SOCIAL SCIENCE AND RESEARCH Flashcards
study the behavior of humans as members of societies
Social Science
study the nature and dynamic of interactions and relationships between individuals, group, and institutions that comprise society
Social Science
Study human societies, their contextual bound, and the interactions and processes that preserve and change them
Sociology
Scientific discipline that studies mental states, biological processes and behavior
Psychology
Systemic study of governance which examines the state, its organs and institutions
Political Science
Studies human beings in aspects ranging from biology and evolutionary history of our species, to the features of society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species
Anthropology
Seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumptions of wealth and resources
Economics
The rational, abstract and methodical consideration of reality as a whole or of fundamental dimensions of human existence and experience
Philosophy
Studies the chronological record of events, as affecting a nation or people, based on a critical examination of source material and usually presenting an explanation of their causes
History
The study of diverse environments, places, and spaces of Earth’s surface and their interactions
Geography
A standardized set of techniques for building scientific knowledge
Scientific Method
Make valid observations, interpret results, generalizing the results
Scientific Method
Four key characteristics of Sci Method
Logical
Confirmable
Repeatable
Scrutiniziable
Scientific interferences must be based on logical principles of reasoning
Logical
Interferences derived must match either observed evidence
Confirmable
Other scientist should be able to independently replicated or repeat a scientific study and obtain similar, if not identical, results
Repeatable
The procedures used, and the interference derived, must withstand critical scrutiny (peer review) by other researchers
Scrutiniziable
Conducted in new areas of inquiry
Exploratory
Goals of exploratory research
- Scope out the magnitude or extent of a particular phenomenon, problem, or behavior
- Generate some initial ideas about that phenomenon
- Test the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study regarding that phenomenon
Directed at making careful observations and detailed documentation of a phenomenon of interest
Descriptive
Seeks the explanations of observed phenomena, problems or behaviors
Explanatory
Involves the use of computational, statistical, and mathematical tools to derive results
Quantitative
Dependent on the collection of behavioral, observational, or verbal data that can be interpreted in a subjective manner
Qualitative
Involves primary sources held from archives, a special collections library or other repository
Archival Research
can be manuscripts, documents, records, objects, sound, and audiovisual materials, or other materials
Archival Sources
Examines a person, place, event, phenomenon in order to extrapolate key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity
Case Study
Group by group analytic treatment of individuals having a statistical factor in common to each group
Cohort Analysis
Group members share particular characteristic or experience
Cohort Analysis
Method to study groups or culture over a period of time.
Ethnography
The goal is to comprehend the particular group or culture through immersion into the culture or group
Ethnography
Implores the use of dependent and independent variable
Experiment
Presumed cause
Independent Variable
Stable and unaffected by other variables. It refers to the condition of the experiment that is systemically manipulated by the researcher.
Independent Variable
Presumed effect
Dependent Variable
Variable that depends on other factors that are measured. Expected to change as result of an experimental manipulation of the independent variable.
Dependent Variable
Academic or other investigative studies undertaken in natural setting, rather than in laboratories, classrooms, or other structured environments
Field Studies
small, round table discussion groups charged with examining specific topics or problems, including possible options or solutions.
Focus Group Discussion
Consists of participants, guided by moderators to keep the discussion flowing and to collect and report the results
Focus Group Discussion
Coordinated the process of the conversation and asks questions
Interviewer
Respond to the questions
Interviewee
can be unstructured, semi structured, structured
Interview
Researcher becomes involved intensively with the people in their environment which helps them gain a close and intimate familiarity with a group of individuals and their practices
Participant Observation
Technically termed as “statistical interference”
Survey
process of using data from a sample to make estimates or test hypotheses about a population
Survey
