Research Assignment #16: ‘Pursue the elusive Holy Grail of the Historical account that neither exterminates angel of depravity nor exterminates angel of morality’ for the Departments of English & Media Studies by Prof Dr Sohail Ansari

A vexing question that nettles: The historical account that exterminates angel of depravity is purple. The historical account that is afflicted by paranoia, xenophobia and buttressed by inflating rhetoric exterminates angel of morality and is tainted as it taints the true pursuit of truth.

                         

The historical account that is not liberally sprinkled with the influence and interpretation of over blown metaphors and not exciting because of the overuse of melodramatic and fanciful descriptions and not saturated by the florid rhetorical devices and unusually over ripe unusual words is the Holy Grail. 

The historical account that is uncharacterized by deeply held ethnocentric assumptions, untempered by patriotic priorities and the dictates of local circumstances, freed from parochial focus, reflective with no constraints is the Holy Grail. 

Research or study           

We insist that our work be research than study because study is the accumulation of existing knowledge and research is study up to the boundary of what is in existence today, then synthesize new knowledge to push the boundary further. The word research itself explains this: re-search, you “search again”.

·         We study counter narrative up to the boundary and then re-search its meanings and application.

Study is learning something which came out of a research.

Study is to gain knowledge about something.

Research is working on inventing something new for studying.

Research is to gain knowledge about something to do something innovative.

·         We gain knowledge about counter narrative and then apply our research to innovative contribution to its meanings and application.

Our Research for capturing the elusive Holy Grail:

We decide to pursue Holy Grail in a way that is different but guarantees the construction of consensual historical account.

We, hence, are limited to the description of a way we tap narrative and counter narrative and to the explanation of a way historical account is woven from narratives and counter narratives.

Through our definition we overcome the theoretical differences those pit narrative against counter narrative so that both narratives become a matter of emphasis within a structural symbiosis.

 Our central thesis of both narratives echoes in exercise so that a sense of this aspect of symbiosis is hammered into students.

The method/pattern of gathering contents from both narratives

Passages from both narratives are to be systemically gathered to help evaluate contents of both narratives those have overlapping meanings or similar description of a same event or a person as they go on to justify their authenticity than the parts those have no overlapping or no similar meanings.

.We are, hence, restricted to reading both narratives and select parts/lines from them.

Choice of a tool for evaluation and discussion for its justification is not the part of this article; however we follow content analysis but in a limited way.

Exercise requires students to apply content analysis but in restricted sense.

 

·         Content analysis as a research tool should be used to determine the presence of similar lines or lines explaining similar things in both narratives.

 

·         Content analysis as a research tool should not be used to  quantify and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of words and concepts, then make inferences about the messages within the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which these are a part.

·         Students are not required to conduct a content analysis on narrative and counter narrative for coding, or breaking down both narratives into manageable categories on a variety of levels--word, word sense, phrase, sentence, or theme--and then examine using one of content analysis' basic methods: conceptual analysis or relational analysis.

Research scope                                                                          

The scope of this research is limited to redefining counter analysis.

Our research, hence does not include methodology as there is no need of hypotheses to our research, thus no need for the discussion of the main distinctive points among different research approaches for the reason for deciding the right research.

As this article is in the form of an assignment; therefore students are required to gather corroborating passages or lines from both narratives with no tendency to tie them to the broad application of a tool of analysis. Students are required to do analysis and discussion of passages or lines. Students as well are to write abstract followed by key words and have to do literature review of narrative and counter narrative as a counter narrative antithesis to a narrative     

Limitations and delimitations 

 ‘The limitations and delimitations sections of  research  describe situations and circumstances that may affect or restrict methods and analysis of research data.

Delimitations are boundaries that are set by the researcher in order to control the range of a study. They are created before any investigations are carried out in order to reduce the amount of time or effort spent in certain unnecessary, and perhaps even unrelated, areas to the overall study.

