SOCIOL 2Z03 Lecture Notes - Causality Conditions, Cultural Artifact, Dependent And Independent Variables

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 2Z03
• Professor: Paul Glavin

Document Summary

A variable that has an effect and influence on another variable. The outcome or the variable that is being caused by the iv. Possible other variable that might account for the relationship between. Conditions required to establish a causal relationship: temporal order, x causes y, x needs to happen prior in order to observe any changes in y, x has to come before y, co-variation (association or correlation) But correlation does not cause or equal causation. Condition require for it, but not sufficient: non-spuriousness, when an apparently causal relationship between two variables is actually accounted for by a third variable (z, units of analysis. Whatever it is that a researcher describes or explains and then draws inferences about. The central focus of a study or an analysis: units of observation. What is directly observed - where the data are collected from. Can be the same as the unit of analysis, but not necessarily.