Variables
When modeling some phenomenon, this is what we call the variable that we assume is being affected or caused by some other variable of interest.
What is a dependent variable?
(response/outcome variable also works)
The two big paradigms for social science research; one focuses on statistical analysis and generalizability while the other focuses on close, careful interpretation of a small number of cases
What are qualitative and quantitative designs?
The simplest of validity assessments, this check requires only that the researcher subjectively estimate whether a measure generally seems right
What is face validity?
The type of correlation (positive, negative, or curvilinear) exhibited by the two variables below:
"As time spent studying increases, test-anxiety decreases"
What is a negative correlation?
A form of knowledge based on the passing of time; claims are passed down from generation to generation
What is traditional knowledge?
The level of measurement for a variable assessing a person's hair color with the following possible response values:
"Red," "Brown," "Blonde," "Black," "Gray," and "Other".
What is nominal?
The research design regarded as most appropriate for causal analysis
What is an experimental design?
Quantitative and qualitative research are said to have different advantages. One is associated with higher validity while other is associated with stronger reliability.
The answer to this question is the research paradigm said to have stronger reliability
What is quantitative research?
Consider an apparent relationship between two variables, A & B. After further investigation, we find that both variables are being caused by a third variable, C (sometimes called a lurking variable).
That is an example of this type of relationship
A form of knowledge that characterizes our own personal experiences as generalizable and obvious
What is common sense?
A concept or mental abstraction that is not directly observable
What is a construct?
When we start with empirical data and our aim is to build upward toward new or adapted theory
What is inductive research?
This type of validity assessment involves comparing your measure to another comparable measure as a frame of reference; it contains two subtypes
What is criterion validity?
These are the 3 prerequisites required for demonstrating causality in a scientific study
What are temporal ordering, association between variables, and non-spuriousness?
A type of knowledge centered on the use of logical entailments to deduce reasonable conclusions about reality
What is rationalism?
A variable that comes earlier in a causal sequence or chain, preceding both the independent and dependent variables.
What is an antecedent variable?
An approach to causal analysis that seeks the common factors responsible for a general class of events rather than the factors responsible for a single event
This form of reliability check assesses whether a measure is robust to different question wordings
What is multiple-forms reliability?
Experiments are well suited for causal analysis because they allow the research a great deal of this.
Control.
(Experimental control--or the ability to hold certain variables constant--is a big part of what allows experiments to effectively minimize random error and thereby secure stronger internal validity)
Your friend tells you that the Detroit Lions will win their next football game. When you ask how he knows this, he indicates that he "just has a good feeling about it."
Your friend is relying on this type of knowledge
What is intuition?
The level of measurement for a variable with the following characteristics:
Temperature in Celsius--example response values include: -2.5, -12, 56, 75.8, 98.6
What is an interval variable?
This type of validity check demonstrates the accuracy of a measure by showing it produces results consistent with theoretically based hypotheses or predictions
What is construct validity?
Experimental designs are said to be effective at establishing this first kind of validity, but that can come at the cost of being less effective establishing this second type of validity
What are internal validity and external validity?