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58 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Longitudinal Data
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data collected that can be ordered in time
in some designs, the same panel is followed over time sometimes sample members are rotated or completely replaced (measuring population stats) frequency of follow up measurements can vary -before and after designs -studies can have multiple waves of follow ups (looking at trends, patterns) cross sectional Trend Studies Panel Studies Cohort Designs |
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Repeated Cross Sectional Designs/ Trend Studies
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i.e. polling
sample drawn from population at time one and data is collected from them as time passes, ppl leave and enter population at time 2 a different sample is drawn from this population and data are collected can't establish causality bc they are different sets of people hinting at causality bc its longitudinal, but bc its a different set of people, you can't infer causality |
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Fixed-Sample Panel/Panel Studies
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study in which data is collected from the same individuals (the panel) at 2 or more points in time
panel is drawn from pop. at time 1 and data is collected at time 2 data are collected from the same ppl as in the panel, except for those who cant be located repeated over and over useful for testing a causal hypothesis downside-expense and attrition |
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Cohort Study
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study in which data are collected at 2 or more points in time from individuals in a cohort
Cohort: individuals or groups with a common starting point (college class, employees at UConn who started between 1980 and 1985, Gen X) similar to trend studies but sample of cohort members have some common starting point sampling your graduating class, you won't get the same people every time you collect the study, but they will still be PART of that graduating class |
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Survey Research
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Involves the collection of infor from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions
an efficient method for systematically collecting data from a broad spectrum of individuals and social settings need a uniform set of questions skill needed for making the questions |
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Writing Survey Questions
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must be asked of many ppl
same survey question must be used with each person, not tailored to the specifics of a convo must be understood in the same way by ppl who differ in many ways open and closed-ended questions >>open ended are usually lengthier, can be limited to a specific length (2 sentences) avoid confusing phrases >>use short words and sentences >>avoid double-barreled questions (2 questions in one sentence is not okay) be clear what the question is intended to ask be sure questions are asked only of respondents that may have information >>use filter/screening and contingent questions (if you answered 'no' to Q3, move on to Q9) (N/A) minimize risk of bias >>avoid idiosyncratic errors in wording (universal medicine v. socialized healthcare) offer the 'don't know' response to avoid forcing people to choose |
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Designing Questionnaires
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Questionnaires:
>>the survey instrument containing the questions in a self administered survey Interview schedule: >>the survey instrument containing the questions asked by the interviewer in an in-person or phone survey make sure the questions are ordered in an appropriate manner (don't ask about sexuality right off the bat, too personal) let the person know how long the survey will take for in-person interviews, make sure the person doing the interview is comfortable (when questions are sensitive, if a woman responder, use woman interviewer) make questionnaire attractive be careful making motives clear in a survey, don't want them to jump to conclusions about the research |
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Things to Consider When Creating a Survey (measurement error and non-response bias)
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Writing Questions:
ambiguous biased specific enough too long? too sensitive? Designing the Instrument order of questions, logical? impact of order on answers? hard to follow? too thick? hard to read? not appealing enough? any superfluous questions? Administering the Survey interviewer influence? certain kinds of people less likely to respond? incentives to get more people to respond? |
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In-Depth Interviews
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relies on open ended questions
expect respondents to answer in their own words engage researchers more actively with subjects than standard survey research develop a comprehensive picture of |
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Multiperson Interviews: Group Interviews and Focus groups
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usually small numbers of people
Group interview: one interviewer directs the interview with at least 2 respondents useful when group is a unit of analysis (family, class, etc) -removes inhibitions of ppl regardless of relationship and help them recall info Focus groups: uses group interaction on a topic used as pilot studies >test particular questions on people, looking how people respond, how should we reword our questions to get responses that pertain to our study ppl in focus group are not related, small number of people with similar characteristics (opposite of group interviews, who are connected in some way) PROBLEMS some people are inhibited to answer fully bc they are not comfortable with some topics OR sometimes more conversation can lead to more recollection of material through spur of topic memories |
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Interview Schedule
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UNLIKE a questionnaire, these are questions proctored by another person. When the questions are done individually, its a questionnaire, when other person is involved, its an interview schedule
In-depth interviews follow a preplanned outline of topics semi structured interviews unstructured interviews regardless of the degree of structure, interviewers must adapt throughout the interview they can be flexible, cater questions to person to get them to respond better. allows for follow up questions to be asked |
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Selection of Sample for an Interview
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Random sample is rarely used, it takes too long, rude to ask random people to interview for a long time (weeks, hours)
