Chapter 2 & 10 : Lesson 3

likert scale

a way of organizing categories on a survey question so that the respondent can choose an answer along a continuum

value-free sociology

an ideal whereby researchers identify facts without allowing their own personal beliefs or biases to interfere

grounded theory

an inductive method of generating theory from data by creating categories in which to place data and then looking for relationships among categories

probability sampling

any sampling scheme in which any given unit has the same probability of being chosen

different religions hold competing value systems

conflict theory

the belief that "native spirituality is of the devil" fits this theory

conflict theory

commonsense and science are just two different, but equally valid, ways of knowing about the world

false

the media generally use the methods of science when examining stories about commonsense and lore beliefs in our society

false

experiments

formal tests of specific variables and effects, performed in a controlled setting where all aspects of the situation can be controlled

reflexivity

how the identity and activities of the researcher influence what is going on in the field setting

if she weighs as much as a duck, she must be a witch

hypothesis

in the 1980s, many politicians argued that listening to heavy metal music led teenagers to commit suicide. while you might find this belief silly, it is a(n):

hypothesis

control

in an experiment, the process of regulating all factors except for the independent variable

david has developed the hypothesis that the stress felt by unemployed men increases the probability of spousal abuse. stress would be considered the __________ variable and spousal abuse would be considered the __________ variable

independent, dependent

what do we know about witches?

literature review

existing sources

materials that have been produced for some other reason, but that can be used as data for social research

comparative ad historical methods

methods that use existing sources to study relationships among elements of society in various regions and time periods

secular

nonreligious; a secular society separates church and state and does not endorse any religion

for many years, researchers struggled to find a biological explanation for sexual orientation. however the vast majority of studies have focused on gay men and excluded lesbians, which might leas sociologist to question the _________ of such research

objectivity

variable

one of two or more phenomena that a researcher believes are related and hopes to prove are related through research

before beginning a research project, what will a good researcher always do?

review the literature in order to become familiar with earlier research that relates to his topic

respondents

someone from whom a researcher solicits information

control group

the part of a test group that is allowed to continue without intervention so that i c be compared with the experimental group

experimental group

the part of a test group that receives the experimental treatment

sample

the part of the population that will actually be studied

why was the tuskegee study unethical?

the researchers withheld treatment from the african american subjects in order to study the effect of syphilis

basic research

the search for knowledge without any agenda or desire to use that knowledge to effect change

paradigm shift

the term used to describe a change in basic assumptions of a particular scientific discipline

ethics is research is required by international law

true

if a researcher uses a social networking site like Facebook to obtain data, they are:

using existing sources

intervening variable

a third variable, sometimes overlooked, that explains the relationship between two other variables

pilot study

a small study carried out to test the feasibility of a larger one

evangelical

a term describing conservative christians who emphasize converting others to their faith

unchurched

a term describing those who consider themselves spiritual but not religious and who often adopt aspects of various religious traditions

operational definition

a clear and precise definition of a variable that facilitates its measurement

hypothesis

a theoretical statement explaining the relationship between two or more phenomena

institutional review board

a group of scholars within a university who meet regularly to review and approve the research proposals of their colleagues and make recommendations for how to protect human subjects

content analysis

a method in which researchers identify and study specific variables-such as words- in a text, image, or media message

participant observation

a methodology associated with ethnography whereby the researcher both observes and becomes a member in a social setting

ethnography

a naturalistic method based on studying people in their own environment in order to understand the meanings they attribute to their activities; also the written work that results from the study

many kitchen tools today are made with easy-to-grip silicone handles, a vast improvement over old wire tools, which were often painful to use. although the advantages of silicone over wire might seem obvious, kitchenware makers were unaware of the problems with wire tools until they hired ethnographers to visit people at home, see how they working in the kitchen, and determine what sorts of things could be sold to them. This ethnography was an example of:

a nonacademic use of research methods

simple random sample

a particular type of probability sample in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected

intrinsic religiosity

a person's inner religious life or personal relationship to the divine

extrinsic religiosity

a person's public display of commitment to a religious faith

scientific method

a procedure for acquiring knowledge that emphasizes collecting concrete data through observation and experiment

