Research Design Test 1 Flashcards
SOAN 380 Vocab
conflict of interest
if researchers’ interests or loyalties compromise the way they design, conduct, or report their research
debriefing
the process of interviewing participants after the study and then informing them of the actual purpose of the experiment
demand characteristics
the process whereby research subjects, when they become aware of a study’s hypothesis, behave in a way that confirms that hypothesis
data swapping
a statistical technique for ensuring confidentiality in which data on households that have been matched on a set of key variables are swapped across blocks
suppression
a technique for ensuring confidentiality in which data are simply not shown
deductive disclosure
the use of unique combinations of variables to identify specific individuals in data sets
certificate of confidentiality
a certificate issued by the National Institute of Health that allows researchers to protect participants from future requests for data disclosure
confidentiality
when participants’ identifying information is only accessible to the research team
anonymity
when no identifying information can be linked to respondents and even the researcher cannot identify them
research protocol
a description from the researcher of the intended methods and procedures, target population and recruitment methods, possible risks and benefits of the study, and major research questions
human subjects research
any study of persons that is a systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge
risk versus benefit analysis
an assessment in which the potential harms to research subjects are weighed against the potential benefits of the research
nuremberg code
a set of ethical principles for human subjects research, including the requirement of informed consent, developed in the wake of the Nuremberg Trials following World War II
institutional review board (IRB)
a committee located at an institution where research is done that is responsible for reviewing all research involving human subjects and preventing ethical violations in the research
privacy
control over the extent, timing, and circumstances of sharing oneself with others
vulnerable population
a group of people who cannot give informed consent, including those who are underage or have diminished mental capacity
informed consent
the freedom to say yes or no to participating in a research study once all the possible risks and benefits have been properly explained
justice
the principle that research must be conducted in a fair manner with the potential risks and benefits distributed equally among participants
beneficence
the principle that refers to the responsibility to do good and to protect subjects from harm in a research study
respect
the principle that people are to be treated as autonomous agents in research studies and that those with diminished autonomy receive protection
mediating variable
the variable that links the independent variable to the dependent variable
dependent variable
in a causal hypothesis, the variable that is acted upon; the outcome we are seeking to understand
independent variable
in a causal hypothesis, the concept purported to be the cause; the variable on which values of the dependent variable may depend
annotated bibliography
a list of cites with a short description of the content of the text as well as the reader’s thoughts on the text
abstract
a brief description of the comment of a scientific report
literature review
a systematic reading of the body of theory and evidence to determine what has been done (and how) and what needs to be done
variables
representations that capture the different dimensions, categories, or levels of a concept
operationalization
the process of linking the conceptualized variables to a set of procedures for measuring them
conceptualization
the process of precisely defining ideas and turning them into variables
causal inference
the degree of confidence that an observation based on the test of a hypothesis is truly causal
causal hypothesis
a statement that the relationship between two concepts is the result of cause and effect
hypothesis of association
a statement that two variable will increase or decrease together, without an explicit specification of cause and effect
hypothesis difference
a testable statement about group differences in some concept
null hypothesis
a hypothesis that no relationship between concepts exists or no difference in the dependent variable between groups exist
hypothesis
a testable statement of a relationship between two concepts
spuriousness
when an apparent relation between two concepts is actually the result of some third concept (confound) influencing both of them
moderation
the strength of the association between two variables is made weaker or stronger by a third variable
mediation
the expected relation between two concepts is channeled through a third concept that links them to each other
concept
an idea that can be named, defined, and eventually measured in some way
postmodernism
a paradigm characterized by significant skepticism of claims about general truths, facts, or principles
positivism
the paradigm holding that all knowledge can be confirmed or refuted through empirical observation
paradigm
a broad set of taken-for-granted and often unacknowledged assumptions about how social reality is to be defined
inductive approach
the process by which scientists draw a general understanding of some social phenomenon through specific empirical observations
meso level
the middle ground way of thinking about social life, focusing on the physical settings and organizations that link individuals to the larger society
micro level
the most intimate way of thinking about social life, focusing on face-to-face interaction and small-group processes
macro level
the broadest way of thinking about social life, focusing on the structure, composition, and processes of society
scientific method
the systematic process of asking and answering questions in a rigorous and unbiased way
empiricism
the idea that the world can be subjected to observation, or the use of the senses to gather data about social phenomena
qualitative data analysis
the process by which researchers draw substantive findings from qualitative data such as text, audio, video, and photographs
quantitative data analysis
the process by which substantive findings are drawn from numerical data
sampling
the process of deciding what or whom to observe when you cannot observe and analyze everything or everyone
validity
a quality of a measure concerning how accurate it is
reliability
a quality of a measure concerning how dependable it is
ethics
the moral system that determines whether actions are right or wrong, good or bad
theory
a sequential argument consisting of a series of logically related statements put forward to illuminate some element of social life
explanatory research
research that documents the causes and effects of social phenomena, thus addressing questions of why
exploratory research
research that tends to answer questions of how, with the goal of documenting precisely how particular processes and dynamics unfold
descriptive research
research that documents or describes trends, variations, and patterns of social phenomena
value-free
the goal of being objective and not biased by personal ideologies
scientific method
the systematic process of asking and answering questions in a rigorous and unbiased way
ecological fallacy
a mistake that researchers make by drawing conclusions about the micro level based on some macro-level analysis
unit of analysis
the level of social life about which we want to generalize
attrition
the loss of sample members over time, usually to death or dropout
prospective design
a study that follows individuals forward over time
cohort design
a type of longitudinal study design in which data are collected from a particular cohort at multiple time points
causality
a relationship where one factor or variable is dependent on another factor or variable
longitudinal study design
a study in which data are collected at multiple time points
panel design
a type of longitudinal study in which data are collected on the same subjects at multiple time points
repeated cross-sectional study design
a type of longitudinal study in which data are collected at multiple time points but from different subjects at each time point
cross-sectional study design
a study in which data are collected at only one time point
