what are the five means by which we know our world?
personal experience
tradition
expertise
religion
science
theory
set of claims about what exists in our social world and inter connections amongst phenomena
ideaology
set of beliefs and inter connections that one hold despite evidence to the contrary
research
sciemctific approach which you do systematic research to test or generate theories
inductive research:
observations-->generalizations-->theory
deductive research:
theories-->hypothesis-->observations
what are the 4 requisitions of casuality?
correlation
temporal sequence
non-spurious relationships
use of theory
explain correlation:
refer to property of being connected. in order to meet demand of casuality two variable must be connected.
ex: lemons and limes go together but one is not caused by the other
explain temporal sequence:
refer to property of order of things. in order to say one thing causes another it must occur before the other.
explain non spurius relationships:
*
explain the use of theory:
it is important to conduct research using theory. theory is the main knowledge that should be tested. Theories open up questions that need to be answered.
what are three techniques used for gathering evidence?
experiment
survey research
observational studies (field research)
variable
measurable concept that can have more than one value
independent variable
cause change in dependent variable
explain experiments:
useful because let researchers isolate causes and measure their effects
randomization mainly used in experimental design
issue of external validity: degree to which experimental findings remain valid in non labratory situation
what is the hawthorne effect?
changes in people behaviour caused by their awareness of being studied
explain survery research:
primary way of colecting social science evidence
provides method of systematically comparing answers with questions that were asked to a sample of chosen people. this allow researcher to generalize results to larger population from which sample was chosen.
questionable about validity and reliability
how would you know if research was internally consistent?
different measure or indicator of the same concept gave similar results, the measurements are reliable
what are some assumptions that should not be made when doing survey research?
dont ssumer people understand what you are asking
dont assume people know the answer to the question
do not assume people will admit the answer to themselves
do not assume people will give valid answers to others
explain observational studies (field studies):
researcher goes into field and records behaviour of others
can be know nas participant observers
researcher presence may undermine validity
findings may be ethnocentric: researcher has own values on subject of study which could cause bias results