Chapter 2 Key Term

Question 1

quantitative methods

Answer 1

Approaches to sociological research that draw on objective and statistical data and often focus on documenting trends, comparing subgroups, or exploring correlations.

Question 2

qualitative methods

Answer 2

Approaches to sociological research that often rely on personal and/or collective interviews, accounts, or observations of a person or situation.

Question 3

hypothesis

Answer 3

Ideas or educated guesses about a given state of affairs, put forward as bases for empirical testing.

Question 4

research methods

Answer 4

The diverse methods of investigation used to gather empirical (factual) material. Different research methods exist in sociology, but the most commonly used are fieldwork (or participant observation) and survey methods. For many purposes, it is useful to combine two or more methods within a single research project.

Question 5

ethnography

Answer 5

The firsthand study of people using observation, in-depth interviewing, or both. Also called fieldwork.

Question 6

participant observation

Answer 6

A method of research widely used in sociology and anthropology in which the researcher takes part in the activities of the group or community being studied.

Question 7

survey

Answer 7

A method of sociological research in which questionnaires are administered to the population being studied.

Question 8

population

Answer 8

The people who are the focus of social research.

Question 9

pilot study

Answer 9

A trial run in survey research.

Question 10

sample

Answer 10

A small proportion of a larger population.

Question 11

representative sample

Answer 11

A sample from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population.

Question 12

sampling

Answer 12

Studying a proportion of individuals or cases from a larger population as representative of that population as a whole.

Question 13

random sampling

Answer 13

Sampling method in which a sample is chosen so that every member of the population has the same probability of being included.

Question 14

measures of central tendency

Answer 14

The ways of calculating averages.

Question 15

correlation coefficients

Answer 15

The measure of the degree of correlation between variables.

Question 16

mean

Answer 16

A statistical measure of central tendency, or average, based on dividing a total by the number of individual cases.

Question 17

mode

Answer 17

The number that appears most often in a given set of data. This can sometimes be a helpful way of portraying central tendency

Question 18

median

Answer 18

The number that falls halfway in a range of numbers-a way of calculating central tendency that is sometimes more useful than calculating a mean.

Question 19

standard deviation

Answer 19

A way of calculating the spread of a group of numbers.

Question 20

degree of dispersal

Answer 20

The range or distribution of a set of figures.

Question 21

experiment

Answer 21

A research method by which variables can be analyzed in a controlled and systematic way, either in an artificial situation constructed by the researcher or in a naturally occurring setting.

Question 22

comparative research

Answer 22

Research that compares one set of findings on one society with the same type of findings on other societies.

Question 23

empirical investigation

Answer 23

Factual inquiries carried out in any area of sociological study.