Flashcards
Soci 287 Unit 2 Research Methods
Cards in this deck (51)
- 1Absolute Povertypoverty calculated in absolute material terms. To exist in absolute poverty is to be without sufficient nutritious food, clean and safe shelter, access to education, etc. Compare relative poverty.
- 2AnomieDurkheim’s term for a societal state of breakdown or confusion, or a more personal one based on an individual’s lack of connection or contact with society.
- 3AverageA statistical figure determined by adding up the numbers for a given phenomenon and dividing the sum by the number of
individuals in the statistical population. Five squirrels picked up 24 peanuts from my front porch. The average number of peanuts per squirrel is 24 ÷ 5 = 4.8. - 4Best practisesStrategies with a demonstrated history of achieving desired results more effectively or more consistently than similar methods used either in the past by a particular organization or currently by other organizations in the same industry.
- 5Case study approachA research design that explores a social entity or phenomenon by examining a single representative case or a few selected examples.
- 6CausationThe relationship between cause and effect.
- 7Content analysisA study of a set of cultural artifacts (e.g. children’s books, newspaper articles, Internet memes) or events by systematically counting them and interpreting the themes they reflect.
- 8CorrelationA mutual relationship or interdependence among variables. See direct correlation, inverse correlation.
- 9Cultural artifact (or event)An item produced for mass cultural consumption, with value to a researcher engaged in content analysis. Cultural artifacts can include books, articles, websites, advertisements, and other items created to be seen but not specifically to be studied.
- 10Dependent variableA variable that is assumed to be affected by an independent variable.
- 11Direct (positive) correlationA relationship between two variables in which an increase (or decrease) in one causes a corresponding increase (or decrease) in the other. Compare inverse correlation.
- 12Discourse analysisAn approach to analyzing a conversation, a speech, or a written text. The scope of discourse analysis has broadened recently to encompass entire academic disciplines, such as sociology and political philosophy.
- 13DisjunctureA gap between knowledges produced from two or more different perspectives (e.g. those of management and employees).
- 14EthicsThe honourable moral principles that govern sociological research, including respect for the privacy and the rights and concerns of the research subjects.
- 15EthnographyA research method, shared by sociology and social anthropology, in which communities or groups are studied through extensive fieldwork. Ethnography requires the researcher to participate daily in the lives of the subjects, observing their actions and asking questions. See institutional ethnography.
- 16ExperientialBased on or acquired through one’s own experience.
- 17FactSomething that has been observed, and that as far as can be proven is believed to be true.
- 18GenealogyA form of discourse analysis that involves tracing the origin and history of modern discourses (e.g. the importance of light coloured skin in South Asian culture). The term is sometimes considered interchangeable with the archaeology of knowledge.
- 19HypothesisA statement that is verifiable/falsifiable (i.e. that can be proven true or false) and that proposes a specific relationship between or among variables. Example: “Playing violent video games makes a person more violent or anti-social.”
- 20Independant variableA variable that is believed to have some
effect on another variable. Compare dependent variable. - 21InformantA person knowledgeable in his or her own culture who provides his or her views of the culture to an outside researcher (a sociologist, an anthropologist, or another ethnographer).
- 22Informed consentThe process whereby fully informed research subjects indicate their understanding and acceptance of the research conditions and formally agree to be studied. Informed consent includes the understanding that permission can be
revoked at a later time. - 23Insider perspectiveThe viewpoint(s) of those who experience the subject being studied or written about. Compare outsider perspective. See also standpoint theory, subjective.
- 24Institutional ethnographyA form of ethnography that challenges the need for a neutral stance in sociological research, claiming instead that any institution or organization can be seen as having two sides: one representing the ruling interests of the organization, one representing the interests of those working for the organization (typically in a non administrative capacity).
- 25Inverse (negative) correlationA relationship between two variables in which an increase in one variable causes a decrease in the other, or vice versa. Compare direct correlation.
- 26Low income cut-offA measure of poverty derived by calculating the percentage of a family’s income spent on food, clothing, and shelter.
- 27Market Basket MeasureAn estimate of the cost of a specific basket of goods and services for a given year, assuming that all items in the basket were entirely provided for out of the spending of the household. Having an income lower than the MBM constitutes low income or poverty.
- 28MeanA statistical figure usually calculated in the same way as the average, but for some purposes determined by taking the sum of the highest and lowest figures only and dividing by two. If I have six coffees one day, then two coffees another, and three another, the mean is (6 + 2) ÷ 2 = 4.
- 29MedianThe number that falls in the middle of a series of figures for a given population or group. I worked ten hours on Monday, ten hours again on Tuesday, five hours on Wednesday, two hours on Thursday, and one hour on Friday. The median of the set 10, 10, 5, 2, 1 is 5.
- 30NarrativeStories that reflect the lives and views of the tellers.
- 31Operational definitionThe definition of an abstract quality (e.g. poverty, pollution) in such a way that it can be counted for statistical purposes.
- 32Orientalism(as described by Said) A romanticized discourse about the Middle East and the Far East constructed by outsider “experts” from the West.
- 33Outsider perspectiveThe viewpoint(s) of those outside of the group or culture being studied. The outsider perspective was once considered a privileged position, with the outsider viewed as an expert. Compare insider perspective.
- 34Participant observationA form of research in sociology and anthropology that entails both observing people as an outsider would and actively participating in the various activities of the studied people’s lives. It is often used in ethnographic research.
- 35PositivismThe belief that every rational assertion can be verified by scientific proof.
- 36PovertyA state of doing or being without what are considered essentials.
- 37Poverty lineThe arbitrary dividing point, usually based on household income, that separates the poor from the rest of society. It can differ according to the cost of living in the studied environment, and it may differ for urban and rural communities. It can also vary according to the political biases of the person drawing the line.
- 38Qualitative researchThe close examination of characteristics
that cannot be counted or measured. - 39Quantitative researchThe close examination of social elements that can be counted or measured, and therefore used to generate statistics.
- 40Relative povertyA state of poverty based on a comparison with others in the immediate area or country. Compare absolute poverty.
- 41Research methodologyThe system of methods a researcher uses to gather data on a particular question.
- 42Ruling interestsThe interests of an organization, particularly its administration, or the interests of those who are dominant in society, particularly when these trump the interests of the indivdual.
- 43Ruling relationsThe conformity of workers to the rules and practices of the organization they work for; ruling relations are activated when workers fulfill the organization’s ruling interests.
- 44Semi-structured interviewAn informal, face-to-face interview designed to cover specific topics without the rigid structure of a questionnaire but with more structure than an open interview.
- 45Spurious reasoningThe perception of a correlation between two factors that are wrongly seen as cause and effect.
- 46StatisticsA science that, in sociology, involves the use of numbers to map social behaviour and beliefs.
- 47TheoryAn attempt to explain something that has been observed.
- 48Third variableA variable that explains the connection or correlation between two other variables.
- 49TriangulationThe use of at least three narratives, theoretical perspectives, or investigators to examine the same phenomenon.
- 50VariableA factor or element that is likely to vary or change according to the circumstances governing it. See dependent variable, independent variable.
- 51VoiceThe expression of a (not the) viewpoint that comes from occupying a particular social location.
Information
- Description
- Sociology (287) Flashcards on Soci 287 Unit 2 Research Methods, created by Patrick Schorno on 18/05/2017.
- Created by
- Patrick Schorno
- Views
- 1
- Rating