What Is Scientific Research? A Clear Starting Point for Your PhD

When I started my PhD, it took me a long time to understand what research actually meant. This is the explanation I wish I had at the beginning. In this first Research Basics lesson, we start with a simple question: what makes a piece of work scientific research? We look at how theory and observation fit together, then work through the difference between building a theory and testing one. We also cover the four characteristics of the scientific method described in Bhattacherjee's textbook and the difference between exploratory, descriptive and explanatory research. The main source is Anol Bhattacherjee's open textbook. I also draw on Bacharach and Whetten when discussing how we evaluate explanations, and briefly introduce design science as another route in Information Systems. If you're starting a PhD, or you're a master's student thinking about research, I hope this gives you a clearer place to begin. Think about your own research question as you watch. Are you trying to explore something, describe it, or explain why it happens? Share your question in the comments, even if you're still working it out. CHAPTERS 0:00 Why I made this playlist 0:51 Sources for this lesson 1:24 What Is Scientific Research?! 1:57 What makes research scientific? 2:26 Science and measurement uncertainty 4:08 Theory and observation 5:19 Inductive and deductive research 6:38 Two sets of research skills 7:26 The scientific method 9:27 Research grouped by purpose 10:52 Questions and design science in IS 11:30 Recap 12:19 Try it with your own question 12:37 References 13:16 Next: research paradigms SOURCES Anol Bhattacherjee (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices, second edition. Global Text Project. Chapter 1, pp. 1–6. Hosted by the University of South Florida. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/oa_tex... The textbook is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Samuel B. Bacharach (1989). Organizational Theories: Some Criteria for Evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308374 David A. Whetten (1989). What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1989.4308371 For the brief introduction to design science: Alan R. Hevner, Salvatore T. March, Jinsoo Park and Sudha Ram (2004). Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.2307/25148625 FOOTAGE ANTONI SHKRABA production and utopia 36, via Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/video/man-high... https://www.pexels.com/video/overhead...