Ch 2 The Logic of Social Research

Question 1

besides science, what are the 4 common sources of knowledge

Answer 1

tradition

experience

common sense

journalism

Question 2

tradition

Answer 2

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

Question 3

what are two disadvantages to tradition?

Answer 3

resistant to change

confuses knowledge with values

Question 4

experience

Answer 4

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

Question 5

what are the 4 limitations to experience?

Answer 5

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)

Question 6

common sense

Answer 6

practical judgments based the experiences, wisdom, and prejudices of a people

we say birds of a feather flock together AND opposites attract

Question 7

what are 2 limitations to common sense?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

journalism

Answer 8

grounded in observation

Question 9

what are two differences between science and journalism?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

science

Answer 10

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

Question 11

scientific practice

Answer 11

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

Question 12

in both research and practice settings, ____ plays a critical role in our understanding of reality and our ability to cope with problems

Answer 12

theories

Question 13

what is a theory? and what 3 things do they include?

Answer 13

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)

1. propositions - statements about the relationship between some elements in the theory
2. abstract systems - they link general and abstract propositions to particular, testable events or phenomena
3. explanations - for the phenomena they address

Question 14

what are three major functions of theories in research and practice?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

the utility of theories must be based on their _____ effectiveness

Answer 15

demonstrated

Question 16

verification of theories

Answer 16

has the intervention been shown to produce the desired results?

researchers approach the problem of verification by developing and testing hypotheses

Question 17

concepts

Answer 17

mental constructs or images developed to symbolize ideas, persons, things, or events

they are the building blocks of theory

Question 18

nominal definitions

Answer 18

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)

Question 19

operational definitions

Answer 19

definitions that indicate the precise procedures or operations to be followed in measuring a concept

(more specific)

Question 20

measurement

Answer 20

process of moving from nominal to operational level

can be difficult going from nominal to operational

Question 21

hypothesis

Answer 21

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

Question 22

variables

Answer 22

things that are capable of taking on more than one value

product of operational definitions

Question 23

guidelines for developing hypothesis

Answer 23

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

Question 24

independent variable

Answer 24

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

Question 25

dependent variable

Answer 25

the passive variable, or the one that is affected

example - alcohol use and substance abuse

Question 26

deductive reasoning

Answer 26

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

Question 27

inductive reasoning

Answer 27

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

Question 28

theories can focus on what two different explanations?

Answer 28

Nomothetic explanations

Idiographic explanations

Question 29

Nomothetic explanations

Answer 29

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

Question 30

what are two weakness of nomothetic explanations?

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Idiographic explanations

Answer 31

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

Question 32

what is 1 weaknesses of idiographic explanations?

Answer 32

limited generalizability

it is difficult to determine whether knowledge can be extended beyond the particular case or situation being studied

Question 33

paradigms

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Positivist approaches (positivism or logical empiricism)

Answer 34

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

Question 35

quantitative research

Answer 35

Measurement of phenomena using numbers and counts

Question 36

qualitative research

Answer 36

Data in the form of words, pictures, descriptions, or narratives

Question 37

Nonpositivist approaches (interactionist or verstehen approaches)

Answer 37

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

Question 38

critical and feminist approach

Answer 38

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.

Question 39

causality

Answer 39

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

Question 40

what are 3 things needed to infer the existence of a causal relationship?

Answer 40

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