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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Basic Research |
The primary goal of which is to describe some aspect of society and advance our understanding of it. |
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Applied Research |
The primary goal of which is to directly address some problem or need. |
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Public Sociology |
The effort to bring the findings of both basic and applied sociological research to a broader non-academic audience. |
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Empirical Evidence |
Evidence that can be observed or documented using the human senses. |
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Quantitative Data |
Evidence that can be summarized numerically. |
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Qualitative Data |
Any kind of evidence that is not numerical in nature, including evidence that is gathered from interviews, direct observation, and written visual documents. |
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Independent Variable |
Associated with and/or causes change in the value of the dependent variable. |
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Dependent Variable |
Changes in response to the independent variable. |
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Hypothesis |
A statement about the relationship between variables that is to be investigated. |
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Variables |
Measures that can changes (or vary) and thus have different values. |
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Correlation |
A relationship in one variable is connected to change in another variable. |
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Transparency |
The requirement that researchers explain how they collected and analyzed their evidence and how they reached their conclusions. |
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Hawthorne Effect |
The fact that human beings will react differently because they know they are in a study. |
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Research Methods |
The procedures used by a researcher to collect and analyze data. |
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Survey |
A data collection technique that involves asking someone a series of questions. |
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Sample |
Part of the population that represents the whole. |
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Random Sample |
Every element of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. |
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Generalize |
Describe patterns of behavior of a larger population based on findings from a sample. |
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Intensive Interview |
A data gathering technique that uses open-ended questions during somewhat lengthy face-to-face sessions. |
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Field Research |
A data collection technique in which the researcher systematically observes some aspect of social life in its natural setting. |
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Secondary Data Analysis |
Uses data previously collected by other researchers. |
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Content Analysis |
A variety of techniques that enable researchers to systematically summarize and analyze the content of various forms of communication - written, spoken, or pictorial. |
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Experiment |
A data gathering technique in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions to determine if change in an independent variable produces change in a dependent variable, thereby establishing a cause and effect relationship. |
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Informed Consent |
Subjects in any study must know about the nature of the research project, any potential benefits or risks that they must face, and that they have the right to stop participating at any time, for any reason. |
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Operationalize |
Specifically define the variable you are interested in studying. |
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Positivist Social Science |
An approach that assumes that the social world, like the natural world, is characterized by laws that can be identified through research and used to predict and control human affairs. |
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Value-Neutrality |
Removing any personal views from the research process. |
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Interpretive Social Science |
An understanding of the meaning that people ascribe to their social world. |
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Critical Social Science |
Research carried out explicitly to create knowledge that can be used to bring about social change. |
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Peer-Review Process |
A way in which scholars evaluate research manuscripts before they are published in order to ensure their quality. |
