Part Two

1
Part Two

• The Structuring of Inquiry

2
Chapter 4

• Research Design

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Chapter Outline

• Introduction
• Three Purposes of Research
• The Logic of Nomothetic Explanation
• Necessary and Sufficient Causes

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Chapter Outline

• Units of Analysis
• The Time Dimension
• How to Design a Research Project
• The Research Proposal

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Three Purposes of Research

• Exploration
• Description
• Explanation

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Purpose of Exploratory Studies

• Satisfy researchers curiosity and desire for
  better understanding.
• Test the feasibility of undertaking a more
  extensive study.
• Develop methods to be employed in a subsequent
  study.

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Question

• Scientific inquiry comes down to
• making observations
• interpreting what youve observed
• both a and b
• none of these choices

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Answer C

• Scientific inquiry comes down to making
  observations and interpreting what youve
  observed.

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The Logic of Nomothetic Explanation

• In this model, we try to find independent
  variables that account for the variations in a
  given phenomenon.
• This contrasts with the idiographic model, in
  which we seek a complete, in-depth understanding
  of a single case.

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Criteria for Nomothetic Causality

• A statistical correlation between the two
  variables.
• The cause takes place before the effect.
• There is no third variable that can explain away
  the observed correlation as spurious.

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Correlation

• A relationship between two variables such that
• changes in one are associated with changes in the
  other
• particular attributes of one variable are
  associated with particular attributes of the
  other.
• Correlation in and of itself does not constitute
  a causal relationship between the two variables,
  but it is one criterion of causality.

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Spurious Relationships

• Relationships that aren't genuine.
• A coincidental statistical correlation between
  two variables, shown to be caused by some third
  variable.

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False Criteria for Nomothetic Causality

• Research can determine some causes, but it
  cannot determine complete causation.
• Exceptions do not disprove a causal relationship.
• Causal relationships can be true even if they
  dont apply in a majority of cases.

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Question

• A ____________ is an empirical relationship
  between two variables such that changes in one
  are associated with changes in the other.
• nomothetic explanation
• regression analysis
• correlation
• spurious relationship

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Answer C

• A correlation is an empirical relationship
  between two variables such that changes in one
  are associated with changes in the other.

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Example of a Spurious Causal Relationship
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Necessary and Sufficient Causes

• Necessary cause - a condition that must be
  present for the effect to follow.
• Sufficient cause - condition that if present,
  guarantees the effect in question.
• Causes that are both necessary and sufficient are
  the most satisfying outcome in research.

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Necessary Cause
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Sufficient Cause
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Units of Analysis

• What or whom to study
• Individuals
• Groups
• Organizations
• Social artifacts - Any product of social beings
  or their behavior.

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Units of Analysis and Faulty Reasoning

• Ecological fallacy assuming something learned
  about an ecological unit says something about the
  individuals in the unit.
• Reductionism Reducing something to a simple
  explanation when in reality it is complex.

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Sociobiology

• A paradigm based in the view that social behavior
  can be explained in terms of genetic
  characteristics and behavior.

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Time Studies

• Cross-sectional studiesObservations of a sample,
  or cross-section of a population or phenomena
  that are made at one point in time. ( U.S.
  Census)
• Longitudinal Studies Permits observations of the
  same phenomenon over an extended period.
  (field-research projects)

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Time Studies

• Trend StudiesA type of longitudinal study that
  examines change within a population over time.
  (comparison of U.S. Census over a period of
  decades)

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Longitudinal Studies

• Cohort studiesExamines specific subpopulations,
  or cohorts, as they change over time.

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Longitudinal Studies

• Panel StudyExamines the same set of people each
  time. (interview same sample of voters every
  month during an election campaign).

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Age and Political Liberalism
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Comparing Typesof Longitudinal Studies

• Variable religious affiliation.
• A trend study might look at shifts in U.S.
  religious affiliations over time, as the Gallup
  Poll does on a regular basis.
• A cohort study might follow religious
  affiliations among the Depression generation,
  people aged 20 to 30 in 1932.
• A panel study could start with a sample of the
  whole population or a special subset and study
  those specific individuals over time.

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How to Design a Research Project

• Define the purpose of your project.
• Specify exact meanings for the concepts you want
  to study.
• Choose a research method.
• Decide how to measure the results.

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How to Design a Research Project

• Decide whom or what to study.
• Collect empirical data.
• Process the data.
• Analyze the data.
• Report your findings.

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Question

• Social researchers tend to choose___________ as
  their units of analysis.
• social interactions
• social artifacts
• groups
• individuals

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Answer D

• Social researchers tend to choose individuals as
  their units of analysis.

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Elements of a Research Proposal

• Problem or objective
• Literature review
• Subjects for study
• Measurement

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Elements of a Research Proposal

• Data-collection methods
• Analysis
• Schedule
• Budget

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Quick Quiz
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• 1. Which of these are among the purposes of
  research?
• exploration
• description
• explanation
• all of these choices

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Answer D

• Exploration, description and explanation are
  among the purposes of research.

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• 2. What do social researchers mean when they say
  there is a causal relationship between education
  and racial tolerance?
• there is a statistical correlation between the
  two variables
• a persons educational level occurred before
  their current level of tolerance
• there is no third variable that can explain away
  the observed correlation
• all of these choices
• none of these choices

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Answer D

• When social researchers say there is a causal
  relationship between education and racial
  tolerance they mean there is a statistical
  correlation between the two variables, a persons
  educational level occurred before their current
  level of tolerance and there is no third variable
  that can explain away the observed correlation.

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• 3. A _____________ is probabilistic and usually
  incomplete.
• nomothetic explanation
• correlation
• spurious relationship
• theory
• none of these choices

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Answer A

• A nomothetic explanation is probabilistic and
  usually incomplete.

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• 4. A __________ represents a condition that, if
  present, guarantees the effect in question.
• hypothesis
• sufficient cause
• practical issue
• necessary cause
• dependent variable

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Answer B

• A sufficient cause represents a condition that,
  if present, guarantees the effect in question.