V. Essay
1. Briefly discuss how we know what we know.
According to Earl Babbie 2011, we know what we know through ordinary human inquiry, tradition, and authority.
Ordinary human inquiry is rooted on our desire to understand how things work and use that understanding to predict the future. This may be as
informal as mere observation or as stringent and rigorous as a formal research.
Tradition and authority are second –hand sources of knowledge we accept that provide us information without us having to participate in the
process of deriving the understanding and reaching its coupled conclusion generalization. Tradition is what has been established from the past that has
survived with its own practical and convenient merits. On the other hand, information we derive from authority are the things we accept due to the
credibility of the source relative to the information.
2. When choosing a research topic, briefly discuss at least five important concerns, which we, as researchers, have to consider thoughtfully.
As researchers, we need to consider the following, among others, in selecting our research topics: interest, level of expertise, availability of data,
topic relevance, and ethics.
First, in choosing research topics, we have to consider what interests. Our own interest on any given subject will give us the fuel and the drive that
motivates us in pursuing and finishing the required study. A kind personal attachment to our topic enhances our desire in providing answers to research
questions.
However, mere interest on a topic may be inadequate and may be unable to carry the necessary research operations and procedures.
Researchers should consider carrying out studies that is matched and related with the second item to be considered – their level of expertise. Not only will
it already serve as their working background even before they formally start making their paper, but it would also provide a higher level of credibility on
whatever conclusion they are able to generate from their researches.
Availability of data should also be taken into account. From establishing the need to undertake the study Literature Review to the actual
implementation of the research design survey, experiment, archival analysis, researchers have to assess whether data that can be derived in order to build
any specific case. A topic and design may be excellent if the availability data
to be analysed cannot be obtained, there is no use for it. Of course it should be mentioned that lack of available data in previous literature may be
disheartening, but it should not hinder any researcher from pursuing the study. Moreover, there may be situations when an underdeveloped topic could
be another source of motivation since the impact of the research to be undertaken would have a greater value on the field.
Fourth, the research topic should be relevant to the field and intended audience. Relevance to the field simply means that the paper would form part
of the continuous evolution and development of the topic undertaken. Researchers need to pursue a certain study with an eye towards publication;
that whenever future scholars would research on the same or related topic, the researcher’s paper would be cited. In a grander scale, the researcher should
consider herhis research topic to be herhis legacy. On the other hand, relevance to the intended audience is about the importance of the paper to the
intended audience. Be it a professor that requires students to pass a term paper related to Public Administration, or the Congress of the Philippines
that, invoking the Constitution, requires the submission of an Annual Financial Report, the intended audience should in some way or another be
satiated of a want or a need of a knowledge that has yet to exist. There are times even, when the need for a certain knowledge is not known to the
intended audience until it’s already staring at their faces.
Lastly, researchers need to consider the ethical issues attached to their chosen research topic. There is a baseline of ethical issues that every
researcher need to face whenever they choose a certain research topic. Most of it is concerned in the operationalization of the concepts being tested –how
the information is obtained, plagiarism, rigging the results etc.. But there are certain research topics that have glaring ethical issues on their own. For
example, measuring the level of efficiency of extra-judicial killings in minimizing street crimes, assessing the effectiveness of underground
marketing of Misoprostol abortifacient in the Philippines.
3. In your own words, explain the difference between validity and reliability, as well as the difference between the two types of validity.
Reliability is the consistency of the results derived from the research operations used in the study. Essentially, if the procedures were made again
and again, they would essentially produce the same results. Validity, on the other hand, is the consistency of the concept established with the designed
and implemented procedures. For instance, if the paper is evaluating love, the design and procedures created for evaluation should not be revolving around
the measurement of hate or grief or kindness.
Generally, the two types of validity are internal validity and external validity. Internal validity is the consistency of the drawn conclusion to the
topic of the study. It is drawn on making sure that the conclusion made on the dependent variable is indeed rooted from the identified independent variable
and not some other item which were not able to be factored in.in contrast,
external validity is the consistency of the drawn conclusion generalizations with the rest of the world other researches of the samerelated topic.
4. Discuss how you can improve validity and reliability in case-study designs.
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