Pay close attention to recommendations regarding research methodology or the pros and cons of various approaches discussed in class This is what you need to know for the exam 1 14 14 What is scientific about social science CH 1 Know the reasons for doing research Personal Reasons o Research me search o Make sound personal decisions Understanding the social world o Basic research Changing the social world o Applied research o Policy motivations Understand and explain the Schulz Bonawitz 2007 study and what it tells us about young children s ability to reason scientifically Preschoolers are sensitive to the quality of evidence o Preschoolers given a box toy with two levers o When given good evidence on the box they moved on to a new one when given bad evidence they started experimenting Be able to identify characteristics of the types of research Descriptive Describes variations in social phenomena o I e new parents Facebook use o I e Teen birth rate change not why but just that it happened Exploratory Starting from the ground up in a new area not a lot of previous studies o I e efficacy of using tablet computers in edu of young children Explanatory Cause and effect Evaluation o I e parenting and children s behavior problems o I e Regnerus gay parenting causes probs Impact of social policies and programs o Often a type of explanatory o I e effects of child care reform in Norway on marital stability o I e does this way of studying math work From Chapter 1 Be able to define and provide examples of the following everyday errors in logic Overgeneralization What is true for some is true for all Selective or inaccurate observation Only looking at this consistent with our beliefs conformation bias Difficult of being objective We can see this on social media what people read post is consistent with their beliefs Illogical reasoning Prematurely jump to conclusions Argument on the basis of invalid assumptions Correlation x to causation Resistance to change Reluctant to change ideas in light of new info Accepting the opinions of authority figures without question 1 16 14 Getting started in social science research CH 2 Know the three factors involved in choosing a research question Scientific relevance Does your research advance the field by contributing knowledge o Important Social importance Will the answer to your question make a difference o Don t know the answer too hasn t been studied to death Feasibility Can you do it with the time money etc you ve got o Can you make it happen Understand the different research strategies Deductive Start with a theory and test its implications using social data o Quantitative Explanatory Evaluation research Inductive research already in the data Start w the data and develop a theory to explain it o Exploratory qualitative research o Bottom up Be able to define the following terms Theory The big ideas Foundation of deductive research Logically interrelated set of propositions about social reality o Idea about how the world works Hypothesis Specific expectation Independent variable Hypothesized cause of a variability in dependent variable What we think cause is program policy Dependent variable o disorders Outcome or variable influenced by another variable Understand and explain the process described by the research circle theory hypothesis data results again deductive Problem Be able to describe a cross sectional design and identify the major problem with this research design Cross sectional All data collected at one time often on several diff groups Doesn t directly measure impact of time or event weak o i e marital satisfaction of parents and non parents found that parents less satisfied Be able to describe the two types of longitudinal designs Trend design Repeated cross sectional Multiple samples at multiple times from same population BUT diff samples people each time o I e Gallup political polls Panel design A single group studied repeatedly over time Identify and define the problems with longitudinal designs Biased sampling People willing to participate are similar o Panel design Selective attrition Dropping out Practice effects subject fatigue o Panel design o Panel design Cohort effect Societal effects because history 1990 s vs great recession o Longitudinal and cross sectional designs Be able to describe cross sequential designs know why they re good Cross sequential design Examining individuals in several diff age groups over time Mixture of all get diff age groups Define ecological fallacy and reductionism and explain why these ways of thinking are problematic Ecological fallacy Drawing conclusions about individuals from group level data o Correlation does not equal causation Rich countries have high rates of heart disease does not mean rich people are more likely to get heart disease Just bc overall birth order diff in IQ each fam isn t that way Reductonalism Concluding that group behavior is the same as individual behavior added up 1 21 14 Research ethics Protecting participants CH 3 Know the three principles from Belmont report Respect for persons Autonomy is key Beneficence Benefits outweigh the cost Justice Fair distribution of benefits and harms Be able to apply these principles to hypothetical research situations Understand the four guidelines of the ASA Protect participants o Informed consent confidentiality Honesty openness Achieve valid results Appropriate application Appreciate the difficulty in avoiding harm to participants Understand informed consent and the obligation to obtain consent Can only be given by competent persons Must be given voluntairily People must understand what they ve been told Includes full info about the research Understand situations in which deception of participants may be justified and the debriefing process Minimal risk can you remind us of your story o I e you can t tell kids your going to watch them to analyze aggression Debrief inform participants about the true purposes of a study afterwards and assessing their reactions Know the HIPAA rule and describe situations in which researchers may want to obtain a certificate of confidentiality If protected health info is accessed May be needed Understand special considerations for research with children Children cannot give consent but must assent Exercise caution in reporting results or giving advice to parents Zeanah et al 2006 understand the major ethical issues involved in conducting the BEIP and how the researchers handled them Was it ethical to