po 217 mid-term sos
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PO 217 Mid-Term SOS. Jessica Behnke. UNIT I: Science & Scientific Reasoning. Science v . Nonscience Natural science v . social science Ontology v . epistemology Positivsm & post-positivism v . Interpretivism & Social construction. UNIT I Continued. Qualitative v . Quantitative - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
PO 217 Mid-Term SOS
Jessica Behnke
UNIT I: Science & Scientific Reasoning
• Science v. Nonscience• Natural science v. social science• Ontology v. epistemology• Positivsm & post-positivism v.
Interpretivism & Social construction
UNIT I Continued• Qualitative v. Quantitative• Inductive v. deductive reasoning• Nomothetic v. Idiographic
explanation
Post-Positivism v. Interpretivist Methods
Post-Positivist InterpretivistQualitative ✔ ✔
Quantitative ✔
Inductive Reasoning ✔
Deductive Reasoning ✔
Idiographic explanation
✔
Nomothetic explanation
✔
Understanding ✔
Causal Explanations ✔
UNIT I: Practice Questions1. A researcher who has traveled to Bali to
study the distinct power relationships in a specific community is likely looking for what type of explanations?
2. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of science:a) Empiricalb) Commitment to traditionc) Falsifiabled) Replicablee) None of the above
UNIT I: Practice Questions 2
3. TRUE or FALSE:– Interpretivists believe social phenomena
are fundamentally different from natural phenomena
– Deductive method looks at data and tries to extrapolate conclusions from the data
– Idiographic explanations seek to explain a general class of events
– Positivists only use quantitative data collection techniques
– Social science methods can be equally as scientific as natural science methods
UNIT I Practice Questions 34. More True and Falsea) The investigation of what is justified
belief is called an epistemologyb) Positivists are concerned with
intention and meaning behind actorsc) Positivists believe in objectivismd) Both positivism and interpretivism are
social science epistemologies.
UNIT II: THEORY & HYPOTHESES
• Paradigm v. Theory• Criteria of a Theory:
– Testable– Logically sound– General– Parsimonious
UNIT II: THEORY & HYPOTHESES
• 3 levels of theory:– Grand– Mid-level– Low-level
• Concepts v. Variables• Hypotheses: Independent Variable,
Dependent Variable, Intervening Variable
UNIT II Cont’d• Types of relationships between
variables– Causal– Causally Intervening– Conditioning– Spurious Association (= NO real
relationship, just covariation)
UNIT II: Practice Questions1. Categorize the
following as variables OR not variables:– Muslim– Youth– Political Ideology– Partisanship– NDP– Weight– Political Efficacy
– Very active politically– Social capital– Female– Voted in last federal
election– Disease pandemics
UNIT II: Practice Questions 2
2. Pick out what you think the independent and dependent variables are based on the following journal article titles:
- “Differences in democratic transitions due to Foreign Policy Realignment.”
- “Institutional Change and impacts on Electoral Reform in Latin America.”
- “Violent out-breaks in conflict sensitive areas due to lack of identity recognition.”
UNIT II: Practice Questions 3
3. Identify the type of relationship in the following hypotheses:
- A student’s academic performance is negatively related to the number of nights a week they party.
- Student’s performance in 217 is higher if the attend lectures, but only if they also do the readings.
- Student’s who’s parents are politically engaged tend to major in political science, and hence display higher levels of political interest
- Number of student’s who use drugs is higher at larger post secondary institutions
UNIT III: Measurement• Theoretical hypothesisUrban/rural residence--------> Political
ideology
• Operational hypothesisResidence question ------->Likert scale of
statements re:ideology
Unit III: Measurement• Levels of measurementCATEGORICAL CONTINUOUSNominal Interval
Ordinal Ratio
UNIT III: Measurement• Measurement error
– Random error– Systematic error
• Measurement reliability– Stability– Internal reliability– Inter-coder consistency
UNIT III: Measurement• Measurement Validity
– Face/content– Concurrent– Predictive– Known-group
- Correlation Coefficient- measures association between 2 variables
UNIT III: Measurement• Indexes
– Ex- most desirable place to live– Ex- best university professors
• Scales– Ex- subjective social capital– I feel I can trust most people– In general, my neighbours are not trust worthy– I feel that if I lost my wallet, most people
would return it– In general, you have to watch out for yourself,
because no one else will
UNIT III: Practice Questions1. Identify as operational or theoretical
hypothesis:– Program Major ---> Level of involvement at
Uni– Age question ----> Voted in last 5 elections– Either US/Canada ----> Coding newspaper
articles on portrayal of climate change– Green tea consumption -----> Weight loss– Exposure to negative/positive media on
Michael Ignatieff ----> Series of questions about view on Michael Ignatieff
UNIT III: Practice Questions 2
2. Identify what the researcher is trying to accomplish:- Administer to survey to a group today, and administer
the same survey to the same group 5 weeks from now- Pose the question– does my measure of conservatism
seem the capture the concept well?- Give half my Likert statements to a random half of the
high school, and the other half of Likert statements to the other half
- Ask political science professors to fill out my survey on political and civic engagement
- After answering a series of Likert questions on political interest, I also include a question about whether the respondent voted in the last federal/provincial/municipal election
UNIT III: Practice Questions 3
3. True or False- Likert scales always use 5 response categories- Measurement reliability is necessary but not
sufficient for measurement validity- If a measure has systematic error, it has weak
measurement validity- Measurement validity refers to how accurately
your measure is capturing the concept- A correlation coefficient measures how
efficiently your operational hypothesis matches your theoretical hypothesis
UNIT III: Practice Questions 4
4. Best represented by a scale or an index?– Democraticness’– Perception on current government– Conservatism– Religiosity– Final Grade in PO 217– Political efficacy
