LSU MC4020 PR Research - Exam Review Flashcards

Flashcards for vocabulary review of key concepts for the MC4020 PR Research midterm.

Operationalization

Creating a self-rating scale system to measure social anxiety among college students

Directional Hypothesis

Makes a specific prediction about the direction of the relationship between two variables ex. "Recall for ads on social media will be less than recall for ads on television"

Independent Variable

A variable that you think exists independently of other variables under study. An IV is thought to cause, determine, or influence the value of the dependent variable.

Hypothesis

A student is studying the effects of negative campaign ads on voters. Prior to her study, she thinks that negative campaign ads will reduce the number of votes for the campaign that ran the ad.

Systematic/Accumulative characteristic of science

Media picked up this story and claimed that scientists have found a way to prevent Alzheimer disease. This is an example of the violation to the _ characteristic of science.

Conceptualization

To study brand loyalty, Sam carefully reviewed the existing study and theory. He then defined brand loyalty as the extent of the faithfulness of consumers to a particular brand.

Dependent variables

Observed and their values presumed to depend on the effects of other variables.

Secondary Research

Deals with existing information/data about the topic a researcher is trying to study.

Research

An attempt to discover something.

Intuition

Something is true because it is self-evident or stands to reason

Tenacity

Something is true because it has always been true

Authority

Something is true because a trusted source says it is true

Personal Experience

Something is true because I've gone through it myself. We can "know" something to be true after having gone through it ourselves.

Scientific Method

Learning as a series of small steps. The truth is found through a series of objective analyses. It is valuable in producing accurate and useful data and knowledge.

Concept

A term that expresses an abstract idea formed by generalizing from particulars and summarizing related observations.

Variable

An observable characteristic of an object or event that can be described according to some well-defined classification or measurement scheme.

Conceptualization

The process of explaining what we mean by our concepts or abstractions. Translate a concept (a theoretical notion) into a meaningful verbal message

Operationalization

The specification of how we will measure a concept. Translates a vague conceptual definition into a set of observable operations

Non-directional hypothesis

Simply states that there is a difference but not what the difference will be.

Independent Variable (IV)

A variable that you think exists independently of other variables under study. Thought to cause, determine, or influence the value of the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable (DV)

A variable that is assumed to depend on, be caused or influenced by, another (independent) variable.

Inductive reasoning

Relevant data collected, data grouped into appropriate and meaningful categories. Explanations emerge from the data themselves

Deductive reasoning

Hypotheses derived prior to the study, relevant data collected, data analyzed to determine if hypotheses were confirmed or denied

Participant observation (fieldwork)

Research in which the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting becomes a member of the group and participates

Nonparticipant observation

Form of field research in which the researcher observes people without directly interacting with them and without letting them know that they are being observed

Grounded theory

Seeks to understand social phenomena based on the patterns, themes, and common categories found in daily interaction.

Measurement

The process by which we observe things seen and unseen; the process of linking abstract concepts to empirical indicators.

Categorical measurement

Our observations are placed into classes to be counted

Continuous measurement

Our observations are based on some continuum

Nominal

Used to classify things; simply labels; numbers have no mathematical meaning; everything within a category is treated as equivalent; attributes are mutually exclusive and exhaustive.

Mutually exclusive

A category system in which a unit of analysis can be placed in one and only one category. Each possible response should belong to only one category.

Exhaustive

A category system in which every unit of analysis can fit into a category. The categories should cover the entire set of possibilities.

Ordinal

Allows rank ordering; possesses the property of order among categories; distance between categories may not be equal; numbers used to rank items; everything within a category is treated as equivalent.

Interval

Intervals between adjacent points on the scale are of equal value; often we use ordinal scales and treat them as interval scales (but it's not always appropriate)

Likert Scale

A numerical scale used to assess attitudes; includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme scales that are like strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strongly agree

Semantic differential scale

A five-point scale in which the opposite ends have one- or two-word adjectives that have opposite meanings

Ratio

Has characteristics of interval but has a true zero point (i.e., exists in the real world).

Reliability

The ability of a measure to measure the same thing comparably over time. A measure is reliable if it consistently gives the same answer.

Validity

The degree to which a test actually measures what it is supposed to measure. An evaluation of the congruence between the operational definition and the conceptual definition.

Internal Consistency

Do the items in the scale get well together? Are the various questions related to one another?

Cronbach's Alpha

Ranges from 0 to 1. Average of all possible 'split-half' correlation coefficients resulting from different ways of splitting the scale items.