only source of our knowledge. The correct answer is D.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Research questions may arise from various sources. For example, one can get a research question from a discourse with colleagues or from their works and writing. Students may not be excellent source of emerging research questions but their interesting questions generally activate new paths to explore. Roselle and Spray (2011, 5) suggest some sources that may be useful to search for your research topic: Textbooks Scholarly literature Some scholarly articles that contain listings of particular groups of cases Some scholarly websites which contain the databases you can explore Websites of respected international organizations such as International Monetary Fund, International Labor Organization; intergovernmental organizations such as United Nations and the World Trade Organization. Websites of governmental and non- governmental organizations. Websites of government agencies such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. Reference books such as almanacs and books that contain helpful listings of the related field.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Scientific realism

Yanıt Açıklaması: There are three well-known reasons that researchers seek after. They are; experience, theory testing, and replication of previous research. Past experiences of professionals can be a strong inspiration for researchers. Researchers are mostly interested in negative experiences for the purpose of improving practices and making them better for next generations. Theories can be used to develop research studies. Even a single study can be the focus of a research to examine its implications. The replication studies refer to repeating a past research recognizing its methodological weaknesses to do a better one. A researcher repeats a study carefully so that the previous limitations will not be repeated.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Hypotheses are of two major types: statistical and research hypotheses. Statistical hypothesis (H0- neutral hypothesis, null hypothesis, absence hypothesis) denotes that there is either no relation or difference between the variables. Research hypothesis , on the contrary, (H1- difference hypothesis, alternative hypothesis) is the expression of the relation that a researcher hopes to confirm after relevant data collection and analysis (Altunışık, Coşkun, Bayraktaroğlu, and Yıldırım, 2005).

Yanıt Açıklaması: In inductivism, the starting point is observations of singular facts, events, or happenings, then expressing them as singular observation statements. An important condition is that the observations must be theory free in order to prevent contamination of pure facts with a previously accepted theory.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The general purpose of literature review is to narrow down the focus of your research, to focus on it, and to help readers relate it to your research. Purposes of a literature review includes: To identify the field and specific context in which the topic is located. To decide which research and methodology will be adopted, which type of data may be collected and analyzed. To deepen your knowledge related to the key concepts of the research topic To avoid repeating previous studies that have ben completed before your attempt and to produce an original work. To avoid the mistakes that past studies reported. To discover the key people, organizations, and papers related to your research topic.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The contributions that qualitative methods can introduce into IR include three types of information (environment, process, perceptions) which can be gathered through use of qualitative research methods. First is the environmental information, which regards social, psychological, cultural, demographic, and physical characteristics.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The correct ordering of the steps taken during the process of qualitative research are as follows: I) Identifying the research focus or problem II) Selecting participants III) Data collection techniques IV) Data analysis V) Reporting The correct answer is D.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Some common mistakes in writing a literature review include discussing the studies consecutively without making a connection with each other; neglecting to state similar findings of the past research; and including the articles that are almost irrelevant to the research questions. In order to write a literature review, a lot of reading is essential, but not everything read should be included in the review. The researcher should be critical in this perspective.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Based on the fact that a whole means more than the collection of its parts, research subject is approached with a holistic perspective. Collected with this standpoint, data should also be analyzed through a holistic approach. What lies under this idea is the hypothesis that the nature of human behavior is sophisticated and cannot be easily divided into smaller parts. That is why qualitative research efforts focus on the unity of variables that comprise the problem and the relations among them. The correct answer is A.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Some issues in considering the quality of the information obtained from Web sites can be summarised as follows: Authority. The producer, or sponsor of the website should be clear and verifiable. This information can be mostly checked by clicking the button “About Us”. If this information is not available, it is better not too use it. Accuracy. Factual information such as data and names should match those found in almanacs, encyclopedias or other reference books. If the information is not consistent with the prestigious sources, the author should discuss its reasons. If the accuracy of the web source is uncertain, it should not be preferred. Objectivity. The literature reviewer should be careful about the sponsor’s point of view in case of biased expressions. The website should balance different points of views. Otherwise, it should not be taken as a trusted source. Currency. The website should give information about the uploading date of the document, the beginning and the end of the pages. If the document is not dated but include an bibliography, you can examine the references for up-to-dateness. The APA manual allows the n.d. usage for the unknown date of a source. Coverage. The site should fully cover its topic within the limits the authors determine themselves. It is not important whether the coverage is narrow or broad but it is important that the site claim the accurate information.

Yanıt Açıklaması: If a variable can only assume certain values or options, and if it can be expressed through only whole numbers, then it is a discrete variable. For example, gender variable can assume either male or female option. Continuous variables, on the contrary, are those that can take any value between their bottom and top limits, that is to say, they can be expressed in fractions. For instance, the value that variable of weight can assume ranges from zero to infinity. The correct answer is C.

Yanıt Açıklaması: There are four types of literature review: narrative, systemic, meta-analysis and focused. Narrative reviews are typically found in theses, dissertations, grant and research proposals, and research articles. In such reviews, the author selects relevant past research and synthesizes it into a coherent discussion. Narrative reviews typically are somewhat broad in focus compared to other kinds of literature reviews, discussing methodologies, findings, and limitations in the existing body of work.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Qualitative research is defined as a method where perceptions and events can be pictured in their natural environments with a holistic and realistic perspective through use of qualitative data collection techniques such as observation, interview, and document analysis.