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soc 20
Sociology research methods
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| selective observations | choosing to look only at things that are in line with out preferences of beliefs |
| inaccurate observations | an observation based on faulty perceptions of empirical reality |
| Overgeneralizing | occurs when we unjustifiably conclude that what is true for some cases is true for all cases |
| Illogical reasoning | when we prematurely jump to conclusions or argue on the basis of invalid assumptions |
| Resistance of change | the reluctance to change our ideas in light of new information |
| Scientific questions | Can be answered with appeals to empirical data (ex: has the US divorce rate increased since 1980) |
| Criteria for "good" scientific questions | -Feasibility - Social importance - Scientific relevance |
| Feasibility | can you conduct the study within the time and resources available? Is it within the limitations of the environment one can study? |
| Social Importance | is the research question important to other people? Will an answer to the research question be make a difference for society or for social relations? (importance is relative) |
| Scientific relevance | turn to the social science literature to find out what has already been learned about this [research] question (every research question should be grounded in the social science literature) |
| Major purposes of social research | -exploration -description -explanation -evaluation |
| Exploration | research in which social phenomena are defined and described. |
| Description | seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meaning they give to their actions, and what issues concern them |
| Explanation | seeks to identify and effects of social phenomena and to predict how one phenomenon will change or vary in response to variation in some other phenomenon |
| Evaluation | research that describes or identifies the impact of social policies and programs |
| General functions of theory in the social research process | 1) Help us organize and make sense of empirical observations 2) Direct us towards important research questions 3) Prevent us from being taken in by “flukes” 4) Help us predict future observations |
| Relation(s) between theory and data in research (“the research circle”) | Social research follows a circular process where theories inform data collection, and data influence theories. (theory --> data --> theory) |
| Deductive | the type of research in which a specific expectation is deduced from a general premise and is then tested - "I believe all apples are red," and then going out to check different apples to confirm if that's true or not. (general to specific) |
| Inductive | the type of research in which general conclusions are drawn from specific data - It's like noticing that "This apple is red, that apple is red, and another apple is red..." and then concluding. "Maybe all apples are red" (specific to general). |
| Dependent | a variable that is hypothesized to vary depending on, or under the influence of, another variable |
| Independent | a variable that is hypothesized to cause, or lead to, variation in another variable |
| Qualitative: | categorical (e.g. colors) |
| Quantitative | are measured on a numeric or quantitative scale (ordinal, interval, ratio) |
| Constant | characteristics of units that do not vary from cases to case in your sample (stays the same) |
| Hypothesis | a tentative statement about empirical reality, involving a relationship between two or more variables |
| Attributes | Characteristics or qualities that describe a variable. |
| Nature/Direction of relationships between variables (association): | a pattern in a relationship between two variables—the values tend to change consistently in relation to change on the other variable; the direction of association can be either positive or negative |
| Positive relationship | One variable increases as the other variable increases, or decreases as the other decreased, the direction is the same |
| Negative relationship | one variable increases as the other decreases, or vice versa, the direction is inverse |
| Index | a composite measure based on combining (often summing or averaging responses to multiple questions all intended to measure the same concept) |
| Advantages of Indexes | - Summarize complex concepts -increase reliability -capture broader - allow for comparisons |
| Conceptualization | the process of specifying what we mean by a term/concept |
| Operationalization | The process of defining how to measure a concept in real-world observations. |
| Exhaustive | a question’s response choices are exhaustive when they cover all possible responses |
| Mutually exclusive | Ensuring that a respondent or observation can belong to only one category. |
| Nominal level | variable whose values have no mathematical interpretation; they vary in kind of quality, but not in amount (ex: colors, type of pets, movie genres, sports teams) |
| Ordinal level | a variable in which the numbers indicating a variables values specify only the order of the cases, permitting greater than and less than distinctions (Grades, rankings) |
| Interval Level | a variable in which the numbers indicating a variable’s values represent fixed measurement units but have no absolute, or fixed zero point (Temperature (°C, °F), years, IQ scores) |
| Ratio Level | variable in which the numbers indicating a variable’s values represent fixed measuring units and an absolute value (Height, weight, income, age, time) |
| Measurement Validity | how well a test or instrument measures what it is supposed to measure. |
| Face validity | exists when an inspection of items used to measure a concept suggests that they are appropriate for "on their face" (Does the measurement look like it measures what it's supposed to?) |
| Content validity | exists when the full range of a concept’s meaning is covered by the measure (Does the measurement fully cover the concept it is supposed to measure?) |
| Criterion validity | established by comparing the scores obtained on the measure being validated with those obtained with a more direct or already validated measure of the same phenomenon (a test compares to another measure that is already accepted as valid.) |
| Construct validity | established by showing that a measure is related to other measures as specified in a theory |
| Convergent | The measure correlates with different measures of the same concept |
| Discriminant | The measure does not correlate with unrelated concepts. |
| Two subtypes of Criterion validity are: | Concurrent and Predictive |
