An Invitation to Social Research: How It's Done, 5th Edition Emily Stier Adler | Roger Clark solutions manual and test bank
An Invitation to Social Research: How It's Done, 5th Edition Emily Stier Adler | Roger Clark
Chapter 2: Theory and Research
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 2, students should be able to do the following:
• Know what concepts, variables and hypotheses are.
• Distinguish between independent and dependent variables.
• Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship.
• Identify antecedent, intervening and extraneous variables.
• Understand the ways in which research informs theory, particularly:
1. To test theory, through a process of deduction and observation
2. To build theory, through a process of induction from observation
KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses)
Antecedent Variable (26)
Concepts (20)
Conceptualization (20)
Condition of Empirical Association (27)
Deductive Reasoning (31)
Dependent Variable (23)
Elimination of alternative explanations (27)
Empirical Generalization (31)
Extraneous Variable (28)
Grounded Theory (32)
Hypothesis (23)
Independent Variable (23)
Inductive Reasoning (32)
Intervening Variable (28)
Measurement (30)
Spurious (27)
Temporal Precedence or Time Order (27)
Theory (20)
Variable (21)
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Introduction
a. Concepts, Variables, and Hypotheses
• Concepts - words or signs that refer to phenomena that share common characteristics
• Conceptualization - the process of clarifying what we mean by a concept
• Variable – a concept that varies
o Dependent Variable – a variable that is affected by another variable
o Independent Variable – a variable that affects another variable
• Hypothesis – a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to related to one another
b. Social Science and Causality: A Word of Caution
• How do we establish causality?
o Causality is difficult to show
. Antecedent Variable – a variable that comes before both an independent and dependent variable
. Spurious – non-causal
. Empirical Association
. Temporal Precedence or Time Order - elimination of alternative explanations
. Intervening Variable
. Extraneous Variable
II. The Relationship between Theory and Research
a. Excerpt from “Moving On? Continuity and Change after Retirement” by Emily Stier Adler and
Roger Clark.
b. Excerpt from “The Terrible Towel and Fair-Weather Fans: Steelers Nation as a Quasi-Religion”
by Marci D. Cottingham.
c. Measurement- the process of devising strategies for classifying subjects by categories to represent variable concepts
d. Deductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from more general to less general statements
e. Empirical Generalization- a statement that summarizes a set of individual observations
f. Inductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from less general to more general statements
h. Grounded Theory- theory derived from data in the course of a study
i. Wallace’s Cyclical Model of Science Theories - Theory testing or theory building?
TEACHING TIPS
In Class Assignments
1. Have students respond in writing to this question to spur the "sociological imagination."
a. "It is generally believed that Americans have more choices than ever in finding a partner. There is increased marriage along religious lines and well as across race and ethnicity. We are more mobile than previously and are taking a longer time to get married. Given these indicators that we seem to have more choice in our partners than ever, why is the divorce rate so high? Wouldn't it be logical to hypothesize that the greater the number of choices and the longer the time individuals have to select a partner, the higher the marital satisfaction and the lower the divorce rate?"
2. Have students think about how research might address his question. Also have them consider independent variables, dependent variables, and intervening variables. Would this be an example of inductive or deductive reasoning?
3. Exercise 2.1, Hypotheses and Variables, is designed to get students thinking about the relationships among independent and dependent variables and hypothesis making. Assign students this exercise as an in-class writing project. Allow time for class discussion and processing, making clear distinctions between these concepts.
4. Bring in or have students bring in some articles from the newspaper about topics of interest to sociologists. Compare journalistic coverage to social science research. Discuss the sources of data and what these findings might mean to the public and interest groups. Discuss why it is so difficult to get "final answers" on questions that are essentially tied to values, e.g. death penalty, abortion and others.
5. Exercise 2.2, The Relationship Between Theory and Research, is designed to help students recognize independent and dependent variables, hypotheses and theory as they are used in research. Sample articles from the journals selected can be placed on reserve so that students locate an article that they are able to read at this point in the semester.
6. Students require a lot of practice in identifying dependent and independent variables. Using excerpts from journal articles ask students to identify the dependent and independent variables in published research; below is an example. Have students work individually in identifying the dependent and independent variables. Give them a few minutes to do this. Next, ask them to pair up in groups of two and share their answers. Ask them to not only identify the Dependent Variable (DV) and the Independent Variable (IV), but explain to their partners how they reached their answers. Talking about how they are able to identify DV and IV is an extremely useful exercise for students.
a. “The continuing absence of a father leads to low educational attainment among offspring in single-parent families. This view is derived from socialization theory which stresses the importance of male role model to the cognitive and emotional development of children.”
