Introduction to Social Science Research Methods, Summaries of Sociology

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Introduction to Social Science

Research Methods

Social Science Research Methods

Research Question

A question about one or more topics or concepts that can be answered through research.

Unit of Analysis

A unit about which information is collected.

Authorities

Socially defined sources of knowledge.

Personal Inquiry

Inquiry that employs the senses' evidence.

Scientific Method

A way of conducting empirical research following rules that specify objectivity, logic, and communication among a community of knowledge seekers and the connection between research and theory.

Positivist View of Science

A view that human knowledge must be based on what can be perceived.

Post-Positivist View of Science

A view that knowledge is not based on irrefutable observable grounds, that is always somewhat speculative, but that science can provide relatively solid grounds for that speculation.

Objectivity

The ability to see the world as it really is.

Intersubjectivity

Agreements about reality that result from comparing the observations of more than one observer.

Theory

An explanation about how and why something is as it is.

Basic Research

Research designed to add to our fundamental understanding and knowledge of the social world regardless of practical or immediate implications.

Applied Research

Research intended to be useful in the immediate future and to suggest action or increase effectiveness in some area.

Exploratory Research

Groundbreaking research on a relatively unstudied topic or in a new area.

Qualitative Data Analysis

Analysis that results in the interpretation of action or representation of meanings in the researcher's own words.

Descriptive Study

Research designed to describe groups, activities, situations, or events.

Quantitative Data Analysis

Analysis based on the statistical summary of data.

Explanatory Research

Research designed to explain why subjects vary in one way or another.

Evaluation Research

Research designed to assess the impacts of programs, policies, or legal changes.

Concepts

Words or signs that refer to phenomena that share common characteristics.

Conceptualization

The process of clarifying what we mean by a concept.

Variable

A characteristic that can vary from on unit of analysis to another or for one unit of analysis over time.

Hypothesis

A testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to relate to one another.

Dependent Variable

A variable that a researcher sees as being affected or influenced by another variable (contrast with independent variable).

Independent Variable

A variable that a researcher sees as affecting or influencing another variable (contrast with dependent variable).

Antecedent Variable

A variable that comes before both an independent variable and a dependent variable.

Spurious

Non-casual.

Intervening Variable

A variable that comes between an independent and a dependent variable.

Extraneous Variable

A variable that has an effect on the dependent variable in addition to the effect of the independent variable.

Measurement

The process of devising strategies for classifying subjects by categories to represent variable concepts.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning that moves from more general to less general statements.

Empirical Generalizations

Statements that summarize a set of individual observations.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning that moves from less general to more general statements.

Grounded Theory

Theory derived from data in the course of study.

Ethical Principles in Research

The set of values, standards, and principles used to determine appropriate and acceptable conduct at all stages of the research process.

Research Ethics Committee

The committee at a college, university, or research center responsible for evaluating the ethics of proposed research.

Protecting Study Participants from Harm

The principle that participants in studies are not harmed physically, psychologically, emotionally, legally, socially, or financially as a result of their participation in a study.

Voluntary Participation

The principle that study participants choose to participate of their own free will.

Informed Consent

The principle that potential participants are given adequate and accurate information about a study before they are asked to agree to participate.

Informed Consent Form

A statement that describes the study and the researcher and formally requests participation.

Passive Consent (opt out informed consent)

When no response is considered an affirmative consent to participate in research. Sometimes used for parental consent for children's participation in school-based research.

Anonymity

When no one, including he researcher, knows the identities of research participants.

Confidentiality (Privacy)

When no third party knows the identities of the research participants.

Honest Reporting

The ethical responsibility to produce and report accurate data.

Research Questions

Questions about one or more topics or concepts that can be answered through research.

Hypothesis

A testable statement about how two variables are expected to be related to one another.

Researchable Question

A question that is feasible to answer through research.

Literature Review

The process of searching for, reading, summarizing, and synthesizing existing work on a topic or the resulting written summary of a search.

Keywords

The terms used to search for sources in a literature review.

Feasibility

Whether it is practical to complete a study in terms of access, time, and money.

Access

The ability to obtain the information needed to answer a research question.

Research Costs

All monetary expenditures needed for planning, executing, and reporting research.

Time Expenditures

The time it takes to complete all activities of a research project from the planning stage to the final report.

Sampling

The process of drawing a number of individual cases from a larger population.

Element

A kind of thing a researcher wanted to sample.

Population

The group of elements from which a researcher samples and to which she or he might like to generalize.

Sample

A number of individual cases drawn from a larger population.

Target population

The population of theoretical interest.

Accessible population

The group of elements form which a sample is actually selected.

Nonprobability Samples

Samples that have been drawn in a way that doesn't give every member of the population a known chance of being selected.

Probability samples

Samples drawn in a way to give every member of the population a known (nonzero) chance of inclusion.

Biased samples

Samples that are unrepresentative of the population from which they've been drawn.

Generalizability

The ability to apply the results of a study to groups or situations beyond ose actually studied.

Coverage error

An error that results from differences between the sampling frame and the target population.

Nonresponse Error

An error that results from difference between nonresponders and responders in a survey.

Sampling Error

Any difference between sample characteristics and the equivalent characteristics in the sampling frame, when this difference is not due to Nonresponse error.

Parameter

A summary of a variable characteristic in a population.

Statistic

A summary of a variable in a sample.

Random-digit dialing

A method for selecting participants in a telephone survey that involves randomly generating telephone numbers.

Sampling variability

The variability in sample statistics that can occur when different samples are drawn from the same population.

Simple random sample

A probability sample in which every member of a study population has been given an equal chance of selection.

Sampling distribution

The distribution of sample statistic (such as the average) computed from many samples.

Margin of error

A suggestion of how far away the actual population parameter is likely to be from the statistic.

Systematic Sampling

A probability sampling procedure that involves selecting every kth element from a list of population elements, after the first element has been randomly selected.

Stratified random sampling

A probability sampling procedure that involves dividing the population in groups or strata defined by the presence of certain characteristics an the random sampling from each stratum.

Cluster sampling

A probability sampling procedure that involves randomly selecting clusters of elements from a population and subsequently selecting every element in each selected cluster for inclusion in the sample.

Multistage sampling

A probability sampling procedure that involves several stages, such as randomly selecting clusters from a population, then randomly selecting elements from each of the clusters.

Purposive Sampling

A Nonprobability sampling procedure that involves selecting elements based on the researcher's judgement about which elements will facilitate his or her investigation.

Quota sampling

A Nonprobability sampling procedure that involves describing the target population in terms of what are thought to be relevant criteria and then selecting sample elements to represent the 'relevant' subgroups in proportion to eir presence in the target population.

Snowball sampling

A Nonprobability sampling procedure that involves using members of the group of interest to identify other members of the group.

Convenience sampling

A group of elements that are readily accessible to the researcher.