POL 51 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: List Of Fables Characters, Socioeconomic Status, Research Question
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Hypothesis: the value we expect for our dv given a certain value of the iv. Ex. the dv can take on different values. There will be nothing to explain if there is no variation on the dv. Covariation: changes in the value of the ivs should result in different values of the dv. No covariation if one value of the iv causes all the different values of the dv. We need different values of iv and dv to explain results. Want to explain why things happen (from causes to outcomes) Probabilistic: some probability that the outcome will happen. Causal factors are not guaranteed bc people are unpredictable. If there is no credible mechanism, it"s pretty obvious that causality is not the cause. Ex. more ice cream eaten more deaths by drowning. Confounding variable: seasons: can we eliminate the possibility that y causes x? no reverse causality. We will observe a relationship & y and x are correlated.