Sociology 120

the primary goal of this type of research is to directly address some social problem or need

the primary goal of this type of research is to describe some aspect of society and advance our understanding of it

a variety of techniques that enable researchers to systematically summarize and analyze the content of various forms of communication-- written, spoken, or pictorial

a relationship in which change in one variable is connected to change in another variable

research carried out explicitly to create knowledge that can be used to bring about social change

the entity that changes in response to the independent variable

data that cab be observed or documented using the human senses

a data gathering technique in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions to determine if change in an independent variable produces a change in a dependent variable, thereby establishing a cause-and-effect relationship

a data collection technique in which the researcher systematically observes some aspect of social life in its natural setting

the ability to describe patterns of bahavior of a larger popluation based on findings from sample

the fact that human beings will react differently because they know they are in a study

a statement about the relationship between variables that is to be investigated

the entity that is associated with and/or causes change in the value of the dependent variable

the principle that subjects in any study must know about the nature of the research project, any potential benefits or risks that they may face, and that they have to right to stop participating at any time, for any reason

a data gathering technique that uses open-ended questions during somewhat lengthy face-to-face sessions

an approach that focuses on understanding the meaning that people ascribe to their social world

to define the variable you are interested in studying

a way in which sholars evaluate research manuscripts before they are published in order to ensure their quality

an approach that assumes that the social world, like the natural world, is characterized by laws that can be identified through research and used to predict and control human affairs

the effort to bring the findings of both basic and applied sociological research to a broader non academic audience

any kind of evidence that is not numerical in nature, including evidence gathered from interviews, direct observation  and written or visual documents

evidence that can be summarized numerically

a sample in which every element of the population has an equal chance of being chosen

the procedures used by a researcher to collect and analyze data

part of the population a researcher is studying that represents the whole

a type of research using data previously collected by other researchers

a data collection technique that involves asking someone a series of questions

the requirement that researchers explain how they collected and analyzed their evidence and how they reached their conclusions

the goal of removing any personal views from the research process; part of positivist social science

measures that can change (or vary) and thus have different values