weeks 3 and 4 new

What is a concept in social research?

An idea that represents a group of things, like “health” or “love.”

What is reification?

Treating an idea as if it were a real thing.

What is conceptualization?

Defining an idea clearly so we can measure it.

What are indicators?

Things we can see or count that show a concept (e.g., going to church shows religiosity).

What are dimensions?

Different parts of an idea (like belief and ritual for religiosity).

What does interchangeable indicators mean?

Different signs of the same idea work the same way.

What is operationalization?

Turning an idea into something we can measure.

What makes a variable exhaustive?

It covers every possible case.

What makes a variable mutually exclusive?

Each case fits into only one category.

Define nominal level.

Groups without order, like types of fruit or parental status.

Define ordinal level.

Groups you can rank, like small/medium/large.

Define interval level.

Numbers with equal gaps but no true zero, like temperature in Celsius.

Define ratio level.

Numbers with equal gaps and a real zero, like weight or income.

What is precision in measurement?

How detailed your measure is (e.g., age in years vs. decades).

What is accuracy in measurement?

How well the measure matches the real thing.

What is reliability?

If you do the same test again, you get the same result.

Give one way to test reliability.

Do the test twice and compare results.

What is validity?

How well a test measures the idea it’s supposed to.

What is face validity?

It looks right at first glance.

What is criterion validity?

It matches an outside standard, like job test scores predicting job success.

What is construct validity?

It really measures the concept it’s meant to.

What is content validity?

It covers all parts of the idea.

What is an index?

A score made by adding different items to cover many parts of an idea.

What is a scale?

A list of related items that measure one idea closely.

Give an example of an index.

A gambling index that adds questions on different gambling behaviors.

Give an example of a scale.

A depression test where all questions measure depression.

What did Kahneman & Deaton (2010) find about income and happiness?

Happiness stops growing after about $70,000 a year.

How did they measure happiness?

Yes/no questions on feeling happy or enjoying life.

What did Killingsworth (2021) find?

Happiness keeps rising with more income.

Why did their results differ?

Killingsworth used a sliding scale that caught small changes in happiness.

What did the 2023 study add?

Only the least happy people hit a happiness plateau

What is sampling?

Choosing a smaller group from a bigger one to study.

What is a population?

The whole group you’re interested in.

What is a sample?

The smaller group you actually study.

What is an element?

One person or thing in your population.

Name one non‑probability sampling method.

Convenience sampling (using whoever is easy to reach).

What is probability sampling?

Randomly picking so everyone has a known chance to be chosen.

What is EPSEM?

Everyone has an equal chance to be picked.

Why use random sampling?

It helps the sample match the population and lets you check the error.

What is a sampling frame?

A list of everyone in the population you can use to sample.

What is simple random sampling?

Picking names at random from the list.

What is systematic sampling?

Picking every kth name from the list.

What is stratified sampling?

Dividing the list into groups first, then sampling from each group.

What is cluster sampling?

Picking groups (clusters) first, then picking people within those groups.

What is PPS (Probability Proportionate to Size)?

Larger clusters have a higher chance of being picked.

What is disproportionate sampling?

Giving extra weight to small groups so you have enough of them.

What are online panels?

Volunteers who take many surveys over time.

What is weighting?

Adjusting each answer to correct for too many or too few people in a group.