UNIT III: Practice Question 5
5. What level of measurement is most appropriate for the following variables?
- Weight- Feelings about Stephen Harper- Month- Marital Status- Education
UNIT IV: Research Design & Experimental Design
• Research Design• Unit of Analysis• Alternate Rival Hypothesis• Internal Validity• External Validity
UNIT IV: Research and Experimental Design
• Experimental design– what is it?• Pro’s + Con’s• Internal + External Validity• 4 types:
– Post-test only– Classic– Solomon 4 group– Field– Split-ballot
Experimental Design: Post-test Only Design
Group 1(Treatment
Group)SubjectPool Group 2
Comparison / Control Group
Time1Random Assignment
Time2Manipulate IV
Time3 Observe DV
Stimulus1
Stimulus2 /No Stimulus
Post-test
Post-test
compare
Experimental Design: Classical Experimental
Design
Group 1(Treatment
Group)SubjectPool Group 2
Comparison / Control Group
Time1Random Assignment
Time3Manipulate IV
Compare DV
Pre to PostStimulus1
Stimulus2 /No Stimulus
Post-test
Post-test
compare
Time2Observe DV
Pre-test
Pre-test
Time4Observe DV
Change
Change
Experimental Design: Solomon Four Group Design
Group 1Treatment
GroupSubjectPool
Group 2 Control Group
Time1Random Assignment
Time3Manipulate IV
Compare DV
Pre to PostStimulus
No Stimulus
Post-test
Post-test
compare
Time2Observe DV
Pre-test
Pre-test
Time4Observe DV
Change
Change
Group 3Control Group Stimul
usPost-test
Group 4Control Group Post-test
compareNo Stimulus
No Pre-test
No Pre-test
Type of Experimental Design
Pro’s Con’s
All types - Higher internal validity than ex post-facto
- Cost effective- Run w/ small sample
sizes—better for micro-level research
- IV must be munipulatable- Controlling test
environment a challenge
Post-test only - Higher external validity that other experimental designs (more natural)
- Vulnerable to Selection bias effects—chance could have delivered a cruel roll to us, your random selection group could be peculiar
Classical - Higher internal validity than post test only designs—addresses selection bias threat
- Vulnerable to testing effects—pre test can make respondent’s suspicious, assessment could sensitize people
Solomon 4 group - Higher internal validity than other experimental designs
- Addresses selection bias & testing effects
- More costly- External validity issues
—the situation is very unnatural
UNIT IV: Experimental Design
Internal Validity External ValidityThreats from:1. History Effects2. Testing Effects3. Instrumentation Effects4. Selection Bias5. Experimental Mortality
Threats from:1. Convenience Pools may not represent larger population2. Unnatural test situations3. Reactivity
UNIT IV: Practice Question 1
1. True or False– Classic Experimental Design and Solomon
4 group design pre-test all subject groups– Experimental designs are typically high in
internal validity, but lower in external validity
– Alternate rival hypotheses offer different explanations for your findings than the hypothesis you advance.
UNIT IV: Practice Questions 2
• True or false continued…– Experimental mortality has to do with
participants dying before the experiment is over.
– Test-effects occur when random assignment gives us a sample that is not representative.
– Solomon 4 group designs have higher internal validity than other experimental designs and minimizes selection bias and testing effects, but is more costly and has lower external validity than the other experimental designs
UNIT IV: Practice Questions 3
2 The unit of analysis in the following studies is probably:– “Differences in female adolescent
behaviour between different racial groups.”
– “Institutional Change and impacts on Electoral Reform in Latin American countries.”
– “Differences in voting preferences based on income”
– “Differences in opinion on the liberal party based on positive or negative exposure.”
UNIT IV: Practice Questions 4
3. What type of experimental design is most appropriate for the following?
– An experiment that has 2 or more Independent variables
– An experiment with a high budget that wants to minimize selection bias and test effects
– The researcher wants to pre-test the subjects so he can compare the individual responses to the DV before and after the stimulus.
– Researcher wants highest external validity as possible