CHAPTER 12 SUBJECTS: The sampling units for an experiment, usually human respondents who provide measures based on the experimental manipulation BLOCKING VARIABLES: A categorical (less than interval) variable that is not manipulated like an experimental variable but is included in the statistical analysis of experiments EXPERIMENTAL CONDITION: One of the possible levels of an experimental variable manipulation MAIN EFFECT: The experimental difference in dependent variable means between the different levels of any single experimental variable INTERACTION EFFECT: Differences in dependent variable means due to a specific combination of independent variables EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT: The term referring to the way an experimental variable is
Social psychology is the scientific study of the way individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context. Social psychology often emphasizes the power of the situation in affecting people. Social psychology can be distinguished from other disciplines, including sociology, clinical psychology, personality psychology, and cognitive psychology; however, social psychology overlaps with each of these disciplines as well. Social psychology may at first appear to be common sense, but common sense often makes contradictory claims, and many of the findings in social psychology would not be predicted by common sense. A wide range of research methods are used in psychology.
The control group in an experiment a. fixes the level of a variable across all experimental conditions. b. is often untreated. c. receives the same level of the independent variable as the experimental group. d. refers to the manipulation of the independent variable. 3.
b) To control a variable is to make it so the variable cannot influence the experimental results. You can do this by holding a variable constant or by random assignment. c) A control group is the group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment but is used to compare to the group that does receive the treatment. A controlled variable is a variable in the experiment in which you control how it is. 4.
There is an ongoing debate on whether or not sociology is a science; science is defined as a systematic knowledge of the physical or material work gained through observation and experimentation. Natural sciences have few key aims – the principal aim is to base laws and theories on objective facts that are obtained through investigation of observable phenomena. This involves using statistical techniques to test the relationship between variables, objectivity is very important in science where research and knowledge are free from bias. Positivists believe that what goes on in reality is not random or by chance, but patterned and it is science's job to observe and record these patterns in a system to be able to explain them. Compte argues that sociology should be based on the methodology of the natural sciences and that it would result in 'invariable laws' within society.
When conducting social research it is important for sociologists to consider the range of ethical factors that they might face, as failure to do so may affect the participants or even the overall outcome of the sociological data. From the informed consent of participants to covert research, it is essential to examine the most important ethical issues as they play an important part in the construction of research data. An ethical problem that could be encountered by sociologists when conducting research is the issue of informed consent. Informed consent is given when the participants of the study agree to the terms and conditions of the true aim of the study. However, some results may be invalidated by the participants knowing either the true aim of the study or the fact that they are being studied at all.
In order for the experiment to be valid it would require an experimental condition and a control condition. A control condition in an experiment is a comparison condition in which participants are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition. Without a control condition, you cannot be sure that the behavior you are interested in would not have occurred anyway, even without your manipulation. Subjects should be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. If a control group doesn’t exist, then there is nothing to compare the experiment to.
One way to do this is by narrowly defining the sampling criteria to make the sample as homogeneous (or similar) as possible to control for extraneous variables. Other methods include randomization or random assignment of subjects to groups; matching subjects on extraneous variables and then assigning them randomly to groups; application of statistical techniques of analysis of covariance; and balancing means and standard deviations of groups (Mcleod, 2008). The amount of control that the researcher has over the variables being studied varies, from very little in exploratory studies to a great deal in experimental design, but the limitations on control must be addressed in any research proposal (Silverstein,
4. What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? Qualitative and quantitative research are the two main schools of research, and although they are often used in tandem, the benefits and
In causal comparative research, the researcher has limited control over the study and extreme caution must be applied in interpreting results. This is because the groups are already formed at the beginning of the study. An apparent cause-effect relation may not be as it appears. The alleged cause of an observed effect may in fact be the effect itself, or, a third variable may have caused both the apparent cause and the effect. In other words, an observed relationship between variable A and B can mean that A causes B, B causes B, or a third variable C causes both A and