Super SOCI UBC 217A
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118 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 ontology | what phenomena exist and can be examined scientifically |
| epistemology | the study of how we know what we know; socially constructed phenomenon |
| epistemological objectivity | claims that can be made without reference to individual attitudes; ex. best university is Harvard, dictated by charts and statistical data |
| theory | a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life; logical connections between phenomenon |
| theoretical statement | an element of a theory that states one class of phenomena will be connected in a certain way with another class of phenomena |
| empirical statement | the operationalization of a theoretical statement in order to make observations |
| deterministic | All instances of X are followed by the occurrence of Y - "Nothing But" explanations |
| probabilistic | instances of X make the occurrence of Y more likely; nomothetic approach |
| nomothetic | an approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal factors that generally impact a class of conditions or events; ex. university choice can depend on X (= proximity, reputation) |
| variables | logical groupings of attributes; gender = variable; attributes = male/female |
| attributes | characteristics of people or things |
| independent variable | a variable with values that are not problematical in an analysis but are taken as simply given; presumed to cause or determine a dependent variable. |
| dependent variable | a variable assumed to depend on or be caused by another (independent variable) |
| induction | moves from the particular to general |
| deduction | moves from the general to the specific |
| qualitative | participant observation, unstructured interviews; non-numerical data |
| quantitative | survey research; numerical data |
| hypothesis | statement about the relationship between two variables |
| correlation | an empirical relationship bet. two variables such as that (a) changes in one are associated with changes in another or (b) particular attributes of one variable are associated with particular attributes of the other |
| time order | cause must precede the effect in time; dependent variable must come as a result of independent variable being introduced; not valid in cross-sectional research designs |
| non-spurious | the observed empirical correlation between two variables cannot be explained in terms of some third variable |
| spurious relationship | coincidental statistical correlation bet. two variables that is shown to be caused by some third variable |
| necessary cause | condition must be present for the effect to follow; ex. subject must be female to be pregnant, if not, then all female must be pregnant |
| sufficient cause | if condition is present, it guarantees the effect in question; ex. skipping an exam would be a sufficient cause for failing it. |
| cross-sectional study | involves observations of a sample, cross section of a population/phenomenon concerning one point in time; proves correlation, but not time order |
| longitudinal study | a study design involving the collection of data at different points in time; cons - cost, coordination, time |
| panel design | data is collected from the same set of people; longitudinal type of study |
| trend study | longitudinal study; a given characteristic of some population is monitored over time |
| cohort study | study in which some specific subpopulation or cohort is studied over time; data may be collected from different members in each set of observations |
| pre-test | a measurement of a dependent variable among subjects before they are exposed to a stimulus representing an independent variable; best is random assignment |
| post-test | measurement of a dependent variable among subjects after they have been exposed to a stimulus representing an independent variable. |
| control of a stimulus | allows for the exposure of a experimental and control groups |
| experimental group | group of subjects to whom an experimental stimulus is administered |
| control group | group of subjects to whom no experimental stimulus is administered and who should resemble the experimental group in all other respects |
| hawthorne effect | when presence of researchers affect the behavior of the subjects they are studying; any impact of research on the subject of study |
| double-blind experiment | experimental design in which neither experimenter nor subject know which group is experimental/control |
| external validity | extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings |
| validity | to what extent are we measuring what we want to measure |
| problems with longitudinal design | h-istory, m-aturation, t-esting, c-ontamination, i-nstrumentation, m-ortality |
| spuriousness | both variables dependent on a 3rd |
| indirect effects | an intervening 3rd variable exists |
| conditional effects | relationship is different at different levels of a 3rd variable |
| history | during the course of the experiment, historical events may occur that will confound experiment results |
| maturation | people are continually growing and changing and such changes affect the results of the experiment |
| testing | often the process of testing and retesting will influence people's behavior, thereby confounding the experimental results |
| instrumentation | process of measurement in pretesting and posttesting brings to light some of the issues of conceptualization and operationalization |
| contamination | when subjects start interacting and sharing details affecting the results of the experiment |
| mortality | someone dies |
| intervening variables | X1 > X2 > Y; type of residence (totem) > amount of monitoring (less) > drinking (more) |
| moderating variable | location of university affects the relationship between residence and drinking; X1 responsible for X2 and Y |
| four types of hypothesis statements | As X increases Y increases (decreases); Being XA (not XB) increases Y; As X increases YA (not YB) becomes more likely; Being XA (not XB) makes YA (not YB) more likely |
| sampling | process of selecting observations |
| element | unit of interest to the research |
| population | the theoretically specified aggregation of all units of interest in a study |
| sample | a subset of units from a population |
| probability sampling | sampling with the important idea of random selection |
| random sample | each unit of a population has an equal chance of being selected to a sample |
| sampling error | sample to sample variation due to taking a small subset of a population |