7. Have students identify the independent and dependent variables in the research questions they wrote in Homework Assignment 1.6.
Videos
1. Social Theory and Methods
This multi-section program addresses classical social theory, examining the origins of sociology through the efforts of Marx and Comte to build a holistic science of society; positivism, through a case study of students using surveys to do research on education; interpretivism, through a parallel case study in which students use interviews to carry out their research; and realism, comparing it to classical, positivist, and interpretivist approaches. The video also draws upon a case study of suicide to illustrate how positivist and interpretivist approaches lead researchers to ask very different questions about this key sociological topic. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online.
This film is found at Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com.
Discussion questions:
1. How is theory, classical and contemporary, used to guide sociological research questions?
2. Is research used to develop theory or test theory?
3. In the case of suicide, how did different theories lead to the development of different research questions? How might that happen in a different situation, such as crime or poverty?
2. Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning: Differences & Examples
The video provides a comparison of inductive and deductive reasoning. The video includes examples of how each type of reasoning is applied.
This video is found at Education Portal at http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/inductive-vs-deductive-reasoning-differences-examples.html#lesson
Discussion questions:
1. What are the differences between inductive and deductive reasoning?
2. Provide an example of how you could use each type of reasoning in research.
Homework Assignments
1. To help students understand the differences between variables and categories, have them complete the following exercise.
Below is a list of concepts. Some of these are variables and some categories. A) Identify which of these are variables and which are categories. B) For each of the above, make a complete set of variables and categories. Each set should have the name of ONE variable and AT LEAST two categories.
• female
• age
• Asian
• academic major
• belief that if the federal government ends up with a surplus this year, the funds should be used to reduce the national debt
• occupation
• selected this college in order to live at home while going to school
• divorced
2. Now is when students can begin the process of writing and putting together research reports. At stage have students begin to identify a research question as well as a few hypotheses which stem from the research question. With these hypotheses have students identify independent and dependent variables and concepts being studied. For a more in-depth assignment have students also begin to conceptualize each variable.
3. For students putting together research reports, have students identify whether or not their research question is exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive. Explanatory and descriptive research questions are typically grounded in existing theory. Have students identify and describe the theory for which they are studying and how it led to their research question and hypotheses.
4. Have students answer the following question:
Two variables that people in society commonly associate together are education and income, meaning that the more education you have, the more income you will make. Based on the conditions of causality, would you say that levels of education causes increases or decreases in income? Why or why not?
5. Consider the possible relationship between education and income. Write a research question, theoretical statement, and hypothesis using the concepts. Using your research question, theoretical statement, and hypothesis, how might the relationship be examined through 1) deductive and 2) inductive methods?
6. Variables can be measured different ways, and the importance of measurement will be discussed in subsequent chapters. To get students to begin to think about such issues, have students think about the different way each of these variables can be conceptualized and measured.
• Education
• Income
• Religion
• Attitude towards abortion
Internet Resources
http://sda.berkeley.edu/
Survey Documentation and Analysis
This site, maintained by the University of California-Berkeley's Computer-Assisted Survey Methods Program, provides access to the survey archives with data on crime, mental health, the General Social Survey (1972-1994) and other topics. Students can browse through codebooks; select variables of interest, and request cross tabulations and associated statistical analysis. Responses are provided immediately. Have students select two variables from one of the available databases, run a statistic and report on this in class.
http://www.norc.org/GSS+Website/
Website for the General Social Survey
This site introduces students to one of the largest surveys about demographic, behavior, and societal trends. Students can access the easy to understand codebook to see societal responses to a multitude of topics. Have students select a series of variables and then see how the GSS conceptualizes and measures these concepts.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=174508
The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime
Follow this link to download the full text of this famous article which argues that the legalization of abortion contributes to the great crime decline. Have students read the article and use this as a tool for a discussion on causality.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php
Research Methods Knowledge Base
Follow this link and get a great diagram to help students further grasp the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning. Use the entire website as a course tool to supplement the text and course with additional descriptions of main concepts and diagrams to use in PowerPoint lectures.
http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?pid=83009&sid=618409
Theoretical Framework
This University of Southern California website provides information on the importance of theory and strategies for developing an effective theoretical framework. Have students use this as a tool when completing homework assignments.
