Ch 2 The Logic of Social Research Flashcards
besides science, what are the 4 common sources of knowledge
tradition
experience
common sense
journalism
tradition
based on custom, habit, and repetition
founded on ancient wisdom and the ways of forebears
provides guidance, offer truth, and its the final word
grounded in religious traditions
important for moral values
what are two disadvantages to tradition?
resistant to change
confuses knowledge with values
experience
based on the assumption that truth and understanding can be achieved through personal experience, and that witnessing events will lead to an accurate comprehension of those events
common source of knowledge for human service workers
what are the 4 limitations to experience?
human perceptions are unreliable
human knowledge and understanding doesn’t come from direct perception, but rather from inferences made from the perceptions
vested interests in perceiving the thing a certain way
people observed may differ from other people in the population (not an accurate representation of all population)
common sense
practical judgments based the experiences, wisdom, and prejudices of a people
we say birds of a feather flock together AND opposites attract
what are 2 limitations to common sense?
does not involve a rigorous and systematic attempt to distinguish reality from fiction
discourages people from critically assessing commonsense with knowledge acquired from other source
journalism
grounded in observation
what are two differences between science and journalism?
the observations of scientists are more systematic (they are more careful in procedures)
journalism is not concerned with theory building and verification as a way of developing an abstract explanation of people’s behavior
science
a method of obtaining objective knowledge about the world through systematic observation
it’s empirical - based on direct observation
it’s systematic - organized, methodical, public, and recognized by other scientists
repeats studies multiple times
science is the search for causes
it’s provisional - accepted as tentative, subject to question
it strives for objectivity - try to avoid personal biases influence them
scientific practice
it’s empirical - based on direct observation
it’s systematic - organized, methodical, public, and recognized by other scientists
it’s provisional - accepted as tentative, subject to question
must deal with problem of professional objectivity - must guard against the intrusion of values into practice
in both research and practice settings, ____ plays a critical role in our understanding of reality and our ability to cope with problems
theories
what is a theory? and what 3 things do they include?
a set of interrelated, abstract propositions or statements that offers an explanation of some phenomenon
(efforts to describe what the world is like, and how it actually operates)
- propositions - statements about the relationship between some elements in the theory
- abstract systems - they link general and abstract propositions to particular, testable events or phenomena
- explanations - for the phenomena they address
what are three major functions of theories in research and practice?
explanation of phenomena - says what will happen under certain conditions and why it will happen
guide for research and practice - focus attention on key phenomena
integration of multiple observations - tell us why something happened and enable us to link outcomes of numerous studies and interventions made in different settings
the utility of theories must be based on their _____ effectiveness
demonstrated
verification of theories
has the intervention been shown to produce the desired results?
researchers approach the problem of verification by developing and testing hypotheses
concepts
mental constructs or images developed to symbolize ideas, persons, things, or events
they are the building blocks of theory
nominal definitions
verbal definitions in which scientists agree that one set of words or symbols will be used to stand for another set of words or symbols
(general definition)
operational definitions
definitions that indicate the precise procedures or operations to be followed in measuring a concept
(more specific)
measurement
process of moving from nominal to operational level
can be difficult going from nominal to operational
hypothesis
Testable statements of presumed relationships between two or more concepts
They state what we expect to find
Test the accuracy of a theory
Hypotheses specify how changes in one variable will be associated with changes in another variable
variables
things that are capable of taking on more than one value
product of operational definitions
guidelines for developing hypothesis
Hypotheses are linked to more abstract theories
It’s important that the independent and dependent variables in hypotheses are clearly specified
It’s important that the precise nature and direction of the relationship between variables be specified in the hypothesis
Should be stated in a way that can be verified or refuted
All concepts and comparisons in hypotheses must be clearly stated
independent variable
the presumed active or causal variable - the one believed to be producing changes in the dependent variable
example - peer acceptance of alcohol and parental supervision
dependent variable
the passive variable, or the one that is affected
example - alcohol use and substance abuse
deductive reasoning
Involves deducing or inferring a conclusion from some premises or propositions
Central to the scientific process
If the theory is correct, then hypotheses logically derived from them are correct
inductive reasoning
Involves inferring something about a whole group or class of objects from our knowledge of one or a few members of that group or class
It carries us from the observations or interventions to some assessment regarding the validity of theory
theories can focus on what two different explanations?
Nomothetic explanations
Idiographic explanations
Nomothetic explanations
focus on a class of events and attempt to specify the conditions that seem common to all those events
knowledge results from an understanding of a particular cause in relation to a class of events
attempt to develop knowledge that can be generalized beyond a single study or set of circumstances
probabilistic in nature
what are two weakness of nomothetic explanations?
you cannot say for sure what will happen in any particular case or to any specific person
you cannot make any claims of knowing the totality of causes that produced some event or phenomenon
Idiographic explanations
focus on a single person, event, or situation and attempt to specify all the conditions that helped produce it
knowledge results from a thorough understanding of the particular
see casualty in terms of a complex pattern of factors that combine over a period of time o produce an outcome
deterministic in nature
what is 1 weaknesses of idiographic explanations?
limited generalizability
it is difficult to determine whether knowledge can be extended beyond the particular case or situation being studied
paradigms
general ways of thinking about how the world works and how we gain knowledge about the world
two different categories: positivist approach and nonpositivist approach
Positivist approaches (positivism or logical empiricism)
argues that the world exists independently of people’s perceptions of it and that science uses objective techniques to discover what exists in the world
prefer quantitative research but will occasionally use qualitative research
use deductive and nomothetic explanations
quantitative research
Measurement of phenomena using numbers and counts
qualitative research
Data in the form of words, pictures, descriptions, or narratives
Nonpositivist approaches (interactionist or verstehen approaches)
social reality has a subjective component that arises out of the creation and exchange of social meanings during the process of social interaction
they see social reality
provide an understanding through empathy or fellow feeling
prefer qualitative approach
focus on inductive and idiographic theory
critical and feminist approach
Critical and feminist paradigms view society as consisting of groups (including scientists) that compete over scarce resources.
Science is a tool to influence changes in patterns of exploitation in society.
Science is not an objective means to discovery reality.
causality
some independent variable (x) is the factor, or one of several factors, whose change products variation in a dependent variable (y)
can only be inferred
what are 3 things needed to infer the existence of a causal relationship?
a statistical association between the independent and dependent variables
the independent variable must occur prior in time to the dependent
the relationship between independent and dependent variables must not be spurious; that is the relationship must not disappear when the effects of other variables are taking into account
