Chapter 2

Question 1

research methods

Answer 1

approaches that social scientists use for investigating the answers to questions

Question 2

quantitative methods

Answer 2

methods that seek to obtain information about the social world that is already in or can be converted to numeric form

Question 3

qualitative methods

Answer 3

methods that attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form

Question 4

deductive approach

Answer 4

a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations, and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory

Question 5

inductive approach

Answer 5

a research approach that starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory

Question 6

correlation (or association)

Answer 6

simultaneous variation in two variables

Question 7

causality

Answer 7

the notion that a change in one factor results in a corresponding change in another

Question 8

reverse causality

Answer 8

a situation in which the researcher believes that A results in a change in B, but B, in fact, is causing A

Question 9

dependent variable

Answer 9

the outcome that the researcher is trying to explain

Question 10

independent variable

Answer 10

a measured factor that the researcher believes has a causal impact on the dependent variable

Question 11

hypothesis

Answer 11

a proposed relationship between two variables

Question 12

operationalization

Answer 12

the process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study

Question 13

validity

Answer 13

the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure

Question 14

reliability

Answer 14

the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure

Question 15

generalizability

Answer 15

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied

Question 16

reflexivity

Answer 16

analyzing and critically considering our own role in, and effect on, our research

Question 17

feminist methodology

Answer 17

a set of systems or methods that treat women’s experiences as legitimate empirical and theoretical resources, that promote social science for women (think public sociology, but for a specific half of the public), and that take into account the researcher as much as the overt subject matter

Question 18

population

Answer 18

an entire group of individual persons, objects, or items from which samples may be drawn

Question 19

sample

Answer 19

the subset of the population from which you are actually collecting data

Question 20

case study

Answer 20

an intensive investigation of one particular unit of analysis in order to describe it or uncover its mechanisms

Question 21

participant observation

Answer 21

a qualitative research method that seeks to uncover the meanings people give their social actions by observing their behavior in practice

Question 22

survey

Answer 22

an ordered series of questions intended to elicit information from respondents

Question 23

historical methods

Answer 23

esearch that collects data from written reports, newspaper articles, journals, transcripts, television programs, diaries, artwork, and other artifacts that date back to the period under study

Question 24

comparative research

Answer 24

a methodology by which two or more entities (such as countries), which are similar in many dimensions but differ on one in question, are compared to learn about the dimension that differs between them

Question 25

content analysis

Answer 25

a systematic analysis of the content rather than the structure of a communication, such as a written work, speech, or film

Question 26

experimental methods

Answer 26

methods that seek to alter the social landscape in a very specific way for a given sample of individuals and then track what results that change yields; often involve comparisons to a control group that did not experience such an intervention