Research Questions & Human Inquiry

• Exam #1 will have 50 multiple-choice questions, each worth 2 points.
• The exam is online and will be on Tuesday, Feb. 18th.
• All short assessments close permanently at 10:59 pm the night before the exam, Monday, Feb. 17th.

Topic 1A&B: Review of .05 Level of Significance & Research Questions

• Addresses how to develop and answer research questions.
• A .05 level of significance is related to issues discussed in the first day of class.
• Consider how a research question can evolve into a theory, exemplified by whether the death penalty reduces homicide.

Topic 2: Science & Nature of Human Inquiry - Common Errors

• Agreement reality differs from experiential reality.
• Reification involves treating abstract concepts as real.
• Peer review validates scientific work.
• Science aims to study and understand the surrounding world.
• Science differs from everyday casual human inquiry.
• There are seven common errors in human inquiry, especially casual ones.
• The social scientific method can reduce errors in human research.
• Confirming a theory with absolute correctness is impossible.
• Social science theories try to describe current societal events.

Topic 3: Creating & Testing Theories & the Four Steps

• Theories involve concepts, propositions, and hypotheses.
• Theoretical propositions differ from hypotheses.
• Emile Durkheim's Proposition serves as an example.
• "The Logic of Theory Testing" determines if an outcome predicted by a theory is false after testing the hypothesis.
• The Falsification School questions when an outcome appears true.
• The Confirmation School questions under what circumstances can a theory gain more solid backing.

Topic 4: Causality & the Language of Variables

• A variable is a logical set of attributes.
• Attributes make up a variable.
• A constant is a fixed value.
• Nomothetic explanations are general, versus idiographic which are specific.
• Independent variables influence dependent variables.
• Control variables are kept constant to determine the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
• There are four types of causation.
• The least common type of causation in social science research requires the presence of everything.
• Elucidating causality needs three things, covariance, time order, and non-spuriousness.
• More specifically, the three steps in establishing causality are association, time order, and non-spuriousness.
• A positive relationship means variables move in the same direction.
• A negative relationship means variables move in opposite directions.
• Spuriousness means the relationship appear related, but are not genuinely causative.
• Non-spuriousness is demonstrated by controlling for other variables.
• Multiple independent causation is essential and utilizes multivariate analyses.
• Control variables isolate specific phenomenon for research.

Topic 5: Conceptualization & Measurement

• Conceptualization is defining thing in your head.
• Operationalization is defining how you will observe and measure it.
• Conceptualization is how you define concepts.
• Operationalization defines how to measure concepts.
• Multidimensional concepts have multiple aspects.
• Nominal definitions differ from operational ones; the former is conceptual, the latter specifies measurement.
• Definitions must be operational for observations to be properly undertaken.
• Accuracy and Precision describe and measure how close the measurement is to the real value.
• Validity measures accuracy.
• Reliability measures consistency of obtaining the same results.
• Assess validity and reliability through various methods.
• There are rules of thumbs for how many indicators to use.
• Accuracy, precision, validity, and reliability are essential for good measurement.
• You can get reliable measures by creating repeatable steps.

Recitation #1

• Explain the four steps in the process of constructing and testing theories.
• Identify dependent and independent variables in a hypothesis.
• Determine the "unit of analysis."
• Identify the Range of Phenomena in a hypothesis.
• Follow the three steps for establishing causality.
• Understand deductive and inductive models.
• Draw logical conclusions from testing a research hypothesis.

Topic 6: Operationalization

• Address the "Permitted Range of Response Variation."
• Qualitative concepts differ from quantitative ones.
• Measurement varies across nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales.
• Assigning numbers depends on the level of measurement.
• The ratio property is when there is a true zero.
• "Mutually exclusive and exhaustive" categories are essential.
• Numbers assigned to response indicate level of measurement.
• Evaluate the number of indicators used.
• Review the format/wording in questions.
• Avoid double-barreled questions.

Topic 8: Research Design

• The purposes of research projects are exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory.
• A "Unit of Analysis" must be determined.
• Distinguish between micro and macro units of analysis.
• Recognize the ecological fallacy and fallacy of composition.
• Know the different components (characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors.
• Cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs are different.
• Trend, cohort, and panel research designs serve different purposes.
• Evaluate a "retrospective" question.

Recitation #2

• What is the IRB, and what is its responsibility?
• Can you ever rule out all risks in social science research?
• What are anonymity and confidentiality?
• Be able to identify which model is being used (deductive or inductive).
• Understand the conclusions one can draw when testing a research hypothesis.

Class Session #6

• Review Homework Questions and Answers.
• Exam 1 Review.
• Questions and Answers via Zoom on Monday, Feb. 17th.

CANvAS Class Session #7

• Exam #1 is on Tuesday, Feb. 18th.
• All self assessments closes Monday night, Feb. 17th.
• Scores for Exam #1 will be posted on CANVAS.
• Exam #1 is the only activity during Class Session #7.

Review of research questions, the .05 level of significance, and the nature of human inquiry. Examines common errors in inquiry and differences between agreement reality and experiential reality. Discusses the role of peer review in validating scientific work.