Chapter 2: “The scientific approach and alternative approaches to
investigation”
Scientific investigation:
It focusses on solving problems, gather data, analyse them, and draw valid conclusions from
them.
Scientific research is not based on hunches, experience and intuition (though these may
play a part in decision making), but its purposive and rigorous.
The hallmarks or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research may be listed as
follows:
Purposiveness (not for fun but with a purpose)
The research has a purposive focus.
Rigor (strict)
A good theoretical base and a sounds methodological design add rigor to a
purposive study.
Testability (can it be tested?)
Testability is a property that applies to the hypothesis of a study.
Replicability (can it be repeated?)
Replicability is the extent to which a re-study is made possible by the provision of
the design details of the study in the research report.
Precision and confidence (statistics?)
Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to “reality” based on a sample.
Confidence refers to the probability that our estimations are correct.
Objectivity (pure facts)
The more objective the interpretation of the data, the more scientific the research
investigation becomes.
Generalizability (results for whom?)
Generalizability refers to the scope of applicability of the research findings in one
organizational setting to other settings.
Parsimony (simplest assumption adoption)
Parsimony can be introduces with a good understanding of the problem and the
important factors that influence it.
Examples can be found in the book (pages 19-22)
investigation”
Scientific investigation:
It focusses on solving problems, gather data, analyse them, and draw valid conclusions from
them.
Scientific research is not based on hunches, experience and intuition (though these may
play a part in decision making), but its purposive and rigorous.
The hallmarks or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research may be listed as
follows:
Purposiveness (not for fun but with a purpose)
The research has a purposive focus.
Rigor (strict)
A good theoretical base and a sounds methodological design add rigor to a
purposive study.
Testability (can it be tested?)
Testability is a property that applies to the hypothesis of a study.
Replicability (can it be repeated?)
Replicability is the extent to which a re-study is made possible by the provision of
the design details of the study in the research report.
Precision and confidence (statistics?)
Precision refers to the closeness of the findings to “reality” based on a sample.
Confidence refers to the probability that our estimations are correct.
Objectivity (pure facts)
The more objective the interpretation of the data, the more scientific the research
investigation becomes.
Generalizability (results for whom?)
Generalizability refers to the scope of applicability of the research findings in one
organizational setting to other settings.
Parsimony (simplest assumption adoption)
Parsimony can be introduces with a good understanding of the problem and the
important factors that influence it.
Examples can be found in the book (pages 19-22)
