Total = 29 slides1Sociology 201:Social Research Design14. Mid-term reviewTotal = 29 slides2Key concept is: MEASUREMENTTotal = 29 slides3Errors in Inquiry •Inaccurate observations•Overgeneralization•Selective observation•Deduced information •Illogical reasoning•Ego-involvement in understandingTotal = 29 slides4Foundations of Social Science4Variable language 4 RegularitiesTotal = 29 slides5Deductive and Inductive models of explanationTheoryHypothesisObservationPatternsDEDUCTIONINDUCTIONTotal = 29 slides6Variables & Attributes • Gender– Male– Female• Social Class– Lower Class– Working Class– Middle Class–Upper Class• School Class– Freshman– Sophomore– Junior– Senior• Age– 1,2,3,4,5 etc.• Political Orientation– Liberal– Middle of the road– Conservative• Occupation– Sociologist– Plumber– Homemaker– Lawyer– Drug dealer– etc.– –Total = 29 slides7Objectivity, subjectivity, reality•What’s real?•Subjectivity•Post-modernism•Finding truth•Objectivity•IntersubjectivityTotal = 29 slides8Paradigms •Models, perspectives, frames of reference, ways of seeing things•Natural science paradigms–e.g., Ptolemaic, Copernican–Newton, EinsteinTotal = 29 slides9Three major sociological paradigms•Interactionist•Social systems (functionalism)•ConflictTotal = 29 slides10Causation•Three criteria:–Empirical correlation–Time-order–Not spurious•False criteria–Not 100% correlation–Disproving cases don’t disprove–Necessary and sufficient causesTotal = 29 slides11Research Design •Purposes: –exploration–description–explanationTotal = 29 slides12The Time Dimension•Cross-sectional•Longitudinal–Trend–Cohort–Panel•Approximating longitudinalTotal = 29 slides13Units of Analysis •Individuals•Organizations•Social artifacts •Reductionism•Ecological FallacyTotal = 29 slides14Conceptualization•Dimensions•Indicators•Reliability and validityTotal = 29 slides15Reliability techniques• Test-retest– Make same measurement more than once– If different answers, poor reliability• Split-half– Randomly assign items to two groups– Create index from each– Both indexes should behave the same• Established measures– Srole anomia, MMPI, census measures• Research-worker reliability– Interviewers and codersTotal = 29 slides16Validity techniques• Face validity• Criterion-related validity– Also called predictive validity– Based on an external criterion– Do College Boards predict college grades?• Content validity– Covers the range of meaning?• Construct validity– Does the measure relate to other variables as predicted theoretically?Total = 29 slides17Tension between Reliability and ValidityTotal = 29 slides18OperationalizationTotal = 29 slides19Levels of measurement•Nominal•Ordinal•Interval•RatioTotal = 29 slides20Guidelines for asking questions•Questions and statements•Open-ended and closed-ended questions•Make items clear•Avoid double-barreled questions•Respondents must be competent•Questions should be relevant•Short items are best•Avoid negative items•Avoid biased items and termsTotal = 29 slides21Composite MeasuresTotal = 29 slides22Index construction•Face validity•Bivariate, multivariate•Scoring•ValidationTotal = 29 slides23Scales•Intensity structure•Bogardus•Thurstone•Likert•GuttmanTotal = 29 slides24TypologiesLike jazz?YesYesNoNoLike classical?Not unidimensionalOkay for IV, not for DVTotal = 29 slides25SamplingTotal = 29 slides26History• Literary Digest, 1936• Gallup, 1948• Current methodsTotal = 29 slides27Probability sampling•EPSEM model•Simple random sample•Systematic sample•Stratified sampling•Cluster sample•Weighting•Probability proportionate to size (PPS)Total = 29 slides28Nonprobability sampling•Available subjects•Snowball sampling•Selected precincts•Quota samplingTotal = 29 slides29Next Time•Mid-term - Good Luck•Review Chapters