should target more to be more effective (i.e. want sample from junior class, send something out to ENTIRE class to get ppl to respond back and say yes, more likely to get a larger sample, otherwise you'd have to random sample over and over to get a sizable sample) encourage participation through incentives (financial or other) assuring anonymity and confidentiality might use a gatekeeper (someone that the sample frame will trust who endorses the researcher) i.e. sample a sorority>>gatekeeper would be the president |
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Behavior in the Interview
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Establish rapport with subjects by
considering how they will react to interview arrangements developing an approach that will not violate their standards of social behavior (don't sit too close to people, uncomfortable) treat people with respect during the interview maintain appropriate distance maintain eye contact go at an appropriate pace to allow the interviewee to reflect and elaborate, do not rush them don't give too much affirmation on certain topics, it might sway people to keep on certain topics |
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Asking Questions and Recording Answers
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Must plain main questions around (minimum) an outline of the interview topic
>questions should be short and to the point >more details can be elicited through probing follow up questrions such as "tell me more" >let ppl know youre listening use tape recorders to capture the conversation so you can go back and listen transcribe for later review and quotations |
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Interviewer Effect
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change in participants behavior or responses as a resulty of the use of a particular interviewer
good idea to match interviewers to interviewees if possible on salient characteristics, esp on senstive topics |
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Participant and non participant observation
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refers to several roles a researcher can adopt
Covert observer overt observer covert participant overt participant overt is when its out in the open, you aren't trying to hide it from people. Not trying to shout out to the world though either covert is when you don't want people to know your role in participating/observing close line between covert and necessity for informed consent covert is used in more sensitive topics |
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Covert Observation
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researcher observes others without participating in social interaction and does NOT identify herself as a researcher
really do not want anyone to know you are researching them use of gatekeeper in order to gain some access -Has little effect on social processes |
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Overt Observation
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Researcher announces her role as a researcher
May cause reactive effects ---individuals may alter their behavior don't want to use in sensitive cases LOOK ONLINE |
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Entering the Field
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Participant observation may require researcher to learn in advance how participants dress and behave so they can fit in
may require a gatekeeper |
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Developing and Maintaining Relationships in Participant Observation
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develop a plausible explanation for your presence
Maintain the support of key individuals in groups under study Unobtrusive and unassuming ---do not draw attention to yourself be open but not fake ask sensitive questions only of those who trust you have earned reading:two trains of thought -----review as much lit as possible to sensitize you to what you should look for -----do not review too much past research or it may interfere in what you are able/willing to see in your own research >>deciding whether it is a good idea to research or if this research will influence what you focus on so much so that you miss other things. |
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Sampling
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No definitive appropriate sample size
Best to get some Theoretical Saturation ---when new observations or interviews begin to look much like those already sampled (when u take notes, and they begin to look the same as your past notes, same trends etc.) Use Purposive Sampling ---use of a sample frame related to the research topic |
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Observation Techniques
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methods of collecting data by observing people, most typically in their natural settings
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Participant Observation
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observations performed by observers who take part in the activities they observe
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Nonparticipant Observation
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observation made by an observer who remains as aloof as possible from those observed
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Controlled Observations
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observations that involve clear decisions about what is to be observed
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Thin Description
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bare bone descriptions of acts
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Thick Description
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reports about behavior that provide a sense of things like the intentions motives and meanings behind the behavior
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Complete Participant Role
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being, or pretending to be a genuine participant in a situation one observes
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Participant as Observer Role
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being primarily a participant while admitting an observer status
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Observer as Participant Role
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being primarily a self professed observer, while occasionally participating in the situation
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Complete Observer Role
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Being an observer of a situation without becoming a part of it
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Theoretical Saturation
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the point where new interviewees or settings look a lot like interviewees or settings one has observed before
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Purposive Sampling
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a nonprobability sampling procedure that involves selecting elements based on the researchers judgement about which elements will facilitate his or her investigation
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Account
