TOK Issues in Human Science

Vocabulary flashcards focusing on key concepts, research methodologies, and reliability issues within the Human Sciences.

Primary Evidence

Research data gathered directly by a researcher through primary research methods such as observations, surveys, or interviews.

Knowledge Claim

An assertion made within an area of knowledge—such as the Human Sciences—that attempts to provide an answer to a research question.

Free Will (Human Sciences)

The concept that human beings may act contrary to expectations or established laws because they possess individual agency and are not always conscious of their motives.

Observer Effect

The phenomenon in research where subjects alter their behavior simply because they are aware that they are being watched or studied.

Loaded / Leading Questions

Questionnaire items that use biased or suggestive phrasing to influence how respondents answer, thereby distorting research findings.

Correlation vs. Causation

The methodological distinction that a statistical relationship between two variables in Human Sciences does not automatically prove that one variable causes the other.

Manipulation of Statistics

The practice of aggregating or presenting statistical data in ways that conceal underlying details, variations, or contextual nuances.

Presentation of Data

The visual formatting or scaling of data—such as altering graph axes—that influences how research results are interpreted and what conclusions are drawn.

Qualitative Data

Non-numerical descriptive information that reflects subjective experiences or opinions, which can be challenging to analyze objectively.

Quantitative Data

Information expressed in numerical values or statistics that can be measured and analyzed mathematically.

Recalcitrance

The quality of resisting authority or control, seen when human subjects deliberately break a proposed law of human behavior just to be different.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A outcome in research where human subjects become aware of a prediction or expectation and adjust their behavior in a way that causes it to come true.

Subject Bias

The distortion of research data occurring when participants lie, seek to give the 'right' response, or shade the truth to protect privacy or appear more flattering.

Value Judgements

Subjective evaluations about what is 'better' or 'more just' that introduce personal or political bias into human science theories and prevent total objectivity.

Hawthorne Effect

The phenomenon where individuals alter their behavior in response to being observed or knowing that they are being studied, which can lead to skewed or inaccurate data.

Problematic Survey Questionnaire

A questionnaire containing leading or misleading survey questions that influence respondents to answer in ways aligning with researcher assumptions, social pressures, or desired outcomes.

Fuzzy concepts or problematic definitions/measurements

Concepts that are difficult to define or quantify, presenting challenges in measurement, data interpretation, and the validity of conclusions in human science research.

Non-Representative Samples / sampling bias

Research issues occurring when a sample does not accurately reflect the population being studied, or when sample sizes are too small, causing findings to be prone to errors and non-generalizable.

Confounding variables

Factors that interfere with the relationship between independent and dependent variables, creating false associations or obscuring the true relationship and leading to inaccurate conclusions about causation.

Demand characteristics

Clues in a research study that influence participants to change their behavior because they think they know what the researchers are trying to find out or expect.