1. are words or signs that are used to describe phenomena.
a. Variables
b. Categories
c. Concepts
d. Theories
e. Hypotheses
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 20
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
2. An example of a concept that may interest sociologists is
a. the states in the United States.
b. the days of the week.
c. social class.
d. self-esteem.
e. both self-esteem and social class.
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 20
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
3. A theory
a. has to do with the conceptualization of concepts.
b. is a characteristic that may vary from one subject to another.
c. is an explanation about how and why something is as it is.
d. is a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to be related to one another.
e. None of these.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 20
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
4. Which of the following would be considered a variable:
a. employment status
b. education
c. religion
d. marital status
e. all of these are variables
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 21
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
5. Which of the following is a category of a variable?
a. male
b. Asian
c. sociology
d. divorced
e. all of these are categories of variables
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 21
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
6. “In our research, we are looking at how gender (male or female) affects the amount of money individuals leave for tips at restaurants.” In the previous statement, is the variable, and is/are the categories of the variable.
a. gender; male or female
b. gender amount of money
c. male or female; gender
d. male or female; amount of money
e. none of these
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 21
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
7. A hypothesis
a. is a causal relationship.
b. is a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to be related to one another.
c. ensures spuriousness.
d. is non-causal.
e. none of these.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
8. “In our research, we are looking at how gender (male or female) affects the amount of money individuals leave for tips at restaurants.” A possible hypothesis based on this research question is
a. men are more likely to be large tippers than women.
b. women are more likely to be large tippers than men.
c. large tippers are more likely to be physically attracted to restaurant workers of the opposite sex.
d. all of these are plausible hypotheses.
e. none of these are plausible hypotheses.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
9. ____________________ is a statement about two or more ___________________ are expected to relate to each other.
a. A theory; hypotheses
b. A hypothesis ; theories
c. A hypothesis; variables
d. A compatibility test; variables
e. A theory; concepts
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
10. The dependent variable (DV) is defined as
a. a variable that affects or influences another variable.
b. a variable that is being influenced by another variable.
c. a statement about how two or more variables are expected to be related to one another.
d. a variable that comes before and is responsible for the association between the dependent and independent variable.
e. the condition of empirical association.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.02 - Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
11. “In our research, we are looking at how gender (male or female) affects the amount of money individuals leave for tips at restaurants.” In this example, the independent variable is and the dependent variable is .
a. gender; amount of tip
b. amount of tip; gender
c. male; female
d. amount of tip; gender
e. amount of tip; female
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 24
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.02 - Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
12. An antecedent variable
a. comes after the independent variable.
b. comes after the independent variable and before the dependent variable.
c. comes before both the independent variable and the dependent variable.
d. comes after the dependent variable.
e. none of these.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 26
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
13. A/n relationship exists when an antecedent variable explains the original relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable.
a. intervening
b. extraneous
c. spurious
d. inductive
e. deductive
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
14. Demonstrating non-spuriousnessness means to
a. establish causality.
b. eliminate alternative explanations.
c. give evidence for time order.
d. give evidence for a hypothesis.
e. none of these.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
15. Which of the following is NOT one of the three conditions that must exist before we can say that an independent variable causes a dependent variable?
a. non-spuriousness
b. time order
c. empirical association
d. temporal precedence
e. all of these must exist for causality
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
16. A variable has an effect on the dependent variable as well as an effect on the independent variable.
a. independent
b. antecedent
c. intervening
d. extraneous
e. time order
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: page 28
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.04 - Identify antecedent, intervening, and extraneous variables
17. Extraneous variables
a. provide a complementary reason for variation in the dependent variable.
b. always occur after the independent and dependent variables.
c. produces changes in the independent variable.
d. comes in between the independent and dependent variables.
e. comes before the independent and dependent variables.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 28
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.04 - Identify antecedent, intervening, and extraneous variables
18. The focal research example on role theory by Adler and Clark was an example of
a. causal research
b. inductive reasoning
c. deductive reasoning
d. empirical association
e. non-spuriousness
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 29
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
19. Which of the following was not demonstrated in the focal research examples?
a. the relationship between theory and research
b. social theory is obvious in society
c. social theory can be a hidden aspect of society
d. theory can be described at either the beginning or end of an article
e. social theories allow aspects of social life to be articulated and understood
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 29
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
20. When we develop ways to classify subjects to represent variables that we are interested in understanding, we are employing
a. measurement.
b. deductive reasoning.
c. inductive reasoning.
d. variable analysis.
