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71 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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True or False? The most satisfying outcome in research includes both necessary and sufficient causes.
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True
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What is a sufficient cause?
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represents a condition that, if present, guarentees the effect in question. (not only possible cause)
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What is a necessary cause?
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represents a condition that must be present for the effect to follow. Ex. college courses are necessary to get a degree.
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In regard to casual relationships, what is false criteria for Nomothetic Causality?
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1. Being the complete causition. 2. With no exceptions, and/or 3. the majority of cases.
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How do we test a hypothesis?
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1 Specify related variables 2 Specify measurements of variables 3 Hypothesize correlation 4 Specify test for spuriousness.
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Are hypothesis required in Nomothetic Research?
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No.
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Give an example of observed correlation with spurious relationship.
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Bigger shoe size = better math skills. Spurious would mean shoe size causes math skills are vice versa.
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What is a spurious relationship?
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a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables shown to be caused by some third variable.
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What is correlation?
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relationship betweem two variables such that changes or attributes in one are associated with the same in the other.
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What is the criteria for Nomothetic Casualty?
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1. The Variables must be correlated. 2. The cause takes place before the effect. 3. The variables are non spurious.
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What is the difference between an idiographic and nomothetic approach to research?
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Idiographic deals with the specifics. Nomothetic deals with generals.
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What is the goal of Nomothetic Explanition
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To find a few factors that can account for many of the variations of a given phenomenon
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What is Unit of Analysis?
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It is the what or whom being studied. (most often individuals in social science research)
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Distinguish between Units of Analysis and Aggregates.
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UOA is individual units of study. Aggregates are general groups with specific behaviors. (Ex. Most Democrats support legalization of Marijuana.)
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True or False? Social researchers tend to use people as their Units of Analysis.
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True
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What is a Social Artifact?
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any product of social beings or their behavior. (Ex. books, poems, paintings, automobiles, buildings, etc...)
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What are the two types of faulty reasoning concerning Units of Analysis?
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The Ecological Fallacy and Reductionism
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Describe Ecological Fallacy.
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(Deals with groups, sets, or systems.) It is erroneously drawing conclusions about individuals solely from the observations of groups.
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Describe Reductionism.
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(Explaining a particular phenonenon in terms of limited and/or lower-order concepts.) It is the strict limitation (reduction) of the kinds of concepts to be considered relevant to the phenomenon under study.
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Give an example of Reductionism.
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Sociobiology – a paradigm based on the view that social behavior can be explained solely in terms of genetic characteristics and behavior.
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What is a Cross-Sectional Study?
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a study based on observations representing a single point in time, a cross section of a population. (Ex. U.S. Census is aimed at describing the population at a given time)
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True or False? Explanatory cross-sectional studies are at one given time but aim to explain casual processes over time.
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True
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What is a Longitudinal Study?
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(the contrast of cross-sectional studies) It is a study design involving the collection of data at different points in time.
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What are the 3 types of Logitudinal Studies? Describe them.
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Trend Study – a study in which a given characteristic of some population is monitored over time. (Ex. comparing U.S. Censuses over decades)
Cohort Study – a study in which some specific subpopulation, or cohort, is studied over time. (Ex. studying the attitudes of those born in the Depression, over time) Panel Study – a study in which data are collected from the same set of people at several points in time. |
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Can researchers draw approximate conclusions about logitudinal processes with only cross-sectional data available? How?
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Yes. Through:
1. Implying processes over time 2. Making logical inferences 3. Asking individuals to recall past behavior 4. Cohort analysis |
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What are the examples of research strategies?
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(Page 107)
1. Exploration, Description, or Explanation? 2. Sources of data? 3. Unit of analysis? 4. Dimensions of time relevant? |
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How do you design a research project?
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(Page 108)
1. Define the purpose of your project – exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory? 2. Specify the meanings of each concept you want to study 3. Select a research method 4. Determine how you will measure the results 5. Determine whom or what to study 6. Collect empirical data 7. Process the data 8. Analyze the data 9. Report your findings |
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What are the elements of a resersearh proposal?
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1. Problem or Objective
2. Literature Review 3. Subjects for Study 4. Measurement 5. Data Collection Methods 6. Analysis 7. Schedule 8. Budget |
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What is a measurement?
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Measurement – careful, deliberate observations of the real world for the purpose of describing objects and events in terms of the attributes composing the variable
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What is conceptualization?
