Exam 1 Flashcards
_________ moves from the specific to the general.
Induction
What are the common errors in non-scientific inquiry?
Inaccurate Observations Overgeneralizations Selective Observation Illogical Reasoning Ecological Fallacy
What are the foundations of social research?
Theory, not philosophy or belief
Social regularities
Aggregates, not individuals
A variable language
What are some dialectics of social research?
Idiographic / Nomothetic Explanation
Inductive / Deductive Theory
Quantitative / Qualitative Data
Pure / Applied Research
True or false: Nomothetic explanations seek to explain one case fully.
False, Idiographic explanations seek to explain one case fully.
What are nomothetic explanations?
Nomothetic explanations tend to be more general with scientists trying to identify a few causal factors that impact a wide class of conditions or events
Give an example of nomothetic and idiographic explanations in reference to how people find a job.
For example, when dealing with the problem of how people choose a job, idiographic explanation would be to list all possible reasons why a given person (or group) chooses a given job, while nomothetic explanation would try to find factors that determine why job applicants in general choose a given job.
_________ moves from the general to the specific.
Deduction
What is the difference between pure and applied research?
Pure research aims to conduct research and gain knowledge of society whereas applied research aims to apply knowledge to areas that would improve social life.
What are the three purposes of research?
- Exploration
- Description
- Explanation
What is a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be caused by some third variable.
Spurious relationship
In a ______ study, a researcher examines specific subpopulations, or cohorts, as they change over time.
Cohort
In a _____ study, data is collected from the same set of people at several points in time. It is a longitudinal study.
Panel
A ______ study is a type of longitudinal study in which a given characteristic of some population is monitored over time.
Trend
A _________ study involves data collected at different points of time.
Longitudinal
What is the major argument of Critical Race Theory? Who are the important scholars within this paradigm?
Critical Race Theorists consider judicial conclusions to be the result of the workings of power, they oppose racial subordination especially in the laws. The important scholars include Dubois and Derrick Bell.
What is the major argument of Feminist paradigms?
There is a great deal of focus on gender inequalities and how they are related to the rest of social orgnaization, they fight against injustice. They strive for social justice for women and people in marginal positions, both men and women.
What is the major argument of the Structural Functionalism paradigm? Who is the important scholar within this paradigm?
This paradigm argues that a social system is made up of parts; each part contributes to the functioning of the whole. The important scholar within this paradigm is Emile Durkheim
What is the major argument in Ethnomethodology? Who is an important scholar within Ethnomethodology?
Ethnomethodology examines the ways in which peole make sense of their world and how social order is created and shared. Example: “How are you?” does not mean a person wants to actually hear about how you really are. Harold Garfinkel is the important scholar within this paradigm.
What is the major argument of Symbolic Interactionism? Who are the most important scholars?
Symbolic interactionism focuses on the meaning created in social interaction. People use symbols to create meaning within interactions. The important scholars are George Mead, Erving Goffman, and Herbert Blumer (who coined the term: SI)
What is the major argument of Conflict Paradigm? Who is the most important scholar?
Social behavior could be best seen as the process of conflicts. Karl Marx is the most important scholar within the Conflict Paradigm.
What is the major argument of Early Positivism? Who is the most important scholar within this paradigm?
Society should be studied scientifically, as it is studied in natural science. Auguste Comte was the most important scholar within Positivism.
What is the inductive model?
We start with an observation, then we use generalizations and look for patterns, then finally we develop a theory
What are the steps within the Inductive Model?
Observations
Generalizations
Theory
Inductive or Deductive reasoning moves from specific to general?
Inductive reasoning
Inductive or deductive reasoning moves from general to specific?
Deductive reasoning
What are the foundations of social research?
- Theory
- Social regularities
- Aggregates
- A variable language
What is a variable?
A logical grouping of attributes. For example, the variable sex is made up of the attributes male and female
What is an attribute?
A characteristic of a person or a thing
For the variable “Race / Ethnicity”, what are some possible attributes?
White, African American, Asian, Latino, etc.
What are the three sources of knowledge?
- Agreement
- Direct experiences
- Authority, “experts”
Social scientific theory that aims to find patterns in social life is called what?
Social regularities
What are aggregates?
The social patterns of the collective, rather than the individual.
True or false: there is no one way to do research
True
These patterns reflect social patterns rather than individual patterns
Aggregates
What are some attributes for the variable “prejudice”?
Prejudiced and unprejudiced
Every time you study with a group, you do better on an exam than if you study alone. This type of explanation is an example of what?
Nomothetic explanations
You may have done poorly on an exam because 1. you forgot, 2. it was your worst subject, 3. a traffic jam made you late, 4. your roommate kept you up all night with music. You are wishing to explain one case fully, what type of explanation is this an example of?
Idiographic explanations
When we use _________ explanations, we seek to explain one case fully, we want to fully understand the causes of what happened in a particular instance.
Idiographic explanations
When we use _________ explanations, we are more general, covering a wider range of experience and observation, you seek to explain a class of situations or events rather than a single one. You use only one or just a few factors, it settles for a partial rather than full explanation.
Nomothetic explanations
__________ reasoning moves from the particular to the general
Inductive
__________ reasoning moves from the general to the specific.
Deductive
During this form of research, you are trying to gain knowledge for its own sake.
Pure research
In this type of research, knowledge is gathered with the intent of making a difference in the social world.
Applied research
Name the 4 foundations of social science
- Theory, not philosophy or belief
- Social regularities
- Aggregates, not individuals
- A variable language
Harold Garfinkel was an important scholar in which paradigm?
Ethnomethodology
This paradigm takes the point of view that people are continually creating social structure through their actions and interactions, that people are continually trying to make sense of the life they experience.
Ethnomethodology
In this paradigm, the theory is that social systems are made up of parts, each of which contributes to the functioning of the whole. Researchers functioning under this paradigm may look at the function of police in exercising social control.
Structural Functionalism
Derrick Bell and W.E. Debois are scholars of what sociological paradigm?
Critical Race Theory
The what or whom of being studied. In social research, the most typical ____________ are individual people.
Units of analysis
When you base a conclusion about individuals solely on the observation of groups, you are committing what?
Ecological fallacy
A _______ study is a type of longitudinal study in which a given characteristic of some population is monitored over time.
Trend
Individual person, social group, organization, a social interaction, a social artifact, a lifestyle. These can all be examples of what?
Units of analysis
True or false: research studies often combine more than one purpose (exploration, explanation, description).
True.
Both idiographic and nomothetic models of explanation rest on the idea of ___________.
Causation
What are the three basic criteria for establishing causation in nomothetic analyses?
- The variables must be empirically associated
- The causal variable must occur earlier in time than the variable it is said to effect.
- The observed effect cannot be explained as the effect of a different variable.