| coverage error | some parts of the whole have a zero chance of being selected; all units in a target population not having a known nonzero probability of being included in the sample; flaw in sampling frame |
| sampling frame | actual list of units from which a sample is selected |
| simple random sampling | computer generated; creates a problem of not everyone having the same chance |
| systematic random sampling | select every Kth case; can introduce periodicity problems |
| stratified sampling | assures accurate proportion from important groups |
| random digit dialing | random phone numbers with the same area code |
| multistage cluster sampling | multistage sampling in which natural groups are sampled initially, with members of each selected group being subsampled afterward |
| respondent driven sampling | no probability theory involved; don't involve a random sampling framework |
| purposive sampling | you select units to be observed on the basis of your own judgment |
| snowball sampling | often employed in field research whereby each person interviewed may be asked to suggest additional people for interviewing |
| quota sampling | units are selected into the sample on the basis of prespecified charateristics; purpose is to have proper distribution |
| informant | someone well versed in the social phenomenon that you wish to study and who is willing to tell you what he or she knows. |
| conceptualization | process of attributing meaning to/clarifying a concept |
| operationalization | process of attributing indicators to a concept |
| concept | an abstract schema meant to classify certain phenomena |
| dimensions | a specific aspect of a concept |
| nominal definition | definition for the purposes of measurement |
| indicator | an observation we believe reflects a concept; never good to have only one |
| operational definition | precisely how a concept is measured |
| direct observables | first hand observations |
| indirect observables | interviews, questionnaires, court documents, |
| constructs | theoretical phenomena that can not be observed directly or indirectly |
| nominal | categorical distinctions |
| ordinal | rank order distinctions |
| interval | standard intervals with meanings; IQ scores |
| ratio | standard intervals with meaning and true zero |
| validity | systematic measurement error; what extent are we able to measure what we purport to measure |
| reliability | random measurement error; can be solved by test-retest to see consistency |
| face validity | quality of an indicator that makes it seems a reasonable measure of some variable |
| content validity | degree to which a measure covers the range of meanings included within a concept |
| criterion-related validity | degree to which a measure relates with some external criterion |
| construct validity | degree to which a measure relates to other variables as expected within a system of theoretical relationships |
| index | the accumulation of scores from particular indicators. |
| units of analysis | the what or whom being studied. In social science research, the most typical units of analysis are individual people. |
| respondent | person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey |
| questionnaires | document containing questions and other types of items designed to solicit information appropriate to analysis |
| dimension | a specifiable aspect of facet of a concept; ex. religiosity can be connected to ritual dimension or devotional dimension. |
| likert scale | a format in which respondents are asked to strongly agree, agree, etc |
| self-administered questionnaires | mail questionnaire or web-based questionnaires |
| interview-administered questionnaires | telephone interview or face-to-face interview |
| survey research | research technique in which questionnaires or interviews are administered to a selected group of people |
| social desirability | when respondents filter the answer of what will make them look good |
| representativeness | that quality of a sample of having the same distribution of characteristics as the population from which it was selected |
| measurement error | Inaccurate responses to statements/questions due to poor wording, poor interviewing, survey mode effects or respondent behaviour |
| measurement error - self administered | • Clear Directions • Clearly worded items • Contamination problems |
| measurement error - interviewer | • Interviewer distortion or subversion • Advantages for clarification • Require thorough training of interviewers • Social desirability bias |
| constructing items | use statements over questions; make items clear; use short terms; avoid negatives; avoid double-barreled items |
| double barreled question | asking for one answer when the question actually has multiple parts |
| bias | any property of questions that encourages the respondent to answer in a particular way |
| respondent prerequisites | - Make items relevant to the respondent - Respondents must be competent to answer - Respondents must be willing to answer - Avoid biased, derogatory and offensive language |
| close ended questions | respondent is asked to select an answer among a list provided by the researcher; this is preferable |
| semantic differential | questionnaire format in which the respondent is asked to rate something in terms of two opposite adjectives (boring vs exciting) while using "very", "somewhat", "neither" to measure degree |
| non-response error | No response from people we contact who would have provided different answers to questions/statements than those who did respond |
| avoid non-response errors | Increase Rewards, Reduce Costs, Establish Trust |
| increase rewards | • Show positive regard • Give verbal appreciation • Use a consulting approach • Support her/his values • Offer tangible rewards • Make the Questionnaire interesting |
| reduce cost | • Make the task appear brief • Reduce physical and mental effort • Eliminate chance of embarrassment • Eliminate direct monetary costs |
| establish trust | • Provide token of appreciation in advance • Identify with a known/legitimate organization • Build on other relationships |
| statistical significance | describes a confidence that sample findings are true in the population; general terms referring to the likelihood that relationships observed in a sample could be attributed to sampling error alone |
| quantitative analysis | numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect |
| SPSS | Statistical Package for the Social Sciences |
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