Political Science Methods: Exam II Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering essential political science methodology concepts, research designs, sampling strategies, and survey measurement tools from Exam II.

Exploratory Research

A research design conducted to gain initial insights, clarify concepts, or discover new possibilities when a topic is not well understood.

Descriptive Research

Research designed to systematically describe or map out specific facts, characteristics, or phenomena within a target population or subject area.

Explanatory Research

Research aimed at identifying cause-and-effect relationships between variables and determining why a particular political phenomenon occurs.

Hawthorne Effect / Test Effect

A reactivity phenomenon where study subjects alter or alter their behavior simply because they know they are being observed or tested during an experiment.

Solomon Control Group Designs

Experimental designs (such as Solomon 2 and 3 control groups) that utilize additional control groups with or without pretests to isolate and measure the effect of pretesting on subjects.

Precision Matching

A matching procedure in experimental design where subjects are matched individually on specific key background characteristics prior to assignment to groups.

Frequency Distribution Matching

An experimental matching method that ensures the overall distribution or average of specific background variables is identical across experimental and control groups.

Ex Post Facto Experiment

A design in which researchers observe effects that have already occurred after the fact, without direct manipulation of the independent variable.

Time-Series Design

A quasi-experimental design involving multiple periodic observations of a dependent variable over time before and after an intervention occurs.

Controlled Time-Series

A time-series design that incorporates a non-equivalent control group measured over the same sequence of time intervals to rule out external history threats.

Internal Validity

The degree to which a research design accurately demonstrates a true causal relationship between variables without confounding factors.

External Validity

The extent to which the findings and conclusions of a research study can be generalized to broader populations, settings, and times.

Most Similar / Most Different Systems Designs

Comparative research strategies that choose cases sharing many background traits but differing outcomes (most similar) or sharing outcomes despite different traits (most different).

Snowball Sample

A nonprobability sampling method where existing study subjects recruit additional participants from among their acquaintances or personal networks.

Stratified Random Sample

A probability sampling technique where a population is divided into distinct subgroups (strata) based on key characteristics, followed by random selection within each stratum.

Cluster Sampling / Multi-Stage Area Sampling

A sampling method where the population is divided into geographic or organizational clusters, followed by randomized multi-stage selection of clusters and individuals.

Ecological Fallacy

A logical error occurring when inferences about individual-level behavior are incorrectly drawn solely from aggregate or population-level data.

Galton's Problem

The analytical challenge in cross-cultural research of determining whether similarities across political systems are due to independent evolution or cross-system diffusion.

Double-Barreled Question

An improperly structured survey question that combines two distinct topics into one, forcing respondents to give a single answer to multiple issues.

Leading Question

A survey question worded in a manner that subtly prompts or sways the respondent toward a particular desired response.

Social Desirability Bias

A response bias in survey research where respondents give answers that reflect socially acceptable behavior rather than their true actions or beliefs.

Spurious Correlation

A statistical correlation between two variables that appears causal but is driven entirely by an unobserved confounding third variable.

Trend Studies

A type of longitudinal survey research where different samples drawn from the same target population are surveyed across multiple time periods.

Cohort Studies

A longitudinal study design that tracks a specific subpopulation defined by a shared temporal event or characteristic across multiple time points.

Panel Studies

A longitudinal research design where the exact same group of individual respondents is surveyed repeatedly over an extended time frame.

Additive Index

A composite measure constructed by summing together the scores of multiple individual variables or survey indicators.

Multiplicative Index

A composite measure created by multiplying variable scores together, typically used when indicators interact or reinforce one another.

Likert Scaling

A standard psychometric scaling format that assesses respondents' degree of agreement or disagreement with a set of statement items along a continuum.

Guttman Scaling

A cumulative scaling technique where items are ordered hierarchically such that agreement with a higher item implies agreement with all preceding lower items.

Direct Observation (Obtrusive vs. Unobtrusive)

Observational research methods where subjects either know they are being studied (obtrusive) or remain unaware of the observer's presence (unobtrusive).

Secondary Analysis

The secondary evaluation, re-analysis, or synthesis of research data previously gathered and stored in data archives by other researchers.

Questions That Travel / Linguistic Equivalence

Survey concepts and questions designed to preserve equal conceptual and measurement validity when translated and fielded across different political or cultural settings.

Research design (7 elements)

reactivity