Sociology Ch. 2

  1. Content Analysis
    a systematic examination of cultural artifacts or various forms of communication to extract thematic data and draw conclusions about social life
  2. Control group
    in an experiment, the group containing the subjects who are not exposed to the independent variable
  3. Correlation
    a relationship that exists when two variables are associated more frequently than could be expected by chance
  4. Dependent variable
    a variable that is assumed to depend on or be caused by one or more other (independent) variables
  5. Ethnography
    a detalied study of the life and activities of a group of people by researchers who may live with that group over a period of years
  6. Experiment
    a research methos involving a carefully designed situation in which the researcher studies the impact of certain variables on sunjects attitudes or behavior.
  7. Experimental group
    in an experiment the group that contains the subjects who are exposed to an independent variable (the experimental condition) to study its effect on them.
  8. Field research
    the study of social life in its natural setting: observing and interviewing people where they live, work and play
  9. Hawthorne effect
    a phenomenon in which changes in a subjects behavior are caused by the researchers presence or by the sunjets awareness of being studied
  10. Hypothesis
    in research studies, a tentative statement of the relationship between two or more concepts
  11. independent variable
    a variable that is presumed to cause or determine a dependent variable
  12. interview
    a research method using a data collection encounter in which an interviewer asks the respondent questions and records the answers
  13. Participant Observation
    a research method in which researches collect data while being part of the activities of a group of people by researchers who may live with that group over a period of years
  14. Probability sampling
    choosing participants for a study on the basis of specific characteristics, possibly including such factos as age, sex, race/ethnicity and educational attainment
  15. Questionaire
    a printed research instrument containing a series of items to which subjects respond
  16. random sampling
    a study approach in which every member of an entire population being studied has the same chance of being selected
  17. reliability
    in sociological research the extent to which a study or research instrument yields consistent results when applied to different individuals at one time or to the same individuals over time
  18. research methods
    specific straegies or techniques for sytematically conducting research
  19. respondents
    persons who provide data for analysis through interviews or questionaires
  20. secondary analysis
    researchers use existing material and analyze data that were orginally collected by other
  21. survey
    a poll in which the researcher gathers facts or attempts to determine the relationships among facts
  22. unstructured interview
    an extended, open ended interaction between an interviewer and an interviewee
  23. validity
    the extent to which a study or research instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure
Author
rleighn25
ID
91520
Card Set
Sociology Ch. 2
Description
Study guide to midterm
Updated