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Quantitative Methods 280 > Chapter 2: What is Social Science Research? > Flashcards

Chapter 2: What is Social Science Research? Flashcards

1
Q

True or false, for the research to get anywhere, the question must be clear, communicable, and acceptable to a community of researchers

A

True

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2
Q

True or false, the terminology and abstraction used in research papers are there to remind the researcher to maintain a scientific outlook

A

True

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3
Q

What does being committed to objectivity mean?

A

be honest about data, whether or not it contradicts values

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4
Q

What is empirical verification?

A

scientific ideas must be connected to observations

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5
Q

What are the 4 aims of scientific research?

A

1- be objective
2- empirical verification
3- knowledge is collective, broaden and build it together
4- communicate honestly and clearly

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6
Q

What is skepticism?

A

value system of research leads researchers to disbelieve any statement that can’t be proved

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7
Q

True or false, if you can clearly describe HOW things are, then you should be able to explain WHY they are that way

A

True, because the universe is orderly

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8
Q

True or false, theories are the general ideas that give meaning to facts

A

True

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9
Q

What are hypothesies?

A

statements that express cause-and-effect relationships in a way that indicates they are not as supported by data as theories

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10
Q

For theory to be useful in guiding research, two things need to happen, what are they?

A
  1. break the theory down into a more narrow set of ideas

2. reformulate the ideas into a testable hypothesis

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11
Q

What are variables?

A

parts or aspects of reality that can change or vary.

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12
Q

What is the difference between independent variables and dependent variables?

A

indie: changing
dep: depend on the independent variable

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13
Q

What is operationalizing?

A

setting up systems of measurement or identification of change

laying out the rules for establishing changes in variables

eg. thermometers for temperature

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14
Q

What types of things do we use to operationalize or measure in the social world?

A

questions designed to establish how religious we are etc

statistical information

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15
Q

True or false, operationalizing the idea of work satisfaction would require a researcher to define it in such a way that the researcher can gather empirical evidence, such as absenteeism

A

True

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16
Q

What are the 4 major operationalization and measurement issues?

A

accuracy: are the results accurate or is there a built-in bias?
precision: is the variable operationalized so it can be measured proper?
reliability: are you getting consistent results, can it be repeated?
validity: is it testing what it should be?

17
Q

True or false, hypotheses in the social sciences are typically less precise than those in the natural sciences

A

True

18
Q

How does a researcher pick what they’ll study?

A

Current events
Controversy or disagreement
Past studies left something out, or they want to know more
Personal experience

19
Q

What are the two explanations of causal factors?

what do sociologists think about causal information?

A
  1. causality is real and its up to you to find evidence of it
  2. causality is just a way of organizing
20
Q

What four things need to be met in order to accept a causal interpretation of data?

A
  1. temporal order: cause must come before effect
  2. correlation: 2 variables change together in a consistent way
  3. elimination of alternatives: could it be something else?
  4. theoretical consistency: causal linkages must make sense
21
Q

True or false, scepticism is the negative/critical side of research

A

True

22
Q

True or false, with quantitative data, you never prove, you deal with probability

A

True

23
Q

True or false, deductive processes are top down reasoning, which move from general to specific

A

Deductive =
drilling down
moving from theory to testing it

24
Q

True or false, inductive reasoning is bottom up

A

True, moves from observations to theories

25
Q

what are theories?

A

systematic, logically connected ideas that explain a factual discovery

26
Q

True or false, the ultimate aim of scientific research is to explain and predict

A

True

27
Q

What is data mining?

A

looking for relationships, no theory at all

28
Q

True or false, a statement of prediction describes what you think will happen

A

True

29
Q

True or false, exploratory research doesnt have a hypothesis

A

true

30
Q

True or false, a hypothesis is a cause and effect relationship that isn’t supported yet

A

True

31
Q

What are 2 problems with analyzing and interpreting data?

A

overgeneralization and lying

Quantitative Methods 280 (5 decks)

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