SOAN 2120 Lecture : SOAN 2120 Ch.8.docx

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SOAN 2120
• Professor: Scott Schau

Document Summary

Well suited to research projects involving relatively limited and well-defined concepts and propositions. Appropriate for hypothesis testing, the study of small group interactions. Natural experiments occur in the regular course of social events. Most conventional types of experiments have independent/dependant variables, pretesting and post testing, experimental and control groups. Independent and dependant variables-experiments examine the effect of an independent variable on a dependant variable. Independent variable takes the form of an experimental stimulus [it is either present or absent]-this stimulus is also a dichotomous variable [has 2 attributes, present/not present] Both types of variables must be operationally defined [i. e. responding to a questionnaire can be the basis for defining prejudice] Pretesting & post testing-pretests occur first [subjects measured in terms of a dependant variable, then exposed to a stimulus representing an independent variable] In posttests [measured in terms of the dependant variable. Experimental and control groups-experimental groups are subjects who an experimental stimulus is administered.