COMM 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dependent And Independent Variables, Spurious Relationship, Social Class
30 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
A set of generalizations that explain observable phenomena by posing some relationships among variables. Don"t think of theories as absolute explanations of things that are proven and can"t be explained further: hypothesis. A specific statement or proposal that can be tested by means of gathering empirical evidence. Specific prediction about what will happen in a specific situation if the overall theory is true: examples. People imitate what they see other people do. Think of fashion; trends start because people copy what other people are wearing. Children who are shown superman cartoons in their school will hit other children more often on the playground that day than children who watch sesame street. People who play gta are more likely to commit crimes than those who don"t: general vs. A single theory can have multiple hypotheses. A hypothesis is either accepted or rejected; it is accepted if it supports the theory. Rejecting or accepting a hypothesis further defines the theory: more examples.
