POL SCI 3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Literature Review
6 Sep 2016
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1st task to find a topic and translate interest into manageable research questions or a series of questions or propositions. Questions calling for normative conclusions are inappropriate: answers involve what someone values: but normative questions can lead to development of an empirical research question. Most topics are too broad to manageable, good research therefore involves reviewing previous work on the subject to motivate and sharpen a research question. This helps you broaden/ narrow your question, figure out what has already been investigated, learn about others" definitions and measurements, identify other data sources, decide if you want to conduct a replication etc. You can also decide to develop an explanation for a relationship that has already been observed; you should be also alert for competing or alternative hypotheses look at other possible causes or correlates. Virtually anything published on the topic: scholarly (best) and non-scholarly.