Delimitations are choices made by the researcher which should be mentioned. They describe the boundaries that a researcher has set for the study. This is the place to explain:

1.    The things that a researcher is not doing (and why you have chosen not to do them).

2.    The section or part a researcher will not review or read (and why not).

A researcher limits his delimitations to the things that a reader might reasonably expect him to do but that a researcher, for clearly explained reasons, has decided not to do.

On the other hand, limitation refers to challenges faced by the researcher beyond his control.

Limitations are influences that the researcher cannot control. They are the shortcomings, conditions or influences that cannot be controlled by the researcher that place restrictions on your methodology and conclusions. Any limitations that might influence the results should be mentioned.’

The Delimitations of our Research

A narrative is absolutely valid if and only if there is no counter-narrative to it; but every narrative has counter-narrative that generates the counter-example to arguments being evaluated; and provides alternative points of view.

We do not embrace the counter-narrative because of its generation of counter-examples.

We embrace the counter-narrative because of its generation of examples those substantiate a narrative.

Hence, we conclude: a narrative is valid if and only if there is counter-narrative that does not generate the counter-examples to arguments being evaluated; and does not provide alternative points of view. 

We do not embrace the potential of narratives as the means to paint everything in a rosy corner thus exterminates angel of depravity

We do not embrace the potential of counter-narratives as the means to de-sanitize or invalidate and debunk narratives.

We embrace the potential of counter-narratives as the means to improve the understanding of narratives.

We are not concerned with difference but with similarities in meanings both narratives attribute to events or persons or in other words

We are concerned with similarities between two narratives those make them similar than with differences those make them different.

We are not concerned with difference but with similarities in meanings both narratives attribute to events or persons or in other words

We are concerned with similarities between two narratives those make them similar than with differences those make them different.

Thus we embrace narratives and counter narrative to have authentic historical account in a sense it emanates from similarities.

We do not recognize the alienation (despite it exists) between narratives and counter narratives.

We recognize narratives and counter narratives adduced as mutually reinforcing evidences to explain the situation not as the counterbalance to each other for the literal qualification or symbolical neutralization

We are not concerned with the question:

·         Which narrative is truer or true version between two partially different or partially similar or absolutely different narratives?

Therefore we are concerned with discourse analysis because:

We do not need to apply discourse analysis as a tool for studying the intentions of authors that inform written text. 

We do not need to apply discourse analysis for establishing the context to know how the context informs the argument and how it fits into the big picture.

We do not need to apply discourse analysis to know the social and historical context in which sources ware produced.

We do not need to apply discourse analysis to know who

 wrote it (and when), and who published it (and when).

We do not need to apply discourse analysis to know responses of writers to any major event, that whether they tied it into broader debates.

Hence, we set the boundaries of our research but also to reduce efforts spent in areas to control not only the range unrelated to our purpose.

Limitation of research:           

There is no limitation to our study as there is no challenge beyond the control.

 

Analysis of definitions:     

We need to form the definition of counter narrative; therefore, we examine various definitions to choose the one that best serves our purpose.

Theoretical definition 

A theoretical definition defines a term in an academic discipline, functioning as a proposal to see a phenomenon in a certain way. A theoretical definition is a proposed way of thinking about potentially related events. Theoretical definitions contain built-in theories; they cannot be simply reduced to describing a set of observations.

The definition may contain implicit  inductions  and deductive consequences that are part of the theory. A theoretical definition of a term can change, over time, based on the methods in the field that created it.

Without a falsifiable operational definition, conceptual definitions assume both knowledge and acceptance of the theories that it depends on.  A hypothetical construct may serve as a theoretical definition, as can a stipulative definition.

We cannot have the theoretical definition because:

We are not corresponding to the theoretical definition of narrative by some test to specify it thus resolve conflict and determine its meaning through test

We cannot have the operational definition because:

For our research operational definition could not be possible because our operational definition would then correspond to the theoretical definition of counter narrative

We cannot have the theoretical definition because we cannot, for our purpose, form a theoretical definition. Our definition does function as a proposal to see a phenomenon in a certain way and it does propose the way of thinking about counter narrative but it does not contain built-in theories; nor does it assume both knowledge and acceptance of the theories that it depends on.  

