course evaluations you will be asked to complete course evaluations on-line during the last two...

Course EvaluationsCourse Evaluations

You will be asked to complete course evaluations on-line during the last two weeks of classes. It is important that you do so. Course evaluations help future students decide which courses to take and they help the university make hiring, salary, and promotion decisions. Thank you in advance for making your voice heard. (Note: You will be asked to complete two evaluations for SOC101Y – one for Professor Brym, the other for Professor Green.)

SOC101Y

Introduction to SociologyIntroduction to SociologyProfessor Adam GreenProfessor Adam GreenProfessor Robert BrymProfessor Robert Brym

Lectures #20 & 21Lectures #20 & 21Research MethodsResearch Methods27 Mar & 3 Apr 327 Mar & 3 Apr 3

OTTFFSSENTOTTFFSSENT

OO{ne}{ne}TT{wo}{wo}TT{hree}{hree}FF{our}, etc.{our}, etc.

ADGJMADGJM

AA{BC}{BC}DD{EF}{EF}GG{HI}{HI}JJ{KL}{KL}MM

YOUTUBE clip on perception

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8fhXAP8UBM

How Research Filters How Research Filters PerceptionPerception

Values, Theories,Existing Research,

Methods

REALITY

The Research CycleThe Research Cycle1.1. Figure out Figure out

what what matters to matters to youyou

2. Formulate a testable 2. Formulate a testable theorytheory (a tentative (a tentative explanation of a explanation of a phenomenon)phenomenon)

3. Review 3. Review existing existing literatureliterature

4. Select method(s)4. Select method(s)

6. Treat subjects ethically6. Treat subjects ethically 5. Collect data5. Collect data

7. Analyze 7. Analyze datadata

8. 8. Report Report resultsresults

Thomas Nagel (1986)

“THERE IS NO VIEW FROM NOWHERE”

Research EthicsResearch Ethics1. Respect your subjects’ right to safety. Do your

subjects no harm and, in particular, give them the right to decide whether and how they can be studied.

2. Respect your subjects’ right to informed consent. Tell subjects how the information they supply will be used and allow them to judge the degree of personal risk involved in supplying it.

3. Respect your subjects’ right to privacy. Allow subjects the right to decide whether and how the information they supply may be revealed to the public.

4. Respect your subjects’ right to confidentiality. Refrain from using information in a way that allows it to be traced to a particular subject.

5. Do not falsify data. Report findings as they are, not as you would like them to be.

6. Do not plagiarize. Explicitly identify, credit, and reference authors when making use of their written work in any form, including Web postings.

Participant ObservationParticipant Observation

Researchers engage in participant observation when they try to observe a social milieu from an outsider’s point of view and take part in the activities of their subjects (allowing them to understand the point of view of their subjects).

They must avoid influencing their subjects’ behaviour (reactivity or the Hawthorne effect).

Most participant-observation studies begin as exploratory research in which the researcher uses hunches as hypotheses (unverified but testable statements derived from theories).

SIDEWALK - Mitch Duneier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv4civR8mSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2KDgvwGFeQ



Participant ObservationParticipant Observation

Researchers engage in participant observation when they try to observe a social milieu from an outsider’s point of view and take part in the activities of their subjects (allowing them to understand the point of view of their subjects).

They must avoid influencing their subjects’ behaviour (reactivity or the Hawthorne effect).

Most participant-observation studies begin as exploratory research in which the researcher uses hunches as hypotheses (unverified but testable statements derived from theories).

MeasurementMeasurement Variables are concepts that can take more than one

value. Operationalization involves establishing criteria for

assigning values to variables. If a measurement procedure yields consistent results,

we consider it reliable. If a measurement procedure measures what it is

supposed to, we consider it valid (and it has external validity if it is consistent with what we know from previous research or allows us to make useful predictions).

If research findings hold in many contexts, we consider them generalizable.

Causality is the measurement of causes and their effects.

Measurement as Target Measurement as Target PracticePractice

x xx x

xxxx

Validity, reliability, and generalizability may be explained by drawing an analogy between measuring a variable and firing at a bull’s-eye. In case 1, above, shots (measures) are far apart (not reliable) and far from the bull’s-eye (not valid). In case 2, shots are close to each other (reliable) but far from the bull’s-eye (not valid). In case 3, shots are close to the bull’s-eye (valid) and close to each other (reliable). In case 4, we use a second target. Our shots are again close to each other (reliable) and close to the bull’s-eye (valid). Because our measures were valid and reliable for both the first and second targets in cases 3 and 4, we conclude our results are generalizable.

x xx x

xxxx

1.Not Valid, Not Reliable 2. Not Valid, Reliable

3. Valid, Reliable 4. Valid, Reliable, Generalizable (Target 2)

Course EvaluationsCourse Evaluations

You will be asked to complete course evaluations on-line during the last two weeks of classes. It is important that you do so. Course evaluations help future students decide which courses to take and they help the university make hiring, salary, and promotion decisions. Thank you in advance for making your voice heard. (Note: You will be asked to complete two evaluations for SOC101Y – one for Professor Brym, the other for Professor Green.)

