Chapter 8 & 9

Question 1

What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative approaches?

Answer 1

Quantitative methods involve analyzing large data sets with few variables and many instances, while qualitative methods involve in-depth study of few instances with many variables.

Question 2

What are quantitative methods good at?

Answer 2

• testing hypotheses,
• analyzing relationships between variables using statistical methods.

Question 3

What are qualitative methods good at?

Answer 3

• generating hypotheses,
• cause and effect
• in-depth studies of individual cases.

Question 4

What is the context in which qualitative methods are well-suited?

Answer 4

hypothesis generation & exploratory research

Question 5

What is the context in which quantitative methods are well-suited?

Answer 5

hypothesis testing & testing generalizations about relationships between variables,

Question 6

What is the direction of causal inference in quantitative methods?

Answer 6

Forward causal inference, (from causes to effects)

Question 7

What is the direction of causal inference in qualitative methods?

Answer 7

reverse causal inference, (from effects to causes)

Question 8

What is case-study research?

Answer 8

intensive study of a single case to gain insights into a larger class of cases.

Question 9

What are some uses of case studies?

Answer 9

hypothesis generation, exploratory research, and understanding complex causal pathways.

Question 10

What is internal validity?

Answer 10

Internal validity refers to the degree to which a study’s findings are warranted for the case studied.

Question 11

What is external validity?

Answer 11

External validity refers to the degree to which a study’s conclusions are generalizable to a wider population.

Question 12

What is the trade-off between internal and external validity?

Answer 12

Measures taken to enhance internal validity may limit external validity, and vice versa.

Question 13

What are the two types of rationality?

Answer 13

Theoretical rationality (rationality of beliefs) and practical rationality (rationality of actions).

Question 14

What is objective rationality.

Answer 14

actions truly lead to your goal (good reasons)

Question 15

What is subjective rationality?

Answer 15

actions appear to lead you to your goal based on your beliefs (lucky sweater)

Question 16

How is practical rationality often understood?

Answer 16

means/ends rationality (actions are evaluated based on their effectiveness as means to an end)

Question 17

Provide an example of practical rationality.

Answer 17

One example is putting your hands in the fire if you want to experience pain, or burning lots of fossil fuels if you don’t care about climate change.

Question 18

Why do scientists talk about rationality? (2 reasons)

Answer 18

1. scientists need to be rational in their reasoning and actions.
2. assumptions of rationality are necessary to study and understand people.

Question 19

What is rational choice theory based on?

Answer 19

agents make choices based on the most effective means to achieve their goals
(means/end rationality)

Question 20

What is the problem with naive formulations of rational choice theory?

Answer 20

• agents have more than one goal
• agents may have conflicting goals

Question 21

How can someone represent their preferences in rational choice theory?

Answer 21

utility functions, which indicate the person’s preferences for different alternatives.

Question 22

What is the concept of expected utility in rational choice theory?

Answer 22

Expected utility is the average utility an agent would gain from a course of action, taking into account the likelihood of each scenario.

Question 23

What is one criticism of rational choice theory?

Answer 23

• agents do not always behave rationally, leaving no room for understanding or predicting irrational actions.

Question 24

What is bounded rationality?

Answer 24

Bounded rationality is the study of rationality in situations where there are practical restrictions, such as limited information, cognitive power, time, and interest.

Question 25

Give an example of a heuristic used in bounded rationality.

Answer 25

'’The recognition heuristic’’
- fast and fairly successful choice strategy where you choose what you recognize (quick decisions)

Question 26

What are the three functions of the emotion system?

Answer 26

• motivate us
• shows what is valuable to us
• helping us quickly identify important factors / make judgments based on past experiences and associations.