Midterm Study Guide

Dr, Gass

HCOM 308

Fall 2009

NOTE: The midterm exam is postponed until Oct. 27 becau= se of the statewide earthquake drill scheduled for Oct. 15.=

Study Guide for Test 1

Your first test will = cover chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 (pp. 64-73), 5 (pp. 89-93), 6 (pp. 110-115), 9, 11 (ski= m), 13, 14 (skim). Your tests will consist of 60-65 multiple choice questions.

Key terms and concepts from Chapter 1

h= ighlights in the history of social science research, pp. = 2-4

k= now what “social science” research is a= nd why it is important, pp. 1-3

c= ommunication versus communications, pp. 6-7

*= three pillars of experimental research

*manipulation

= *measurement

= *control

*a variable must v= ary, otherwise it is a constant

= variations in attributes, levels, values, or condition= s

*treatment versus con= trol group

*comparison groups (no control condition)

*random assignment

assumption of equivalence of groups created via random assignment

*non-random assignmen= t: intact groups or self-selected groups

Key terms and concepts from Chapter 2

e= pistemology (ways of knowing, or how we know what we know),= p. 12

e= mpirical research or empiricism (objective), pp. 11-13

r= esearch defined, p. 11

q= uantitative and qualitative research (complimentary, not competing approaches), p. 12

t= he scientific method, pp. 13-20<= /p>

= theories, predictions, observations, empirical generalizations

t= heory defined, p. 13

*purposes of theories; explain, predict, control, p. 15

g= eneral empirical rules, p. 14-15

*falsification, falsifiability requirement, p. 15

*predictions and hypo= theses, p. 15

i= gnore pages 16-17

*observation (e.g. measurement), pp. 17-19

v= ariability in social science research (complexity of human communication), p. 17

e= mphasis on objectivity, p. 18

*control, p. 18<= /o:p>

= *Clever Hans example

Anatomy of an Experiment

Know the basic elemen= ts, and their order, of a controlled experimental study

= (see online guide)

SPSS Statisti= cal Package for the Social Sciences

d= ata view versus variable view

c= olumns (variables)

r= ows (cases)

c= ells (one specific score or observation)<= /span>

Key terms and concepts for chapter 3

*Tuskegee syphilis st= udy, p. 25

*Humphreys study on a= nonymous gay sex, p. 25

*Stanley Milgram’s research on obedience to authority, p. 26

*Wendell Johnson̵= 7;s stuttering study

*ends versus means controversy, p. 23

*four ethics quadrant= s; good means/good ends, good means/bad ends, bad means/good ends, bad means/bad en= ds, pp. 27-28

*Machiavellian ethic = (ends justify the means), p. 27

*Belmont report, pp. = 28-29

= *autonomy (free choice, informed consent), p. 28

= *beneficence, p. 29

= *justice, p. 29

i= ntentional versus unintentional fraud

*informed consent, p.= 28, pp. 32-33

= all studies entail risks

= *must be voluntary informed consent

p= articipants with diminished autonomy, p. 28

r= isks to participants, p. 29

*institutional review= boards (IRBs), pp. 30-31

p= rivacy, p. 31

*anonymity, p. 31

*confidentiality, p. = 31

n= o protected researcher-participant privilege, p. = 32

d= eception, pp. 34-35

e= thics of participant-observation

*debriefing, p. 35

APA standards on plag= iarism, p. 40

Key terms and concepts for Chapter 4

Types of research gap= s, p. 45

p= rimary versus secondary sources, p. 50

*scholarly refereed j= ournal articles, p. 51

*scholarly versus pop= ular sources, p. 52

e= lectronic databases, p. 57

*limitations of web s= ources, p. 61

*APA style references= , p. 66

*APA style citations,= p. 67

Key terms and concepts for Chapter 5

a= bstract, p. 76

s= ignificance of the topic, p. 80

t= hesis and preview, p. 80

d= efine, explain key concepts, p. 83<= /p>

d= eveloping a rationale, p. 83, p. 88

i= dentifying gaps in the literature, p. 83=

d= eveloping an argument, p. 83

*hypotheses, pp. 89-9= 3

*one-tailed (or unidirectional) hypothesis, p. 90<= /o:p>

*two-tailed (or bidirectional) hypothesis, p. 90

*null hypothesis (H₀), p. 91

*research questions, p. 92

*directional and nondirectional research questions, p. 92

m= ethods section, p. 93-96

r= esults section, pp. 96-97

d= iscussion, p. 97-100

Key terms and concepts from chapter 6

*variable defined, p.= 104

= independent variable is manipulated<= /p>

= dependent variable is measured

= confounding variables (extraneous variables) are contr= olled

c= oncrete versus abstract variables, p. 104

*unit of analysis, p.= 105

= individuals, dyads, groups, organizations, cultures, messages

*ecological fallacy (= sweeping generalization), p. 105

*attributes versus va= lues, p. 106

= attributes are categorical

= values are numerical

*relationships (corre= lation) versus differences, p. 106

*positive, negative, = and neutral (no) relationship, pp. 106-107

*independent variable= s, pp. 108-109

= *operationalization of the independent variable

*dependent variables,= p. 109

i= ntervening (moderating) variables, p. 110

*variable levels, p. = 110

*nominal level variab= les, p. 111

= *nominal categories (occupation, religion, culture)