SOC101Y

Introduction to SociologyIntroduction to SociologyProfessor Adam GreenProfessor Adam GreenProfessor Robert BrymProfessor Robert Brym

Lectures #20 & 21Lectures #20 & 21Research MethodsResearch Methods27 Mar & 3 Apr 327 Mar & 3 Apr 3

SamplingSamplingA sample is part of a group.A population is the entire group.A voluntary response sample is a group of people who chose themselves in response to a general appeal. A representative sample is a group is a group of people chosen so their characteristics closely match those of the population of interest. A convenience sample consists of people who are easiest to reach. If respondents are chosen at random and an individual’s chance of being chosen is known and greater than zero, the respondents constitute a probability sample.A sampling frame is a list of all the people in the population of interest. A randomizing method is a way of ensuring every person in the sampling frame has a known, equal, and non-zero chance of being selected.

Sampling Error ISampling Error I

48% Conservatives ---------{-------

X-------}------------------- 2.5% margin of error

50%

Liberals ---------------{-------X-------}-------------

2.5 % margin of error

Because the sample measures fall within Because the sample measures fall within overlapping overlapping margins of error, we conclude that the measured margins of error, we conclude that the measured difference in the popularity of the two parties is difference in the popularity of the two parties is notnot statistically significant.statistically significant.

Sampling Error IISampling Error II

48% Conservatives ---------{-------

X-------}------------------- 2.5% margin of error

55%

Liberals -------------------------{-------X------} 2.5 % margin of error

Here, the sample measures fall Here, the sample measures fall outsideoutside the margins of the margins of error, so we conclude that the measured difference in error, so we conclude that the measured difference in the popularity of the two parties the popularity of the two parties isis statistically statistically significant.significant.

SurveysSurveys A mail questionnaire is a form containing

questions is mailed to the respondent and returned to the researcher through the mail system.

The response rate is the number of people who answer the questionnaire divided by the number of people asked to do so, expressed as a percent.

In a face-to-face interview survey, questions are presented to the respondent by the interviewer during a meeting.

In a telephone survey, questions are presented to the respondent by the interviewer over the phone.

A closed-ended question provides the respondent with a list of permitted answers.

Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer questions in their own words.

Threats to ValidityThreats to Validity

Undercounting occurs due to an imperfect sampling frame.

Nonresponse occurs when respondents do not answer some or all questions.

Response bias occurs when respondents do not answer questions completely accurately.

To avoid wording effects, questions should be specific, simple and neutral, and they should focus on important, singular, current events.

more than 10 hours TV per week and no

act of physical violence per year

10 or fewer hours TV per

week and at least 1 act of physical violence

per year

10 or fewer hours TV per

week and no act of physical violence per

year

Turning a Classroom into a Turning a Classroom into a Contingency TableContingency Table

(a cross-classification of cases by at least two (a cross-classification of cases by at least two variables)variables)

more than 10 hours TV per week and at

least 1 act of physical violence per year

BACK

LEFT

FRONT

RIGHT

TV Viewing By Aggressiveness TV Viewing By Aggressiveness (in percent)(in percent)

TV Viewing

< 10hrs/wk

10+hrs/wk

percentagedifference

Aggressive-ness

<1 violent act/yr

52 46 6

1+ violentact(s)/yr

48 54 6

total frequency (n)

130 70

total percent 100 100

Measures strength of association

Number of cases ineach column

Percent of cases ineach column

Percent of cases in each column that fall into a category of each row variable.

Step 1: Note the direction in which the table is percentaged.

COL ROWUMN

TV Viewing By Aggressiveness TV Viewing By Aggressiveness (men only)(men only)

TV Viewing

< 10hrs/wk

10+hrs/wk

percentagedifference

Aggressive-ness

<1 violent act/yr

40 40 0

1+ violent act(s)/yr

60 60 0

totalfrequency (n)

50 50

total percent 100 100

Testing an Association forTesting an Association forSpuriousnessSpuriousness

(1) We believe there is a causal relationship between TV viewing and aggressiveness:

TV viewing Aggressiveness(independent variable) (dependent variable)

(2) By controlling for gender we can see whether gender has created a spurious association between TV viewing and aggressiveness:

TV viewing(independent variable)

Respondent’s gender(control variable)

aggressiveness(dependent variable)

(association)

(association)

(association)

(no association)

Find the independent, dependent, and control variables in the

following slides:

Number of Sex Partners by Respondent’s Sex (in %)

respondent’s sex male female

number of sex partners

0 or 1 79 90

more than 1 21 10

total 100 100

n 1,004 1,233

Number of Sex Partners by Respondent’s Sex, Married People Only (in %)

respondent’s sex malefemale

number of sex partners0 or 1 95 99more than 1 5 1total 100 100n 499 534

Ratio of non-white to white and black to white income for men working full-time

Ratio of non-white to white income

Ratio of black to white income

All men .80 .70

All men born in Canada

.90 .80

All men born in Canada with university education

1.00 .90

Female/male earnings ratio

Marital status

On average among full-time workers, On average among full-time workers, women earn three-quarters of what men women earn three-quarters of what men earn. However:earn. However:

Implies that part of the original relationship between income and gender is due to marital status.

course evaluations you will be asked to complete course evaluations on-line during the last two...

Documents

subjects ethically5

existing research

research methods27

existing literature4

report findings

tentative explanation

testable theory

particular subject