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the mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are made more specific and precise. (In social research, the process of coming to an agreement about what terms mean, ie. agreeing that someone is compassionate)
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What are concepts?
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constructs derived by mutual agreement from mental images. (Ex. labeling someone compassionate based on their showing of what you consider to be traits of a compassionate person.
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What do conceptions do?
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mental creations that summarize collections of seemingly related observations and experiences.
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What are constructs?
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Theoretical creations that are based on observations but cannot be observed directly or indirectly.
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Distinguish between direct and indirect observables.
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Direct - physical charateristics or those things that can be observed directly.
Indirect - characteristics of someone as indicated on a questionnaire or form. |
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What is conceptualization?
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The process through which we specify what we mean when we use particular terms in research.
We cannot meaningfully answer a question without a working agreement about the meaning of the term. It processes a specific, agreed-upon meaning for a concept for the purposes of research. |
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What is indicators and dimensions?
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Indicators - an observation that we choose to consider as a reflection of a variable we wish to study. (Ex. agreeing that feeding homeless people is a sign of compassion)
Dimensions - a specifiable aspect of a concept. (Ex. grouping different kinds of compassion, such as the dimensions of compassion for humans and compassion for animals) |
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What is the interchangeability of indicators?
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If several different indicators all represent the same concept, all of them will behave the same way the concept would behave if it were real and could be observed. (Ex. two researchers disagree on traits of compassion but finding that compassinate people have all of them; they are interchangeable)
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What is real, nominal, and operational definitions?
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Real - statement of the essential nature or essential attributes of some entity.
Nominal Definition - is one that is simply assigned to a term without any claim that the definition represents a “real” entity. (represents some consensus but not all) Operational Definition - specifies precisely how a concept will be measured – that is, the operations we will perform. (is nominal rather than real; based on context of the situation, i.e. defining poor as low income and no assets) |
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What is the conceptual order for studying what a term really means?
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(Slide 14 Ch 5)
1. Conceptualization 2. Nominal Definition 3. Operational Definition 4. Real World Measurement |
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What is Anomie
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Introduced by Emile Durkheim; it means "without law" or normlessness (without norms) meaninglessness
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True or False? Definitions are more problematic for descriptive research than for explanatory research.
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True
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What is range of Variation?
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To what extent is the research willing to combine attributes in fairly gross categories? (Ex. defining high income as over $100,000 a year. Many people make a lot more than that, but they are all grouped together even though incomes significantly vary)
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What is Variation between the Extremes?
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it is how precise the operational variable are. (Ex. should we distinguish between 17 and 18 year olds, or can we group them as 10-19; it depends on what we're studying)
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This card contains a Note on Dimensions.
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If studying people's attitudes toward government, there are several dimensions you might examine: Do people think it is there? How much? How they feel about it? What causes it? Is it inevitable? etc...
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Discuss the difference between variables and attributes.
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Attributes - are characteristics or qualities of something (ex: female, old, student).
Variable - is a logical set of attributes (ex: gender, age). |
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What are the two important qualities of every variable?
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1. The attributes composing it should be exhaustive. (meaning that every observation must be classified in one of the attributes composing the variable)
2. Attributes must be mutually exclusive. (Every observation must be able to be classified in only one attribute) |
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What are the four levels of measurment for attributes and variables?
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1. Nominal
2. Ordinal 3. Interval 4. Ratio |
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Describe Nominal Measures.
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Variables whose attributes have only the characteristics of exhaustiveness and mutually exclusiveness.
Examples: gender, religious affiliation, college major, hair color, birthplace, nationality |
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Describe Ordinal Measures.
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Variables with attributes we can logically rank in order. (one is more or less than another)
Examples: socioeconomic status, level of conflict, prejudice, conservativeness, hardness (more or less conservative, more or less religious than someone else) |
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Describe Interval Measures.
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Variables for which the actual distance between attributes has meaning.
Examples: temperature (Fahrenheit), IQ score |
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Describe Ratio Measures.
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Variables whose attributes meet the requirements of an interval measure, and has a true zero point.
Examples: temperature (Kelvin), age, length of time, number of organizations, number of groups, number of As received in college |
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What are some criteria for measurement quality?
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1. Precision and Accuracy
2. Reliability 3. Validity |
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Is precision and accuracy the same thing?