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a plausible and appealing explanation of the research that the researcher gives to prospective participants
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Gatekeepers
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Someone who can get a researcher into a setting
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Visual Sociology
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an approach to studying society and culture that employs images as a data source
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Video Ethnography
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the video recording of participants and the reviewing of the resulting footage for insight into social life
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Informants
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participants in a study situation who are interviewed for an in-depth understanding of the situation
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Grounded Theory
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theory derived from data in he course of a particular study
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Demand Characteristics
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characteristics that the observed take on simply as a result of being observed
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Available data
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data that are easily accessible to the researcher
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Existing Statistics
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summaries of data collected by large organizations
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Secondary Data
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research data that have been collected by someone else
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Primary Data
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data that the same researcher collects and uses
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Ecological Fallacy
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The fallacy of making inferences about certain types of individuals for information about groups that might not be exclusively composed of the individuals
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Physical Traces
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physical evidence left by humans in the course of their everyday lives
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Erosion Measures
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indicators of a populations activities created by its selective wear on its physical environment
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Accretion Measures
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indicators of a populations activities created by its deposits of materials
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Unobtrusive Measures
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indicators of interactions events or behaviors whose creation does not affect the actual data collected
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Personal Records
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records of private lives such as biographies letters diaries and essays
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Experiments
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most appropriate for answering research questions about the effect of a treatment or variavle whose values can be manipulated by the researcher
have at least 3 things -at least 2 groups (unless pretest,posttest) -variation in the independent variable BEFORE assessment of change in the dependent variable -random asignment of the 2 or more comparison groups medical research, testing out drug effects on others can't systematically choose people for experiments |
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Experimental and Comparison Groups
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Experimental group>>subjects who receive some treatment
Comparison Group>>group that you compare to experiment group (receive no treatment, different treatment, or a placebo) They differ in terms of one or more independent variables whose effects are being tested |
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Before and After Designs
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absence of a comparison group
all cases exposed to treatment comparison is done by comparing the pre-treatment with the post-test measures |
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Pretest post test
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Look it up
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Randomization
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individuals selected to participate are randomly assigned to either control or experimental groups
makes the comparison group provide a good estimate of the outcomes that would have occurred if subjects who were exposed to the stimulus treatment had not been exposed researcher cant determine the effects of a treatment if the comparison group differs from the experimental way Double Blind Studies: neither those conducting the research nor participants know who is in the control and who is in the experimental group. >doesn't sway participants to behave differently depending on whether or not they believe they got the stimulus/treatment >>>especially important in psychological and medical treatments |
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Matching
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another technique used to compare experimental and comparison groups
may involve pairing persons on the basis of similarities in gender are race etc problem that is very difficult to exactly match 2 persons or groups may be used in research to examine the effects of stimuli in the real world. Audit studies>>housing audits to figure out if there is a lending bias...make everyone the same sans one difference to study |
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Content Analysis Benefits
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can be relatively inexpensive (not always)
allows research team to return to the units of observation repeatedly to garner info (older files more difficult) less obtrusive, people are less likely to be disturbed, fewer ethical concerns, not really needing IRB approval when human beings are not involved (content analysis of the NY times) |
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Steps to a Content Analysis
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ID a population of docs or other sources (appropriate to research question)
Determine units of analysis units about whats collected -individual issues of a newspaper or book could be more complicated like the protest reported in a newspaper article (instead of coding for every comedy show, code for every comedy show on monday nights) determine units of observation select a sample of units (random sample or use stratified samples (local and national papers) design coding procedures for variables to be measured -reliable -carefully constructed -frequently looks like a survey --researcher filling in a form rather than giving it to different participants |
