Lecture 1: Research Methods Review for Sociology 303 Statistics

Introduction

• Instructor: Dr. Alvarez
• Focus: Understanding research processes, variables, causality, conceptualizing variables, and social research methods.
• Key Concepts: Variables and their types, deductive vs. inductive research, levels of measurement, correlation and causation, conceptualization in research.

The Research Process

Purposes of Research

• Exploration: Familiarize with new topics.
• Description: Detail processes.
• Explanation: Understand why phenomena occur.
  • Explanation is privileged over exploration and description.

Deductive vs. Inductive Research

• Deductive: Theory → Hypothesis → Data → Analysis → Conclusion
  • Structured observation: ethnography, experiments, surveys.
  • Often quantitative.
• Inductive: Observation → Theory → Observation
  • Iterative and qualitative.
  • Example: Jane Goodall's research.

Understanding Variables

Definitions

• Variable: Measurement of the social world.
  • Must understand the level of measurement and type.

Levels of Measurement

• Nominal: Categories without intrinsic order (e.g., gender, race).
• Ordinal: Ordered categories, but no exact distance (e.g., class, approval levels).
• Interval Ratio: Numeric, with exact distances (e.g., years of education, income).

Types of Variables

• Dichotomous: Two possible answers (e.g., Yes/No).
  • Dummy Variable: Coded as 0 or 1.
• Categorical: Nominal and ordinal variables.
• Numeric Variables:
  • Discrete: Whole numbers only.
  • Continuous: Can be subdivided (e.g., height, weight).

Causal Relationships

Independent and Dependent Variables

• Independent Variable (X): Cause or predictor.
• Dependent Variable (Y): Effect or outcome.
  • Example: Education (X) and Income (Y).

Criteria for Causation

• Correlation: Variables must co-vary.
• Time Order: Cause must precede the effect.
• Non-Spuriousness: No third variable explains the relationship.
  • Example: Shoe size and vocabulary score (spurious due to age).

Conceptualization and Operationalization

• Defining what variables mean and how they relate to broader concepts.
• Conceptualization Process:
  • Define the concept.
  • Identify dimensions (e.g., voting, political information).
  • Construct indicators (variables) for dimensions.
• Attitudes vs. Behaviors:
  • Attitudes: Thoughts/Feelings (e.g., importance of voting).
  • Behaviors: Actions (e.g., voting behavior).

Methods of Social Research

Comparison of Methods

• Experiments: Gold standard for causality but limited generalizability and depth.
• Ethnographies: Deep understanding but poor causality and generalizability.
• Surveys: Good at generalizability, limited causality, and depth.

Final Thoughts

• Choose research methods based on the questions you aim to answer.
• Statistics is one way among many to conduct research.

Reminder: This lecture is foundational for this course. Ensure you understand the concepts and reach out with questions.