Political Methodology Sect I

Front 1

empirical

Back 1

observations or descriptions of reality

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normative

Back 2

pertaining to or characterized by preferences or value judgements

Front 3

qualitative

Back 3

based on researcher's informed understanding of the events under study, often based upon his or her personal involvement in research narrative, avoiding numerical comparisons of cases

Front 4

indirect causation

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one variable exerts causal influence on another only b changing the value of other varibles that directly effect it

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causal model

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graphically specifies a set of relationships b/w concepts or varialbes such that change in one or more precedes and gives rise to change in another

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explanatory research

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designed to discover factors that should be included in theorizing and research on a subject

Front 7

negative relationship

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exists when corresponding values on 2 variables change in opposite directions

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parsimonious

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simple enough to be understood, complex enough to be useful

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assumptions

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abstract assertion about relationships that serves as a foundation for theoretical reasoning but it's subject to empirical test

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concept

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word or phrase that represents an idea or phenomenon

Front 11

variables

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characteristic that takes on different values from one case to another or, for a given case, from one time to another

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independent variable

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variable whose own values changes influence the value of some other variable

Front 13

covarational relationship

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2 or more concepts or variables tend to change together for unspecified reasons

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spurious relationship

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2 varibles co- vary but only b/c of changce or b/c of the action of some other variable

Front 15

4 elements of causation

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covariation, cause must precede effect, not spurious, logical link

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2 types of propositions

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covaration and causation

Front 17

inductive

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reasoning that generalizes from what has been observed to what hasn't

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random errors

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nonsystematic measurement errors that render indicators invalid and unreliable as measurements of a concept

Front 19

values

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characteristic or score of a particular case on a given variable

Front 20

pragmatic validiation

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process of determining the pragmatic (practical) validity of an indicator

Front 21

convergent validation

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several measures of a common concept provide essentially the same result

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nominal

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measurement that merely classifies cases w/o regard to rank or distances b/w cases, has no true zero

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ratio

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measurement that is mutuall exclusive, exhaustive, regards rank order and distances b/w cases and has a true zero

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face validity

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characteristic of a measure that gives it intuitive appeal

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instrument

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device or procedure used for taking a measurement

Front 26

7 parts of research process

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formulation of theory, operationalization of theory, selection of research techniques, observation of behavior, analysis of data, interpretation of results, publication of results

Front 27

operational definition

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set of observations that represent abstract concepts

Front 28

traditional knowledge

Back 28

taking something that's true in 1 aspect of life and applying it to another

Front 29

applied research

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research that has the primary purpose of examinng or resolving particular policy problems

Front 30

operationalization

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process of designating sets of obsservations to represent abstract concepts

Front 31

generalizability

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permits results of research on a limited set of cases to be extended to the population from which those cases are drawn

Front 32

data

Back 32

observations of or info abut reality arising from research process

Front 33

theorizing

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stating conceptual explantions for real- world events by asserting systems of relationships among concepts

Front 34

theories

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possible explanation for an event, often a set of logically related assumptions and propositions

Front 35

descriptive research

Back 35

concerned primarily w/ measuring some aspect of reality for its own sake rather than w/ developing or testing some theory

Front 36

theory testing

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effort to demonstrate utility of a theory throughout research

Front 37

hypothesis

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statement predicting the relationship b/w variables

Front 38

theoretical import

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degree to which a concept plays an important role in the conceptual explanation of an event

Front 39

interventing variable

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influences the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable

Front 40

propositions

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statement of relationship b/w concepts that's logically derived from assumptions of a theory; component of a theory

Front 41

alternative hypothesis

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alternative explanation for obtained results that logically can't be accurate if initial hypothesis is accurate

Front 42

key word or phrase

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word or phrase that's meaningfully related to a given concept, used for bibliographic research

Front 43

measurment error

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inaccuracies in observation of reality; differences b/w reality and recorded observations of it

Front 44

measurement

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application of an instrument to count or in some other way quantify observations of reality

Front 45

validity

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extent to which measures correspond to the concepts they are intended to reflect

Front 46

pragmatic (predictive) validity

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validity of an indicator as a measure of a concept that's demonstrated by the ability to use it to predict the values of indicators of other concepts

Front 47

multiple indicators

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more than one measure of the same variable, esp. useful for enhancing the validity of indicators

Front 48

ordinal

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measurement that classifes and ranks cases w/o regard to distance b/w them

Front 49

mutually exclusive

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characteristic of measures by which a given case can be assigned to only 1 category

Front 50

discriminate validation

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characteristic whereby a measure is valid for 1 concept alone as opposed to several concepts

Front 51

internal validation

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form of construct validity that evaluates if the measures are accuratley evaluating the theoretical concepts

Front 52

5 elements of scientific knowledge

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1. empirical
2. systematic
3. causal
4. provisional
5. objective

Front 53

basic research

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research whose primary purpose is to develop or test a scientific theory

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quantatative

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research based on statistical comparisions of the characteristics of the numerical measurement representing cases being studied

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periodical indexes

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list identifying the location of a word in a book or article

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reactivity

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circumstance in which persons under study modity their behavior in reaction to the research itself

Front 57

research question

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question identifying the basic info we're seeking in a research project

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multiple causation

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an effect is the result of more than one cause

Front 59

explanatory research

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designed to discover factors that should be included in theorizing and research on a subject

Front 60

positive relationship

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corresponding values on 2 variables change in the same direction

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deduction

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reasoning that moves from abstract statements about general relationships to concrete statements about specific behaviors

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theory elaboration

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result of theory testing that refines a theory rather than confirming or refuting the theory

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empirical referents

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observable object or event that corresponds to a concept

Front 64

depedent variable

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value changes in response to changes in the value of some other variable

Front 65

causal relationship

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relationship in which change in 1 or more concepts or varialbes leads to changes in 1 or more other concepts or variables

Front 66

antecedent variables

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variable that precdes another variable and, for a given hypothesis, is regarded as the independent variable

Front 67

systematic errors

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measurement errors that affect all applications of an instrument and render indicators invalid as measures of a concept

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indicator

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specific measurement of a variable

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reliability

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consitency w/ which a measuring instrument allows assignment of values to cases

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construct validiation

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characteristic of a measure by which it behaves as we would expect on the basis of theory

Front 71

levels of measurement

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amount of info provided by a set of instruments

Front 72

interval measurement

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classifies and rank orders cases so that the distance b/w cases is known by using a standard unit of measurement, no true zero

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collectively exhaustive

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characteristic of measures by which all cases can be assigned to at least 1 category

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working hypothesis

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statement predicting a relationship b/w indicators

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external validiation

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pertains to the degree to which a a given study relates to other populations

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linear relationship

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relatinship b/w 2 varibles that can be graphically represented as a straight line