theory
ideas about how the world works
epistimology
the science of knowing
methodology
the science of finding out
multicausality
thereās multiple causes of things
paradigm
theoretical frameworks that structure what we observe and how we interpret it
importance of theory
prevents flukes, explains why patterns make sense, suggests avenues for social action, suggests new paths of research, determines the why of social patterns
paradigm shift
āshiftā in the basic concepts, assumptions, and methods of scientific inquiry
macrotheory
theories of large portions of society
microtheory
theories of smaller portions of society (small groups, social networks)
mesotheory
not concerned with social life, attempts to generalize theories
social theory
systematic explanation for the observed patterns of social life (how the world is, not how it should be)
deduction
general to particular
induction
particular to general
research ethics
consensus norms regarding proper conduct in research
pillars of research ethics
voluntary participation, no harm to participants, and informed consent
belmont report
fundamental ethical principles involving human subjects (respect for persons, benefits, and justice)
informed consent
participants must be informed of all details of the study before consenting
anonymity
response cannot be linked to subject
confidentiality
researcher can identify subject, but wonāt
deception
withholding certain info that could invalidate the study
ethical considerations in analysis and reporting
selective reporting, data fraud, plagiarism, carelessness of analytical methods
institutional review boards
assure risks are minimized at research institutions
objectivity and ideology
weber-sociology need to remain unencumbered by personal values, marx disagreed. research should have an intentional impact
political considerations of social research
conflicts of interest, āpoliticizationā of science, scientific censorship
3 purposes of social research
exploration, description, explanation
exploration
satisfy initial curiosity, test feasibility, develop methods for a pilot study
description
what is observed
explanation
explain why observed patterns exist
ideographic explanation
understanding of causes of outcomes in single/small number of cases (case studies)
nomothetic explanation
identify factors that cause ______ in general
dependent variable
affected role (being caused)
independent variable
causal role (doing the causing)
nomothetic causality
x causes y, if you change x then y changes too
correlation
x is associated with y
time order
x before y
nonspuriousness
thereās no alternative explanation
reverse causality
y causes x
omitted variables bias
leaving out a variable to show causation or a connection
necessary causes
condition must be present for effect to happen
sufficient causes
condition guarantees the effect
unit of analysis
what/who is being studied
ecological fallacy
assumption that something about the unit says something about individual making up that unit
reductionism
reducing the explanation to limited/low-order concepts
cross-sectional study
study done at one point in time (snapshot)
longitudinal study
data collection at different points in time
trend study
change over time
cohort study
subset studied over time
panel study
examine same units at each point in time
mixed methods
used to strengthen weakness of one method with the strengths of another
conceptualization
clarifying what things you are studying
concepts
theoretical marker representing class of things
indicator
observation that is reflective of a concept/variable
dimension
specific aspect of a concept
operationalization
process by which concepts are measured empirically
variables
logical set of attributes
attributes
characteristic/quality of something
nominal
no intristic order
ordinal
intristic order
binary (dichotomous variable)
two exhaustive categories
interval
rank ordered and equal distances between adjacent attributes
ratio
interval measures has a ātrue zeroā point
mutually exclusive
each observation can only take on one value for given variable
exhaustive
all possible values of a measure must be included
precision
āfinenessā or resolution of the attributes measured
accuracy
extent to which attribute accurately reflects social reality
measurement validity
degree to which a variableās operationalization accurately reflects the concept
construct validity
degree to which construct relates to other variables as expected
content validity
does the measure capture all content domain of the construct?
face validity
measure construct of interest
criterion-related validity
check performance of measure against an external criterion
measurement reliability
the extent to which operationalizations of the concept show consistent results
test-retest reliability
tests across time should show consistent results
internal reliability
consistent responses across similar items
inter-rater reliability
consistent rating by different observers