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No.
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What is reliability?
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Reliability – the quality of measurement method that suggests the same data would have been collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon.
Reliability is not the same as accuracy. |
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What are four ways to produce reliable results? Describe them.
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Test-Retest Method - To make the same measurement more than once.
Split-Half Method - Multiple sets of randomly assigned variables should produce the same classifications. Using established measures - using measures are established to be reliable. Reliability of research workers - some people are idiots and get stuff wrong |
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What is validity?
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a term describing a measure that accurately reflects the real meaning of the concept it is intended to measure.
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What are the four types of validity?
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(Page 146)
Face Validity – the quality of an indicator that makes it a reasonable measure of some variable. (Ex. Filed grievances from union workers has something to do with morale.) Criterion-Related Validity – (predictive validity) the degree to which a measure relates to some external criterion. (Ex. using exams to predict students success in college) Construct Validity – the degree to which a measure theoretically relates to other variables. (Ex. Assuming satisfied marital partners are less likely to cheat. If true, then its construct validity) Content Validity – the degree to which a measure covers the range of meanings included within a concept. (Ex. A test of mathimatical ability cannot be limited to only addition and subtraction; it must contain more) |
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What do indexes and scales have in common?
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Both scales and indexes are ordinal measures of variables.
Both scales and indexes are composite measures of variables – measurements based on more than one data item. |
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What are the differences between indexes and scales?
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Index – (individual attributes) a type of composite measure that summarizes and rank-orders several specific observations and represents some more general dimensions.
Scale – (patterns of responses) a type of composite measure composed of several items that have a logical or empirical structure among them. |
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True or False? Scales are generally superior to indexes, because scales take into consideration the intensity with which different items reflect the variable being measured.
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True.
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What are the five steps of index construction?
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1. Item Selection
2. Examination of Empirical 3. Relationships 4. Index Scoring 5. Handling Missing Data Index Validation |
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What are the criteria for Selecting items in index construction?
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1. Face Validity
2. Unidimensionality 3. Determine if measures are General or Specific 4. Identify Variance |
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How are empirical relationships established?
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An empirical relationship is established when respondents’ answers to one question help us predict how they will answer other questions.
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What are the two types of empirical relationships among items?
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Bivariate Relationships – a relationship between two variables.
Multivariate Relationships – a relationship between more than two variables. |
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What are the two decisions to be made before index scoring?
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Determine the desirable range of the index scores.
(Conflicting desire for a range of measurement in the index and an adequate number of cases at each point in the index.) Determine whether to give each item in the index equal or different weights. (Standard: items should be weighted equally unless there are compelling reasons for differential weighting.) |
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Handling Missing Data is on Page 163 and slide 14 ch 6.
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Handling Missing Data is on Page 163 and slide 14 ch 6.
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What are two methods to determine if indexs are valid?
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Item Analysis – (extent to which index is related to or predicts responses to items it comprises) as assessment of whether each of the items included in a composite measure makes an independent contribution or merely duplicates the contribution of other items in the measure.
External Validation – the process of testing the validity of a measure, such as an index or score, by examining its relationship to other presumed indicators of the same variable. (Ex. if appears conservative on an index the should appear conservative with other measures) |
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Describe the Bogardus Social Distance Scales and the Thurstone Scales.
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Bogardus Social Distance Scale – a measurement technique for determining the willingness of people to participate in social relations – of varying degrees of closeness – with other kinds of people. (tolerance of sex offenders)
Thurstone Scales – a type of composite measure constructed in accord with the weights assigned by “judges” to various indicators of some variables. (Check to see what indicators they agree on and keep them; label the ones with wide disagrement as ambiguous.) |
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Describe Likert Scaling and Semantic Differential.
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Likert Scaling – a type of composite measure, designed to improve the levels of measurement in social research through the use of standardized response categories to determine the relative intensity of different items. (Strongly agree, agree, disagree)
Semantic Differential – a questionnaire format in which the respondent is asked to rate something in terms of two, opposite adjectives. (whether or not somthing was enjoyable or unenjoyable; somewhat, very much, neither.) |
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Describe Guttman Scaling.
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Guttman Scaling – a type of composite measure used to summarize several discrete observations and to represent more general variables. (page 172 in book)
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What is typologies?
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Typology – the classification of observations in terms of their attributes on two or more variables.
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