 

"Conceptual definition" and "operational definition

A conceptual definition tells what a concept means in abstract or theoretical terms.  An operational definition links a concept to the concrete world by telling how to observe and / or measure the concept.

Example - high self esteem might be conceptually defined as a person demonstrating a high degree of self worth.  Operationally, you might define it as scoring above a certain number of a self-esteem scale.

Conceptual means how you would like it to be defined. For example, “Happiness means never having to say you are sorry.” For a research study, however, never could take a long time. Maybe you could use an operational definition that “happiness means not saying you are sorry for ten minutes”? So you have turned “never” into “ten minutes” by means of an operational definition.

A conceptual definition describes a thing in terms of its abstract characteristics and relationships to other conceptual entities. For instance, “a sales administrator ensures that management has up-to-date information that accurately reflects the performance of the sales department by processing sales orders in a timely fashion.” In this case, the concepts are “management”, “performance”, “timely fashion”, and so on.

An operational definition describes a thing in terms of the actual physical actions it takes, almost like a recipe. For instance, “a sales administrator reviews each sales order when it is submitted to ensure it is complete and then assigns it to the proper sales account based on the product or service sold according to the current product account listing. The sales administrator reviews and processes each order by the end of the day it was submitted.”

Conceptual definitions are useful in understanding how a thing relates to and works with other things. Operational definitions tell exactly what it does. Operational definitions are particularly important when one is are managing, measuring, and improving a particular activity.

In short a conceptual definition tells what the concept means, while an operational definition only tells how to measure it.

A conceptual definition tells what your constructs are by explaining how they are related to other constructs.

Our definition cannot be a conceptual definition because:

Though we have defined our concept of counter narrative in abstract or theoretical terms but as we have given new meanings to it or redefined it so our definition cannot be the conceptual definition in letter and spirit. 

Our definition cannot be an operational definition because:

Though we have tied our research, in this part, to research tool but in a qualified sense, further students, as the part of assignment, are to form any operational definition to links a concept to the concrete world by telling how to observe and / or measure the concept.

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

An operational definition can, when operationalized to a greater degree, besides the procedure needed to bring something into existence, include also measuring the stuff, time sequences at which every step should be done, and the duration of each step.

Example: Simply stating that a peanut butter sandwich might be "the result of putting peanut butter on a slice of bread with a butter knife and laying a second equally sized slice of vegan milk on top" is only operationalized to a degree

Example: A researcher measuring happiness and depression in college students decides to use a ten-question happiness scale to measure positive outlook in her subjects. In other words, her operational definition of happiness in this case is a given subject's score on the test.

Operational definition corresponds to the theoretical definition

Differing theoretical definitions of "thinking" have caused conflict. Some philosophers might call "thought" merely 

"having the ability to convince another person that you can think".

An operational definition corresponding to this theoretical definition could be a simple conversation test (e.g. Turing test). Others believe that better theoretical and operational definitions are required.

Our definition cannot be an operational definition because:

Our definition cannot be directed to resolve conflict by suggesting some measures; therefore, no operational definition.

The scientific concept and an operational definition

The term scientific theory is reserved for concepts that are widely accepted. A scientific law often refers to regularities that can be expressed by a mathematical statement. However, there is no consensus about the distinction between these terms. Every scientific concept must have an operational definition, however the operational definition can use both direct observations and latent variables.

Our definition cannot be an operational definition because:

We are not concerned with distinction between widely accepted definitions of counter narratives; therefore no need for an operational definition.

Stipulative definition:

A stipulative definition is a type of definition in which a new or currently-existing term is given a new specific meaning for the purposes of argument or discussion in a given context. When the term already exists, this definition may, but does not necessarily, contradict the dictionary (lexical) definition of the term. Because of this, a stipulative definition cannot be "correct" or "incorrect"; it can only differ from other definitions, but it can be useful for its intended purpose.

