230 likes | 492 Views
Human Inquiry. A/S 305: Social Research Methods Sarah Goodrum, Ph.D. Human Inquiry. Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research. Human Inquiry. asks what and why?
E N D
Human Inquiry A/S 305: Social Research Methods Sarah Goodrum, Ph.D.
Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research
Human Inquiry • asks what and why? • answering these questions requires thinking in causal and probabilistic terms
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
Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research
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
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)
Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research
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?
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?
Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research
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
THE WHEEL OF SCIENCE DEDUCTIVE
Human Inquiry Human Inquiry Common Mistakes Types of Explanation Types of Theory Foundations of Social Research
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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