Research Methods Chapter 2

Question 1

a form of qualitative research that is focused on providing a detailed account of one or more cases

Answer 1

Case study research

Question 2

a variable that varies in type or kind

Answer 2

Categorical variable

Question 3

a form of nonexperimental research in which the primary independent variable of interest is a categorical variable

Answer 3

Causal-comparative research

Question 4

relationship in which one variable affects another variable

Answer 4

Cause-and-effect relationship

Question 5

uses the deductive or confirmatory or “top down” scientific method; it is used primarily for description, explanation, and prediction.

Answer 5

Quantitative research

Question 6

the “bottom up” or inductive exploratory method is used; it is used primarily for the purposes of description and exploration and to gain an understanding of how people think and experience their lives.

Answer 6

qualitative research

Question 7

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Answer 7

Complementary strengths

Question 8

an extraneous variable that was not controlled for and is the reason a particular “confounded” result is observed; an extraneous variable that systematically varies with the independent variable and also influences the dependent variable

Answer 8

Confounding variable

Question 9

What is the difference between a categorical variable and a quantitative variable?

Answer 9

A categorical variable varies in type or kind and a quantitative variable varies in degree or amount. An example of the former is gender, and an example of the latter is class size.

Question 10

Why is experimental research more effective than nonexperimental research when a researcher is interested in studying cause and effect?

Answer 10

Strong experimental research designs (i.e., the best experiments) include both manipulation and random assignment; nonexperimental research has neither of these. “Manipulation” is an action taken by the researcher in the world (e.g., providing a treatment to one group and a control condition to another group); manipulation allows us to see a manipulation first, and then observe the outcome or result of the manipulation. “Random assignment” makes the groups similar on ALL extraneous variables at the beginning of the experiment; hence, the only difference between the groups will be the level of independent variable received, allowing the differences observed after the experiment is completed to be attributed to the manipulated independent variable.

Question 11

What are the main problems with the simple cases of causal-comparative and correlational research?

Answer 11

The problem with BOTH of these simple cases is that the researcher has no manipulation, no random assignment, and is only able to determine whether a statistical relationship is present. Observing a relationship is NOT enough information to attribute causation! To make a causal attribution, you need to meet three conditions: 1) show that there is a relationship, 2) show that you have the correct time ordering of your variables, that is, if A causes B then A must precede B in time, and 3) all alternative explanations must be ruled out. Again, all the simple cases give us is a relationship (i.e., condition 1). (On the other hand, a well conducted strong experiment satisfies all three conditions.)

Question 12

a single value or category of a variable

Answer 12

Constant

Question 13

Quantitative research has what two major subtypes?

Answer 13

experimental and nonexperimental

Question 14

Qualitative research’s six major subtypes

Answer 14

phenomenology, ethnography, narrative inquiry, case study, grounded theory, and historical research.

Question 15

a numerical index that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

Answer 15

Correlation coefficient

Question 16

a form of nonexperimental research in which the primary independent variable of interest is a quantitative variable

Answer 16

Correlational research

Question 17

a system of shared beliefs, values, practices, perspectives, folk knowledge, language, norms, rituals, and material objects and artifacts that members of a group use in understanding their world and in relating to others

Answer 17

Culture

Question 18

a variable that is presumed to be influenced by one or more independent variables

Answer 18

Dependent variable

Question 19

all events have causes

Answer 19

Determinism

Question 20

a form of qualitative research focused on discovering and describing the culture of a group of people

Answer 20

Ethnography

Question 21

research in which the researcher manipulates the independent variable and is interested in showing cause and effect

Answer 21

Experimental research

Question 22

a variable that may compete with the independent variable in explaining the outcome; any variable other than the independent variable that might influence the dependent variable; a variable that you need to “control for” to eliminate it as a competing explanation for the observed relationship between an independent and a dependent variable