For example, in the riddle of induction by Nelson Goodman, "grue" was stipulated to be "a property of an object that makes it appears green if observed before some future time, and blue if observed afterward". "Grue" has no meaning in standard English; therefore, Goodman created the new term and gave it a stipulative definition.

Many holders of controversial and highly charged opinions use stipulative definitions in order to attach the emotional or other connotations of a word to the meaning they would like to give it.

Example, defining "murder" as "the killing of any living thing for any reason". The other side of such an argument is likely to use a different stipulative definition for the same term: "the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought" or "the premeditated killing of a human being". The lexical definition in such a case is likely to fall somewhere in between.

When a stipulative definition is confused with a lexical definition within an argument there is a risk of equivocation.

Our definition is to be a stipulative definition because: 

 We choose for our purpose a stipulative definition because we are to give a new specific meaning to a currently-existing term that is counter narrative through our definition for our purposes of developing the consensual account.

Exercise:

·         What changes you suggest in an article so that either theoretical definition or Conceptual definition or operational definition is possible

The definitions of the term counter narrative those already exist:

·        Counter narrative: A narrative that goes against another narrative.

·       A counter-narrative is a message that offers a positive alternative to extremist propaganda, or alternatively aims to deconstruct or delegitimise extremist narratives.

·       Counter-narratives only make sense in relation to something else, that which they are countering. The very name identifies it as a positional category, in tension with another category. But what is dominant and what is resistant are not, of course, static questions, but rather are forever shifting placements. The discussion of counter-narratives is ultimately a consideration of multiple layers of positioning. The fluidity of these relational categories is what lies at the center of the concept of counter narrative that cannot be comprehended in a full breadth without being discussed from a number of diverse vantage points’

·       The concept of creating counter-narratives in order to push back against extremist recruitment and propaganda has become well established in recent years. In practice, however, it has proven difficult to curate this content in a systematic way, target it toward at risk audiences, and - most importantly - measure constructive impact on their behavior The aim of counter narrative is to increase the capacity of organizations to undertake counter narrative campaigns designed and delivered for a target audience

A curious paradox

Our research employs narrative and counter narrative as the method of inquiry. This research works through a curious paradox as it capitalizes on counter narrative for not the counter but for the endorsement.

Indian history has two separate versions; one is written by victors (narrative) and other by losers (counter-narrative)

To us Counter-narrative refers to:

The narratives that arise from the vantage point of Muslims of India those are being marginalized since British rule.

The narratives that arise from the vantage point of Hindus during the Muslim rule.

The Narrative of majority can be a counter narrative

Narrative is not to be necessarily in the mainstreams to be dominant as Muslim narrative during Muslim rule despite Muslims were in minority.

British narrative during British rule was dominant despite British were in the mainstream of neither minority groups nor of society as a whole.

Narrative is in the mainstreams to be dominant as Hindu narrative during Hindu/BJP rule as Hindus are in majority.

Our Stipulative definition of counter narrative for our research:

Counter-narratives only make sense in relation to something else, that which they are not countering. The very name does identify it as a positional category, but for us it is not in tension with another category. What is dominant, of course, static question as we do not deal with what is resistant; therefore we are not concerned with forever shifting placements. For us the discussion of counter-narratives is not ultimately a consideration of multiple layers of positioning but a position that is well vindicated.

There is no fluidity of these relational categories as both narratives are to ensure convergence to ensure consensual narrative. Hence, no diverse vantage points’.

We do not subscribe for the sake of our research to the concept of creating counter narrative in order to push back a narrative in a way that not only is the narrative dulled, but the appetite for the generation of narratives is also dulled.

 We do not subscribe for the sake of our research to the concept of creating counter narrative in order to push back narrative in a way that it cushions or blunts the impact of a hostile narrative.

