Define scientific merit

Unit 10

INTRODUCTION

Throughout this course, you have learned about several research approaches in both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Even though there are many ways in which researchers can solve research problems with different research approaches and designs, there is one thing that all good scientific research has in common: scientific merit.

At the beginning of the course, you were introduced to the concept of scientific merit. You learned that in order for research to have scientific merit, it must achieve three things:

• It must contribute something new to the scientific knowledge base in the field. In order for research to do this, a researcher must conduct a thorough literature review to identify a research problem. A research problem is something that has not been addressed by previous research, and would be meaningful to know. Often, the research problem is referred to as a gap in the literature.

• It must contribute to theory. Theories are the primary tools by which science organizes its knowledge—the tools that allow the field to explain previous and current findings and predict future ones. Research that has scientific merit can advance theories in several ways, including confirming, extending, refuting, or proposing theories.

• It must meet the hallmarks of good research. This is the component that has been most emphasized in this course as you have learned about the defining characteristics of the two methodologies and the various approaches of both. But a researcher who has conducted high-quality research has only met this criterion of scientific merit to the extent that the research design and procedures allowed the research problem to be solved and the research questions to be answered. It is crucial to remember that the purpose of research is to solve a research problem by investigating something that has not been previously researched; that is, to fill the gap in the literature. Research methods are simply tools that researchers use to do this. When researchers effectively use research methods to solve a research problem, then we can say that the research has met the hallmarks of good research.

As a professional, you will be called upon to use research findings in the psychological literature. In order to do this, you will be responsible for evaluating the scientific merit of the research that produced those findings. While most research published in peer-reviewed journals can be trusted to have good scientific merit, it can be risky not to evaluate research for yourself, especially research findings most pertinent to your work and career. This course has given you the opportunity to learn how to do this for yourself, should you ever plan to do your own research in the future. It has provided you with the necessary background regarding how to plan research that has good scientific merit.

OBJECTIVES

To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to:

1. Discuss hallmarks of good research.

2. Distinguish three dimensions of scientific merit.

3. Apply principles of scientific merit to chosen research study.

Scientific Merit

[u10s1] Unit 10 Study 1

STUDIES

Readings

Read the introduction to this unit, Scientific Merit. This reading recaps the components of scientific merit to provide a framework for the material you have learned in the course.

Use your Leedy and Ormrod text to complete the following:

• Review the "What Is Research" section of Chapter 1, "The Nature and Tools of Research," pages 3–7. This review will put the details of research methods you have learned in the class into a larger perspective.

Multimedia

• Review the Scientific Merit Presentation multimedia piece. This will refresh your knowledge on scientific merit to help you address this unit's assignment and discussion.

Scientific Merit Presentation

 Transcript

[u10d1] Unit 10 Discussion 1 

SCIENTIFIC MERIT

Resources

Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.

Scientific Merit Presentation | Transcript.

Before posting your answer, you may wish to review the Scientific Merit Presentation multimedia piece from this unit's studies. You will also find it linked in Resources.

For your final post in this course, reflect on the concept of scientific merit. With regard to the three dimensions of scientific merit (advances the knowledge base; contributes to theory; and meets hallmarks of good research), describe the aspects of the study you chose for the Scientific Merit Paper course project that exemplify each of the three components of scientific merit.

Choose an area of scientific merit that could be improved in your study and explain how it could be improved.