ISSR TERMS
CHAPTER 1
- Assertion must have logical and empirical support
- Agreement reality those things we know as part and parcel of the culture we
share with those around us
- Epistemology the science of knowing; systems of knowledge
- Methodology the science of finding out; procedures for scientific investigation
- Replication repeating an experiment to expose or reduce error
- Probabilistic reasoning effects occur more often when the causes are present (not
always)
- Human inquiry aims to answer what and why questions, and we pursue these
goals by observing and figuring out
- 2 important sources of 2nd hand knowledge:
o Tradition: each of us inherit a culture (we learn from others)
Advantages to human inquiry: knowledge is cumulative, inherited
knowledge is the jumping -off point for developing more of it
Disadvantage: most of us rarely think of seeking for a different
understanding for what we know to be true
o Authority:
Advantage: we do well to trust the judgement of an expert
Disadvantage: when we depend on the authority of experts speaking
outside their expertise
- Errors of causal reasoning ways of avoiding them
o Inaccurate observation make deliberate observation
o Overgeneralization seek for sufficiently large sample of observation
Replication: repeating same experiment to expose error
o Selective observation select a number of persons who you will interview
o Illogical reasoning find observers
- Views of reality:
o Premodern: assumed that the way they saw things was the real one (guided
most part of human history)
o Modern: Accepted the existence of different views of reality
o Postmodern: all that is reals are the images we get through our points of view
- Theory a systematic explanation for observations that relate to a particular aspect
of life
- Attribute a characteristic of a person or a thing
- Variable a logical set of attributes
- Dependent variable a variable assumed to depend on or be caused by another
- Independent variable a variable with values that are not problematical in an
analysis but are taken as simply given
- Idiographic an approach to explanation in which we seek to exhaust the
idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition or event
- Nomothetic an approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal
factors that generally impact a class of conditions or events
- Tolerance of ambiguity the ability to hold conflicting ideas in your mind
simultaneously, without denying or dismissing any of them
, - Induction model in which general principles are developed from specific obs
- Deduction model in in which specific expectations of hypothesis are developed on
the basis of general principal
- Quantitative data Makes observations more explicit and opens the possibility of
statistical analysis (surveys), numerical data
- Qualitative data Makes observations richer in meaning/detail (in-depth
interviews)
CHAPTER 2
- Paradigm a model or framework for observation and understanding which shapes
both what we see and how we understand it
- Macrotheory a theory aimed at understanding the "big picture" of institutions,
whole societies, and the interactions among societies
- Microtheory a theory aimed at understanding social life at the level of individuals
and their interactions
- Interest convergence the thesis that majority group members will only support
the interests of minorities when those actions also support the interests of the
majority group
- Critical realism a paradigm that holds that things are real insofar as they produce
effects
- Hypothesis a specified testable expectation about empirical reality that follows
from a more general proposition
- Operationalization The process of developing operational definitions, or
specifying the exact operations involved in measuring a variable
- Operational definition the concrete and specific definition of something in terms
of the operations by which observations are to be categorized
- Null hypothesis in connection with hypothesis testing and tests of statistical
significance, that hypothesis that suggests there is no relationship among the
variable under study
CHAPTER 3
- Anonymity guaranteed in a research project when neither the researchers nor the
readers of the findings can identify a given response with a given respondent
- Confidentiality guaranteed in a research project when the researcher can identify
a given person's responses but promises not do so publicly
- Informed consent a norm in which subjects base their voluntary participation in
research projects on a full understanding of the possible risks involved
- Debriefing interviewing subjects to learn about their experience of participation
in the project and to inform them of any unrevealed purpose
CHAPTER 4: PURPOSES OF RESEARCH
- Correlation an empirical relationship between two variables such that (1) changes
in one are associated with changes in the other, or (2) particular attributes of one
variable are associated with particular attributes of the other
- Spurious relationship a coincidental statistical correlation between 2 variables,
shown to be caused by some third variable
