Intro to Research Methods Tuesday September 02 2014 3 15 PM How do we judge whether research is credible or not the source can it be duplicated People tend to judge information based on personal values If research confirms common sense it is a waste of time if it refutes common sense then it s wrong Public debate tends to rely on simplistic argument and common sense People tend to focus on the exception rather than the rule and give great weight to personal experiences Other Sources of Knowledge Authorities trusting the judgment of someone with special expertise Tradition things that everyone knows The media The media What are the problems with these methods of acquiring knowledge How Do These Statements Seek to Persuade You From a cigarette exec Our studies show cigarettes are not addictive conflict of interest This toothpaste is recommended by dentists who are members of the American Dental Association kickbacks Marijuana helps students study well and make good grades so smoke weed 2 Realities Experimental Reality the things we know from direct experience Agreement Reality things we consider real because we have been told they are real and everyone agrees Propaganda Characteristics of Propaganda Source of information has vested interest in persuading you This is why you must consider the source Presentation of information is unbalanced Responds to critics though use of personal attacks rather than facts or reason Often attempts to manipulate through emotions or intimidation rather than through facts or reason So why can t we trust facts through propaganda Inaccurate selective observation Overgeneralization Illogical reasoning Ideology and politics In short we simply cannot trust ourselves to report information accurately and in a non self interested way Research is a way to go about finding answers to your questions Research is how a person goes and finds out something new about the social world Scientific research is a collection of systematic methods people use to produce knowledge To better understand the limitations of nonscientific information To obtain knowledge of methods allows you to assess current directions in your field or career To obtain knowledge allows you to become more critical of the scientific merits of technical reports research What is Science Goal is to develop knowledge a symbolic representation of reality knowledge can change or grow outmoded Science combines nationality and logic with systematic methods for observation Science values measurement observation replication and verification Basic orientation is informed skepticism We assume that what we are trying to manipulate or explain is probabilistic where the pressure of X means more likely chance of Y occurring Y does not have to occur every time there is X so 8 28 14 CH1 Page 1 of X means more likely chance of Y occurring Y does not have to occur every time there is X so individual exceptions do not disprove the rule People often assume that if X happens Y must always happen People also assume that if statistically improbable events happen they must happen with great frequency Theory hypothesis research design data gathering analysis and findings New theory Using a theory to predict a fact is called deduction Starting with facts and then using them to create an explanation for something is called induction Quantitative Research Concepts are assigned a numeric value Emphasis is often a prediction Qualitative Research emphasis on understanding the meaning of what goes on 8 28 14 CH1 Page 2 Tuskegee Study Thursday September 04 2014 11 00 AM You cannot give false information to conduct a study or mislead people Participation has to be voluntary or agreed upon Informed consent informing subjects on all points and potential issues on the research being done There should be no intentional harm when testing subjects The benefits need to outweigh potential harms The scientists knew that men would die for the sake of the study for little benefits They withheld proven treatment from patients intentionally hurting them more Lead to the Belmont report based on three main principles of your subjects treating them and how we do it Institutional Review Boards were put in place to protect patients so researchers can demonstrate before hand that no harm will come to subjects 9 4 14 Tuskegee Page 3 General Issues in Research Design Tuesday September 09 2014 10 58 AM Introduction Research design is the plan or blueprint for a study Includes the who what when where and how of an investigation Some topics are a lot more difficult to study than others and that makes it hard to make plan and gain access As social scientists we seek to explain the causes of some phenomenon eg crime Physical growth in plants is caused by a of factors Human behavior is much more complex free will and deterministic constraints affect behavior Certain factors make some more or less likely to engage in crime Humans can be unpredictable and make the hard to study Lab studies aren t a real world setting so it is in a controlled environment which we can manipulate Free will makes it difficult Reasons have Reasons What causes juvenile delinquency Deterministic constraints lack of parental supervision peer group association early childhood experiences amount kind of education There is not a lot of room for free will and whatever the outcome is is more likely to happen Free will aspects why didn t you personally choose to hang out with troublemakers Why didn t you decide to slack off in school People aren t bound they are free to make their own decisions and have choice Deterministic Constraints Juvenile Delinquency Poor supervision Delinquent peers School failure So how can we study behavior Free will aspects why didn t you personally choose to hang out with troublemakers Why didn t you decide to slack off in school When conducting explanatory social science research we subscribe to the deterministic camp We assume that people have little freedom of choice We do not assume that all human actions are determined nor that we are controlled by the same forces nor that we can find all answers Probabilistic Causal Model Certain factors make crime delinquency more or less likely within groups of people It doesn t always have to happen but there is a high probability Two models of explanation Idiographic list the many perhaps unique considerations behind an action Nomothetic lists the most important and fewest considerations variables that best explain
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