research methods Flashcards
what is the purpose of research in the social sciences
the main focus of the social sciences is understanding or changing human behavior
what does psychology study
internal cognitive causes, individual behaviors specific relationships/ environments a person might be in
what does sociology study?
how certian groups of people are treated/ behave differently from one another
anthropology
how values traditions, ideologies, norms influence behavior, culture-specific behaviors
woman and gender studies
how and why behaviors/ experiences differ by gender
what is the goal of basic research
describe some aspect of society and advance or understanding of it
what is the goal of applied research
to directly address some problem or need
what are the 4 elements of social science research?
- patterns in social life
- empirical evidence
- transparency of methods
- provisional knowledge
empirical evidence
evidance that can be observed or documented using human senses
what is quantitative data
evidance that can be summarized numerically
what does qualitative data mean
evidence that is not numerical in nature
variables
measures that have different values
what are independent variables
associated with causes that change in the value of dependent variable
what are dependent variables
changes in response to the independent variable
what does correlation mean
a relationship in which change in one variable is connected to change in another
hypothesis
a statement about the relationship between variables that is to be investigated
what is transparency of methods
the requirement that researchers explain how they collected and analyzed their evidence and how they reached their conclusions
what is provisional knowledge
claims that are tentative and open to revision in the face of new evidence
what is a challenge of social research?
-researchers are often unable to control conditions
-social life cannot be predicted
-humans are conscious of being studied which may change their behavior (Hawthorne effect)
hawthorne effect
humans are conscious of being studied which may change their behavior
what is theory research dynamic?
highlighting key questions, explaining collected data, seeing connections
what are the research methods in the social sciences
surveys, interviews and focus groups, field research, existing sources
what are surveys
a data collection techniguq that involves asking someone a series of questions
what is a population
the target group a researcher is interested in studying
sample
part of the population that represents the whole
generalize
describing patters of behavior of a larger population based on findings from a sample
what is a random sample
a sample in which every element of population has an equal chance of being chosen
convenience sample
a sample that is not representatice in statistical sense of a broader target population
quota sample
specific groups in the broader target population are included in representative proprtions
closed ended questions
are quntitative data
open ended questions
qualitative data
intensive interviews and focus groups
a data gathering technique that uses open ended questions during somewhat lengthy face to face sessions
field research/ ethnography
a data collection technique in which the researcher systematically observes some aspect of social life in its natrual setting
what are the subcategories of existing sources
secondary data analysis, content analysis
what is institutional review board
reviews research studies to ensure that they comply with applicable regulations and meet commonly accepted ethical standards
what are the categories of research ethics
anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, institutional review board
what is secondary data analysis
what is secondary data analysis
content analysis
a variety of techniques that enable researchers to systemically summarise and anlyzye the content of various forms of communications
