SOC chapter 2

translates the social world into numbers that can be studied mathematically, can be measured

uses nonnumercial data like texts, interviews, photos and recordings to help understand social life

ex of qualitative research

a procedure for acquiring knowledge that emphasizes collecting data through observation and experiment

operational definitions?

a relationship between two variables

a relationship where one variable causes another variable to change

a relationship that seems to appear between two variables, but is actually caused by some external or intervening variable

a change in the way we think about some aspect of life

Thomas Kuhn?

ex of paradigm shift

triangulation?

studying people in their own environments in order to understand the meanings they give to their activities

2 steps of ethnography?

the researcher both observes and becomes a member in a social setting

involve direct face to face contact with respondents

what can interviews generate?

interview:: research indentfies the _____ _____ of interest, then selects a _____ of people to be interviewed from that population

what kind of questions can interviews use?

let respondents talk as much as theyd like about the question you asked

give respondents a choice of answers

questionnaires that are administered to a sample of respondents selected from a target population

survey research tends to look at ?

refer to any data that has already been collected by earlier researchers and is available for future research

formal tests of specific variables and effects that are performed in a setting where all aspects of the situation can be controlled

many experiments involve 2 groups?

participants that receive the experimental treatment

participants that continue without intervention so they can be compared with the experimental group

Max weber coined the phrase?

states that researchers should identify facts without allowing their own personal beliefs or biases to interfere

help researches avoid bias and adhere to professional standards and to protect respondents from harm

the American Sociological Association has developed its own?

a group of scholars within a university who meet regularly to review and approve the research proposals of their colleagues and make recommendations for how to protect human subjects