Research Methods Flashcards
Research methods
approaches social scientists use for investigating answers to questions
Quantitative methods
methods that seek to obtain information about the social world that’s already in or can be converted to numeric form
Qualitative methods
methods that attempt to collect information about the social world that cannot be readily converted to numeric form
- document meanings of action or describe mechanisms of social processes
Deductive approach
- positivism
- research approach
- starts with theory, forms hypothesis, makes observations, analyzes data to confirm, reject, or modify hypothesis
Inductive approach
- interpretivism
- research method
- starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory
Causality
when one thing causes another
Correlation/ association
simultaneous variation in 2 variables
3 factors to establish causality
- time order- establish this to prevent reverse causality
- ruling out alternatives
- Correlation
Reverse causality
a situation when you think that a results in a change in B, but actually b causes a
- if you have this, you screw up the time order
Dependent variable
the outcome that the researcher is trying to explain
- change in dependent variable depends on change in independent variable
Independent variable
- measured factor that researcher believes has causal impact on dependent variable
- can’t have more than one of these
Hypothesis
a proposed relationship between two variables usually with a stated direction
- positive- when variables move in same direction
- negative- when variables move in opposite direction
Operationalization
- the process of assigning a precise method for measuring a term being examined for use in a particular study. Defining product/ concept
- If the question can be approached in several ways, you haven’t refined it enough
- ex- defining poverty
Steps to hypothesis testing
- Operationalization- defining product/ concept
- Look at all the variables relating to concept
- Identify hypothesis- there’s also an equal and opposite alternative hypothesis
Validity
the extent to which an instrument measures what it is intended to measure
Reliability
the likelihood of obtaining consistent results using the same measure
Generalizability
the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied
