LECTURE 1 - THEORY
WHAT THEORY IS NOT (Sutton & Staw, 1995)
1) References (need to make arguments by explaining & linking concepts and causal logic from references | NE
listing references to existing theories or mentioning their names)
2) Data (need to explain the logical reasoning/ why a particular finding occurred/ why certain empirical relationships
are expected in the future | NE prior findings cannot motivate H / reporting of results)
3) Constructs/Variables - (need to know why these come about/ why they are connected | important parts of
theory but not alone because NE simply listing a set of antecedents)
4) Diagrams/ Research models (need for explain a logic underlying the portrayed relationships- why proposed
connections will be observed/ verbal explanation about why a phenomenon occurs and unfolds)
5) Hypothesis/ Predictions- important parts of theory as crucial bridges between theory and data by making
explicit how variables and relationships will be operationalised(need to contain logical arguments/ underlying logic
about why empirical relationships are expected to occur | NE concise statements about what i expected to occur)
Other findings: Lack of consensus on what strong theory is may explain why it is difficult to develop a strong theory - building
theory is full of internal conflicts and contradictions | Difficult to master both theory building and testing (theory & methods)-
building research teams with complementary skills
What Theory is Theory Building Blocks
Ways of thinking for theory building (a- Observational thinking/ b-
Conceptual thinking)
a- Inductive: observation leads to theory formation (more qualitative) |
based on practise
b- Deductive: analyses of data leads to theory testing (more
quantitative) | based on literature & logic
LECTURE 2- RESEARCH ETHICS & INTEGRITY
Ethics: is moral philosophy (right or wrong behaviour)/ moral principle/ code
of conduct that governs how people act or behave / principles of a group,
profession, country (principles are time dependent) / personal principles (not everyone has the same principles)
Fields: Business ethics: focusing on problems in business environments | Research ethics: ethical dilemmas and integrity
in scientific research sometimes discipline dependent
, Not everything that is legal is also ethical (and vice versa)
Ethics in research
- Set by various institutions and professional associations (e.g VSNU, NWO, code of ethics, …)
- Four pillars of EiR: (1) professional self-regulation (academy of management, association of information systems,
association of marketing) | (2) government oversights (legislation) | (3) institutional policies | 4) personal
responsibility
- Respect of persons: you need to respect people who you are researching for / informed-voluntary consent / avoid
unnecessary mental or physical suffering/ anonymity / approval by institutions
Research Misconduct
- (1) Disrespecting human subjects pressure to participate/ not informing participants about the study objectives/ not
respecting anonymity / abuse vulnerable people (children-elders) | (2) fabrication (making up data-results and
record-report them) | (3) falsification (manipulating data, changing-omitting-excluding results- not accurate
research- not linking between data & results) | (4) plagiarism (appropriate someone’s ideas- words without credit-
references- verbal or written)
Principles of Research Integrity
- (1) Honesty (clear link between resources & data - connected to falsification and fabrication) | (2) Scrupulousness
(using methods that are accepted in the field - scientific of scholarly/ applied in a responsible manner) | (3)
Transparency (clear what is the data/ how it was obtained/ how the results were achieved/ how it can be used-
open data) | (4) Independence (the research is not biased/ influenced by external or personal factors) | (5)
Responsibility (acknowledge that the work is not done in isolation/ relevant research)
CITI (Research Misconduct | Plagiarism | Privacy and Confidentiality | Data Management)
RESEARCH MISCONDUCT:
Is defined as Fabrication/ Falsification/ Plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research
results.
Why it occurs: Individual/ Organisational (lack of an ethical climate & enforcement within an organisation)/ Related
factors (ease with which researchers and others can copy text or manipulate data)
Other problematic research behaviours:
Effects: Societies | Trainees, Researchers, and Their Organisations
WHAT THEORY IS NOT (Sutton & Staw, 1995)
1) References (need to make arguments by explaining & linking concepts and causal logic from references | NE
listing references to existing theories or mentioning their names)
2) Data (need to explain the logical reasoning/ why a particular finding occurred/ why certain empirical relationships
are expected in the future | NE prior findings cannot motivate H / reporting of results)
3) Constructs/Variables - (need to know why these come about/ why they are connected | important parts of
theory but not alone because NE simply listing a set of antecedents)
4) Diagrams/ Research models (need for explain a logic underlying the portrayed relationships- why proposed
connections will be observed/ verbal explanation about why a phenomenon occurs and unfolds)
5) Hypothesis/ Predictions- important parts of theory as crucial bridges between theory and data by making
explicit how variables and relationships will be operationalised(need to contain logical arguments/ underlying logic
about why empirical relationships are expected to occur | NE concise statements about what i expected to occur)
Other findings: Lack of consensus on what strong theory is may explain why it is difficult to develop a strong theory - building
theory is full of internal conflicts and contradictions | Difficult to master both theory building and testing (theory & methods)-
building research teams with complementary skills
What Theory is Theory Building Blocks
Ways of thinking for theory building (a- Observational thinking/ b-
Conceptual thinking)
a- Inductive: observation leads to theory formation (more qualitative) |
based on practise
b- Deductive: analyses of data leads to theory testing (more
quantitative) | based on literature & logic
LECTURE 2- RESEARCH ETHICS & INTEGRITY
Ethics: is moral philosophy (right or wrong behaviour)/ moral principle/ code
of conduct that governs how people act or behave / principles of a group,
profession, country (principles are time dependent) / personal principles (not everyone has the same principles)
Fields: Business ethics: focusing on problems in business environments | Research ethics: ethical dilemmas and integrity
in scientific research sometimes discipline dependent
, Not everything that is legal is also ethical (and vice versa)
Ethics in research
- Set by various institutions and professional associations (e.g VSNU, NWO, code of ethics, …)
- Four pillars of EiR: (1) professional self-regulation (academy of management, association of information systems,
association of marketing) | (2) government oversights (legislation) | (3) institutional policies | 4) personal
responsibility
- Respect of persons: you need to respect people who you are researching for / informed-voluntary consent / avoid
unnecessary mental or physical suffering/ anonymity / approval by institutions
Research Misconduct
- (1) Disrespecting human subjects pressure to participate/ not informing participants about the study objectives/ not
respecting anonymity / abuse vulnerable people (children-elders) | (2) fabrication (making up data-results and
record-report them) | (3) falsification (manipulating data, changing-omitting-excluding results- not accurate
research- not linking between data & results) | (4) plagiarism (appropriate someone’s ideas- words without credit-
references- verbal or written)
Principles of Research Integrity
- (1) Honesty (clear link between resources & data - connected to falsification and fabrication) | (2) Scrupulousness
(using methods that are accepted in the field - scientific of scholarly/ applied in a responsible manner) | (3)
Transparency (clear what is the data/ how it was obtained/ how the results were achieved/ how it can be used-
open data) | (4) Independence (the research is not biased/ influenced by external or personal factors) | (5)
Responsibility (acknowledge that the work is not done in isolation/ relevant research)
CITI (Research Misconduct | Plagiarism | Privacy and Confidentiality | Data Management)
RESEARCH MISCONDUCT:
Is defined as Fabrication/ Falsification/ Plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research
results.
Why it occurs: Individual/ Organisational (lack of an ethical climate & enforcement within an organisation)/ Related
factors (ease with which researchers and others can copy text or manipulate data)
Other problematic research behaviours:
Effects: Societies | Trainees, Researchers, and Their Organisations