| Concurrent | The measure correlates with an established measure taken at the same time |
| Predictive | The measurement accurately represent the predict future |
| Reliability | the extent to which measurement procedure yields consistent scores when the phenomenon being measure does not vary (produces the same results under the same conditions) |
| Test-retest reliability | showing that measures of a phenomenon at two points in time are highly correlated, if the phenomenon has not change, or has changed only as much as the measures have changed (taking a math test and taking it again in 2 months later) |
| Introbserver reliability (inter-coder) | consistency of ratings by an observer of an unchanging phenomenon at two or more points in time (Do different people give the same ratings?) |
| Inter-item reliability | calculates reliability based on the correlation among multiple items used to measure a single concept (Do different questions in the same test measure the same concept?) |
| Alternate-forms reliability | procedure for testing the reliability of responses to survey question in which subjects' answer are compared after the subjects have been asked slightly different versions of the same question. (do different versions of a test give similar results) |
| Split-half reliability | achieved when responses to the same questions by two randomly selected halves of a sample are about the same. (If we split a test into two halves, do both halves give similar scares?) |
| Cronbach's Alpha | a statistic commonly used to measure interitem reliability |
| Systematic measurement error | errors that consistently affect measurements in the same way, leading to bias |
| Random measurement error | affect individuals or other cases in unique ways that are unlikely to be repeated in just the same way. (errors that occur by chance and do not follow a pattern) |
| Key strengths in survey research | 1) Versatility (wide variety) 2) Efficiency 3) Generalizability |
| Errors of sample coverage | When the survey does not include the full target population (Online survey missing older adults) |
| Errors of Measurement | when survey questions lead to inaccurate answers or misleading responses. |
| Cause of errors of Measurement | -poorly worded questions -Respondents misunderstood the question -Social desirability bias |
| Satisficing | when survey respondents give satisfactory but not optimal answers to questions. They choose the easiest or quickest answer, leading to lower-quality data |
| Ordering of questions | -logical ordering -importance of first question -context effects |
| Self-Administered survey | respondents complete the survey on their own time, without direct interaction with an interviewer. |
| Interviewer-Administered | interviewer asks the questions and records responses. |
| Coding | the process of assigning numerical or categorical values to survey responses for easier analysis |
| Reverse-coding | Flipping response scales to avoid patterns |
| Response rates | the percentage of people who complete a survey out of those invited. |
| Reactive Effects | when respondents change their behavior because they know they are being observed or studied. |
| Agreement Bias | the tendency for respondents to agree with statements regardless of their true opinion. |
| social desirability bias | When people give answers they think are socially acceptable rather than their true thoughts or behaviors (ex. Someone might overreport charity donations or underreport smoking habits) |
| Position Bias | When respondents are influenced by the order of answer choices (people tend to pick the first or last options more often) |
| Representativeness | a sample that “looks like” the population from which it was selected in all respects that are potentially relevant to the study. |
| Probability sampling | relies on a random, or chance, selection method so that the probability of selection of population elements is known |
| Non-probability sampling | a sampling method where not everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected. |
| Generalizability | the extent to which it can be used to inform us about persons, places, or events that were not studied |
| Target population | a set of elements larger than or different from the population sampled and to which the researcher would like to generalize study findings |
| Sampling Error | any differences between the characteristics of a sample and the characteristics of a population; the larger the error the less representative the sample. |
| Sampling frame | list of all elements or other units containing the elements in a population |
| Random sampling | ensures that each individual in a population has an equal probability of being selected, reducing bias. |
| Parameter | characteristics of a population |
| Statistic | characteristics of a sample |
| Simple Random Sampling | every sample element is selected only on the basis of chance, through a random process (e.g. random number table, random digit dialing, replacement sampling) |
| systematic random sampling | sample elements are selected from a list or from sequential files, with every n-th element being selected |
| stratified random sampling | The population is divided into groups (strata) based on characteristics like age or gender, and then individuals are randomly selected from each group. |
| cluster sampling | elements are selected in two or more stages, with the first stage being the random selection of naturally occurring clusters and the last stage being the random selection of elements within clusters |
| periodicity | A pattern or cycle in data that repeats over time. (can be a problem if a systematic sampling method accidentally aligns with a repeating pattern, causing bias.) |
| availability / convenience sampling | A non-random method where researchers select participants who are easiest to reach (e.g., surveying people at a mall). It’s quick but may not be representative. |
| quota sampling | Researchers divide the population into groups (e.g., by age or gender) and then select a set number of participants from each group, but not randomly. |
| purposive sampling | Participants are chosen based on specific characteristics or expertise relevant to the study (e.g., selecting doctors for a study on medical practices). |
| snowball sampling | elements are selected as they are identified by successive informants or interviewees. (a small group of participants who then refer others, creating a growing sample) |
| Elements | the individual members of the population whose characteristics are to be measured. |
Created by:
enilyrod
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