We do not subscribe for the sake of our research to the concept of creating counter narrative in order to repel, repulse, and spurn narrative.

We do not subscribe for the sake of our research to the concept of creating counter narrative in order to defang the narrative and reinscribes the narrative of people on the periphery.

In short, we are not concerned with a question:

What is counter narrative how and for what it is used? Therefore, we are not in the search of the contents of counter narratives those were curated to salve anger so that opposition of dominant group can be mollified and soothed; hence we are not concerned with the capacity of subjugated segments for undertaking counter narrative campaigns designed and delivered for a target audience. 

Hence our definition does not include the concern for curating the content of counter narrative for its constructive impact on risk audiences.

Importance of embracing the potential of counter-narratives:

‘Inter-religion dialogue must consider the stories and voices of different communities and societies, especially those still marginalized. If the goal of intercultural dialogue is to reach better levels of mutual understanding, participants need to hear the points of view of communities typically ignored. While there is a heightened interest in counternarratives in today’s socio-political contexts, researchers worldwide need to embrace the potential of counter-narratives as the means to improve our collective understanding and even as a precursor to conflict resolution. Only if we create the conditions where all those involved in social interactions have a space to tell their stories in their own terms will we find effective ways to engage in empowering dialogue leading to sustainable solutions to today’s crises’.

Embrace the potential of counter-narratives:

Exercise:

·       Embrace the potential of counter-narratives as a precursor to conflict resolution: the conflict that is being created between Hindu and Muslims to reap electoral dividends.

·       Harness counter-narratives to endorse that there was no pattern of iconoclasm or desecration or pogrom or shoah or sacrilege in any true or in a proper sense of the term in the reigns of Muslim rulers.

Suggest possible ways to embrace the potential of counter-narratives:

·       Suggest ways to embrace the potential of narratives and counter-narratives as the means to create the conditions where Muslims and Hindus involved in social and political interactions have a space to tell their stories in their own terms

·       The Muslim of India must have the opportunities to voice their views and initiate actions. Suggest the forum that provides a platform for the stories and voices of Muslims of India to reach better levels of mutual understanding as non Muslims hear the points of view of the Muslim community typically ignored in BJP India, thus this engagement empowers dialogue and limits the ability of BJP to exploit democratic openings to foment political unrest.

·       Suggest the ways for the creation of the conditions where Muslims and Hindus involved in social interactions have a space to tell their stories in their own terms, thus they can find effective ways to engage in empowering dialogue leading to sustainable solutions to today’s crises in India that springs from no engagement.

 

 

 

Exercise requires students to apply content analysis but in restricted sense therefore:

 

·       Content analysis as a research tool should be used to determine the presence of similar lines or lines explaining similar things in both narratives.

 

·         Content analysis as a research tool should not be used to  quantify and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of words and concepts, then make inferences about the messages within the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which these are a part.

·               Students are not required to conduct a content analysis on narrative and counter narrative for coding, or breaking down both narratives into manageable categories on a variety of levels--word, word sense, phrase, sentence, or theme--and then examine using one of content analysis' basic methods: conceptual analysis or relational analysis.

Exercise:

·         Apply content analysis to find out: Can counter narratives produced in the reign of Muslim rules be embraced in a way that the assertions of BJP sit uncomfortably with their own emphasis on Muslim ‘colonialism’s central role in subverting the meanings Hinduism ascribe to objects and sabotaging the basis of Hindu culture and flouting its institutions.

Non-research article

·       An article prepared by student for its certain task including only his/her general knowledge is this type of article. Similarly, most of poem, drama, essay etc also come under this type. This type of non-research article does not include any factual information and does not follow any traditional methods of research. It only gives the understanding view of author and can be or not generalized and taken as reference.

·       A non-research based article is based on the opinion and individual experience of the author. It will not cite references to other authors on the topic.

