HTHSCI 4NR3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Scientific Method, Critical Role, Smoking Cessation

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: HTHSCI 4NR3
• Professor: Dianne Allen

Document Summary

Research methods: are the techniques researchers use to design a study and to gather and analyse relevant information. The two paradigms correspond to different methods of developing evidence. A key methodological distinction is between quantitative research which is closely aligned with positivism, and qualitative research, which is associated with constructivist inquiry. Positivist scientific method involved using a set of orderly procedures to gather information. Quantitative research typically move in a systemic fashion from the definition of a problem to a solution. By systemic, we mean that investigators progress through a series of steps, according to a plan. Quantitative research use objective methods designed to control the research situation with the goal of minimizing bias and m aximizing validity. Quantitative researcher gather empirical evidence - evidence that is rooted in objective reality and gathered directly or indirectly through the senses rather than through personal beliefs or hunches.