Research problems & Theory and research Wk3

Question 1

Because quantitative researchers use numeric data in their analyses, they need to

Answer 1

quantify or operationalise their conceptual or theoretical ideas

Question 2

When researchers convert a ‘concept’ into something that is measurable and testable, it becomes a

Answer 2

‘variable’

Question 3

A variable has

Answer 3

attributes, i.e. categories or values that depict its characteristics

Question 4

What is a ‘proposition’

Answer 4

logically joins two or more concepts,

Question 5

When a proposition is converted to a something that is measurable and testable, it is called a

Answer 5

‘hypothesis’

Question 6

A theory is

Answer 6

an idea

Question 7

knowledge is

Answer 7

a tested and verified idea

Question 8

A conceptual definition gives:

Answer 8

meaning to a particular concept, is typically what you would find in a dictionary, is usually easily communicated to other people, and remains abstract (i.e. it gives no indication of how the concept could be measured)

Question 9

An operational definition:

Answer 9

clearly identifies how a concept can or will be measured and any information that may need to be collected to make those measurements

Question 10

In an operational definition, the measurement is taken from the researcher’s perspective and thus is only applicable in

Answer 10

quantitative research

Question 11

A variable is an operationalised concept that can be

Answer 11

measured, and whose characteristics (or attributes) can vary

Question 12

There are three types of variables in quantitative research:

Answer 12

independent, dependent, and extraneous (or confounding)

Question 13

independent variable (IV) is

Answer 13

what the researcher expects to “cause” or predict something

Question 14

dependent variable (DV) is

Answer 14

the “outcome”, “consequence” or “effect” that the researcher is interested in measuring/observing,

Question 15

extraneous/confounding variables are

Answer 15

ALL THE OTHER REASONS THAT COULD CAUSE THE IV OR DV

Question 16

A hypothesis is:

Answer 16

(i) a testable proposition and therefore can be measured, and (ii) is a formal and logical statement that identifies the proposed relationship between the IV and DV, in the population of interest

Question 17

There are two main types of hypotheses:

Answer 17

i) a research (or scientific) hypothesis, and (ii) a statistical (or null) hypothesis

Question 18

The main difference between a scientific and statistical hypothesis is

Answer 18

that a scientific hypothesis states the expected relationship, but the statistical hypothesis states that there is no relationship, between the IV and DV

Question 19

A null hypothesis is symbolised as

Answer 19

H0

Question 20

A research hypothesis is symbolised as

Answer 20

Ha or H1

Question 21

There are two types of research hypotheses:

Answer 21

(i) directional, and (ii) non-directional

Question 22

Directional hypotheses state

Answer 22

the direction in which the IV and DV are expected to be related to one another,

Question 23

a non-directional hypothesis only states that

Answer 23

the IV and DV are related, and not the proposed direction of this relationship

Question 24

There are two opposing philosophical paradigms that influence the methods researchers use and how they make sense of the findings:

Answer 24

(i) positivist, and (ii) interpretive

Question 25

the positivist (or empirical paradigm) assumes there

Answer 25

is a single reality; uses both inductive and deductive reasoning; seeks the objective truth; believes that to know the whole it only needs to know the parts; assumes the world is stable and predictable; and uses an etic (or outsider) approach to understand the world

Question 26

the interpretive paradigm assumes there

Answer 26

are multiple realities; uses only inductive reasoning; seeks to understand subjective experiences; assumes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; assumes the world is always changing; and uses an emic (or insider) approach to understanding the world

Question 27

CONFOUNDING VARIABLE:

Answer 27

An extraneous variable. A variable that is so closely linked to the variable a researcher intends to measure that their independent effects can not be established ALL THE OTHER REASONS THAT COULD CAUSE THE IV OR DV