Chapter 1

observing, generalizing, reasoning, and reevaluating

What are the four ways to avoid errors in reasoning?

avoiding errors through our five senses

What is observation?

choosing to look only at things that are in line with our preferences or beliefs

What is selective observation?

selective observation

If we are convinced in advance that all heavy internet users are antisocial, we can find many confirming instances. What is this a practice of?

It occurs when we conclude that what we have observed or what we know to be true for some cases is true for all or most cases

What is overgeneralization

when we prematurely jump to conclusions or argue on the basis of invalid assumptions

What is illogical reasoning

illogical reasoning

About 63% of Americans age 18 or older now use the Internet. The remaining 37% who don't participate in the information revolution avoid it simply because they don't want to participate. This statement uses what?

the reluctance to reevaluate our ideas in light of new information

what is resistance to change?

ego-based commitments, excessive devotion to tradition, or uncritical agreement with authority

What are three reasons that resistance to change may occur?

ego-based commitments

When we make statements about the social world that conform to our own needs rather than to the observable facts, what is that?

excessive devotion to tradition

When we distort our observations or alter our reasoning so that we can maintain beliefs that "were good enough for my grandfather, so they're good enough for me" and in effect hinder our ability to accept new findings and develop new knowledge, what is th

uncritical agreement with authority

If we do not have the courage to evaluate critically the ideas of those in positions of authority, we will have little basis for complain if they exercise their authority over us in ways we don't like. What is this?

descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, evaluation

What are the four types of social research?

descriptive

Which type of social research defines and describes?

descriptive research

Example: What is the level of social ties in America?

exploratory

Which type of social research seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they give to their actions, and what issues concern them?

exploratory research

Example: Can Internet resources help elderly persons manage heart conditions?

explanatory

Which type of social research seeks to identify causes and effects of social phenomena and to predict how one phenomenon will change or vary in response to variation in some other phenomenon?

explanatory research

Example: What effect does Internet use have on social relations?

evaluation

Which type of social research seeks to determine the effects of programs, policies, or other efforts to impact social patterns, whether by government agencies, private non-profits, or for-profit businesses?

evaluation research

Example: Does high-speed Internet access change community life?

the likelihood of making everyday errors in reasoning

What does using social scientific research methods to develop answers to questions about the social world reduce?

differing interpretations

Research always has some limitations and some flaws, and our findings are always subject to what?

the quest for new and more sophisticated research

In areas of research that are fraught with controversy, where social scientists differ in their interpretations of the evidence, what has value?

science

What is a set of logical, systematic, documented methods for investigating nature and natural processes

social science

what relies on scientific methods to investigate individuals, societies, and social processes

pseudoscience

What claims things that are not always easy to identify and many people believe them anyway?

pseudoscience

What appears scientific even though they lack supporting evidence and plausibility

1. personal bias 2. subject/researcher bias 3. treatment of human subjects

What are 3 specific challenges that social scientists face?

policy, academic, and personal

What are the 3 motives for social research?

policy

Many government agencies, elected officials, and private organizations seek better descriptions of social ties in the modern world so they can identify unmet strains in communities, deficits in organizations, or marketing opportunities. What kind of motiv

academic

questions about changing social relations stimulate which kind of motivation?

personal

on social ties feel that by doing so they can help to improve the quality of communities, the effectiveness of organizations, or the physical and mental health of many social groups.
Which kind of motivation is this?

Methods that record variation in social life in terms of quantities

What is quantitative methods?

survey

What is an example of a quantitative method?

magnitude

Data that are treated as quantitative are either numbers or attributes that can be ordered in terms of _______.

quantitative

Which methods are most often used when the motives for research are explanation, description, or evaluation?

qualitative

Which methods are designed to capture social life as participants experience it rather than in categories predetermined by the researcher.

qualitative

participant observation, intensive interviewing, and focus groups are what type of methods

qualitative

These methods rely on written or spoken words or observations that do not often have a direct numerical interpretation & typically involve exploratory research questions, an orientation to social context, and the meanings attached by participants to event

triangulation

The use of multiple methods to study one research question is called

positivism

Researchers with a positivist philosophy believe that there is an objective reality that exists apart from the perceptions of those who observe it, and that the goal of science is to better understand this reality.

postpositivism

believe that there is an external, objective reality, but they are very sensitive to the complexity of this reality and to the limitations and biases of the scientists who study it

interpretive social scientists

believe that social reality is socially constructed and that the goal of social scientists is to understand what meanings people give to reality, not to determine how reality works apart from these interpretations

interpretivism

the belief that reality is socially constructed and that the goal of social scientists is to understand what meanings people give to that reality.

overgeneralization

yesterday i had to go to jury duty to perform my civil duty, unlike most people, i enjoy jury duty because i find the whole legal process fascinating.