e. none of these.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 30
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
21. Measurement
a. is basically a representation of variable concepts.
b. is an empirical statement.
c. is an empirical generalization.
d. has nothing to do with variables.
e. none of these.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 30
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
22. If we approach a setting with a theory we want to test, we are employing
a. common sense.
b. inductive reasoning.
c. deductive reasoning.
d. personal knowledge.
e. both inductive reasoning and personal knowledge.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 31
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
23. If we are planning to test a theory about information channels and will be using electronic communications among professionals to understand how information moves through an organization, we are most likely using
a. inductive reasoning.
b. deductive reasoning.
c. empirical generalizations.
d. the cyclical model of science.
e. causality.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 31
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
24. If in our research, we have observed that 10 individuals with characteristic X seem to be more committed to ideas about social equality than other individuals without that characteristic, we are making
a. unfounded assumptions.
b. theories.
c. empirical generalizations.
d. deductive conclusions.
e. hypotheses.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: page 31
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
25. The steps involved in inductive reasoning involve
a. making observations, generalizing, theorizing.
b. theorizing, generalizing, and testing with observations.
c. making observations, theorizing, and testing these.
d. making observations, measuring, and theorizing.
e. generalizing and theorizing.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: page 32
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
26. Which of the following is associated with grounded theory?
a. empirical association
b. inductive reasoning
c. deductive reasoning
d. conceptualization
e. concepts
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 32
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
27. One of the implications of Wallace's cyclical model is
a. the model explains all research.
b. research may not touch on all elements of the model at once.
c. the model is ideal for testing a theory.
d. the model can be altered to fit specific research questions.
e. none of these
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: page 33
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
28. If social scientists want to develop or build theories about an aspect of social life that has previously been misunderstood, they might engage in
a. developing grounded theory
b. deductive reasoning
c. testing existing theory
d. inductive reasoning
e. both inductive reasoning and developing grounded theory
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 33
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
29. Resulting summaries that come from a set of observations are referred to as.
a. inductive reasoning
b. qualitative analysis
c. deductive reasoning
d. causality
e. empirical generalizations
ANSWER: e
REFERENCES: page 33
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
30. If we are using the variable of “language” to understand responses to a survey, categories might include French,
Italian, Spanish, and English.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 21
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
31. A hypothesis is a testable statement about how two or more variables link together.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
32. If we were interested in understanding the impact of listening to rap music on the development of creativity in youngsters, we would measure creativity as the independent variable.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.02 - Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
33. Independent variables influence dependent variables.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.02 - Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
34. In order to prove that variables are causally related, that is that no one causes the other, it is necessary to determine that no other variable is in fact the causal agent.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 25
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
35. Just because two variables are related to each other in some manner does not mean that they are necessarily causally related.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 25
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
36. One reason causality is hard to establish is because we want to make sure the cause comes “after”, not “before”,
the effect.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
37. The fact that two variables are associated does not necessarily mean that one variable causes another variable.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
38. Empirical association refers to two variables being statistically related.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 27
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
39. A variable that has an effect on both the independent variable and the dependent variable is called an intervening variable.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 28
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.04 - Identify antecedent, intervening, and extraneous variables
40. Deductive reasoning refers to the process of making observations and then creating a theory.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 31
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
41. If we move from specific observations to more general abstractions, we are using deductive logic.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 31
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
42. Grounded theory is associated with empirical generalizations.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: False
REFERENCES: page 33
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
43. The cyclical model of science is meant to represent the relationship between theory testing and theory building.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 34
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
44. Grounded theory refers to a theory developed from the data.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER: True
REFERENCES: page 36
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
45. Identify three concepts related to education attainment. How might these concepts be conceptualized?
ANSWER: Not provided
REFERENCES: pages 20
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.01 - Know what concepts, variables, and hypotheses are
46. Write a research question. Identify the independent and dependent variables in the research question.
ANSWER: Not provided
REFERENCES: pages 20-23
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.02 - Distinguish between independent and dependent variables
47. Explain the requirements of causation.
ANSWER: Not provided
REFERENCES: pages 25-28
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.03 - Learn the criteria for demonstrating a causal relationship
48. What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning in the development of theory?
ANSWER: Not provided
REFERENCES: pages 31-34
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
49. Describe Wallace's cyclical model of science. What are the strengths of this model?
ANSWER: Not provided
REFERENCES: pages 32-24
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: AISR.ADLE.15.02.05 - Understand the ways in which research informs theory
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