Final Exam

Question 1

Participant Observant

Answer 1

a method of qualitative research by which the researcher ob-
serves and engages with the community or social groups from which she wants to under-
stand a social phenomenon

Question 2

Belmont Report

Answer 2

code providing guidelines for ethical research

Question 3

3 Principles of the Belmont Report

Answer 3

1. respect (for persons) 2. Benefit 3. Justice

Question 4

Natural Experiment

Answer 4

researcher does not randomly
assign the level of the independent variable

Question 5

4 Hurdles to establishing a casual relationship

Answer 5

1. Is there a correlation between X and y?
2. Can we rule out reverse causation?
3. Is there a credible causal mechanism?
4. Have we controlled for all confounding variables?

Question 6

Goal of sampling

Answer 6

to make inferences about a
population by studying a sample

Question 7

representative surveys

Answer 7

(we make informed estimates of how close we are to the true
population value)

Question 8

target population

Answer 8

Population to which you would like to generalize your results

Question 9

sampling frame

Answer 9

Set of all cases from which you will select the sample.

Question 10

non-response bias

Answer 10

a bias that occurs when a certain group of people are the ones that respond to a survey

Question 11

coverage
errors

Answer 11

failure to cover adequately all components of the population being studied

Question 12

Survey Experiments

Answer 12

treatment is usually textual or information, DV is something
you could ask in a survey. Often online.

Question 13

Lab Experiments

Answer 13

takes place in a lab. Often involves behavior, interaction or
fancy measurements (e.g., skin conductance)

Question 14

Field Experiments

Answer 14

DV is usually real-world behavior, treatments vary.

Question 15

Natural experiments

Answer 15

treatment is not assigned by researchers

Question 16

Fundamental problem of causal inference

Answer 16

for any individual unit, we can observe only one of Y(1) or Y(0) (controlled by limiting confounders)

Question 17

Internal validity

Answer 17

Did we accurately identify the causal effect we care about?
Are there factors other than the intended independent vari-
able that could be responsible for the outcome?

Question 18

External validity

Answer 18

extent to which experimental findings (specifically: causal
effects) may be generalized to other settings, measurements,
populations, and time periods

Question 19

Between subject

Answer 19

– each subject is assigned to either treatment or control upon
entering the study
– comparison is made between groups of people (and require
assumption of equivalence between groups)

Question 20

Within-subject

Answer 20

– each person serves as both treatment and control
– comparisons are made for a given person under treatment
and under control

Question 21

Factorial designs

Answer 21

An experiment in which two or more variables (factors) are
manipulated independently

Question 22

Natural experiments

Answer 22

experiments in which the intervention is
not under the control of the researcher

Question 23

Payoffs of Natural Experiments

Answer 23

much stronger causal identification than traditional
case studies or correlational (quantitative) analyses

Question 24

Types of Natural Experiments

Answer 24

1. Randomizing device (with a known
   probability) divides a population
2. Jurisdictional studies
   - make use of geographic divisions to study similar populations
   that find themselves by chances on opposite sides of some
   divide
3. Omnibus (“other”) category
   - e.g., effect of bad weather on economics

Question 25

Are Large-N or small-N better for controlling for confounding variables?

Answer 25

Large-N

Question 26

Degrees of Freedom

Answer 26

df : # observations − (number of IVs and controls)

Question 27

Benefits of process tracing

Answer 27

→ addresses causal mechanisms
→ addresses concerns about reverse causation

Question 28

Four types of process-tracing tests

Answer 28

1. Straw-in-the-Wind
2. Hoop tests
3. Smoking Gun test
4. Doubly-decisive

Question 29

Straw-in-the-Wind Test

Answer 29

Can increase plausibility of a
hypothesis (or raise doubts), but are
not decisive by themselves

Question 30

Hoop Test

Answer 30

hypothesis must “jump through the
hoop” in order to remain under
consideration

Question 31

Smoking Gun Test

Answer 31

provides sufficient criterion for
accepting explanation, but is
not necessary

Question 32

Doubly Decisive Test

Answer 32

provides necessary criteria and
sufficient criteria for accepting
explanation (confirms one hypothesis while ruling out all others)

Question 33

motivational biases

Answer 33

we not only see what we expect to see, but particularly what
we want to see

Question 34

Complexity

Answer 34

in a system (units/elements are interconnected), chains of
consequence extend over time and many areas

Question 35

Fraud

Answer 35

falsifying data

Question 36

Spurious correlation:

Answer 36

a correlation that is not what it
appears to be

Question 37

P-hacking

Answer 37

the practice of reanalyzing data in many
different ways and only presenting the preferred results

Question 38

The garden of forking paths

Answer 38

The unconscious tendency of individuals to fit their
processing of information to conclusions that suit some end or goal