POLI SCI 170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dependent And Independent Variables
31 Jan 2018
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Empirical: what the world is and how it works. *not focus of class because they don"t rely on empirical evidence* Tells us nothing about causation just telling us the why. Rarely have one-sentence or factual answers: which entities in the un makes policy about refugees . Contain a lot of proper nouns (not generalizable)- the more proper nouns the less likely it is applicable to other situations: how did the un peacekeeping operation in sierra leone affects violence in. Begin with an empirical puzzle or anomalous outcome. Phrase interest as an empirical question that meets the criteria. An interconnected set of propositions that shows how or why something occurs. A reasoned and precise speculation of why something is correct. *any given variable is not a dependent variable or independent variable: sample prediction: legalizing marijuana increases/decreases the use of other drugs, independent variable: phenomenon and factor that affects or causes dependent variable.