CHAPTER 1
- Assertion must have logical and empirical support
- Agreement reality those things we know as part and parcel of the culture we
share with those around us
- Epistemology the science of knowing; systems of knowledge
- Methodology the science of finding out; procedures for scientific investigation
- Replication repeating an experiment to expose or reduce error
- Probabilistic reasoning effects occur more often when the causes are present (not
always)
- Human inquiry aims to answer what and why questions, and we pursue these
goals by observing and figuring out
- 2 important sources of 2nd hand knowledge:
o Tradition: each of us inherit a culture (we learn from others)
Advantages to human inquiry: knowledge is cumulative, inherited
knowledge is the jumping -off point for developing more of it
Disadvantage: most of us rarely think of seeking for a different
understanding for what we know to be true
o Authority:
Advantage: we do well to trust the judgement of an expert
Disadvantage: when we depend on the authority of experts speaking
outside their expertise
- Errors of causal reasoning ways of avoiding them
o Inaccurate observation make deliberate observation
o Overgeneralization seek for sufficiently large sample of observation
Replication: repeating same experiment to expose error
o Selective observation select a number of persons who you will interview
o Illogical reasoning find observers
- Views of reality:
o Premodern: assumed that the way they saw things was the real one (guided
most part of human history)
o Modern: Accepted the existence of different views of reality
o Postmodern: all that is reals are the images we get through our points of view
- Theory a systematic explanation for observations that relate to a particular aspect
of life
- Attribute a characteristic of a person or a thing
- Variable a logical set of attributes
- Dependent variable a variable assumed to depend on or be caused by another
- Independent variable a variable with values that are not problematical in an
analysis but are taken as simply given
- Idiographic an approach to explanation in which we seek to exhaust the
idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition or event
- Nomothetic an approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal
factors that generally impact a class of conditions or events
- Tolerance of ambiguity the ability to hold conflicting ideas in your mind
simultaneously, without denying or dismissing any of them
, - Induction model in which general principles are developed from specific obs
- Deduction model in in which specific expectations of hypothesis are developed on
the basis of general principal
- Quantitative data Makes observations more explicit and opens the possibility of
statistical analysis (surveys), numerical data
- Qualitative data Makes observations richer in meaning/detail (in-depth
interviews)
CHAPTER 2
- Paradigm a model or framework for observation and understanding which shapes
both what we see and how we understand it
- Macrotheory a theory aimed at understanding the "big picture" of institutions,
whole societies, and the interactions among societies
- Microtheory a theory aimed at understanding social life at the level of individuals
and their interactions
- Interest convergence the thesis that majority group members will only support
the interests of minorities when those actions also support the interests of the
majority group
- Critical realism a paradigm that holds that things are real insofar as they produce
effects
- Hypothesis a specified testable expectation about empirical reality that follows
from a more general proposition
- Operationalization The process of developing operational definitions, or
specifying the exact operations involved in measuring a variable
- Operational definition the concrete and specific definition of something in terms
of the operations by which observations are to be categorized
- Null hypothesis in connection with hypothesis testing and tests of statistical
significance, that hypothesis that suggests there is no relationship among the
variable under study
CHAPTER 3
- Anonymity guaranteed in a research project when neither the researchers nor the
readers of the findings can identify a given response with a given respondent
- Confidentiality guaranteed in a research project when the researcher can identify
a given person's responses but promises not do so publicly
- Informed consent a norm in which subjects base their voluntary participation in
research projects on a full understanding of the possible risks involved
- Debriefing interviewing subjects to learn about their experience of participation
in the project and to inform them of any unrevealed purpose
CHAPTER 4: PURPOSES OF RESEARCH
- Correlation an empirical relationship between two variables such that (1) changes
in one are associated with changes in the other, or (2) particular attributes of one
variable are associated with particular attributes of the other
- Spurious relationship a coincidental statistical correlation between 2 variables,
shown to be caused by some third variable