·       A non-research based article is based on the opinion and individual experience of the author. ... A non- research article is an article from the author point of view . It include his/her opinion and his/her beliefs . It doesn't include experiments , analysis ,procedures , conclusion & results .

·       Non-Academic articles are written for the mass public. They are published quickly and can be written by anyone. Their language is informal, casual and may contain slang. The author may not be provided and will not have any credentials listed. There will be no reference list. Non-Academic articles can be found in periodicals similar to Time, Newsweek or Rolling Stone.

As a general rule religious texts and newspapers are not considered academic sources. Do not use Wikipedia for an academic source. This website can be altered by anyone and so any information found within its pages cannot be considered credible or academic.

·       Academic articles are written by professionals in a given field. They are edited by the authors' peers and often take years to publish. Their language is formal and will contain words and terms typical to the field. The authors name will be present, as will their credentials. There will be a list of references that indicate where the author obtained the information s/he is using in the article.

Academic articles can be found in periodicals similar to the Journal of Psychology, Childhood Education or The American Journal of Public Health.

Click on the following link for an example of an academic article: Experimental educational networking on open research issues; Studying PSS applicability and development in emerging contexts.

Article is considered academic if the language is very formal and genre specific, most importantly there is a list of references.

                   

Most research articles have common elements and organization, including:

• Introduction that includes the problem, question(s), and research objectives
• Literature review: a description of what other scholars have written about the problem
• Methods or Approach
• Results
• Discussion
• References
• Article text will describe and analyze the problem, experiment or study.

Dialogue:

A:         I do not think we can call this article a research article.

B: What makes you say that?

A:         This article is limited as it has no analysis and discussion.

B:     I guess you define a research article by its capability for data-generation.

A:     Yes, and it must include as well literature review and oh, yes method for gathering and coding material; and yes abstract as well.

B:     First of all, it is debatable that research article can only be defined by its incorporation of data and its analysis. This article searches again the meaning of a counter narrative and thus it push the boundary further, hence does research. Literature review is possible if literature exists but as this article searches again the meaning of counter narrative or in other words gives new meaning to it, hence there is no literature in existence that discusses that meaning. Literature that discusses the prevalent concept of a narrative and a counter narrative is to be reviewed by students as the part of an exercise; and students as well have to write an abstract. The scope of this article clearly indicates all these things.

A:     This article does not search again the meaning as it does not change the meaning of counter narrative; therefore you cannot say it pushes the boundary further.

B:     Yes true, but it changes the way counter narrative has always been employed; and thus it changes the meaning of counter narrative in a sense that counter narrative means different thing to researchers now as they can apply it in a different way. We, therefore, can say if it does not push further, it definitely pushes it in a different direction.

Exercise:

·         Read the above material and dialogue and then classify this article and justify your categorization.

Difference as such between a research article and a research paper

There is no difference as such between a research article and a research paper and both involve original research with findings.

And both require critical analysis, inquiry, insight, and demonstration of some special skills.

Exercise:

·         Do you think this article meets any of the requirements such as critical analysis for example?

           

·         Do you think this article describe and analyze the problem, if so tell what problem and how?

‘What do you do when you are a scientist or a scholar and have arrived at a solution to a problem or have made a discovery that you want to share with the world? Well, one of the best ways to let the world know about your piece of wisdom or knowledge is through a research article. This is a piece of writing that contains an original research idea with the relevant data and findings’ 

Exercise:

·         Does this article contain an original research ideal? Does it have the relevant data and finding or something other things to substantiate its original idea in case it has?

A Research article is a paper or writing that informs people of a path breaking research.

Exercise:

·         Can this mean informing people of path breaking research conducted by a researcher other than the writer of a research article?

·         Do you think this article contains any innovative; pioneering or ground breaking idea?

·         Is it always necessary that research article is defined by the path breaking research?  

The essential component of scholarly research is the investigation a researcher proposes to conduct in any scenario.

Exercise:

·         What investigation and scenario this article proposes?

