Use of Experiments in Natural Sciences and in Sociology

Researchers found that increase in the performance and productivity does not completely rely upon IT investment. Mahmoud and Mann (2005). Productivity is the fundamental measure of technology contribution. Even though there were continuous success stories that existed, there were some failures too. The lack of accuracy in the quantitative measures for the output and the value created by information technology has made the MIS manager’s job of evaluating investments particularly difficult.

Another issue I find when dealing with traditional scientific theories is that Science often fails to provide theories and explanations for phenomenon's that hold truth and validation in both a scientific context and the context of the human mind. I feel that Science often caters to a "black and white" way of formulating answers; it fails to recognize the gray areas. Often times people try to find the most common and accepted ways to support their theories and in doing so they adapt to the standard and more traditional ways of viewing the world. This leaves less room for creativit... ... middle of paper ... ...ly in value but also politics. Both science and the judicial system produce gray areas when trying to understand and rationalize.

Most people simply are not that interested when you hear the word statistics and many times people do not believe the numbers presented. This mistrust occurs most often for two reasons: the person not being able to see the raw data and where or how it was collected and the person not being able to verify the credibility of the information presented. Throughout the book, Huff discusses different statistical techniques that can be used improperly and how one can discern good statistics from those that may have been manipulated. Huff starts out by talking about the sample with a built-in bias. Data collected at the beginning of the study that is used to create statistics originates from someone or something.

It also angers me that scientists do not hold values, but rather feel as though facts are more important. To me, it is not always the case. Most scientists and researchers are so caught up in finding “evidence” and “truth”. In striving to do this, they often lose sight of the important things. Science is not truth and truth is not science.

If needed, it is fairly easy to replicate an experiment and is less time consuming than other research methods. However there are many downfalls as well. When conducting an experiment the setting of where the experiment is taking place is more artificial which may cause certain behaviors that wouldn’t occur in real life. This is known as external validity, which is the measure of how much the results of a study can be generalized and used in different situations, and people. To improve external validity cover stories are created when conducting experiments so the participants are not aware of what is really going on, or experiments are done in a natural setting as opposed to in a laboratory.

Qualitative research uses unreconstructed logic to get at what is really real: the quality, meaning, context, or image of reality in what people actually do, not what they say they do. The advantages of a questionnaire which produces quantitative data are you do not have to pay interviewers and it is cheap to classify results. Fast and efficient analysis possible with pre-coded closed questions and answers can be easily quantified and entered straight on to computers. Also questionnaires do not normally need interviewers so you do not have the risk of the interviewer influencing the respondent'... ... middle of paper ... ...ty as if another researcher did the same experiment would they get the same results as others. And if a group of researchers all researched the same topic would they all get different results?

Measuring SMEs performance is complex and challenging work. The main challenges to measuring performance in SMEs are as follows; First, collecting performance information from privately held SMEs is often difficult due to a lack of historical information and accessibility. The information is often imperfect and the accuracy is hard to be checked even if the information can be obtained. For example, traditional financial measures of performance are often unavailable This is because SMEs usually have small starting base, enormous and erratic growth rate and uneven record-keeping. Many measures, such as future profits and survival, require a longitudinal sample-design.

First, the examination of the data is most often conducted within the context of its use (Yin). Second, the detailed qualitative accounts often produced in case studies not only help to explore or describe the data in real-life environment, but also help to explain the complexities in real life situations which may not be captured through experimental or survey research (Yin). Despite these advantages, case studies have disadvantages too. First, case studies are often accused of lack of rigor (Yin). Second, case studies provide very little basis for scientific generalization since they use a small number of subjects, some are conducted with only one subject (Yin).

However, the expanded meaning of SBR and HQ is a mirror of the fragmented relationship between researchers and policy makers. Their relationship is difficult to gage and one that has a glimpse of distrust. SBR and HQ are only a few of many issues that created tension among its proponents, opponents and everything in between. Clearly, the think tankers and policy makers are often not working in sync. Researchers often complained that besides not being funded properly, when important findings from universities, think tanks, and regional development labs are presented, educators do not read or use all the data to make better decisions about improvement strategies.

There are many reasons why traditional teacher evaluations are looked down upon. One of the reasons is because of the fact they are done so infrequently. Very little can be observed regarding the teaching and learning processes (O’Donovan, 2011). This can lead to a very unfair representation of a teacher’s performance since much of what a teacher can do, cannot be observed in one or two observations. It is also questioned whether the judgments of administrators are valid due to both the infrequency and lack of evaluator training (O’Donovan, 2011; Milanowski, 2011).