Elements of Research Design

General functions of theory in social research process

relationship between theory and data in social science research (research circle)

Deductive Reasoning

start with theory, build hypothesis, analyze data

Inductive Reasoning

theory is found after analyzing data

variable

characteristics of units that vary from case to case in your sample

constant

characteristics of units that DO NOT vary from case to case

attributes

a specific value on a variable. sub category of a variable. example → variable= gender, attributes = male, female

dependent variable

A variable that is hypothesized to vary depending on, or under the influence of, another variable.

independent variable

A variable that is hypothesized to cause, or lead to, variation in another variable

qualitative variable

non-numerical qualities (nominal or ordinal)

quantitive variable

a type of variable that represents numerical data (height, weight, income)

direction of association

positive or negative relationship between variables

positive relationship

variable change in the same direction. ex. one decreases while the other decreases

negative relationship

variables change in opposite directions

correlation coefficient

statistic indicating the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables (+1 to -1)