Key Concept Quiz 5 Flashcards
Anecdotal Observations
A method of data collection where we rely on what we have personally observed in our day-to-day lives.
Causality
When the change in one variable causes a change in another variable.
Central Tendencies
The mean, median, and mode of a social group or category. These represent the typical or common characteristics of a social group or category.
Confirmation Bias
The bias to accept uncritically anything that confirms our worldview and to be overly critical of anything that challenges or disproves our worldview. Simply put, we are all biased to favor information that confirms what we already believed.
Correlation
A shared relationship between two variables.
Cross-Sectional Data
Data collected at a single point in time. For example, a study that surveys students right after they graduate from college
Cross-tabulation
A table that displays two or more variables in a way that makes it easy for you to compare the relationship between two variables.
Data
The facts and information used in research.
Dependent Variable (DV)
The outcome or event that is influenced or caused by the independent variable. For example, if we think A causes B, then B is the dependent variable.
Disproportionality
When the size of one proportion is larger or smaller than we would expect based on other known proportions.
Empirical Data/Evidence
Information acquired from using the scientific method that can be verified (or falsified) by other researchers.
Ethnographers
Researchers who enter the everyday lives of those they study in hopes of understanding how they navigate and give meaning to their worlds.
Generalizations
Conclusions about a population in general that are drawn from specific observations of people from that population (i.e. the sample).
Hypotheses
A tentative prediction researchers have about what they are going to discover before research begins.
In-Depth Interviews
A method of collecting data based on asking a person a set of questions and having a conversation with him or her focused on gathering information related to the research.
Independent Variable
The factors which we think influence or cause a particular outcome or event. For example, if we think A causes B, then A is the independent variable.
Longitudinal Data
Data collected at multiple points over a long period of time. For example, a study where students are surveyed after their first, second, third, and fourth year of college.
Mean
The average of a data set.
Median
The value in the middle of a data set.
Operationalization
The process of taking abstract ideas and turning them into things that can be measured.
Overrepresentation
-When a group experiencing something is disproportionately larger than we would expect based on their size in the population.
Population
Every possible person in the group you want to research. For instance, in a study of U.S. college students’ social media habits the population would be all college students in the country.
Probability/Odds
The chances that some event or outcome will under certain circumstances.
Qualitative Research
Research that uses detailed interviews, direct observations, and/or historical records to examine how a particular group interprets and gives meaning to the world around them.
Quantitative Research
Research that uses statistics to analyze numerical data (i.e. numbers). Examples include studies that use surveys like the U.S. Census or analyses of public records like a study of home property values or applications for marriage.
Representativeness
The degree to which a sample is similar to the population it is supposed to represent.
Research Questions
The question(s) a research seeks to answer with their study. Comprised of a independent variable that influences or causes the dependent variable to change.
Sample
The group of people from the population who are asked to participate in a research study.
Sampling Bias
When the way participants are recruited leads researchers to draw a sample that is unrepresentative of the population and thus the conclusions researchers draw from their unrepresentative data may be inaccurate.
Spurious Relationships
Relationships between two variables that seem to be correlated, but really the correlation is caused by a third variable.
Statistics
The use of mathematics to estimate facts about a population from data collected from a sample.
Surveys
A method of data collection where respondents are given a questionnaire with a set of standardized questions.
Systematic Observations
A method of data collection where observations are collected based on pre-defined rules and procedures.
The Atomistic Fallacy
When we use individual level data to draw conclusions about groups of people.
The Ecological Fallacy
When group level data is used to draw conclusions about individual members of that group.
Thick Descriptions
- Rich and detailed descriptions of the ways people in a specific social context make sense of their lives, written from the perspective of those people themselves.
Underrepresentation
When a group experiencing something is disproportionately smaller than we would expect based on their size in the population.