= *dichotomous variables (female/male, liberal/conservative)

*ordinal level variab= les, pp. 111-112

= ordered or hierarchical variables (military rank, educational degrees)

= *rankings

*interval level varia= bles, pp. 112-113

= *continuous variables (age, self-esteem)

= *scale data (equidistance)

= *ratings

r= atio level variables, pp. 114-115<= /p>

= true zero point

m= oderating or intervening variables

Key terms and concepts for Chapter 9

Dr. Gass’ view:= any concept that can be defined precisely can be measured

m= easurement defined, p. 167

i= mportance of isomorphic ratings, p. 169=

*Likert scales, pp. 1= 72-173

*Semantic Differential scales, pp. 173-174

Personality traits/st= ate measures, p. 175

*Operationalization, pp. 177-179

Scale construction, p= p. 179-181

= know the 15 basic guidelines

d= irect measures

= physiological measures

= behavioral measures

s= elf-reports

= oral interviews

= surveys, quiestionnaires

= standardized scales

*indirect measures

= indirect questioning (what the other person wou= ld think or do)

= *unobtrusive measures (Google search terms)

a= rchived data (court records, marriage licenses)

r= etrospective data (family history, crime rates over time)

*nominal level data, = p. 169

= “crudest” form of data

= *categories, groups, conditions

= measures the presence or absence of something

= categories are not hierarchical

= nominal data can sometimes be converted to scale data (averages)

= limited utility for statistical analysis

= fine for independent variables

*ordinal level data, = pp. 169-170

= rank ordered

= comparisons possible

= no assumption of equal gradations or increments between categories<= /span>

*interval level data = (scale data), p. 170

= most common type of data in social science research

= gradations, increments

= assumption of equidistance

= ratings on a scale or diagnostic instrument

= comparisons are quantitative, but relative to one another

no true zero point

*ratio level data, p.= 177

= includes a true zero point

= allows for absolute comparisons

Pitfalls in Research

conceptual slippage

= triangulation

*faulty manipulation<= o:p>

= manipulation check

loose procedures=

pilot study

*order effects

multiple versions of questionnaires

*sensitization

= avoid pre-tests

recording errors=

*social desirability = bias, p. 208, 209

= importance of anonymity

acquiescence bias and= “screw you” bias, pp. 209-210

response set, p. 210<= o:p>

Chapter 13

*random assignment, p= p. 260-261

*manipulation of the independent variable, p. 262

= stimulus conditions, p. 263

= stimulus materials, p. 263

= stimulus videos or recordings, p. 263

= hypothetical situations, role plays, p. 263

*measurement of the d= ependent variable, p. 265

*control, p. 266=

*threshold effects, b= asement effect, ceiling effect, p. 266

= use sensitive, precise measures

experimenter effects,= p. 266

= blind and double-blind experiments

*Hawthorne effect, p.= 266

= cover stories

= unobtrusive measures

*extraneous, interven= ing, and confounding variables, p. 267

*history, p. 270=

maturation, p. 270

regression to the mea= n, p. 270

attrition and mortali= ty, p. 270

*common experimental = designs

= *pre-experimental designs

= &nb= sp; one-shot case study

= &nb= sp; one-group pre-test post-test design

= &nb= sp; static group comparison

= *quasi-experimental designs

*pretest-posttest design

= &nb= sp; *time series design

= *true experimental designs

= &nb= sp; *pre-test post-test design

= &nb= sp; *two group post-test only design

= &nb= sp; *Solomon four-group design

Chapter 14

*population versus sa= mple, p. 282

*sampling frame, p. 2= 83

*sampling error, p. 2= 84

*central limits theor= em p. 284

*equal likelihood pri= nciple, p. 284

*random samples<= /o:p>

*simple random sample, p. 285

stratified sample, p. 286

cluster sdample, p. 287

*systematic sample, p. 287

periodicity

non-random samples

*convenience sample—most common type in social science research, p. 289=

= *volunteer sample, pp. 289-290

*convenience sample, p. 289

= purposive sample, p. 290

= quota sample, p. 290-291

= *network (snowball) sample, p. 291