Characteristics of Thinking/Inquiry
Everyday nonscientific thinking that leads us to ask questions
What are biased questions?
A plan for translating research objectives into measurable and valid information
What is a research design?
The elimination of errors and biases is what makes science more objective, that is less dependent on emotion or personal prejudices and values
What are objective procedures?
People use this research to assess the opportunities for undertaking a study, to try out various methods for collecting information for a proposed larger study later on, or to learn the language and concepts of the topic used by those who will be studied
What is exploratory research?
To determine, it is essential to establish that a relationship exists between the alleged cause and the observed outcome
What is causation?
Taking limited experiences and assigning them to a larger group of people
What is limited sampling?
Explores new topics by getting into the settings where people carry out their lives
What is qualitative research?
Procedures that are systematically detailed, so other researchers can replicate the study without interference of individual biases
What are replicable procedures?
Often the first step in most research projects and the primary objective for some, like the U.S. Census or the General Social Survey and similar large surveys designed for gathering information
What is descriptive research?
Two variables that are related
What is correlation?
Paying attention to certain things over others because of interest
What is selective attention?
Typically occur in laboratory settings where the researcher can control the environment to prevent other possible causes from affecting the outcome of the treatment or experiment
What is an experiment?
People with differing perspectives collectively agreeing on a particular way of seeing reality
What are intersubjective procedures?
Designed to answer the “why” question: why there is a range of behaviors or opinions held among people surveyed
What is explanatory research?
A collection of respondents organized in a group discussion format to present their ideas about a subject and are frequently designed to achieve many of these objectives
What are focus groups?
What is actually perceived when paying attention to a certain thing
What is selective perception?
The source of knowledge is experience, especially of the senses
What is empiricism?
A methodical step-by-step procedure of research design that make scientific thinking more systematic and deliberate than everyday thinking
What are systematic methods?
Involves the study of artifacts, usually written, but also visual and other forms of information
What is content analysis?
This research was also designed to ascertain the needs and goals of a particular organization in preparation for a study or evaluation
What is a needs assessment?
This occurs when we attribute patterns to an entire group and make conclusions about a wide range of people or events based on a few observations
What are inaccurate generalizations?
Methods involving writing questions for surveys, analyzing archival, historical, or our own data
What are quantitative methods?
When two or more measures or methods are used and several of them share similar procedures, sampling strategies, and ethical considerations
What is triangulation?
Focuses on problem solving and measuring the results and specified outcomes of the implementation of various social programs and policies
What is evaluation research?
This is usually the central goal of much research
What is to decide/predict?