Chapter 4

Question 1

purposes research

Answer 1

exploration, description, explanation

Question 2

exploration and purpose

Answer 2

little known about topic, figure out what relevant concepts and appropriate methods are needed for a more thorough study
-to satisfy the researcher’s curiosity and desire for better understanding
-to test the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study
-to develop the methods to be employed in any subsequent study
Shortcoming: seldom provide satisfactory answers to research questionsd

Question 3

description and purpose

Answer 3

provide numbers or qualitative accounts of a certain state of affairs: what, where, when how?
want to describe situations and events, describe what they observe

Question 4

explanation and purpose

Answer 4

why? how? identify the causes of what needs to be explained and asses whether they affect the phenomenon of interest. more deeper understanding or explanation of how much the interest is influenced
attempt to develop an initial, rough understanding of some phenomenon

Question 5

nomothetic model

Answer 5

trying to find a few factors (independent variables, causes) that can account for many of the variations in a given phenomenon. (probabilistic and usually incomplete)

Question 6

idiographic model

Answer 6

seek a complete, in depth understanding of an individual case

Question 7

criteria nomothetic causal relationships

Answer 7

1.variables must be correlated
2.time order: cause takes place before the effect
3.the variables are non spurious, the effect can’t be explained in terms of some third variable

Question 8

spurious relationship

Answer 8

a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be cause by some third variable

Question 9

hypothesizing

Answer 9

two variables will be correlated with each other

Question 10

unit of analysis

Answer 10

the what or whom being studied

Question 11

social artefact

Answer 11

any product of social beings or their behaviour can be a unit of analysis. Each social object implies a set of all object of the same class

Question 12

criteria nomothetic causal relationships

Answer 12

-variables must be correlated
-the cause must take place before the effect
-the variables are non-spurious, the effect can’t be explained in terms of some third variable

Question 13

correlation

Answer 13

an empirical relationship between two variables in such that change in one are associated with changes in the other; particular attributes of one variable are associated with particular attributes of the other

Question 14

spurious relationship

Answer 14

a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be cause by some third variable

Question 15

hypothesizing (nomothetic model of causal analysis)

Answer 15

two variables will be correlated with each other

Question 16

necessary cause

Answer 16

represents a condition that must be present for the effect to follow (you have to take college courses in order to get a degree)

Question 17

sufficient cause

Answer 17

represents a condition that guarantees the effect in question, there are other ways to get to the condition (skipping an exam guarantees failure, but you can fail in other ways too)

Question 18

units of analysis

Answer 18

the what or whom being studied

Question 19

ecological fallacy

Answer 19

basing conclusions about individuals solely on the observation of a group (class average IQ is high so every student’s IQ is high)

Question 20

Reductionism

Answer 20

trying to explain a phenomenon in terms of a limited and/or lower-order concept (blaming coach for performance of sports team)

Question 21

cross-sectional studies

Answer 21

study based on observations representing a single point in time (problem: conclusions based on observations only at one time but typically aim at understanding causal processes that occur over time)

Question 22

longitudinal research

Answer 22

trend/cohort/panel
involving data collected at different points in time

Question 23

trend study

Answer 23

longitudinal study in which a given characteristic of a population is monitored over time

Question 24

cohort

Answer 24

longitudinal
some specific subpopulation or cohort is studied over time, although data may be collected from different members in each set of observation

Question 25

conceptualization

Answer 25

specify the meaning of the concepts and variables to be studied

Question 26

operationalization

Answer 26

how to actually measure the variables under study

Question 27

elements research proposal

Answer 27

-problem or objective
-literature review: what theories exist?
-subjects for study: unit of analysis
-measurements: what are key variables in study
-analysis: which kind;purpose and logic of analysis
-schedule: provide schedule for stages
-budget
-institutional review boar