Methods of Research in Economics and Health Economics (Hardcover)

The aim of this book is to introduce to the young researchers in economics and health economics, as well as to those in the other social sciences who are interested in carrying out rigorous investigations, the basic steps and tasks in the scientific method of research and, alongside this, to acquaint them to the process of emergence of the method and the fundamental issues of epistemology and logic constituting the foundation and background of the method of research in economics and social sciences. It has two parts: Part 1 discusses the theoretical basis of the method of scientific research and Part 11 discusses the specific methods and steps to be adopted to carry out research work. Part 1 contains 4 chapters (excluding the Introduction). Chapter 2 describes some fundamentals of the research methods: the different methods of acquiring knowledge and also of research, distinguishing features of the method of scientific research, the evolution of the method of scientific research, and advantages and limitations of the method. The method of research in general has its origin in epistemology and logic, the two important branches of philosophy. It is necessary for a researcher to have some exposure to the origins of the research method and the theoretical basis of the method in order to consolidate his background knowledge. This will be useful for him in conducting research proper, especially on the complicated issues which do not have any clear line of distinction between the approaches of epistemology and methods of logic; and when the line of demarcation has to be drawn or the proportion of each to be used in the composite method, it is to be decided by the researcher on his own. Chapter 3 discusses the major approaches of epistemology and Chapter 4 discusses the important aspects of deductive and inductive logic. Since the method of scientific research in economics and health economics differs to a considerable extent from that being used in other social science disciplines, a brief discussion on the nature and contents of the disciplines has been conducted in Chapter 5. In Part 11, Chapter 6 describes the steps in scientific research as well as the stages through which the research is to be conducted; Chapter 7 discusses how theory can be constructed and hypotheses formulated; Chapter 8 presents the method of a primary survey; and Chapter 9 highlights the methods of analysis of data. Chapter 11 presents concluding remarks.