SOC 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Dependent And Independent Variables, Operationalization

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 101
• Professor: La Torre Aurelie

Document Summary

Research methods: quantitative = numbers and statistics, qualitative = non-numerical. Approaches: deductive = uses theory to make hypothesis and test the theory, inductive = observations theory. Causality vs. correlation: hard to prove causality, to prove need 3 factors. Has factor a always been more than b? for example. A causing b when in fact other way round. Variables: dependent = outcome we are trying to explain, independent = factors believed to have causal impact on dependent variable(s) Hypothesis testing: operationalization = assigning precise method for measuring a term being examines for use in a particular study. How i am defining something (poverty = using us or un definition?!) Validity, reliability and generalizability: validity = extent to which an instrument measures what its meant to. 2: reliability = likelihood obtaining consistent results using the same measure, generalizability = extent to which our findings can be applied to larger group than the one we studied.