Poli 210 Midterm 1 Cartes | Quizlet

Categorical (nominal) data

Categorical variables that cannot be placed in ranked order ( from lowest to highest; agree, neutral, disagree), and no information about the distance between categories ( Colors, Gender, Vote choice, Country of residence, Religious affiliation)

Interval Data

Beyond rank ordering, interval scales indicate the distance of one observation from another (IQ tests)

Ordinal Data

Categorical variables that can be placed in ranked order ( from lowest to highest; agree, nuetral, disagree), but no information about the distance between categories

Likert scales (strongly agree, agree, nuetral, disagree, strongly disagree)

Ratio Data

Interval level but where 0 is conceptually meaningful. i.e. zero means there is none of that variable. Can construct a meaningful fraction or ratio with a ratio variable. Reaction time, height, mass, distance, GDP, number of parties in parliament, voter turn out

Case

single unit of analysis

3 misconceptions

1. No research topic is inherently qualitative or quantitative

2. Specific methodologies do not belong to one or the other

3. Uncommon to refer to researchers as qualitative or quantitative

Qualitative is associated with

positivism

Quantitative is associated with

interpretism

Primary purpose of most quantitative analysis is to

test hypothesis

Triangulation

combination of multiple research strategies in social research

Maximizes the variety of data collected

mixed-methods research approach

Both qualitative and quantitative

Theory

○ integrated set of explanations of the political and social worlds

- Attempt to understand the complex political world by simplifying reality into theories

Hypothesis

statements of the relationships between concepts or more specifically are proposed explanations for an observable phenomenon

Proposition

If-then statement.

Statement of fact that follows from the accuracy of the hypothesis such that is the hypothesis is true the following conditions will prevail

concept

Defined term that enables us to organize and classify phenomena

Enable us to make comparison through categorization

Continuum

Organizing a concepts variables along a dimension

Causality

X changes therefore Y changes

Correlation

X changes when Y changes

positive correlation

Increase in X leads is accompanied by an increase in Y (also works with decreases)

Negative correlation

o relationship between the two variables but that the direction of the change is inverse.

Overall, a hypothesis will state the relationships between the concepts by

providing a statement of the proposed cause of an observable phenomenon and the underlying theory will attempt to explain why these relationships exist.

inference

to acquire knowledge about some facts we don't know yet by studying something we already know

Science requires us to take additional steps

of attempting to

infer beyond the immediate data to something broader that is not directly observe

Causal Relationship

The occurrence of an entity B of a certain class depends on the occurrence of an entity A of another class, where the word entity means any physical objects, Phenomenon, situation, or event. A is called the cause, B the effect

Variables

A characteristic that varies in value or magnitude along which an object, individual or group may be categorized, such as income or age

dependent variable

The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested. Y

independent variable

a variable (often denoted by x ) whose variation does not depend on that of another.

causal endogeneity

In a statistical model, an endogeneity problem occurs when there is a correlation between the X variable and the unobserved errors

normative research

researches that are prescriptive in nature and address how society and political life should be. It often involves values, judgment, feeling, emotion, things are hard to scientifically measure. And the target of analysis is often an idea, not facts

Interpretivism

(post-modernism)

We can only interpret an event, but

we cannot (or, have to be very careful) to make causal inference and predictions based on that event

Empirical Research

descriptive in nature; the goal is to describe and explain real political phenomena rather than how they should b

Positivism

the application of the scientific approach to the social world. Observer and the observed in social studies can be separated, if we do it properly. And we can make causal inference to predict about future events

Determinism

every event has a cause/explanation

Replication

more than one observation occurs, confirming the findings of others research. the more replication that validates the data, the more valid it is.

research question

an interrogatory statement describing the variables and population of the research study

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

literature review

Is an evaluative report of information found in the literature related to your research question. The review should describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify this literature

correlation but not causal relation

A correlation is a measure or degree of to what extent are two variables vary together. A correlation does not automatically mean causality

Operationalization

the process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study

Conceptualization

Conceptualization is the process of developing and clarifying concepts. Not a measurement. defining so you an go through the process of operationalizing variables

unit of analysis

The major entity that you are analyzing in your study

level of analysis

Unit of analysis has different levels, defined by different forms with which we aggregate units of analysis. The aggregation can be achieved through location, size, organization

micro-level analysis

individual, family

meso-level of analysis

firm, organization, region, state

macro-level analysis

state, international system civilization, empire. big picture stuff

Qualitative Methods

an approach to learn about politics through study of a small number of cases. Depth, detail and quality of the cases are emphasized over the average effects in a large quality

mixed methods research

uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques, in an effort to build convincing claims about the relationships between attributes and outcomes. ADD CLASS DEF

behavioral research

modeling, explaining, and generalizing from the behaviors and actions of individuals

inductive theory building

the practice of reasoning from actual observation to reach a generalizable conclusion

Observations (data) → hypothesis → test hypothesis → generalizable theory

deductive theory building

the process of reasoning from one or more premises (assumption) to reach a logically certain conclusion

generalization → hypothesis → test hypothesis → generalizable theory

quantitative method

a research approach that seeks to understand political life through the study of large quality, or number, of cases

Humean Causality

They think about causality as necessary and sufficient conditions for certain events to happen. A cause must be present to make the effect to occur

counterfactual

Focus on causal effects, rather than the cause itself. The foundation of most quantitative, experimental and comparative qualitative studies

temporal order

the cause must proceed the effect

problem of pre-emption

a cause just happens and preempts another cause

Causal Mechanism

Is a sequence of events, conditions and processes leading from the explanatory variable to the explained outcomes

fundamental problem of causal inferernce

Each part in a causal process still needs to be defined and estimated under counterfactual based causality. The problem of infinite regression.

