Methods of Social Research SOC 301

Description

Part 1) Read (Click the link listed above) the excerpt taken from Dixon, The Process of Social Research, 2016, Oxford Univ Press, and answer the questions listed below.

[The topics covered by this reading are also presented in the textbook (Chap 4: Surveys). Read the sections titled “Methodology”, “Theory”, “Research Questions”, “Statistical Analysis”, and “Causality”.]

• w6d51What is the goal of scientific understanding?
• w6d52What is a hypothesis?
• w6d53What is a causal relationship?
• w6d54Given the variable “marital status”, what are the attributes associated with it?
• w6d55Given the following research question, find the unit of analysis.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d56Given the following research question, find the variables.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d57Given the following research question, find the independent variable. “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d58Given the following research question, find the categories (or attributes) associated with the independent variable.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d59Given the following research question, find the dependent variable.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d60Given the following research question, find the categories (or attributes) associated with the dependent variable.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian Asian?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d61Given the following research question, find one extraneous variable.
  “Are Black people more likely to vote than Asian people?” This question can also be stated in the following way: “Does a person’s race affect the person’s voting behavior?”
• w6d62Given the following research question, find the unit of analysis.
  Does the level of economic development of a country influence the birth rate of the country?
• w6d63Does the level of economic development of a country influence the birth rate of the country?
• w6d64Given the following research question, find the independent variable.
  Does the level of economic development of a country influence the birth rate of the country?
• w6d65Given the following research question, find the dependent variable.
  Does the level of economic development of a country influence the birth rate of the country?
• w6d66Given the following research question, find an extraneous variable.
  Does the level of economic development of a country influence the birth rate of the country?
• w6d67To establish causality, we need three kinds of evidence – association, direction of influence, and nonspuriousness. What do we mean when we say that variables are associated?
• w6d68To establish causality, what should be the direction of influence between the variables?
• w6d69To establish causality, two variables that are associated must be associated nonspuriously. What does this mean?

Part 2) Read the sections entitled “Logical Reasoning” and “Logic of Inquiry” (Click the link listed above) and answer the following questions. (This reading material was taken from The Process of Social Research, Jeffrey C. Dixon, et al., Oxford Univ Press, 2016.)

• w6d71What research question did Jeffrey Dixon and Michael Rosenbaum (2004) study?
• w6d72Whose theory did they examine in their study?
• w6d73What does this theory explain?
• w6d74What specific hypotheses deduced from the theory did Dixon and Rosenbaum examine in their study?
• w6d75How did Dixon and Rosenbaum test their hypotheses?
• w6d76What did Dixon and Rosenbaum find in their study?
• w6d77What were the variables examined in Dixon and Rosenbaum’s study?
• w6d78What was the unit of analysis in Dixon and Rosenbaum’s study?
• w6d79Was there any independent variable in the study? If there was, what was it?
• w6d80Was there any dependent variable in the study? If there was, what was it?
• w6d81List one extraneous variable.
• w6d82What theory did Emile Durkheim examine in his study of suicide?
• w6d83How did that theory explain suicide (i.e., why some people commit suicide, according to that theory)?
• w6d84What particular hypotheses deduced from the theory did Durkheim test in his study? List all the hypotheses.
• w6d85What data did Durkheim use to examine his hypotheses?
• w6d86What did Durkheim find in his data analysis? Did his findings support or reject his hypotheses?
• w6d87How did Durkheim develop a new theory of suicide?
• 
  Part 3) read the pictures I uploaded and then answer the questions

• w6r31What is the research question examined in this study?
• w6r32In which paragraph in the introduction section is the research question presented?
• w6r33What is the independent variable in this study?
• w6r34List the attributes (or categories, or values) of the independent variable.
• w6r35What is the dependent variable in this study?
• w6r36List the attributes (or categories, or values) of the dependent variable.
• w6r37How many cases did they analyze in this study?
• w6r38What is the unit of analysis in this study?
• w6r39• What is the unit of analysis in this study? (Write your w6r38 answer.)
  • List one extraneous variable.