Human Inquiry

1. Human Inquiry A/S 305: Social Research Methods Sarah Goodrum, Ph.D.

2. Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research

3. Human Inquiry • asks what and why? • answering these questions requires thinking in causal and probabilistic terms

4. Human Inquiry • Second Hand Knowledge • Tradition– taken for granted knowledge • Problems: traditions can be wrong, things can change • Authority– person with expertise, training, or education • Problems: authority can be wrong; can be contrasting opinions (e.g., plaintiff’s experts vs. defendant’s experts); can be speaking outside of expertise (e.g., tv doctor selling drugs) • Experiential Knowledge- your own experience tells you what you know about something • Problems: a sample of only one is not generalizable to the population; your experience could be unique

5. Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research

6. 4 Common Mistakes(in trying to find out for ourselves) 1. Inaccurate observations- we make mistakes in our observations; our daily observations are casual and semi-conscious • solution: use pre-specified simple and complex measures 2. Overgeneralization- broad statements based on sample size of one (i.e., assume what we observed about a few cases is true for ALL cases) • solutions: (1) use a large number of observations, (2) replicate the study

7. 4 Common Mistakes(in trying to find out for ourselves) 3. Selective observation - choosing to look at things that are in-line with our beliefs • solution: specify in advance how observations will be selected (e.g., random design is the best) 4. Illogical reasoning- prematurely jump to conclusion on the basis of invalid assumptions • solution: use a system of logic to conduct the research (e.g., Gambler’s Fallacy)

8. Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research

9. 2 Types of Explanation • Ideographic- usually qualitative methods, non-numerical • smaller number of cases • many variables considered • full explanation of what happened in a particular instance or a handful of instances • e.g., Why did Princeton University drop from #1 to #4 in U.S. News and World Report’s rankings?

10. 2 Types of Explanation • Nomothetic*- usually quantitative methods and obtain partial explanation • seeks to explain a class of situations or events • uses a fewer number of variables • includes a larger number of cases • very likely to have an IV, DV, and hypothesis • settles for a partial rather than a full explanation of issue • e.g., Why do U.S. News and World Report college rankings change from year to year?

11. Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research

12. 2 Types of Theory • Deductive Theory*(often with nomothetic) - reasoning that goes from the general to the specific and involves identifying a pattern that might be logically or theoretically expected • e.g., middle-class theory of delinquency (see Greenberger and Steinberg 1986) to observations of middle-class youth (most research is done deductively) • Inductive Theory(often with ideographic) - going from set of specific observations to the discovery of a pattern that provides some order to the observed events • e.g., from observations of middle-class youth to a theory of middle-class delinquency

13. THE WHEEL OF SCIENCE DEDUCTIVE

14. Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research

15. Foundations of Social Research • Science is logico-empirical • makes sense • corresponds with observations • Three major aspects of science are: • theory– deals with the logical aspect of science; systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life (e.g., labeling theory of delinquency) • data collection – deals with observational aspects; obtaining the evidence; observing relationships among variables • data analysis – identifying the patterns or themes in the data (e.g., statistics is one type of data analysis)

16. Foundations of Social Research • Social science theory aims to find PATTERNS of regularity in life. • look for patterns across people and across people’s experiences so that we can make predictions • physical science looks for the same regularities but faces fewer barriers • even though exceptions can occur, most activity is patterned by norms

17. Foundations of Social Research Objections to Social Science Theory (sub-point): • it’s trivial • e.g., male batterers make excuses; so? . . . • contradictory cases • e.g., only 5% of batterers stop abusing after completing treatment program; can learn a LOT from that 5% • people can act to upset regularity • but it doesn’t happen enough to make a difference • overgeneralizations

18. Foundations of Social Research • Social science overcomes these objections by looking at the aggregate (i.e., a total considered with reference to its parts), not individuals. • That is, social science theories explain the SYSTEMS (or the nature of group life) in which people operate, rather than the people themselves. • the elements that make up these systems are VARIABLES • Individuals are the carriers of these variables

19. Social Research Terms to KNOW • Concept– word that represents an abstract idea, phenomena, or experience • e.g., Durkheim’s anomie, Marx’s alienation, gender • Conceptualization– specifying the meaning of a concept; a definition • e.g., gender – the biological and social representation of self • Operationalization– one step beyond conceptualization; process of specifying the exact operations involved in measuring a variable • e.g., - concept name -> concept definition -> variable name -> variable attributes -> IV/DV

20. Social Research Terms, Con’t. • Indicator– an observation we choose to consider as a measure of a concept • e.g., biological sex is an indicator of the concept gender (and we can use “gender” as the variable name) • Dimension– for complex concepts, like depression, a dimension is a specifiable aspect of a concept • e.g., depression – feeling (sad) vs. behavior (staying in bed all day) • Variable– logical grouping of attributes • e.g., income, gender

21. Social Research Terms, Con’t. • Attributes– the characteristics or qualities that describe an object (response category)** • e.g., attributes for the variable INCOME • $0-$100,000 • $100,001+ • e.g., attributes for the variable GENDER • Male • Female **Please note that attributes should ALWAYS be NUMBERED

22. Social Research Terms, Con’t. • Independent vs. Dependent Variables • Independent (IV) – is the predictor variable • often referred to as “X” • Dependent(DV)– is the variable you are trying to predict • often referred to as “Y” • Prediction vs. Understanding • we can use variables to make predictions, but they cannot tell us why the prediction is true