ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some basic principles of quantitative research, including: drawing the important distinction between theory and hypotheses, using theory to generate testable hypotheses, the challenges involved in testing hypotheses, and the use of data in hypothesis testing. The modern quantitative approach uses the falsification criterion. The statistical method uses data collected in samples to draw inferences on a target population that is the subject of analysis. Quantitative research starts with theories that we devise to order and interpret knowledge about the world. For example, there is a theory known as the greenhouse effect that is based upon the scientific relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and global temperatures. There is a theory known as the environmental Kuznets curve that characterizes the relationship between environmental quality and the level of a country's economic development. This theory holds that environmental quality declines as countries move from low to moderate levels of economic development.