Research article must help students improve research skills from a scholarly perspective.

Exercise:

·         Do you think this article help you? And if it does, so how?

Beth A. Fischer and Michael J. Zigmond  writes in ‘COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH ARTICLE’

‘To attract readers interested  in this field  of study. The importance of the title  cannot  be  overstated as it is a major determinant of whether the paper will be read.

Content: The title  should  indicate  the  focus of the  paper, and  should  contain enough relevant  “keywords” 

 Style: There are two types of titles: 

1. Descriptive titles, which states the focus of the study: The effect of heat on ice.

2. Conclusion titles, which provide the authors’ main conclusion from their study. Heat melts ice.

For research articles, we prefer a  descriptive  title. It “lets the data speak  for themselves” (an  important concept in research) and allows the author to provide the necessary restrictions on the  conclusions, restrictions that usually cannot be accommodated in a title. 

(For example, that heat melts ice only as long  as sufficient time  is provided  to allow  the  ice molecules to  reach the  melting point of water, which is 0°C for pure water at sea level.)

There is another reason for preferring descriptive titles: Should evidence later come to light that indicates the authors’ conclusion is incorrect,

 A title should be short yet provide enough keywords so that individuals will be able to grip the content of an article. 

Analyze the tile of this article in the light of the observation of Beth A. Fischer and Michael J. Zigmond 

‘Introduction Purpose: To provide the reader with background on the research described in the paper.

Content: The introduction consists primarily of the following types of information, generally provided in this order: 

1.           Why the study  was undertaken:  What gap  in  the knowledge  of the field  were  the  authors trying to fill by undertaking this study?

2.           What problem were the authors trying to address? 

3.            The nature of the work performed: The variables that were investigated and the methods that were used.

4.           The state  of the  problem  at  the  end  of the study:  A brief statement of the  major findings presented in the paper, and implications of the study æ for example, how the work contributes to  “the big picture,” questions left unanswered, new questions that have emerged.

Note: whereas the information from #1 and #2 are essential components of an introduction, some individuals believe that the information from #3 is optional.

We strongly recommend including this information as it helps the reader to evaluate more accurately what they are reading in the  sections that follow. This point helps to highlight one of the everything is done to avoid mystery or suspense’.

Exercise:

·         Analyze the introduction of  this article in the light of the observation of Beth A. Fischer and Michael J. Zigmond 

 

 

Hypothesis is a hyponym of concept.

Hyponym is a word of more specific meaning than a general or superordinate term applicable to it. For example, spoon is a hyponym of cutlery.

Cutlery includes knives, forks, and spoons used for eating or serving food; and fork is a specific meaning than a general term that is cutlery.

Therefore, we can say that hypothesis is more specific meaning than a general term that is concept.

Hypothesis vs Concept - What's the difference?

The difference between hypothesis and concept

 is that hypothesis is (sciences) used loosely, a tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon or scientific problem that can be tested by further observation, investigation and/or experimentation as a scientific term of art,

While concept is an understanding retained in the mind, from experience, reasoning and/or imagination; a generalization (generic, basic form), or abstraction (mental impression), of a particular set of instances or occurrences (specific, though different, recorded manifestations of the concept). 

Hypothesis vs Concept - What's the difference?

To understand and communicate information about} objects and events, there must be a common ground on which to do it. Concepts serve this purpose. A concept is a generally accepted collection of meanings or characteristics associated with certain events, objects, conditions, situations, and behaviors. Classifying and categorizing objects or events that have common characteristics beyond any single observation creates concepts. We abstract such meanings from our experiences and use words as labels to designate them. For example, we see a man passing and identify that he is running, walking, skipping, crawling, or hopping. These movements all represent concepts. We also have abstracted certain visual elements by which we identify that the moving object is an adult male, rather than an adult female or a truck or a horse.

