Fall, 2005 (Roos, Soc. 501)

Study Guide: Exam (November 9th) [Note: I will make the long essay part of the exam available the day before, for completion at home.]

NOTE: Please bring a calculator.

The exam will be open book and open notes. This necessarily implies that I will not ask you to just repeat back to me what's in the books or notes. Rather, I will focus on the application of concepts. For example, I will likely provide you with some raw data and ask you to use the elaboration paradigm to percentage and interpret bivariate and trivariate tables, and/or ask you to weigh the pros and cons of survey research (or field research) for a particular substantive topic.

I will assume you understand ALL the lecture material, and the Babbie chapter on the elaboration paradigm. In addition, the test may include concepts from Schutt we have not talked about in class. You do NOT need to know the GSS, nor any other required or recommended readings, although you may of course use those readings in answer to questions (e.g., although I won't ask you specifics about the history of human subjects research, you should understand what IRBs do and how they protect human subjects). To help focus your Schutt readings, I attach a list of relevant concepts, by chapter.

Schutt, Investigating the Social World:

Chapter 1: overgeneralization; selective observation; descriptive vs. exploratory vs. explanatory vs. evaluation research; quantitative vs. qualitative methods; triangulation; generalizability

Chapter 2: theory vs. method; deductive vs. inductive; theory vs. hypothesis; variables; independent vs. dependent variables; IRBs

Chapter 3: gemeinschaft vs. gesellschaft; scientific paradigm

Chapter 4: concept; conceptualization; operationalization; index; unobtrusive measures; triangulation; levels of measurement; dichotomies; validity (measurement validity); reliability

Chapter 5: population; elements; sampling frame; sampling units; sampling error (standard error); target population; representative sample; census; probability sampling; random sampling; systematic bias; simple random sampling; random number table; systematic random sampling; periodicity; stratified random sampling; cluster sampling; nonprobability sampling methods; inferential statistics; sample statistic; population parameter

Chapter 6: cross-sectional vs. longitudinal research designs; spuriousness; ecological fallacy vs. reductionism; nomothetic vs. idiographic; association vs. causation; intervening variables

Chapters 7: experimental vs. control group; pretest vs. posttest; randomization; quasi-experimental designs; nonequivalent control group design; before and after design; ; ex post facto control group design; internal validity; validity in experiments (selection bias, etc.); generalizability; external validity; Solomon Four-Group Design

Chapter 8: generalizability; omnibus survey; how to write survey questions (e.g., no confused phrasing, no double-barreled questions); filter questions; skip patterns; contingent questions; questionnaire; interview schedule

Chapter 9: qualitative methods; participant observation; intensive interviewing; focus groups; field research; types of participation; key informant; gatekeeper; field notes; saturation point

Chapter 10: evaluation research; needs assessment; process evaluation; impact analysis; cost-benefit analysis

Chapter 11: unobtrusive methods; historical events vs. historical process research; cross-sectional comparative research; comparative historical research; secondary data and sources; demography

Chapter 12: (pp. 391-405 only) crosstabulation; marginal distributions; association; monotonic; curvilinear; elaboration; intervening variables; extraneous variables; specification

Chapter 13: case study; thick description; reflexivity; ethnography; narrative analysis; grounded theory; content analysis