PENGEMBANGAN IDE PENELITIAN

Muhaimin Ramdja

Blok 3

CREATIVITY

• In order to find research topic, you have to read and review a huge amount of literatures

• But if you spent too much time studying other people’s idea, it would inhibit your ability to create your own

• The point is that science is a collective international activity

• It is necessary to understand the relevant literature and to place your work in this context

Literature Searching

• Everyone uses computer-based search tools, allowing them to search on keywords or key author

• Current Contents, gives you a quick view of recently published work in journals

• Web of Science allows rapid search for literature by authors or keywords

Knowledge and Information

• What is accessible by computer and indeed what is published in a journals is INFORMATION

• KNOWLEDGE is that has to be constructed in the mind of the expert reader

This is what scholarship is about!

• INFORMATION is these days instantly accessible

• KNOWLEDGE still takes years of dedicated study to acquire

Example

• What do producers of science documentaries for television programes do when they are researching their subjects?

• They talk to the experts rather than trying to read the journals

• Quite rightly, because that is the only place that knowledge to be found: INSIDE THE HEADS OF SCHOLARS

The Origin of Ideas

• Where do ideas for new research come from?– Curiosity– Creativity– Scholarship

New Ideas

• Often come from synthesis of different, apparently unconnected pieces of information

• In many ways doing research is like reading a good novel. You get absorbed in the plot and eager to read the next chapter

• Then you discover the next chapter has not yet been written

• So you have to design your own research study to see where the story goes next

Methods of Acquiring Knowledge

• There are a wide variety of procedures by which we obtain knowledge

• Experts have concluded that there are at least six different approaches to acquiring knowledge

• Only one of which is the scientific method

• We will begin by taking a look at the five unscientific approaches to acquiring knowledge

• And then look at the scientific method

1. Tenacity

• The first approach can be labeled tenacity

• The quality or state of holding fast

• This approach to acquiring knowledge seems to boil down to the acquisition and persistence of superstitions, because superstitions represent beliefs that are reacted to as if they were fact

• Houston Oilers, 1986

• Jerry Granville

• Demonstrating the fallacy of using this approach

2. Intuition

• Intuition is the second approach to acquiring knowledge

• The act or process of coming to direct knowledge or certainty without reasoning or inferring

• The predictions and descriptions made by psychics are not based on any known reasoning and inferring process

• Therefore, such knowledge must be intuitive knowledge

• This does not mean that knowledge acquired by from psychics is undesirable or inappropriate—only that is not scientific knowledge

3. Authority

• Authority as an approach to acquiring knowledge represents an acceptable of information or facts stated by another because that person is a highly respected source

• Authority exist within the various religion

• A religion typically has a sacred text, tribunal, person, or some combination of these that represent the facts, which are considered indisputable and final

• This example is not meant to be critical of religions, but only to demonstrate that the authority approach to gaining knowledge differs from the scientific approach

• The authority approach should not be confused with our increasing dependence on experts for information

• Experts do transmit science knowledge, and they usually base their opinions on scientific knowledge

4. Rationalism

• This approach uses reasoning to arrive at knowledge and assumes that valid knowledge is acquired if the correct reasoning process is used

• It is clearly dangerous to rely solely on rationalism for acquiring knowledge

• This does not mean that science does not use reasoning or rationalism

• In fact, reasoning is a vital element in the scientific process

• In the scientific process, reasoning is used to arrive at hypotheses

• These hypotheses are then tested, using the scientific method, to determine their validity

5. Empiricism

• The fifth and final unscientific approach to gaining knowledge is through empiricism

• This approach says, “If I have experienced something, then it is valid and true”.

• Therefore, any facts that concur with experience are accepted, and those do not are rejected

• Although this approach is very appealing and has much to recommend it, several dangers exist if it alone is used

• Our perceptions are affected by a number of variables

• Research has demonstrated that variables such as past experience and our motivations at the time of the perceiving can drastically alter what we see

• This does not mean that the scientific method does not include empiricism—it does

• In fact, empiricism is a vital element in science

• In science, however, empiricism refers to the collection of data through the use of the scientific method, not to the personal experience of an event

SCIENCE

• The best method for acquiring knowledge is the scientific method

• To understand this approach, we must first take a look at the definition of science

• Most philosophers of science define it as a process or method—a method for generating a body of knowledge

• Science, therefore, represents a logic of inquiry, or a specific method to be followed in solving problems and thus acquiring a body of knowledge

• This method can be broken down into a series of 5 steps;

Identifying the Problem and Forming a Hypothesis

• The beginning point of any scientific inquiry involves identifying a problem

• All you have to do is look at the events taking place, and numerous problems that need solution come readily to mind

• Child abuse, cancer, HIV, crime

• However, it is not enough just to identify a problem and say that you are going to investigate it

• For a problem to be investigated, it must be refined and narrowed so that it is researchable

• Once the problem has been stated in researchable terms, hypotheses are formulated that state the expected or predicted relationships between variables

Designing the Experiment

• The stage of actually designing the experiment is crucial and demands a tremendous amount of preparation on the part of experimenter to ensure that hypotheses stated are those actually tested

• Proper control over extraneous variables have to be established, and the experimental variable as well as the response variable must be specified

• These procedures are extremely important because this stage represents the outline or the scheme to be followed in conducting the experiment

• This scheme or outline is one that is constructed to overcome the difficulties that would otherwise distort the result and to help make sure the data are properly analyzed and interpreted

Conducting the Experiment

• After the experiment has been designed, the researchers must make a number of very important decisions regarding the actual conduct of the experiment

• Before any data are collected, it must be decided what subjects are to be used, what instructions are necessary, and what the equipment and materials are needed

• After these decisions have been reached, the experimenters are then ready to collect the data, following precisely the prescribed procedures and recording responses made by the subjects

• For some studies, this involves little more than plugging in electronic equipment

• Other studies are much more demanding, since the experimenters must interact with the subjects and record the responses made by the subjects

Hypothesis Testing

• After the data have been collected, the experimenters must analyze and interpret the data to determine whether the stated hypotheses have been supported

• With the advent of computer and its statistical packages, the investigators are spared the task of making the necessary computations

• But even though the computer is a marvelous piece of machinery, it will do only what is told to do

• The investigators must decide on the appropriate statistical analyses

• After the statistical analyses have been conducted, the investigators must interpret the results and specify exactly what they mean

Communicating the Research Results

• After the data have been analyzed, the scientists want to communicate the results to others

• Communication most frequently takes place through the professional journal

• Consequently, the scientists must write a research report that states how the research was conducted and what was found

• The result of the experiment are now available for anyone to read