Term
| . How do we know something? List and briefly describe each of the six methods of knowing. (lecture) |
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Definition
Experience- Trial and Error
Tenacity- tradition
Authority- established beliefs
Intuition- agrees with reason
Science- Scientific Method
Theology- Revelation and inspiration
SEAT-IT |
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Term
| List and briefly describe each of the four “everyday errors” that often occur when we rely on personal experience for our knowledge. (p.4-7) (book and lecture) |
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Definition
Overgeneralization - when we unjustifiably conclude that what is true for some cases is true for all cases
Selective or inaccurate observation - Choosing to look only at things that are in line with our
preferences or beliefs
Illogical reasoning - The premature jumping to conclusions or arguing on the basis of invalid assumptions
Resistance to change - The reluctance to change our ideas in light of new information |
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Term
| The four main goals of social research? (p.8-11) (book and lecture) |
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Definition
Description, exploration, explanation, and evaluation.
descriptive research - Research in which social phenomena are defined and described (ex: used to describe differences in characteristics, attitudes and behaviors within a population).
exploratory research - Seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under questions, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them.
explanatory research - Seeks to identify causes and effects of social phenomena and to predict how one phenomenon will change in response to variation in another phenomenon.
evaluation research - Research that describes or identifies the impact of social policies and programs. |
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Term
| List and briefly describe the five major norms of the scientific community. (lecture) |
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Definition
Universalism- If you prove something true in one case it is true in all cases
Organized Scepticism- Challenge everything
Disinterestedness-be neutral and avoid bias
Communalism- Scientific knowledge must be shared with others
Honesty- no lying
DOUCH |
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Term
| The three C's of validity |
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Definition
Content validity: face validity. Does our conclusion make logical sense.
Criterion validity: predictive validity. Does my outcome match the whole population.(Compare it to the US Census)
Construct validity: Does my conclusion agree with other findings and other data available. |
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Term
| 1. What makes a research question “good”? List and briefly explain each of the three criteria used to evaluate research questions. (p.22-23) (book and lecture) |
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Definition
1. Feasibility- can you start and finish the research for your investigation with available resources?
2. Social Importance (Salience)- will the answer to your research question make a difference in the social world?
3. Scientific Relevance- where does it fit in literature and theory? |
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Term
| What are the major steps of the research process? (lecture) |
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Definition
1. Identify a topic/issue
2. Develop a research question
3. METHODS--theory, deduction, hypothesis, observations, analysis, induction, etc...circle
4. Interpret data
5. Inform others |
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Term
| 3 types of longitudinal research: |
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Definition
Classic Experiment- See what, why and how.
Trend Study- what and how much.
Panel Study- what, who, how much. |
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Term
| What are the six main sources of panel attrition? |
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Definition
Respondent's refusal to participate
Respondent's inability to participate
Mortality
Researcher’s failure to locate respondent
Failure to keep accurate records
Failure to interview respondent |
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Term
| What are the six major stages of data analysis? List and briefly describe these stages. (lecture) |
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Definition
Coding- assigning numerical codes to qualitative variables
Data entry- entering in codes
Descriptive analysis-
Data cleaning- correcting errors
Cross-tab analysis-
Testing relationships- relationships found in data are tested |
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Term
| What are the components of a good codebook? |
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Definition
Introduction- methods, response rates, dates,
Map of questionnaire and datafile
Special coding- defines coding methods
History of study-
Copies of surveys- |
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Term
| List and briefly describe the three “human rights” according to the Belmont Report. (p.52-53) |
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Definition
1. Respect for persons- treating persons as autonomous agents and protecting those with diminished autonomy
2. Beneficence- minimizing possible harms and maximizing benefits
3. Justice- distributing benefits and risks of research fairly |
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Term
| Briefly describe the four ways researchers can protect research participants. (p.55) (book) |
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Definition
1. Avoid harming research participants
2. Obtain informed consent
3. Avoid deception in research, except in limited circumstances.
4. Maintain privacy and confidentiality |
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Term
| List and briefly describe the five ways that the sponsorship of research poses special problems for ethical |
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Definition
Discourages Whistle Blowing
Arriving at particular findings
Limits how to conduct studies
Suppressing findings
Concealing the true sponsor- |
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Term
| List and briefly describe the four steps you should take when selecting variables. (p.77) (book and lecture) |
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Definition
1. Examine theories that are relevant to our research question to identify those concepts that would be appropriate for our investigation
2. Review the literature relevant to our research and assess the utility of variables used previously
3. consider constraints and opportunities for measurement that are associated with the specific setting we’ll study.
4. look ahead to the analysis of the data; what role will each variable play in our analysis |
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Term
| What are the four basic levels of measurement? Be able to define and give examples of each. (p.88-93) (book/ lect) |
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Definition
Nominal Scale-forming of classes which contain equivalent objects or events (attributes) race, sex
Ordinal-in addition to the property of equivalence the objects on the scale can be arranged in a ranking of greater than or less than, ex. strongly agree-strongly disagree, age old vs young
Interval- in addition to equivalence and ranking over the distance between the ordered locations is equal - ex.degrees farenheight, IQ score
Ratio- in addition to equivalence, rank order, and distance, zero has meaning any ratio or percent will be this, ex. Age, income, height, weight |
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Term
| 11. List and briefly describe the three major criteria for evaluating the adequacy of a measure. (lecture) |
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Definition
Wording- is it precise
Kind- will it obtain the desired information
Structure- is it structured in an appropriate way. |
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Term
| Define and provide examples of the six major types of measurement validity in quantitative studies. (p.93-96) (b&l) |
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Definition
Content validity: face validity. Does our conclusion make logical sense.
Criterion validity: predictive validity. Does my outcome match the whole population.(Compare it to the US Census)
Concurrent Validity- Matches with other data taken from same time
Predictive validity-
Construct validity: Does my conclusion agree with other findings and other data available. |
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Term
| List and briefly describe the four ways you can improve measurement reliability. (lecture) |
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Definition
Check the operational definition
increase level of measure
use multiple indicators of a variable
pretest measure- remove or exchange questions that don’t fit data |
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