SOC150 Midterm flashcards

Scientific Method

• Establishes parameters or specific guidelines that help ensure that the findings are objective and accurate

• Provides boundaries that focus a study and organize its results

• Offers a shared basis for discussion and analysis 

Variables

a characteristic or measure of a social phenomenon that can take different values 

Independent variable

the presumed cause

Dependent Variable

the outcome or effect

probability relationship

knowing one variable’s value increases the likelihood of a certain value in another variable

qualitative methods

ways of collecting data that yield results such as words or text; in-depth interviews

Quantitative methods

Data that can be represented by and condensed into numbers; less depth and more breadth; surveys

Methodology

a systematic process of inquiry applied to learning about the social world; the gaol is to construct a defensible version of reality

Science

a way of knowing that attempts to systematically collect and categorize facts or truths

Selective observation

Noticing only social patterns that one has experienced directly or wishes to find; confirmation bias

research process

1. Specify the research question

2. Review the scientific literature

3. Propose a theory and state hypotheses

4. Select a research design

5. Collect the data

6. Measurement

7. Analyze the data and draw conclusions

8. Disseminate the results

Inductive approach

researchers start with a set of observations and use the empirical evidence they gather to create a general set of propositions about how the world operates 

Deductive approach

researchers start with a social theory and then test its implications with data 

Causality

Correlation, time order, and non spuriousness 

Correlation

 when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable (association)

Hypothesis

a testable proposition based on theory and/or observations 

Null hypothesis

states that there is no relationship or no difference between variables

Rejecting the null hypothesis

means the data indicates there is a statistically significant relationship 

conceptualization

defining what a concept means (theoretical level)

operationalization

defining how to measure a concept (empirical level)

exploratory research

examines new areas of inquiry; with the goals of scoping out the extent of the problem/behavior, generating initial ideas about the phenomenon, or testing the feasibility of doing more extensive study 

descriptive research

used to make careful observations and generating detailed documentation about a phenomenon of interest 

Explanatory research

seeks explanations of observed behaviors, problems, or other phenomena– ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions 

Surveys

used to collect data from study participants who respond to a series of questions about attitudes, beliefs, behaviors and other variables

sample

the subset of the target population actually studied 

population

 the entire set of individuals (or units) of interest 

target population

the specific population to which you want to generalize 

sampling bias

a sample that does not accurately represent the population

basic research

to learn more about a topic or test a theoretical perspective or solve an intellectual puzzle

applied research

finds solutions to problems or discover ways of living better, etc; might involve research for a client; evaluation research, etc

empirical paper

presents data collection and/or analysis of existing data

theoretical paper

focuses on advancing or critiquing theory, with little to no new empirical data

review article

synthesizes existing research, may or may not follow a strict systematic protocol

systematic review

uses explicit, replicable methods to identify, select, and critically appraise all relevant research

Peer review

formal process where other experts evaluate the quality and validity of a study or paper 

validity

the extent to which a measure captures what it is intended to measure

reliability

the consistency or repeatability of a measurement 

gray literature

sources not published through traditional commercial or academci avenues (i.e. policy briefs, government reports, white papers)

probability sampling

every individual in the population has a known, nonzero chance of being selected (i.e. simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling)

nonprobability sampling

the likelihood of selection is not known (i.e. convenience sampling, self-selection, snowball sampling) 

sampling error

the difference between the statistics obtained from a sample and the actual aparemters of a population

systematic error

bias in measurement that skews data in a particular direction 

simple random sampling

researcher gives all members of a population an equal probability of being selected  

random error

non-directional, unpredictable fluctuations in measurement 

systematic sampling

systematically choosing sampling units from a list by defining an interval (k) and then selecting every kth element in the list 

stratified sampling

researchers divide the study population into tow or more mutually exclusive subgroups (strata) and then draw a sample from each subgroup 

disproportionate stratified sampling

when the sizes of a subgroup samples do not match their relative sizes within the population

over sampling

when a subgroup represents a greater share of a sample than the same subgroup represents in the larger population

weighting

adjusting for how much particular cases contribute to the statistics for a sample  

nonresponse bias

when respondents and nonrespondents differe in important ways → the relevant characteristics observed in the sample differ from those in the target population

self selection bias

occurs when participants choose whether or not to participate, often resulting in an unrepresentative sample

attrition bias

 when the participants who leave a study tend to come from particular subgroups → undermining the representativeness of the study’s sample 

confirmation bias

the tendency to look for or interpret information that supports one’s pre-existing beliefs 

social desirability bias

 respondents answer in ways that they believe are more socially acceptable or favorable

overgeneralization

drawing broad conclusions from limited data 

sampling

the process of selecting cases that will be analyzed for research

sampling frame

the list or mechanism from which a sample is actually drawn, A fixed interval is used to select participants from a list (i..e every 7th name) 

generalizable

when a study’s result can reasonably tell us something about the larger population from the sample is drawn from 

nonrespondents

individuals who decline to answer questions for a survey or indepth interview or who cannot be reached by researchers 

sample statistics

describes a study’s sample and usually meant to estimate parameters in the target population; means, medians, standard deviations, etc 

population parameters

 means, medians, standard deviations, etc that summarize the characteristics of a population