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causal
implying causality; a central focus of this book is on theories about “causal” relationships
correlation
a statistical measure of covariation which summarizes the direction (positive or negative) and strength of the linear relationship between two variables
covary
when two variables vary together, they are said to “covary;” the term “covariation” is used to describe circumstances in which two variables covary
data
a collection of variable values for at least two observations
dependent variable
a variable for which at least some of the variation is theorized to be caused by one or more independent variables
empirical
based on real-world observation
hypothesis
a theory-based statement about what we would expect to observe if our theory is correct a hypothesis is a more explicit statement of a theory in terms of the expected relationship between a measure of the independent variable and a measure of the dependent variable
hypothesis testing
the act of evaluating empirical evidence in order to determine the level of support for the hypothesis versus the null hypothesis
independent variable
a variable that is theorized to cause variation in the dependent variable
measure
a process by which abstract concepts are turned into realworld observations
negative relationship
higher values of the independent variable tend to coincide with lower values of the dependent variable
normal science
scientific research that is carried out under the shared set of assumptions and accepted theories of a paradigm
normative statements
statements about how the world ought to be
null hypothesis
a theory-based statement about what we would observe if there were no relationship between an independent variable and the dependent variable
operationalize
another word for measurement; when a variable moves from the concept level in a theory to the real-world measure for a hypothesis test, it has been operationalized
paradigm
a shared set of assumptions and accepted theories in a particular scientific field
paradigm shift
when new findings challenge the conventional wisdom of a paradigm to the point where the set of shared assumptions and accepted theories in a scientific field is redefined
parsimonious
synonym for simple or succinct
positive relationship
higher values of the independent variable tend to coincide with higher values of the dependent variable
theoretical model
the combination of independent variables, the dependent variable, and the causal relationships that are theorized to exist between them
theory
a tentative conjecture about the causes of some phenomenon of interest
variable
a definable quantity that can take on two or more values
variable label
the label used to describe a particular variable
variable values
the values that a particular variable can take on