Studied by 3 peopleMill’s Method of agreement
Find cases in which the effect has occurred Determine if there’s only one thing that they all share
Mill's method of difference
Find cases in which the effect has occurred in one, but not the other
How is a conceptual definition defined?
by a set of concrete traits of similar type
How is a multidimensional concept defined?
two or more distinct groups of empirical characteristics
The concept of ___ is defined as the extent to which ____ exhibits the characteristic of ___
What is the first blank?
Restates the concept label
The concept of ___ is defined as the extent to which ____ exhibits the characteristic of ___
What is the second blank?
describes the unit of analysis
The concept of ___ is defined as the extent to which ____ exhibits the characteristic of ___
What is the third blank?
Specifies the property that we think best captures the meaning of the concept
What does an operational definition do?
Completes the bridge between concept and measurement
Puts “into operation” the measurement of the empirical property described in the conceptual definition
What is the goal of a measurement strategy?
To measure only intended characteristics
An ecological fallacy arises
when an aggregate-level variable is used to make inferences at the individual level
What is reliability?
degree of consistency of a measure, if the measure comes up multiple times
What is random measurement error?
Haphazard, chaotic distortion in the measurement process
Inconsistent unintended characteristics
What is systematic measurement error?
Consistent, chronic, distortion into an empirical measurement
Consistent unintended characteristics
What is validity?
Records the true value of the intended characteristic
Interval level of measurement
Values communicate the exact amount of the characteristic being measured
ex. Temperature, income, age
Ordinal level of measurement
values communicate the RELATIVE amount of the characteristic being measures, scale
ex. education level (HS-PhD) , low-medium-high, never… always
Nominal level of measurement
Values that communicate differences, no numerical value
ex. Gender, marital status, college major,
What are the measures of central tendency?
Mean, median, mode
What is dispersion?
Extent to which the units of analysis are distributed across the values of the variable
Maximum dispersion
Cases are spread evenly across all values of the variable
Minimum dispersion
Cases all fall into one value of the variable
Positive skew
Mean > median, right-hand tail
Negative skew
Median > mean, left-hand tail
What are the 3 elements of a hypothesis
Describes a connection between the dependent variable and the independent (casual) variable Asserts the direction or tendency of this connection Is testable
In comparison of _____, those having ____ will be more likely to have ____ than will those having ____
What is the first blank?
Units of analysis
In comparison of _____, those having ____ will be more likely to have ____ than will those having ____
What is the second blank?
One value of the independent variable
In comparison of _____, those having ____ will be more likely to have ____ than will those having ____
What is the third blank?
One value of the dependent variable
In comparison of _____, those having ____ will be more likely to have ____ than will those having ____
What is the fourth blank?
Different value of the independent variable
In a comparison of individuals who read newspapers, those with higher levels of educational attainment will be more likely to read the newspaper everyday than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
What are the units of analysis?
Individuals who read newpapers
In a comparison of individuals who read newspapers, those with higher levels of educational attainment will be more likely to read the newspaper everyday than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
What is the independent variable?
Educational attainment
In a comparison of individuals who read newspapers, those with higher levels of educational attainment will be more likely to read the newspaper everyday than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
What is the dependent vaiable?
Likelihood to read the newspaper everyday
What are the four common mistakes of a hypothesis?
Not making an explicit comparison
Not stating direction or tendency
Being vague
Describing only one variable
Highly religious people vote at high rates
What is the mistake in this hypothesis?
Not making an explicit comparison
In a comparison of individuals, gender and abortion attitudes are related
What is the mistake in this hypothesis?
Not stating direction or tendency
Because of socioeconomic changes associated with the growth in social media, contemporary political conflicts resolve around post-materialist values
What is the mistake of this hypothesis?
Being vague
In a comparison of individuals, some people are more likely to donate money to political candidates than other people
What is the mistake of this hypothesis?
Describing only one variable
What level of measurement is needed for cross tabulations?
Nominal/ordinal
In a crosstab, the independent variable goes in the ___, while the dependent variable goes in the ___
Columns, rows
What level of measurement is needed for bar charts/graphs?
Nominal or ordinal
What level of measurement is needed for line graphs?
Interval dependent variable
What level of measurement is needed for means comparison?
Interval dependent variable
The concept of math ability is defined as the extent to which students can correctly use basic mathematical operations.
Is this a conceptual definition or an operational definition?
Conceptual
Ask students to solve ten word problems requiring addition, multiplication, division, etc.
Is this a conceptual definition or an operational definition?
Operational
What are the three things a conceptual definition must communicate?
The variation within a measurable characteristic or set of characteristics The subjects or groups to which the concept applies How the characteristic is to be measured
What can a boxplot tell us?
Five-number summary of a variable:
Minimum value Lower quartile (25 percentile) Median Upper Quartile (75 percentile) Maximum value
The proper mode of analysis for two categorical variables
Crosstabs and bar graph
In line graphs, bar graphs, and box plots, the independent variable goes into the ___, while the dependent variable goes into the ___
Category axis, variable
What level of measurement can you use mean, median, and mode?
Interval
What level of measurement can you use median and mode?
Ordinal
What level of measurement can you use only use mode?
Nominal
