Week 2 : Theory as Research Foundation

Question 1

Scientific Definition of Theory…

Answer 1

• Sequential arugement consisting of a series of logically related statements put forward to illuminate some element of social life
• A well-articulated and well-reasoned supposition about a social phenomenon that moves logically & systematically from one point to related points to a conclusion/expectation

Question 2

Empiricism…

Answer 2

The idea that the world can be subjected to observation, or the use of the senses to gather data about social phenomenon

Question 3

Scientific method

Answer 3

• theory & empiricism are the key ingredients of the scientific method
• systematic process of asking & answering qestions in a rigorous & unbiased way

Question 4

Purposes of theory

Answer 4

1. To describe
2. to Explain
3. To explore

Question 5

Purposes of theory

1- To describe

Answer 5

• a lot of details = concise, ‘thick’ description
• general patterns
• basic insights & principles
• Descriptive theory often arises from research studies and is not typically used to guide research studies
• usually associated with qualitative research
• e.g. demographic transition theory – (not too many concepts tho! best to focus on one or two things at a time)
• e.g. interpretivist research illustrates descriptive theory

Question 6

Purposes of theory

2 - To explain

Answer 6

• find real causes & effects
• predict change in one thing based on change in another thing
• articulate the processes through which a social phenomenon unfolds in order to pose hypotheses that can then be empirically tested
• it guides research studies
• quantitative methods
• e.g. theory of crime

Question 7

Purposes of theory

3 - To explore

Answer 7

• thery can point researchers to specific questions that need answers or angles that need to be considered
• guiding future exploration
• many concepts

Question 8

Key Characteristics of Theories

Answer 8

1. Testable & falsifiable
2. Generalizable
3. Probabilistic

Question 9

Key Characteristics of Theories

1 - Testable & Falsifiable

Answer 9

• means that can be qualitatively/quantitatively examined & proved wrong

Question 10

Key Characteristics of Theories

2 - Generalizable

Answer 10

• they can be applied to general classes of events rather than to only one event

Question 11

3 - probabilistic

Answer 11

• they point to what is likely to happen rather than what will certaintly happen

Question 12

2 ways researchers use theory in relation to their empirical analyses

1- Inductive approach

Answer 12

• goal is to build up to an explanation
• bottom-up
• starts with some clues, some data, some situations
• develop a hypothesis/theory from that

Question 13

2 ways researchers use theory in relation to their empirical analyses

2 - Deductive research

Answer 13

• the goal is to guice empirical activities
• top-down (theory guides action)
• starts with theory –> develop hypothesis/proposition –> figure out a way to test it using empirical data

Question 14

Tentative knowledge…

Answer 14

• the search for knowledge is uncertain & unending
• research is not a standalone endeavor
• it is important to identify knowledge gaps (lit review)

Question 15

Paradigms

Answer 15

• a broad set of taken-for-granted and often unacknowledged assumption about how social reality is to be defined
• paradigms can point to how issues should be studied & what questions should be asked

Question 16

Concept…

Answer 16

• an idea that can be named, defined & measured in some way
• concepts are assembled together to make a theory
• they can be abstract or concise

Question 17

Variables

Answer 17

• variables operationalize concepts so they can be concretely measured
• a variable must vary, i.e. have a set of attributes (or values)

Question 18

Example of concepts & variables

Answer 18

• concept = poverty
• unit of analysis = household
• variable = household income relative to the poverty line
• attributes = ‘above’ and ‘on or below’

Question 19

Relationships among concepts…

1 - positively (directly) related

Answer 19

• an increase in one goes along with an increase in the other
• they move in the same direction

Question 20

Relationships among concepts…

2 - Negatively (inversely) related

Answer 20

• an increase in one goes along with a decrease in the other
• move in opposite directions

Question 21

Relationships among concepts…

3 - Mediation

Answer 21

• the expected relation between 2 concepts is channeled thru a third concept linking them together
• E.g. economic struggles (concept 1) make parents act more harshly toward their children (mediator), which leads children to act out (concept 2)

Question 22

Relationships among concepts…

4 - Moderation

Answer 22

• strength of the relation between 2 concepts is expected to be weaker or stronger because of a third concept
• E.g. children living in family hardship (concept 1) generally do worse socioemotionally (concept 2), but this general relation does not hold when parents remain supportive of children despite economic hardship (moderator)

Question 23

Relations among Concepts…

5 - Spuriousness

Answer 23

• the relation between 2 concepts is complicated by a confound, or third variable that makes the other 2 appear to be related when they are not

Question 24

Hypothesis

Answer 24

• testable statement of a relationship between 2 variables
• aim is to disprove the null hypothesis (falsification)

Question 25

Types of hypotheses

Answer 25

1. hypothesis of diference… testable statement about group differences
2. hypothesis of association… ‘if-then’ structure (not specific cause-and-effect)
3. causal hypothesis… cause & effect

Question 26

Research questions…

Answer 26

1. descriptive = what is going on? (one or two things)
2. explanatory = what is the cause/explanation? (theory identifies possible cause)
3. exploratory = questions tend to be relatively more open-ended
4. evaluative = what is the impact of policy/program? (must focus on specific policy)

Question 27

Research & methods

Answer 27

• research = theory + empiricism (data)
• research methods = ways to obtain data to answer research question
• surveys, experiments, ethnography, interview & focus group, material-based methods, evalutation research

Question 28

2 common mistakes

1 - logical mistakes

Answer 28

• apply insights from one level of analysis to another
• ecological fallacy = insights from macro-level to predict micro-level outcomes
• reductionist fallacy = study individuals within the group & draw a conclusion about how the whole group will act

Question 29

2 common mistakes

2 - Lack of specificity

Answer 29

• grand theories are too broad to be useful (like scientific paradigms)
• personal ‘theory’ = non-scientific speculation