Spurious causal relation

a relationship wherein two variables that actually have no logical connection are inferred to be related due to an unobserved third variable

autocorrelation/tautology

x and y by definition are the same concepts. So certainly we will observe x and y change together, but it is useless for studying

reversed causality

A situation where what appears to be an effect of an event is actually the cause of the event.

X and Y can vary together, but its Y → X, not X → Y

reinforcing variable

a variable that strengthens or magnifies the relationship between the two other variables

Spuriousness

The independent and dependent variables are both affected by an outside variable (Z)

Equifinality

many explanatory variables and few observations. Same outcomes can be reached with different independent variables

control variables

the variables you keep constant/set in an experiment

confounding variable

A​nother variable that is not normally considered. Something else could be causing Y. For example, a natural disaster could be a confounding variable

intervening variable

a variable has causal relations with both X and Y, and the causal relations go from intervening variable to X and Y

Measurement

a quantity that has both a number and a unit

reliability of measurement

An operational measure of a concept is reliable when it is repeatable or consistent

ratio/continuous variable

can take on any score or value within a measurement scale. In addition, the difference between each of the values has a real meaning. Familiar types of continuous variables are income, temperature, height, weight, and distance.

the central tendency

a measure that represents the typical response or the behavior of a group as a whole. The mean

Median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

ordinal variable

A special type of categorical variable that the categories have orders.

dummy variable

type of ordinal/binary variable that has no meaning. a measure in which a quality is dichotomous and is represented by the presence and the absence of the quality, usually using the values of 0 and 1. ( e.g. 0=not female 1=female)

mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

concept overstretching

Applying concepts to cases which actually do not fit with the definitional characteristics of the concepts

Denotation (extension)

the class of things to which the concept apply

Ladder of generality

The higher up the more you can include. this includes most regimes and structures. The lower down the more specific types of regimes specifically democracies. Increase differentiation

Connotation (intension)/ definitional attributes

the collection of properties which determines the thing to which the world applies

the tradeoff between connotations and denotations

Connotation: the collection of properties which determines the thing to which the world applies

Denotation: the class of things to which the concept apply

population

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

sample

a part of the population. It is the subgroup that is observed in one-round of researcher's observation

random sampling

is about how researchers select cases for inclusion in a study - they are selected at random, which means that every member of the underlying population has an equal probability of being selected.

self selection (sampling)

participants place themselves in a sample rather than being selected for inclusion by a researcher; type of non probability sampling

snowball sampling

gathering further people to sample by asking those whom you have already sampled

non-probalistic sampling

Sampling is the use of a subset of the population to represent the whole population or to inform about processes that are meaningful beyond the particular cases, individuals or sites studied

Variation

A change or slight difference in condition, amount, or level.

standard deviation

The square root of variance sometimes expressed as sd(y) or sY. measure of spreadoutness

normal dsitribution

an arrangement of data in which most values cluster around the mean value and the rest taper off symmetrically toward either end

bell curve

distribution of scores in which the bulk of the scores fall toward the middle, with progressively fewer scores toward the "tails" or extremes

68-95-99 rule for normal distribution

If the values of a variable X follows normal distribution, then we are sure 68% of all possible values of X fall in a range of one standard deviation away from the central mean, 95% of all possible values of X fall in the range of two standard deviations away from the central mean, and 99.7% of all possible values of X fall in the range of three standard deviations away from the central mean.

Small N study

Explore the complex interaction of many variables in a small number of cases.

large N study

focus on the causal effects of a small number of variables in a large numbers of cases

Successful least-likely case

A case that is expected to refute the operating assumptions of a particular theory but in practice confirms them

Barrington Morre

wrote The Social Origin of Dictatorship and Democracy

Galton's problem

when all existing possible Xs are not properly controlled in case comparison, you will encounter the too many variable, not enough cases problem aka Galton's Problem

most different systems design

A research design in which we compare cases that differ with respect to multiple factors but in which the outcome is the same

most similar systems design

a common approach of the comparative method that selects cases that are alike in a number of ways but differ on a key question under examination

the social origin of dictatorship and democracy

The only well-elaborated Marxist work of the politics of modernization. Written by Moore.

descriptive case study

a type of single case study aiming to describe the phenomena as the basis of contributing to an emerging future research agenda

random error

the non-systemic fluctuation in the measured data due to the precision limitation of the measurement method