What for are concepts in research?  We design hypotheses using concepts. We devise measurement concepts} by which to test these hypothetical statements. We gather data using these measurement concepts. The success of research hinges on (1) how clearly we conceptualize and (2) how well others understand the concepts we use. For example, when we survey people on the question of customer loyalty, the questions we use need to tap faithfully the attitudes of the participants. Attitudes are abstract, yet we must attempt to measure them using carefully selected concepts.  The challenge is to develop concepts that others will clearly understand. We} might, for example, ask participants for an estimate of their family’s total income. This may seem to be a simple, unambiguous concept, but we will receive varying and confusing answers unless we restrict or narrow the concept by specifying:  • Time period, such as weekl}

Before or after income taxes.  • For head of family only or for all family members.}  • For salary and wages only or also for dividends, interest, and capital gains.}  • Income in kind, such as free rent, employee discounts, or food stamps.}

Exercise:

·         Analyze the way this research defines counter narrative and classify it as either hypothesis or concept and give reasons for it.

 

The difference between a theory and a concept?

A concept is any idea. For instance, you can have a concept of a unicorn. A concept of math. A concept of how to clean your room. It’s quite vague—just any general thought is a concept.

A theory in its strictest sense is an underlying explanation of how something works.

Possible outcome

In science, a theory is a tested, well-substantiated, unifying explanation for a set of verified, proven factors. A theory is always backed by evidence; a hypothesis is only a suggested, and is testable and falsifiable. ... Scientific laws explain things, but they do not describe them.

Definition. 

Theories are formulated to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions. The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study.

 

A theory presents a systematic way of understanding events, behaviors and/or situations. A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts events or situations by specifying relations among variables.

What is the role of a theory?

Why do we use theory in research?

Specifically, testing theory allows the researcher to provide evidence to support or refute the theoretical propositions tested. It also helps the researcher make sense of the findings in a way that will help us predict relationships and outcomes and to determine resources and services.

THEORY AND RESEARCH

The purpose of science concerns the expansion of knowledge, 

the discovery of truth and to make  predictions. Theory building is the means by which the basic researchers hope to achieve this purpose.

A scientist poses questions  like:  What  produces  inflation? 

Does student-teacher interaction influence students'   performance?

In both these questions there is the element of prediction i.e. that if we do such and such, then so and so will happen. In fact we are looking for explanation for the issue that has been

raised in these questions.  Underlying the explanation is the whole process through which the phenomenon emerges, and we would like to understand the process to reach prediction.

Prediction and understanding are the two purposes of theory. Accomplishing the first goal allows the theorist to predict the behavior or characteristics of one phenomenon from the knowledge of another phenomenon's characteristics. A business researcher may theorize that older investors tend to be more

interested in  investment  income  than  younger  investors.  This theory, once verified, should allow researchers to predict  the  importance of expected dividend yield on the basis of investors' age. The researcher would also like to understand the process.  In most of the situations prediction and understanding the process go hand in hand i.e. to predict the phenomenon, we must have an explanation of why variables behave as  they  do. 

Theories provide these explanations.

Theory

As such theory is a systematic and general attempt to explain  something  like: Why do people commit crimes?  How do the media affect us? Why do some people believe in God? Why do people get

married? Why do kids play truant from school? How is our identity shaped by culture? Each of these questions contains a reference to some observed phenomenon. A suggested explanation for the observed

phenomenon is theory. More formally, a theory is a coherent set of general propositions, used as principles  of explanations of the apparent relationship of certain observed phenomena. A key element

in this definition is the term proposition.

Concepts

Theory development is essentially a process of describing phenomena at increasingly higher levels of abstraction. A concept (or construct) is a generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes that has been given a name.  Such names  are  created  or developed or constructed for the identification of the phenomenon, be it physical or non-physical. All these may be considered as empirical realities e.g.leadership, productivity, morale, motivation, inflation, happiness banana.

Exercise:

·         Analyze the way this article redefine counter narrative and classify it as theory or concept.

·         If it is theory then change it into a concept and if a concept then change it in a theory.