Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is Science?
Any organized body of knowledge.
What is the Scientific Method?
Method of explanation. Develops & tests theories about how observable facts or events are related.
What is a Theory?
Casual explanation of relationship between observable facts/events.
What is a Hypothesis?
Tentative statement about relationship between facts/events.
What is a Variable?
Characteristic that varies among different individuals or groups.
What is an Independent Variable?
Whatever is hypothesized to be the cause of something. What the experimenter manipulates.
What is a Dependent Variable?
Whatever is hypothesized to be the effect of something. Variable that is measured.
What does Significant mean?
Not likely to have occurred by chance.
What is Correlation?
Significant relationship found in the data.
What is Causation?
Significant relationship variable causes changes in another variable.
What is an Inference?
A casual statement based on data showing a significant relationship.
What is Spurious?
Describing a relationship among facts or events that is not casual but is a product of the fact that both the independent and dependent variables are being caused by a third factor.
What is Deductive Reasoning?
To infer from a general theory to a particular case.
What is Inductive Reasoning?
To observe one phenomenon or series of phenomenon and make general assertions based on that observation.
What is Empirical?
Referring to observable facts and events; what is.
What is Normative?
Referring to values or norms; what should be.
What Scientific Attitude?
Doubt or skepticism about theories until they have been scientifically tested.
What is a Universal Statement?
A statement that applies to every circumstance.
What is a Probabilistic Statement?
A statement that applies to some proportion of circumstances.
What is an Experiment?
A scientific test controlled by the researcher to observe effects of a specific program or treatment.
What is the Experimental Group?
The group that will participate in the program or undergo the treatment under study.
What is the Control Group?
Does not undergo treatment, used for comparison.
What is a Null Hypothesis?
Statement that the program or treatment has no effect.
What is the Sample?
In survey research, the people chosen to represent the opinions of a larger group.
What is the Universe in survey research?
The whole group about which information is desired
What is a Random Sample?
Subset of the population in which there is an equal chance of each person in the universe being selected in the sample.
What is the Sampling Error?
The range of responses in which a 95% chance exists that the sample reflects the universe. (An equation)
What is Public Opinion?
The collection of opinions of individuals on topics in survey research.
What are Salient Issues?
Issues people think about most and hold strong and stable opinions about.
What is a Push Poll?
A survey that asks questions in order to sway opinion for a particular candidate or position.
What is the Halo Effect?
The tendency to give “good-citizen” responses to pollsters.
What is Field Research?
Directly observing social behavior.
What is Participant Observation?
Researchers both observe and participate in the behavior being studied.
What is Ethnography?
Systematic description of a society’s customary behaviors, believes, and attitudes.
What is a Case Study?
An in-depth investigation of a particular event.
What is the Sociological Perspective?
What we do and how we think are the result of exposure to human groups.
