Research Methods Flashcards
Audit Study
researchers match participants on key characteristics
Method
systematic study design
Confirmation bias
tendency to look for data that reinforces our beliefs
Human subject
person who participates in a study
Nuremberg Code
first international guidelines in ethics
Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment
experiment on black men in Alabama
Informed consent
voluntary agreement, understand potential risks and benefits
quantitative data
numbers
qualitative data
non-numerical data
experiment
environment is controlled to isolate the effects of one factor
survey
gather data by asking people questions
participant observation
researcher spends time among a group
historical analysis
analyze existing historical records
content analysis
analyze existing sources, focus on themes and patterns
unit of analysis
item observed in a study
variable
characteristic with more than one possible value
co-variation
relationship between variables
independent variable
causes change in another
dependent variable
changes in response to another
population
entire group of interest
operationalization
define variables into measurable items
sampling
selecting representatives
ethnography
in-depth study of a group and its culture
sampling frame
method for choosing members of a population
random sample
every member in a population has some chance of being selected
generalize
apply findings to a larger population
non-random sample
not every member in a population has a chance of being selected
nonresponse bias
patterns in who does and doesn’t respond
correlation
relationship between variables
causation
one variable causes a change in another
direction of relationship
which variable is affecting the other
spurious relationship
third variable explains a connection
validity
accurate
social desirability bias
respondents give answers they believe are socially acceptable
reliability
consistency
