Chapter 4 Flashcards
purposes research
exploration, description, explanation
exploration and purpose
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
description and purpose
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
explanation and purpose
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
nomothetic model
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)
idiographic model
seek a complete, in depth understanding of an individual case
criteria nomothetic causal relationships
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
spurious relationship
a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be cause by some third variable
hypothesizing
two variables will be correlated with each other
unit of analysis
the what or whom being studied
social artefact
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
criteria nomothetic causal relationships
-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
correlation
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
spurious relationship
a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be cause by some third variable
hypothesizing (nomothetic model of causal analysis)
two variables will be correlated with each other
necessary cause
represents a condition that must be present for the effect to follow (you have to take college courses in order to get a degree)
sufficient cause
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)
units of analysis
the what or whom being studied
ecological fallacy
basing conclusions about individuals solely on the observation of a group (class average IQ is high so every student’s IQ is high)
Reductionism
trying to explain a phenomenon in terms of a limited and/or lower-order concept (blaming coach for performance of sports team)
cross-sectional studies
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)
longitudinal research
trend/cohort/panel
involving data collected at different points in time
trend study
longitudinal study in which a given characteristic of a population is monitored over time
cohort
longitudinal
some specific subpopulation or cohort is studied over time, although data may be collected from different members in each set of observation
conceptualization
specify the meaning of the concepts and variables to be studied
operationalization
how to actually measure the variables under study
elements research proposal
-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
