SOC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dependent And Independent Variables, Quasi
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Examining the Social
Basic Concepts and Issues
-although there are a number of methods and perspectives employed to study people, several
important concepts are used in almost all research projects including things like:
- theories
- hypotheses
- variables
Basic Concepts: theories
-social theories refer to organized sets propositions about how various elements of social life
are related to one another
-theories have 3 components:
- general statements about social relationships
- statements about the causes of those relationships
- general predictions, based on these reasons, about how people will react to certain events
or experiences or conditions
Basic Concepts: Hypotheses
-research projects generally do not test theories but hypotheses, specific statements about
how variables will relate to one another in a research study
-positive findings regarding a hypothesis simply provides support for a theory; it does not
prove a theory to be correct
-sociological knowledge is based on science, a logical organized method of obtaining
information through direct, systematic observation
- scientific knowledge is based on systematic evidence, info that is directly verifiable
-a research method is a strategy for systematically conducting research
-concepts, variables and measurement
- concepts are mental constructs that represent some part of the world, inevitably in a
simplified form
- variables are concepts whose value changes from case to case
- operationalizing a variable is the process of developing the measure to be used in gauging
variable
The Structure of Scientific Theory
Conceptual plane— Operational plane
Measurement and Relationships
-measurement requires reliability - the quality of consistent measurement and validity- the
quality of measuring precisely what one intends to measure
-relationships among variables:
- cause and effect is a relationship in which change in one variable causes change in another
- correlation exists when 2 or more variables are related in some way
- a must perceive b
- there must be a corresponding change
- no spurious variables
Relationship between Variables
Cause — Effect
Independent variable — dependent variable
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Document Summary
Although there are a number of methods and perspectives employed to study people, several important concepts are used in almost all research projects including things like: Social theories refer to organized sets propositions about how various elements of social life are related to one another. Statements about the causes of those relationships. General predictions, based on these reasons, about how people will react to certain events or experiences or conditions. Research projects generally do not test theories but hypotheses, speci c statements about how variables will relate to one another in a research study. Positive ndings regarding a hypothesis simply provides support for a theory; it does not prove a theory to be correct. Sociological knowledge is based on science, a logical organized method of obtaining information through direct, systematic observation. Scienti c knowledge is based on systematic evidence, info that is directly veri able. A research method is a strategy for systematically conducting research.
