Chapter 2 Key Term Flashcards
quantitative methods
Approaches to sociological research that draw on objective and statistical data and often focus on documenting trends, comparing subgroups, or exploring correlations.
qualitative methods
Approaches to sociological research that often rely on personal and/or collective interviews, accounts, or observations of a person or situation.
hypothesis
Ideas or educated guesses about a given state of affairs, put forward as bases for empirical testing.
research methods
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.
ethnography
The firsthand study of people using observation, in-depth interviewing, or both. Also called fieldwork.
participant observation
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.
survey
A method of sociological research in which questionnaires are administered to the population being studied.
population
The people who are the focus of social research.
pilot study
A trial run in survey research.
sample
A small proportion of a larger population.
representative sample
A sample from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population.
sampling
Studying a proportion of individuals or cases from a larger population as representative of that population as a whole.
random sampling
Sampling method in which a sample is chosen so that every member of the population has the same probability of being included.
measures of central tendency
The ways of calculating averages.
correlation coefficients
The measure of the degree of correlation between variables.
mean
A statistical measure of central tendency, or average, based on dividing a total by the number of individual cases.
mode
The number that appears most often in a given set of data. This can sometimes be a helpful way of portraying central tendency
median
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.
standard deviation
A way of calculating the spread of a group of numbers.
degree of dispersal
The range or distribution of a set of figures.
experiment
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.
comparative research
Research that compares one set of findings on one society with the same type of findings on other societies.
empirical investigation
Factual inquiries carried out in any area of sociological study.
