Sociology 004- Midterm 1 review sheet

5 steps that sociologists use to look at data.

1. Selective observation

2. Inaccurate observation

3. Overgeneralization

4. illogical reasoning

5. resistance to change

a set of logical, systematic, documented methods for investigating nature and natural processes.

looking only at things that are in line with preferences and beliefs

Observation based on faulty perceptions

what is true for some cases is true for all cases

drawing conclusions about causality without sufficient data

reluctance to reevaluate our ideas in light of new information

Universalism, communalism, disinterestedness, organized skepticism

acceptance or rejection of scientific claims should not depend on personal or social characteristics of those making them

scientific findings should be the collective property of the entire scientific community.

pursuit of scientific truth should proceed without personal bias or motivation.

claims to truth should be approached from a position of doubt.

1.  Review the literature

  2.  Identify research question

  3.  Derive hypothesis from theory (for deductive research)

  4.  Collect data (e.g., experiment, survey, in-depth interview, observation, content analysis) or use secondary data

  5.  Analyze data

  6.  Draw conclusions

  7.  Share results 

a logically interrelated set of propositions about empirical reality

a characteristic or property that can vary (i.e., take on different values or attributes)

characteristics of people or things

a variable that is hypothesized to cause a dependent variable.

the outcome variable; the variable that is hypothesized to depend on or be caused by the IV.

variables move in the same direction

variables move in the opposite direction

a hypothesis is derived from a theory and then tested.

a tentative statement about empirical reality involving a relationship between two or more variables.

after data are collected, a researcher develops (induces) a general explanation (a theory) to account for the data.

1. Achievement of valid results

2. ethics of data collection, analysis, and reporting

3. ethical treatment of human subjects

1.  Avoid harming participants

2.  Obtain informed consent

3.  Avoid deception, except in limited circumstances

4.   Maintain privacy

reviews ethical issues all proposed on subjects before the research begins.

process of specifying what we mean by a term. concept —→ definition

a mental image that summarizes a set of similar observations, feelings, or ideas, indicators, and overlapping dimensions.

Specifying the measures that will indicate the value of cases on a variable. Definition—→ operational indicators

considering all elements of different variables/ attributes. Ie: including other

•0-20

•21-40

•41-60

•61-80

•81 and above

measures multiple items. example: economic development

Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio, dichotomies

Variable whose attributes only exhaustiveness & mutually exclusive.  Aka categorical variables.

Variable whose attributes can be rank-ordered along some dimension

Variable whose attributes are rank-ordered and have equal distances between adjacent attributes

Variable whose attributes are rank-ordered, with equal distances between adjacent attributes, and have a “true zero”

variable having only two values, coded as 0 and 1

congruence between the concept and measure, degree to which measure accurately reflects the concept it is intended to measure.

consistency of measure, degree to which the same data would have been collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon.

inspection of items used to measure a concept suggests that they are appropriate

 inspection of items used to measure a concept suggests that they cover the full range of the concepts meaning

scores on a measure are correlated with other variables in a theoretically expected manner.

measure is related to different measures of the SAME concept