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LIS 570. Elaborating bivariate relationships Interpreting data and drawing conclusions. Summary. Elaborating bivariate relationships (De Vaus) replication specification intervening variable spurious relationships partial correlations Interpreting data and drawing conclusions (Bouma)
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LIS 570 Elaborating bivariate relationships Interpreting data and drawing conclusions
Summary • Elaborating bivariate relationships(De Vaus) • replication • specification • intervening variable • spurious relationships • partial correlations • Interpreting data and drawing conclusions(Bouma) • What did you ask? • What did you find? • What do you conclude? • To whom do your conclusions apply?
Elaborating relationships • Why does the relationship exist? • What is the nature of the relationship? • How general is the relationship? • Elaboration model • interpretation method • the Columbia School • Lazarsfeld method
Elaboration paradigm • Aim • to provide a logical/ statistical technique that would allow researchers to elaborate on the nature of observed relationships • replication • the relationship is replicated or repeated under different conditions • Specification • relationship operates only under certain conditions and not others
Specification or replication • The original bivariate relationship is called a zero order relationship • Partial table (trivariate table) • Third variable (control or test variable) introduced • Within each subgroup of the control variable, tables are constructed to examine the original relationship. • Measurement of bivariate relationships in each of the partial tables (partial relationships)
Specification or replication • Comparison with zero order relationship Replication Specification Zero order relationship Partial relationship
Replication Epsilon = 12 percentage points “Do you approve or disapprove of the proposition that men and women should be treated equally in all regards”
Replication Epsilon = 12 percentage points Epsilon = 12 percentage points
Specification • the relationship between the original two variables differs for various types of people • the specific types for whom it does or does not hold • the relationship is not general but subgroup specific • statistical interaction (De Vaus) • The effect of X on Y is partly dependent on additional characteristics of the person.
Specification (Glock) Social Class and Church Involvement Church involvement provides an alternative form of gratification for people denied gratification in secular society People of lower social class have fewer opportunities to gain self esteem from secular society
Specification Social Class and Holding Office in Organisations Social class is strongly related to the likelihood that a woman has every held an office in a secular organization
Specification Church Involvement by Social Class and Holding Secular Office Mean church involvement for Rough indicator of gratification in secular society
Interpretation - Intervening variable (Stoufler) Education and Acceptance of Being Drafted Education Friends Deferred Attitudes
Intervening variable Relating education to acceptance of being drafted through the factor of having friends deferred
Explanation - spurious relationships • spurious - not a genuine relationship • test variable must be antecedent Strength of peace movement Likelihood of war Strength of peace movement International tensions Likelihood of war
Spurious relationship Number of fire trucks • compare the initial bivariate relationship with the conditional relationship • no relationship in the conditional table - we have explained the original relationship • completely and partly spurious relationships Size of the fire Damage done
Drawing conclusion (Bouma) • What did you ask? • What did you find? • What do you conclude? • To whom do your conclusions apply?
Reporting your research • the objectives or hypotheses • the major concept(s) and conceptual definition(s) • the major variables and operational definitions • the measurement instrument, for example the self-administered; questionnaire or content analysis sheets
Reporting your research • a description of the research design, for example a quantitative “case study”, an experiment. • a definition of the population (group of interest) and a short discussion of the sampling methods you would use in a larger scale study. The method for selecting participants for the pilot study
Reporting your research • a description of the data collection methods • the presentation of the results • a discussion and interpretation of the results, i.e. what they mean to you, and any limitations or concerns, for example ethical, validity, reliability. • Conclusions