Communication Research Custom Essay

One of the challenges in research and theory development is recognizing the tension between the notions of precision and power and striking an appropriate or

acceptable balance or ratio between the two.

Precision may be thought of as the degree of specificity reflected–the richness of detail sought/obtained.

Power, on the other hand, is the breadth or scope reflected–how much is covered or the extent to which generalizations can be made and the confidence placed in that

generalizability.

An effective way to conceptualize the relationship between the two is to consider them to the to two extremes of a continuum where emphasis on one results in less

emphasis on the other. That is, the more precision, the less power, and conversely the more power, the less precision.

Think of this in terms of focusing a camera–the wider the field of vision, the less detail within the field of vision is provided. And when you focus for a close up

with great detail, what is outside that highly detailed field is excluded. The more you include in the picture, the fewer the details seen. The more detailed the

picture, the more limited you are in what you can include.

This corresponds to Babbie’s distinction between ideographic and nomothetic approaches. The ideographic includes less but focuses on the richness of data that can be

obtained from such a limited or close-up scope–the emphasis is on precision more than power. The nomothetic includes more and focuses on a wider field–what is

applicable to the aggregate rather than the individual and therefore what provides a more solid basis for generalization. This is the equivalent of the wide-angle shot

and emphasizes power more than precision.

With this as background, consider using the two approaches–the ideographic and the nomothetic–on the same phenomenon or topic. How would the different approaches

influence your research method and design? What choices and changes would you have to make and why?

It would be preferable if the writer could use support from chapters 4 and 5 from the book: "The Practice of Social Reseach" by Earl Babbie (2013 version).

Thank you!