Research Design & Data Analysis
Babbie, Chaps.1-2
Chapter 1: Knowing things
Not so much about what we know, but HOW we know
perception
Most of what we know is matter of belief and agreement
Everybody knows that But everybody knew the world was flat once
Other way of knowingdirect experience, observation
But when experience conflicts with agreement There is good chance that well surrender our experience in favor of agreement
Methodology: special approach to inquiry
The science of finding out How social scientists find out about human social life
Errors in inquiry
Inaccurate observations
Most daily observations are casual not precise Scientific observation is a conscious activity Ex: instructors clothes; football toss
Overgeneralization
Assuming that a few similar events are evidence of a general pattern Scientists guard against this by REPLICATION of inquiry
Selective observation
We assume a pattern exists then focus on future events that fit the pattern
Illogical reasoning
Exception that proves the rule WHAT?...how can that be logical?
Foundations of social science: logic and observation
Theory, not philosophy or belief
Social theory has to do with what is, not with what should be...not so for many centuries. Science cannot settle debates about values
Social regularities
Social affairs do exhibit a high degree of regularity, despite exceptions
Aggregates, not individuals
Regularities that social scientists study generally reflect the collective behavior of many individuals
A Variable Language
Attributes: characteristics or qualities that describe an object Variables: logical groupings of attributes
Variables are sets of related values or attributes
Variable
Age Gender Occupation Race/Ethnicity Social Class
Attribute
Young, middle-aged, old Female, male Plumber, lawyer, data-entry clerk African-American, Asian, Caucasian, Latino Upper, middle, lower
Illustration of relationship between two variables
Independent and Dependent Variables
Two concepts are implicit in causal or deterministic models A dependent variable depends on an independent variable That is, a change in the independent variable will produce a change in the dependent variable
Dialectics of Social Research:
Inductive and Deductive Theory
Inductive
Reasoning that moves from the particular to the general...from
1. a set of observations to 2. the discovery of a pattern that represents some degree of order among all the given events
Deductive
Reasoning that moves from the general to the specific...from
1. a pattern that might be logically or theoretically expected to 2. observations that test whether the pattern actually occurs
Dialectics of Social Research:
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Most simply put, difference is the distinction between numerical and non-numerical data Every observation is qualitative at the outset
We quantify it to make it easier to aggregate, compare and summarize the data Use Babbie example re: age, . p 24 (older than his years)
Both types of data are useful and legitimate in social research
Pure & Applied Research
Knowledge for knowledges sake Example of Egyptian sociologist who
wrote about regimes who groom sons for power---NOT allowed
Different circumstances in policy
research in SUAPP, but effort is directed at informing public policy
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Macrotheory and Microtheory
A distinction that cuts across many paradigms Macrotheory
Study of society at large or large portions of it Ex: struggle between economic classes; interrelations among major institutions Deals with large, aggregate entities of society
Microtheory
Deals with issues of social life at the levels of individuals and small groups Ex: dating behavior; jury deliberations
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Elements of Social Theory
Law: universal generalization about classes of facts
Ex: law of gravitybodies are attracted to each other in proportion to their mass and in inverse proportion to their distance No social scientific laws that claim universal certainty
Theory: a systematic explanation for observations that relate
to a particular aspect of social life...
For example someone might offer a theory of juvenile delinquency, prejudice, homelessness, political revolution
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Elements of Social Theory, p.2
Proposition: specific conclusions about the relationships among
concepts that are derived from axiomatic groundwork
Hypothesis: a specified testable expectation about empirical
reality that follows from a more general proposition
Research is designed to test hypotheses Null hypothesis suggests that there is NO relationship among the variables under study
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Traditional model of science
Theory Operationalization
Specification of the exact operations involved in measuring a variable For the researcher testing an hypothesis, the meaning of variables is exactly and only what the operational definition specifies Must be specified with clarity in a way to make observation precise and rigorous
Observation
Systematic and rigorous gathering of data to test the hypothesis
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