ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by developing some basic principles of quantitative research, including: drawing the important distinction between theory and hypotheses, using theory to generate testable hypotheses, challenges involved in testing hypotheses, and use of data in hypothesis testing. The modern quantitative approach uses the falsification criterion. The distinction between theory and hypotheses is not always fully appreciated by those studying quantitative methods for the first time. The distinction between theory generation and theory testing is not entirely clear-cut. The greenhouse effect is a theory because it is a way of thinking about global warming that is supported by scientific principles regarding the impact of greenhouse gas build-up on the trapping of solar radiation in the earth’s atmosphere. Quantitative research shoves all of those messy details into a black box, which is part of the simplification process.
