SCS 2150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Construct Validity, Internal Validity, Dependent And Independent Variables
20 Aug 2016
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SCS2150
Chapter Two: Research Design
-a research design is a broad structure that guides the collection and analysis of data
-involves decisions like what you want to accomplish with this study
-what kind of explanation do you want to develop?
-nomothetic explanations are ones that are supposed to apply to humanity in general, not just
the people who participated in the study (they have three conditions)
-correlation
-time order (the proposed cause must precede the effect in time)
-non-spuriousness (alternative explanations for the correlations must be ruled out)
-idiographic explanations are ones that seek to produce a description of a person or group
based on the perceptions and feelings of the people studied
-not meant to explain other situations or the behaviour of people not in the study
-based on empathetic understanding
-naturalism seeks to minimize the use of artificial methods of data collection
-a variable is a characteristic that varies
-several criteria for evaluating research involve the measurement of variables
-reliability (1)
-quantitative researchers are concerned with whether measures of social science concepts
are reliable
-would the same results be achieved every time the experiment was done?
-replicability (2)
-if others can get the same results
-sometimes replications are conducted to make sure the original research was carried out
properly
-validity can be broken down into three types (3)
-measurement or construct validity refers to whether a particular indicator actually does
measure what it is supposed to measure
-internal validity relates to causality and refers to causes as independent and dependent
variables
-external validity refers to whether a study’s findings are applicable in settings outside of
the research environment
-also is concerned with whether the results of a study can be generalized beyond the
people
-if a representative sample of people is selected the researcher can be confident that the
results of the study may be applied to the population
-some qualitative researchers want their criteria to be different, because categories of
reliability and validity are inappropriate measures of their research
-advocate trustworthiness as a criterion for how good a study is among others that parallel
the quantitative divisions
-credibility refers to how believable the findings are
-transferability refers to if the findings apply to other people
-dependability asks if the findings are consistent over time
-confirmability asks if the study were to be replicated by another researcher, would the
results be the same?
-the greatest strength of EXPERIMENTAL design is that it is very high in internal validity
-an experiment manipulates an independent variable to determine its influence on a
dependent variable
-some subjects are put in a treatment group where the independent variable is changed
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Document Summary
Quantitative researchers are concerned with whether measures of social science concepts. A research design is a broad structure that guides the collection and analysis of data. Involves decisions like what you want to accomplish with this study. Nomothetic explanations are ones that are supposed to apply to humanity in general, not just the people who participated in the study (they have three conditions) Time order (the proposed cause must precede the effect in time) Non-spuriousness (alternative explanations for the correlations must be ruled out) Idiographic explanations are ones that seek to produce a description of a person or group based on the perceptions and feelings of the people studied. Not meant to explain other situations or the behaviour of people not in the study. Naturalism seeks to minimize the use of arti cial methods of data collection. A variable is a characteristic that varies. Several criteria for evaluating research involve the measurement of variables.
