RESEARCH METHOD COHEN ok

16 THE NATURE OF INQUIRY
warrant’’ of its findings, showing the match or
fit between its statements and what is happening
or has happened in the world’ (Cuff and Payne
1979: 4). These standards and procedures we
will call for convenience ‘the scientific method’,
though this can be somewhat misleading for
the following reason: the combination of the
definite article, adjective and singular noun
conjures up in the minds of some people a
single invariant approach to problem-solving, an
approach frequently involving atoms or rats, and
taking place within the confines of a laboratory.
Yet there is much more to it than this. The
term in fact cloaks a number of methods which
vary in their degree of sophistication depending
on their function and the particular stage of
development a science has reached. Box 1.5 sets
out the sequence of stages through which a science
normally passes in its development or, perhaps
more realistically, that are constantly present in
its progress and on which scientists may draw
depending on the kind of information they seek
or the kind of problem confronting them. Of
particular interest in our efforts to elucidate the
term ‘scientific method’ are stages 2, 3 and 4.
Stage 2 is a relatively uncomplicated point at
which the researcher is content to observe and
record facts and possibly arrive at some system
of classification. Much research in the field of
education, especially at classroom and school
level, is conducted in this way, e.g. surveys and
case studies. Stage 3 introduces a note of added
sophistication as attempts are made to establish
relationships between variables within a loose
framework of inchoate theory. Stage 4 is the
most sophisticated stage and often the one that
many people equate exclusively with the scientific
method. In order to arrive at causality, as distinct
from mere measures of association, researchers here
design experimental situations in which variables
are manipulated to test their chosen hypotheses.
This process moves from early, inchoate ideas,
to more rigorous hypotheses, to empirical testing
of those hypotheses, thence to confirmation or
modification of the hypotheses (Kerlinger 1970).
With stages 3 and 4 of Box 1.5 in mind,
we may say that the scientific method begins
Box 1.5
Stages in the development of a science
1 Definition of the science and identification of the
phenomena that are to be subsumed under it.
2 Observational stage at which the relevant factors,
variables or items are identified and labelled, and at
which categories and taxonomies are developed.
3 Correlational research in which variables and
parameters are related to one another and
information is systematically integrated as theories
begin to develop.
4 The systematic and controlled manipulation of
variables to see if experiments will produce
expected results, thus moving from correlation to
causality.
5 The firm establishment of a body of theory as the
outcomes of the earlier stages are accumulated.
Depending on the nature of the phenomena under
scrutiny, laws may be formulated and systematized.
6 The use of the established body of theory in the
resolution of problems or as asourceoffurther
hypotheses.
consciously and deliberately by selecting from the
total number of elements in a given situation. More
recently Hitchcock and Hughes (1995: 23) suggest
an eight-stage model of the scientific method that
echoes Kerlinger. This is represented in Box 1.6.
The elements the researchers fasten on to will
naturally be suitable for scientific formulation; this
means simply that they will possess quantitative
Box 1.6
An eight-stage model of the scientific method
Stage 1: Hypotheses, hunches and guesses
Stage 2: Experiment designed; samples taken;
variables isolated
Stage 3: Correlations observed; patterns identified
Stage 4: Hypotheses formed to explain regularities
Stage 5: Explanations and predictions tested;
falsifiability
Stage 6: Laws developed or disconfirmation
(hypothesis rejected)
Stage 7: Generalizations made
Stage 8: New theories.