Answer 22

Extraneous variable

Question 23

advises researchers to thoughtfully and strategically mix or combine qualitative and quantitative research methods, approaches, procedures, concepts, and other paradigm characteristics in a way that produces an overall design with complementary strengths (broadly viewed) and nonoverlapping weaknesses

Answer 23

Fundamental principle of mixed research

Question 24

a qualitative approach to generating and developing a theory from the data that the researcher collects

Answer 24

Grounded-theory research

Question 25

research about people, places, and events in the past; the process of systematically examining past events or combinations of events to arrive at an account of what happened in the past

Answer 25

Historical research

Question 26

the description of how members of a group interact and how they come together to make up the group as a whole

Answer 26

Holistic description

Question 27

the proposition that one cannot mix quantitative and qualitative research

Answer 27

Incompatibility thesis

Question 28

a variable that is presumed to cause a change in another variable

Answer 28

Independent variable

Question 29

a variable occurring between two other variables in a causal chain (also known as a mediating variable)

Answer 29

Intervening variable

Question 30

the idea that people see and understand the world through the lens of their local language; people’s thoughts are bound by their language (also called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)

Answer 30

Linguistic-relativity hypothesis

Question 31

an intervention studied by an experimenter

Answer 31

Manipulation

Question 32

research that involves the mixing of quantitative and qualitative methods or other paradigm characteristics

Answer 32

Mixed research

Question 33

a variable that changes the relationship between other variables

Answer 33

Moderator variable

Question 34

the study of experience when experience is understood as lived and told stories. It is a collaboration between researcher and participants, over time, in a place or series of places and in social interaction with their social milieus.

Answer 34

Narrative inquiry

Question 35

the situation when scores on two variables tend to move in opposite directions

Answer 35

Negative correlation

Question 36

research in which the independent variable is not manipulated and there is no random assignment to groups

Answer 36

Nonexperimental research

Question 37

a form of qualitative research in which the researcher attempts to understand how one or more individuals experience a phenomenon

Answer 37

Phenomenology

Question 38

the situation when scores on two variables tend to move in the same direction

Answer 38

Positive correlation

Question 39

the philosophical position that what works is what is important or “valid

Answer 39

Pragmatism

Question 40

a cause that usually produces an outcome; changes in variable A tend to produce changes in variable B

Answer 40

Probabilistic cause

Question 41

research that relies primarily on the collection of qualitative data

Answer 41

Qualitative research

Question 42

research that relies primarily on the collection of quantitative data

Answer 42

Quantitative research

Question 43

a variable that varies in degree or amount

Answer 43

Quantitative variable

Question 44

a perspective held by a community of researchers that is based on a set of shared assumptions, concepts, values, and practices

Answer 44

Research paradigm

Question 45

a condition or characteristic that can take on different values or categories

Answer 45

Variable

Question 46

a method of empathetic understanding of others’ viewpoints, meanings, intentions, and cultural beliefs

Answer 46

Verstehen

Question 47

Concrete reality Formulas and models Generalizable patterns/trends/findings Perspective: unbiased and detached researcher seeking to gain the objective truth

Answer 47

Positivism/post-positivism

Question 48

Reality is individual/local/contextual Focuses on understanding the constructed reality of the “other” Exploring, gaining a better understanding Perspective: the researcher co-constructs reality with participants to give voice to the story of participants

Answer 48

Constructivist

Question 49

Variables like 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place

Answer 49

Ordinal

Question 50

Variables: (name) used to put people/participants in groups

Answer 50

Nominal

Question 51

Purpose of this research: determine and demonstrate cause and effect relationships.

Answer 51

Experimental research

Question 52

Purpose of this research: determine the correlation of variables

Answer 52

Non experimental research

Question 53

every single person had the same chance to be able to participate in the study

Answer 53

Random selection

Question 54

In research, when there's a relationship between one thing and another

Answer 54

Correlation

Question 55

Three required conditions for causality

Answer 55

relationship, temporal order, and lack of alternative explanation.