topic 2 Flashcards
Normative
what should be the case?”
- Often starts with “should we”, “is it justifiable”
- Not asking for legal facts
- Cannot be answered by using observation only (need to think why it is justifiable)
Conceptual
: “what’s the meaning of the case?” - Often starts with “what is”
- Cannot be answered using observations
- Often “just” based on agreement
Empirical
“what is the case?”
- Can only be answered by using observations
- 1 & 2 are relevant too when asking empirical question, not what you hope to find out
two types of empirical question
- Descriptive: about description (making an inventory / giving a picture) (process evaluation) - Explanatory: about cause and effect (causal / providing explanation) (outcome evaluation
Clear empirical research questions have:
Descriptive: about description (making an inventory / giving a picture) (process evaluation) - Explanatory: about cause and effect (causal / providing explanation) (outcome evaluation)
Clear empirical research questions have:
units, variables, setting
units
Are described by theoretical variable(s)
- Objects the research question is about (person, city, company, year, day in the week, etc…) - Identifying units: If variable is known, ask “what or who is characterized by this variable?”
variables
They describe Unit(s) of analysis
- Possible characteristics (attributes) of these units (unemployment, income, quality, etc…) - Identifying variables: If unit is known, ask “what characteristics does the unit have?”
Setting (context)
Describes the situation
- Example: place, time, etc.
what does a good question have
contect, causal or not, autos, answerable
predictive
not causal but not descriptive
in what language are theories written
language of variables
on what is social thoery concentrated
explain what is, not what should be, theory should not be confused with philosofy and beliefs
social research has three main purposed
exploring, describing,explainig social phenomena
idiographic
seeks ti explain full understanding of specific cases
