basic concepts Flashcards
what are quantitative methods?
a research method of the social sciences
what are the two families of research methods
- qualitative methods
- quantitative methods
give a few things that are entailed in quantitative methods
- using measurement (specific)
- use samples
- numbers from samples = statistics
what is the simple rule of sampling?
every individual in the population has an equal probability of being part of the sample
what is statistical interference?
using the results of a sample to make a conclusion about the whole population
what is statistic?
- anything to do with DATA that will lead to a conclusion
what is data?
- numbers
- pieces of info
- data needs to have MEANING attached
- data are values along with their context
what are the two essentials questions to ask about data?
- who
- what
what is a variable
a characteristic of people or things, usually shown as the columns of a data table + they identify the WHAT question
how is data obtained? (2 ways)
- observational study
- experiment
explain observational study
- observing individuals and measures variables of interest
- describes some group/situation
- SAMPLE SURVERYS = observational
explain experimental study
treatments put onto individuals (test) to see their responses
what is a population?
collections of all the data values for the variable of interest (hard to get)
what is a sample?
a subset of the population (easier to collect)
explain the way it’s all collected
- population has observations inside
- u grab a few to make samples
- then u make the census > inference (conclusion about the whole population)
