test 1 Flashcards
Constructivism
theory of knowledge according to which human development is socially situated and knowledge is constructed through interaction with others
illogical reasoning
when we prematurely jump to conclusions or argue on the basis of invalid assumptions
inaccurate observation
An observation based on faulty perceptions of empirical reality
overgeneralization
Occurs when we assume that broad patterns exist even when our observations have been limited
selective observation
choosing to look only at things that are in line with our preferences or beliefs
resistance to change
the reluctance of adapting to change when it is presented
Positivism
describe an approach to the study of society that relies specifically on empirical scientific evidence, such as controlled experiments and statistics
Qualitative methods
approaches to sociological research that often rely on personal and/or collective interviews, accounts, or observations of a person or situation
Quantitative methods
methods that convert data to numerical indicators, and then analyze these numbers using statistics to establish relationships among the concepts
Social science (characteristics and components)
the use of empirical data, research, methodology, theory, and terminology.
Triangulation
the use of multiple research methods as a way of producing more reliable empirical data than are available from any single method
descriptive research
research conducted to clarify the characteristics of certain phenomena to solve a particular problem
evaluation research
Research undertaken for the purpose of determining the impact of some social intervention, such as a program aimed at solving a social problem.
explanatory research
research that attempts to explain why things do or do not happen by examining the relationship between social variables
Exploratory Research
Research conducted to gather more information about a problem or to make a tentative hypothesis more specific
Cross-population generalizability
the ability to generalize from FINDINGS about one group, population, or setting to other groups, populations, or settings
Direction of association
A pattern in a relationship between two variables - the values of variables tend to change consistently in relation to change on the other variable; the direction of association can be either positive or negative.
Generalizability
degree to which the validity of a selection method established in one context extends to other contexts
Inductive vs. deductive research
inductive reasoning aims at developing a theory while deductive reasoning aims at testing an existing theory
Longitudinal research design
Research in which individuals are studied over an extended period of time, often over multiple developmental stages.
Measurement validity
the correlation between some measure and some outcome that the measure is supposed to predict
Replications
repetitions of a study using the same research methods to answer the same research question
Research circle
theory, hypothesis, data, empirical generalizations
Sample generalizability
when a conclusion based on a sample, or subset, of a larger population holds true for that population
Social research question
a question about the social world that you seek to answer through the collection and analysis of firsthand, verifiable, empirical data
Theory
A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data
Validity
The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure
internal validity vs external validity
INTERNAL VALIDITY - The degree to which a researcher controls for and reduces the effects of extraneous variables than can affect study outcomes so that they represent true outcomes.
EXTERNAL VALIDITY - The degree to which results from an experiment can be generalized to other individuals beyond the study
Variable
A factor that can change in an experiment
Belmont Report
respect for persons, beneficence, justice
Beneficence
action that is done for the benefit of others. Do no harm.
Code of ethics (ASA)
- To protect research subjects
- To maintain honesty and openness
- To achieve valid results
- To encourage appropriate application
Ethical standards for psychological research
subjects must participate only VOLUNTARILY
subjects must give INFORMED CONSENT to participation
when subjects are deceived, they must be DEBRIEFED
Conflict of interest
A situation in which a person in a position of responsibility or trust has competing professional or personal interests that make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially.
Debriefing
the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants
IRB (Institutional Review Board)
Board that reviews research proposals for ethical violations/procedural errors
Laud Humphries Research
study has been criticized on ethical grounds in that he observed acts of homosexuality by masquerading as a voyeur, did not get his subjects’ consent, used their license plate numbers to track them down, and interviewed them in disguise without revealing the true intent of his studies
Milgram Study
a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience.
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
A study in which the U.S. Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed the progression of syphilis in hundreds of poor African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama, without providing them with a known cure for the disease.
Vulnerable populations
Persons with diminished autonomy; specifically children, people with cognitive impairments, older adults, people with severe health problems, employees, and students.
Standford Prison Experiment
The experiment had people playing guards and prisoners in a simulated prison. Purpose was to see the effects of authority of role playing. When good people are put in bad situations, who wins? The outcome was the the “guards” and “prisoners” began to take their roles seriously and the experiment had to be called off after 6 days.
closed-ended vs. open-ended questions
Open-ended questions are questions that allow someone to give a free-form answer. Closed-ended questions can be answered with “Yes” or “No,” or they have a limited set of possible answers
Concept
A general idea or thought about something
Conceptualization
is the process in which the researchers identify key concepts used in the research and provide a unified explanation of those concepts so that both the research team and the audience is on the same page.
Ecological fallacy
a methodological error, in which characteristics of a population as a whole are attributed to groups within that population, without any real connection between them being demonstrated
Exhaustive
a property or attribute of survey questions in which all possible responses are captured by the response options made available, either explicitly or implicitly, to a respondent.
Index
a way of compiling one score from a variety of questions or statements that represents a belief, feeling, or attitude
Indicator
something that stands for a concept and enables (in quantitative research at least) a sociologist to measure that concept
Levels of Measurement: Nominal
Assign numbers to classify characteristics into categories (#1 = male, #2 = female)
Levels of Measurement: Ordinal
Rank objects based on their relative standing on an attribute; distance between categories is not equal (eg. non smoker, 1/2 pack/day, 1 pack/week, etc)
Measurement
the process by which we describe and ascribe meaning to the key facts, concepts, or other phenomena that we are investigating
Mutually exclusive
a statistical term describing two or more events that cannot happen simultaneously
Operationalization
turning abstract concepts into measurable observations
Reductionist fallacy
Inferences about group processes drawn from individual level data. A measure is reliable if the measure yields consistent values when the level of the phenomenon being measured is not changing.
Reliability
the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting
Test-retest reliability
the temporal stability of a test from one measurement session to another
Unit of analysis
specifies whether data should be collected about individuals, households, organizations, departments, geographical areas, or some combination
Census
A complete enumeration of a population
nonprobability sampling
a sampling technique in which there is no way to calculate the likelihood that a specific element of the population being studied will be chosen
Nonrespondents
sample members who are mistakenly not contacted or who refuse to provide input in the research
Population
The total number of individuals or objects from which a sample is taken for study
Simple random sampling
A sampling procedure in which each member of the population has an equal probability of being included in the sample
Systematic sampling
A procedure in which the selected sampling units are spaced regularly throughout the population; that is, every n’th unit is selected.
Cluster sampling
A probability sampling technique in which clusters of participants within the population of interest are selected at random, followed by data collection from all individuals in each cluster
stratified sampling
a variation of random sampling; the population is divided into subgroups and weighted based on demographic characteristics of the national population
Random digit dialing
A technique used by pollsters to place telephone calls randomly to both listed and unlisted numbers when conducting a survey.
Random sampling
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
Representative sample
randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects
Sample
a subset of the population
Sampling error
an error that occurs when a sample somehow does not represent the target population
Sampling frame
list of individuals from which a sample is actually selected
Sampling units
Individual units of a population
