Theory Module 2- The art and science of social research

Describe why a literature review is important, and offer three pieces of advice for conducting a successful literature review. Explain each piece of advice with a sentence or two

A literature review is important because in order to conduct a successful study, the scientist should systematically read the relevant body of theory and evidence. The scientist should have a good idea of what has been done before, how it was done, and what work remains to be done.Students may offer various pieces of advice, such as these (directly in the text) :1) Use the Internet well. Google and Wikipedia are general sources of information, not scholarly. Use scholarly sources such as Sociological Abstracts or Google Scholar .2) Look for peer-reviewed journal articles. The peer-review process ensures that information was judged by academic peers .3) When using books, remember that it is difficult to judge the scholarly quality of a book, and it is sometimes difficult to find books in scholarly search engines focused on journals. Look for books cited most often in other scholarly texts. 4) Develop an annotated bibliography. Organizing all sources relevant to a topic is important, and annotating (a brief summary of the work and your reaction to it) is helpful.

Using an example, distinguish between mediation, moderation, and spuriousness.

Students may use any example, but the example needs to include one concept relating to another concept. For example, hours of sleep (concept 1) influences grades (concept 2) .In mediation, the expected relation is channeled through a third concept that links them to each other. Hours of sleep influences grades, but not directly. Hours of sleep influences exercise, and exercise influences grades .In moderation, the strength of the association between two variables is made weaker or stronger by a third variable. Hours of sleep influences grades, but the influence is made weaker by number of roommates. Number of roommates acts as a moderating concept. In spuriousness, an apparent relation between two concepts is actually the result of some third thing (confound) influencing both of them. The confound is diet, a factor that influences both hours of sleep and grades.

Linda hypothesizes that increasing wealth does not increase happiness. In this hypothesis, what is the independent variable?

Wealth

Which approach to research refers to the translation of general theory into specific empirical analysis?

deductive

The goal in research involving a hypothesis is to

disprove the null hypothesis

Because it is so difficult to establish causality, researchers more often focus on ________ than attempting to test a ________.

hypotheses of association; causal hypothesis

Megan conducts a study that tests the following hypothesis: "Frequency of posting online comments varies by gender, such that men comment more often than women." This statement is a

hypothesis of difference

Structural functionalism and conflict paradigms are more often criticized for neglecting ________; symbolic interaction is criticized for ignoring ________.

individuals; social structures

In mediation, a new variable may be introduced that links the independent variable to the dependent variable. This new "connecting variable" is called a(n) ________ variable.

intervening

Sociologists model social life with three levels that move from specificity to abstraction. Which words represent these levels, in order from the widest point of the triangle to the narrowest?

macro; meso; micro

Which of the following activities demonstrates empiricism?

observing and counting people who use cell phones while walking through a park

Nikolas wants to study childhood nutrition. He decides to measure diet with a set of five survey questions that parents fill out on behalf of their children. In this decision, Nikolas has completed what task?

operationalization

Auguste Comte's view of social science as a study of patterns that can be objectively understood through logical analysis is known as

positivism.

Megan develops a sociological study that describes how caregivers give meaning to their experiences with vulnerable loved ones. Megan includes reflection on her own life experiences, because she believes her own experiences shape how she collects and interprets data. Megan's approach fits with which paradigm?

postmodernism

Critical race theory is part of the conflict paradigm because it

questions why some races are advantaged over others.

A hypothesis is a ________ statement of a(n) ________ between two concepts.

testable; relationship

Michelle conducts a study of sleep and college student stress. She expects a negative relation between the concepts, which means she expects to find

that when sleep increases, stress decreases.

Which of the following accurately describes the focus of the macro level of social life?

the structure, composition, and processes of society

When a researcher conceptualizes an idea, she has

turned an idea into a variable.

Lisa uses her library's academic search engine to begin a literature review about autism in Hawaii. She finds 200 sources, and reads the brief descriptions of content that are found just after the article title, but before the main body of text begins. Lisa is reading

Abstracts

The meso level of social life is associated with which example?

Auburn Elementary School

Which basic question about social phenomena is asked by the structural functionalism paradigm?

Does it promote stability of society?

Compare and contrast inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning. Offer two points of comparison and two points of contrast.

Inductive and deductive reasoning are similar in that they are both scientific processes for developing general understandings of social phenomena. They are not separate from each other, and often work together within a study. Inductive and deductive reasoning are both used in empirical studies. Although hypothesis testing is a way of linking theory to empirical inquiry that can be found in both quantitative and qualitative research, it is indicative of the deductive approach to using theory rather than the inductive approach.Inductive and deductive reasoning are different in that inductive reasoning begins with the observation of patterns in data, working up to a general explanation. Inductive reasoning moves from specific to general, from concrete to abstract, and from bottom up. In contrast, deductive reasoning begins with theory, developing an argument that can organize and guide empirical work. Deductive reasoning moves from general to specific, from abstract to concrete, and from top to bottom.

Give an example of an abstract concept. List three different variables that might be used to capture this concept, and explain why you chose these variables.

Students may offer abstract concepts such as poverty, love, despair, or wealth. Incorrect answers are concrete, observable behaviors or objects such as pennies, frequency of crying, or a car.Variables are representations that capture the different dimension of a concept. So, for example, if the concept is wealth, the variables could include value of properties owned, value of non-income assets, income records, expensive objects owned, or cost of leisure activities over the course of a year.