Chapter 3- Doing Sociological Research Flashcards
Controlled experiments
Method of collecting data that can determine whether something actually causes something else.
Dependent variable
The variable that is a presumed effect
Population
Relatively large collection of people that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made.
Indicators
Something that points to or reflects an abstract concept.
Random sample
Sample that give everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected.
Research design
The overall logic and strategy underlying a research project.
Percentage
The number of parts per hundred.
Overt participant observation
Form of participant observation wherein the observed individuals are not told they are being studied.
Qualitative research
Research that isn’t number based
Cross tabulation
Table that shows how the categories of two variables are related.
Overt participant observation
Form of participant observation wherein the observed individuals are told that they are being studied.
Informant
Inside man
Data analysis
Process by which sociologists organize collected data to discover what patterns and uniformities are revealed.
Quantitative research
Research that uses numerical analysis.
Sample
Sample any subset of units from a population that a researcher studies.
Generalization
Applying information obtained on a small sample of units to a larger population of the units.
Mean
The sum of a set of values divided by the number of cases from which the values are obtained; an average.
Correlation
The degree of positive (direct) or negative (inverse) association between two variables.
Inductive reasoning
The process of arriving at general conclusions from specific observations.
Serendipity
Unanticipated, yet informative, results of a research study.
Concept
Any abstract characteristic or attribute that has the potential to be measured.
Deductive reasoning
The process of creating a specific research question about a focused point, based on a more general or universal principle.
Participant observation
A method of whereby the sociologist becomes both a participant I’m the group being studied and a scientific observer of the group.
Rate
Parts per some numbers (for example, per 10000 or per 100,000
Replication study
Research that is repeated exactly, but on a different group of peoples at a different point in time.
Validity
The degree to which an indicator accurately measures or reflects a concept.
Independent variable
A variable that is the presumed cause of a particular result.
Debriefings
A process whereby a researcher explains the true purpose of a research study to a subject.
Mode
The most frequently appearing score among a set of scores.
Data
The systematic information that sociologists use to investigate research questions.
Reliability
The likelihood that a particular measure would produce the same results if the measure were repeated.
Scientific method
The steps in a research process, including observation, hypothesis testing, analysis of data, and generalization.
Evaluation research
Research assessing the effect of policies and programs
Content analysis
The analysis of meanings in cultural artifacts such as books, songs, and other forms of cultural communication.
Hypothesis
A statement about what one expects to find in research.
Median
The midpoint in a series of values that are arranged in numerical order.
Spurious correlation
A false correlation between X and Y, produced by their relationship to some third variable Z rather than by a true casual relationship to each other.
Informed consent
A formal acknowledgement by research subjects (respondents) that they understand the purpose of the research and agree to be studied.
Variable
Something that can have more than one value or score.
Hawthorne effect
The effect of the research process itself on the groups or individuals being studied; hence, the act of studying them often itself changes them.
Controlled experiments
A method of collecting data that can determine whether something actually causes something else.
Hypothesis
A statement about what one expects to find in research.
Indicator
Something that points to or reflects an abstract concept.
