FRHD 3070 Midterm 1

If a researcher repeats a study and does not get a similar finding, what happened? (5)

- The initial study was an unusual fluke - Important conditions were present in the initial study, but no one was aware of their significance - The study was sloppy - The initial study was improperly conducted - The repeated study was an unusual fluke

What are is the criteria of a good theory?

- addresses important social phenomenon - specifies well-defined constructs - clear and logical - no contradictions - empirically supported - practical

Why are REB's controversial?

- adversary - decide cases differently - they report unacceptable procedures - ethics are not covered in courses

What is required for membership to a REB?

- at least 2 have expertise in research - at lease 1 has knowledge in ethics - at least 1 has knowledge in law - at least community member

What are the 5 characteristics of a causal hypothesis?

- at least 2 variables - expresses a causal relationship - can be expressed as a prediction or an expected future outcome - logically linked to the research question - falsifiable

List the steps in conducting a literature review

- define and refine a topic - design a search strategy - locate research reports - take notes - organize your notes

What is transdiagnostic theory?

- dysfunctional schema for self-evaluation - over-evaluation of achieving perfectionism, core low SE - interpersonal conflict

Which main factors or determinants will you focus on changing by implementing your intervention?

- knowledge - accessibility - costs

What are some characteristics of interpretivism?

- multiple constructed realities - interact - understand - not value free - qualitative

What are the 4 errors of personal experience?

- overgeneralization (falsely assume it applies to other situations) - selective observation - premature closure - halo effect (when we let the prestige of something rub off onto other areas)

What is the concept of respecting autonomy?

- sense of self-actualization - they must be fully informed

What is contrived observation in the real world?

- set up situations outside the lab - disguised observation minimizes reactivity effect

What is the anatomy of an empirical research article?

- title - authors - abstract - introduction - method - results - discussion - references - appendix

What are some appropriate topic for mass communication record content analysis?

- trends in topics that newspapers cover - covers of magazines - themes in advertising messages - themes in songs - sex-role stereotypes

Describe the Tuskegee syphilis study

A US public health study used to follow the natural course of syphilis - men were told they would receive treatment when it was found = a lie

What is teleology?

A cause is described as fulfilling some kind of ultimate purpose

What is temporal order?

A cause must come before an effect

What is most unethical behaviour by researchers due to?

A lack of awareness and to pressures on the researchers to take ethical shortcuts

What is a panel study?

A powerful type of longitudinal research in which the researcher observes the same people, group, or organization across multiple time points

What is a theory?

A set of interrelated hypotheses that is used to explain a phenomenon and make predictions about associations among constructs relevant to the phenomenon

What is mass communication record content analysis?

A technique for collecting and analyzing the content of text - has both qualitative and quantitative versions

Define agency and structure

Agency: the individuals ability to act and make independent choices Structure: aspects of the social landscape that appear to limit or influence the choices we make

What is self-determination theory?

All about motivation as it will influence behaviour - if our needs are met, we are more likely to optimize ourselves

Explain inductive reasoning.

An approach to inquiry or social theory in which one begins with concrete empirical details and then works toward abstract ideas or general principles

Explain deductive reasoning.

An approach to inquiry to social theory in which one begins with abstract ideas and then works toward generalizing - compare hypothesis and observations

What is spuriousness?

An unseen 3rd variable is the case of both variables

The null hypothesis approach is ______________

Backwards

What is the utilization focused evaluation?

Based on the premise that evaluations should be judged by utility and actual use

Explain the common sense source and give an example.

Being logical and rational, however there are usually contradictory cliches. - opposites attract / birds of a feather flock together

Give an example of naturalistic observation

Bowker et al (2009) - examine spectator behaviour at hockey games in Ottawa - record their comments

Give an example of participant observation

Brotsky + Giles (2007) - examine online pro-anorexia support groups - created a fake account

What is tautology?

Circular reasoning where the 2nd part of a statement is rephrased to repeat the first

Who initiates applied research?

Clients

Explain data, investigator, theoretical and methodological data

Data - interview different types Investigator - using more than one researcher to try and understand what is going on Theoretical - use different theories and different concepts within them Methodological - do focus groups, surveys, observations, etc.

Why do we do social research?

Describe, predict, explain, determine causes

What is nonmalifience?

Doing no harm, minimizing the extent to which your participants are harmed

What does quantitative research use?

Experiments, surveys, content analysis and statistics

Exploratory research may be _______ _____________ in a sequence of studies

First stage

What is empowerment evaluation?

Fostering self-determination and self-evaluation to develop a sense of ownership

Qualitative research often begins with ____________ research questions and is ________________

General; flexible

Give an example of contrived observation in the real world

Gueguen (2011) - effect of women's suggestive clothing on men's behaviour - measured the time it took for men to approach 2 females in a bar

What is the difference between hard and soft data?

Hard- numbers Soft- impressions, words, sentences

What is ontology?

How we understand the nature of reality

Theories in applied research are used _______________

Instrumentally

Applied research uses ____________ validity and has a ____________ scope

Internal AND external; broad

Basic research uses ___________ validity and has a ______________ scope

Internal; narrow

What does qualitative research use?

Interviews, focus groups, field research, historical research and content analysis

What is systematic observation?

Involves objective measures of behaviors often along with a systematic procedure for sampling

Explain longitudinal research

It examines features of people or other units at more than one time - costly, powerful

What is a time series study?

It gathers the same type of info across 2 or more periods - observe stability or change

What is explanatory research?

It identifies the sources of social behaviours, beliefs, conditions, and events. It documents causes, tests theories and provides reasons

What is description data?

It presents a picture of the specific details of a situation, social setting, or relationship

What is the purpose of basic research?

Knowledge as an end in itself - lab, controlled setting

What is a meta-analysis? Give an example.

Looking at all the studies surrounding your topic and calculating averages and making your conclusion based on this - Rind et al (1998) looked at the long-term impact of being sexually abused as a child

What is triangulation?

More than one approach to get at a research question

Producers create __________ knowledge

New

Do applied research results reach the public?

Not usually, it is mainly for the scientific community

Define naturalistic observation. When should it be used?

Observing participants in their natural habitats. It is appropriate when behaviour might be altered if they knew they were being observed

What is middle-range theory?

Offers theories about limited aspects of social life

What is a micro social theory?

One that focuses on individuals and their action

What is a macro social theory?

One that focuses on society at the level of social structures and populations

What is a meso social theory?

One that focuses on the rule of social organizations and social institutions

Cross-sectional research provides a _________ _____________. It is _______________ costly

One-time snapshot; least

What are some pros and cons to participant observation?

PROS: - high external validity - experience same environment - collect info on non-observable factors CONS: - challenge of maintaining objectivity - influence participants behaviour - timely - can't make causal inferences

Explain the tradition source and give an example.

Passing down traditions, generally seen in family settings - Using the same apple pie recipe, because thats how its always been done - Special drinks for cold remedy

Describe the Tearoom trade study

Public restrooms in parks were monitored for sexual exchanges, and those men were then followed and asked to complete a survey - no informed consent

Give an example of objectification theory

Purpose: identify predictors of self-objectification among exercisers

What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research deals with words and phenomenology. Quantitative research deals with numbers (surveys, etc.)

Applied research is ________ and provides results for use in the ____________ term

Quick; short

What is epistemology?

Refers to the techniques by which we study the social worlds

What is a REB?

Research ethics board - a committee mandated by the government to be formed in an organization that does research on humans and receives funding - does NOT look at methodology

What is a social impact assessment research study?

SIA Estimates the likely consequences of a planned intervention or intentional change to occur

What are erosion measures?

Seeing how things degrade over time

Explain the personal experience source and give an example.

Since I experienced it, it must be true - divorce has major negative impacts because my parents had a bad divorce

What is manifest coding?

Something that is clear/obvious to the eye

What is evaluation research?

Systematic assessment of the operation and/or the outcomes of a program or policy, compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of contributing to the improvement of the program or policy

What is social research?

Systematically collecting data to produce knowledge - a process in which people combine a set of principles, outlooks, and ideas

What 3 things do you need to establish causality?

Temporal order, association, and the elimination of plausible alternatives

In deduction you _____________ hypotheses

Test

What do interpretive researchers say?

That human social life is qualitatively different from other things studied by science

What is ecological fallacy?

The empirical observations are at too high a level for the causal relationship

What is reductionism?

The fallacy of non-equivalence - it occurs when a researcher explains macro-level events but has evidence only about specific individuals

What is objectification theory?

The idea that the theory places the female bodies in a socio-cultural context where their bodies are evaluated and objectified

What is a level of analysis?

The level of society reality to which theoretical explantation refer

What is anonymity?

The researcher does not know your identity

What is participant observation?

The researcher engages in same activities as people that they are observing (from the inside)

What is confidentiality?

The researcher knows your identity but will not disclose it

What does the unit of analysis refer to?

The type of unit a researcher uses when measuring

What is latent coding?

The underlying theme (interpreting what the words mean)

What legitimates the researchers power?

Their credentials, training and professional role in science

What is parsimonious?

Theories that are relatively simple are better than complex but sometimes a phenomenon can be very complex and you have to look at many relationships

What is an external evaluation?

They are brought in by the organization so they have an outsiders perspective

What are empirical generalizations?

They are not theories, but they are derived from theories and offer a simple statement about a pattern or generalization among 2 or more concrete concepts that are close to an emotional reality

What is the historical significance of the Nazi Germans?

They performed horrific research experiments on Jewish people. This led to the Nuremberg Trials which ruled that scientists need to get informed voluntary consent from participants

What is an internal evaluator?

They work for the organization, so they may be biased, however it is cheaper

A professional researcher and the participants are in a relationship of ______________ power and trust

Unequal

What is the difference between unstructured and structured?

Unstructured: open-ended, inductive Structured: pre-defined methods, deductive

Describe Milgram's obedience experiment

Used to test people's obedience of authority figures - participants required to give electric shocks to those who answered incorrectly

In quantitative research, concepts are in the form of _____________

Variables

What is research fraud?

When a researcher fakes or invents data

When does scientific misconduct occur?

When a researcher falsifies or distorts the data or the methods of data collection, or plagiarizes

Can speech be a unit of analysis?

Yes

What is the benefit to being an informed consumer?

You are able to know the difference between good and bad research

Explain the authority source and give an example.

You believe what is presented is true because an expert says it - Dr. Phil - Cathy Somers - Tom Cruise - Dr. Oz

What is the theory in basic research?

You develop theories and test them out

What is the purpose of applied research?

You want to acquire knowledge but the goal is to solve social problems - open settings

Who initiates basic research?

You! Self-initiation

What are some characteristics of positivism?

- single tangible reality - independent - predict, control, explain - value free - quantitative

In induction you _______________ hypotheses

Develop

What is action research study?

It treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the division between creating knowledge and using knowledge to engage in political action - people being studied participate - focuses on issues of power - seek to raise consciousness

Can a researcher who uses the null hypothesis approach conclude that a relationship does exist?

No, they can only determine that one does not exist

Qualitative researcher follows a _____________ path

Non-linear, circular

A theory helps ________ the study

Shape

Theories contain _______________ assumptions

Built-in

Who uses longitudinal research?

Descriptive and explanatory researchers

In SIA, the researcher forecasts how aspects of social ___________________ may change

Environment

What is the most common type of applied research?

Evaluation research

Quantitative researchers follow a ______________ path

Linear

What is beneficence?

Maximizing the benefits of doing research

Can researchers observe the elimination of alternatives?

No, they can only demonstrate it

Give an example of transdiagnostic theory

Purpose: identify predictors of muscle dysmorphia symptomatology

What is association?

Two phenomena are associated if they occur together in a patterned way