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See Also: An Overview of the Methodology of the Social Sciences |
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See Also: An Overview of Research Design |
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See Also: Conceptualization in Research Design |
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Concept: An abstract idea representing some element of the world |
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Concept: A general idea applicable to particular instances or examples of behavior |
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In social research, concepts are defined by variables |
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In choosing definitions of concepts, choose definitions that are relatively simple & straightforward |
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They should contain only a few variables, those
that are most important,
but completely conceive all aspects of the concepts |
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Each variable should be conceived so that it is readily & precisely measured |
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Each will have an operational definition |
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Operational Definitions: Precise statement of the
measuring of a
variable or of the categories of a variable for the purpose of measurement. |
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Constructs: These are created by researchers
when they are attempting to measure
abstract concepts such as intelligence or power. |
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See also: Ideal Types |
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Example: ideal type of bureaucrat:
Weber: rational, power in the office, tenure, salary, entrance exams & appointment from w/in |
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Example: Intelligence: creativity, speed, math, writing, logic, etc. |
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Measurement: Process of determining dimension, value or degree |
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It is more difficult to measure the abstract
concept of happiness
than the concrete concept of the height of a woman |
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Variable: a concept that can take on different values or that
has two or more categories
from case to case |
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Examples of Variables
age religion educational level gender political party race income marital status occupation happiness intelligence effectiveness |
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Independent Variable: the cause |
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The independent variable influences or causes the dependent variable |
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Sometimes called the predictor variable. |
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The independent variable influences the other variables |
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The independent variable causes the dependent variable to change |
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Dependent Variable: the effect |
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This is the variable that should be the effect in the cause-effect relationship. |
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Its value depends on the value of the independent variable. |
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Control Variable: A variable that is introduced to determine
whether correlation
btwn an independent variable & a dependent variable is the product of some other influence operating on both of them |
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Control Variable: A variable that is
held constant in an attempt to clarify
the relationship btwn two other variables |
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Having discovered a relationship btwn ed &
prejudice,
the research may introduce the control variable of sex |
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By holding sex constant, the researcher can
examine the relationship btwn
ed & prejudice in men & btwn ed & prejudice in women |
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Correlation not Causation: Social Scientists say:
Higher education is correlated w/ higher income.
Incorrect: Higher education causes higher income. |
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Review: The Determinants of Correlation |
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Examples of correlation btwn variables
Lack of social integration & suicide Stress, Patriarchy, Isolation & Abuse |
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+ correlation: both
variables change in the same direction
- correlation: variables change in opposite directions |
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Attribute is a characteristic of a variable |
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Variables must have measurable attributes |
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Examples
Variables Attributes Age 0 - 110 yrs. Gender Female Male Income ?? Happiness ?? |
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Happiness: I am happy almost all the time
I am often happy I am happen some of the time I am not happy very often I am almost never happy |
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Nominal Measures: by number |
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Ordinal Measures: by level of abstraction |
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Interval Measures: by difference btwn variable |
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Ratio measures: by an order of magnitude |
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There are FOUR basic types of variables: |
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a. Background ( demographics ) |
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b. Activities |
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c. Knowledge |
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d. Sentiments ( opinions, values, attitudes, feelings, etc. ) |
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