closed-ended question

a question asked of a respondent that allows the answer to take whatever form the respondent chooses

open-ended

a question asked of a respondent that allows the answer to take whatever form the respondent chooses

causation

a relationship between variables in which a change in one directly produces a change in the other

correlation

a relationship between variables in which they change together, and may or may not be causal

deductive method

a research approach that starts with a theory, forms a hypothesis, makes empirical observations and then analyzes the data to confirm, reject, or modify the original theory

inductive method

a research approach that starts with empirical observations and then works to form a theory

survey

a research method based on questionnaires that are administered to a sample of respondents selected from a target population

informed consent

a safeguard through which the researcher makes sure that respondents are freely participating and understand the nature of the research

representative sample

a sample taken so that findings from members of the sample group can be generalized to the whole population

social facts

are the values, cultural norms, and social structures external to the individual

why should we disc commonsense and lore beliefs in favor of science when trying to understand the physical or social world?

because, unlike commonsense and lore beliefs, scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence and is open to refutation and revision

which demographic group do you believe has the lowest suicide rate?

black women

since she weighs as much as a duck, she mutest be a witch, so our hypothesis is verified

data analysis

she weighs as much as a duck

data collection

what do you believe are the major causes of suicide in america today?

depression, death of a loved one, breakup of a relationship, financial loss, serious or terminal illness, being a victim of abuse, substance abuse, etc

"wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the lord. for the husband is the head of the wife, even as christ is the head of the church". many people still look to passages from the Christian Bible like this one to justify gender roles. this may be a:

dysfunction of religion, because it promotes sexism

code of ethics

ethical guidelines for researchers to consult as they design a project

empirical evidence

evidence or consequences that are observable from the senses

why do social scientists who use interviews rarely speak with large numbers of people for a project?

face-to-face interviewing is a very time consuming process

interviews

face-to-face, information-seeking conversation, sometimes defined as a conversation with a purpose

dependent variable

factor that is changed (or not) by the independent variable

independent variable

factor that is predicted to cause change

a social research methods class wants to study smoking. first the professor asks how many people in the class are smokers. two people say yes. then she asks how man people have smoked a cigarette in the last week, for the purpose of its survey, a smoker will be anyone who has had a cigarette in the last week and currently owns a pack of cigarettes. this is a(n):

operational definition

double-barreled questions

questions that attempt to get at multiple issues at once, and so tend to receive incomplete or confusing answers

leading questions

questions that predispose a respondent to answer in a certain way

she's a witch, burn her

report findings

weigh the woman and the duck

research design

applied research

research designed to gather knowledge that can be used to create some sort of change

is she a witch?

research question

replicability

research that ca be repeated, and thus verified, by other researchers later

quantitative research

research that translates the social world into numbers that can be treated mathematically; this type of research often tries to find cause-and-effect relationships

qualitative research

research that works with nonnumerical data such as texts, fieldnotes, interview transcripts, photographs, and tape recordings; this type of research more often tries to understand how people make sense of their world

"health and wealth movement" best reflects this theory

structural functionalism

religion helps to unify people around a common belief

structural functionalism

negative questions

survey questions that ask respondents what they don't think instead of what they do

we shake hands as a sign of peace and God's love in our church

symbolic interactionism

wearing a cross announces you to others as a christian

symbolic interactionism

weighting

techniques for manipulating the sapling procedure so that the sample more closely resembles the larger population

validity

the accuracy of a question or measurement tool the degree to which a researcher is measuring what he thinks he is measuring

spurious correlation

the appearance of causation produced by an intervening variable

the nuremberg code on research ethics was adopted for which of the following reasons?

the code was adopted in the wake of the horrific and inhumane research conducted by Nazi scientists on concentration camp inmates

reliability

the consistency of a question or measurement tool, the degree to which the same questions will produce similar answers

when elton mayo did his now-classic experiment on worker productivity, he found that he could increase productivity by changing variables in a work environment, but also that changing variables back increased productivity. what did he conclude was the true cause of the increase in productivity?

the effect of being studied

target population

the entire group about which a researcher would like to be able to generalize

generalizability

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied