Term
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Definition
| Types are Selective Observation, Illogical Reasoning, Inaccurate Observation, Overgeneralization, Resistance to Change |
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Term
| Overgeneralization (Errors in Reasoning ) |
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Definition
| To infer from few particular facts, statistics and the like beyond an appropriate or justified limit. i.e. only the poor commit crime. |
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Term
| Selective Observation (Errors in Reasoning) |
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Definition
| look at things according to personal beliefs, regardless of fact. |
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Term
| Inaccurate Observation (Errors in Reasoning) |
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Definition
| Errors that occur often in casual conversation and in every day observation. |
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Term
| Illogical Reasoning (Errors in Reasoning) |
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Definition
| prematurely jump to conclusions or argue on the basis of invalid assumptions. |
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Term
| Resistance to Change (Errors in Reasoning) |
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Definition
| the reluctance to change our ideas in light of new information. --> Excessive devotion to tradition --> Uncritical agreement with authority |
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Term
| What makes criminal justice research scientific? |
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Definition
| Uses the scientific method. Avoids basing conclusins on our emotional reactions to people and events. Allowing our observations to conform to what we see and not to our needs. Not allowing our perceptions to be distorted by traditional beliefs about social phenomena. Crtitically evaluate what authority figures tell us to be true. |
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Term
| Motivations for Criminological Research |
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Definition
| 1) To create policy. 2) Find out if a policy will work or not. 3) Find the truth for interest a.k.a. academic motivation, or 4) personal interests or motivations. |
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Term
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Definition
| Descriptive, Exploratory, Explanatory, Evaluatory |
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Term
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Definition
| Quantitative research attempting to define or describe social phenomena. The "who? what? where? when? why? and how many? questions to be answered. |
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Term
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Definition
| Qualitative research to see how people get along in specific settings (i.e., gangs, prisons) and situations (i.e. drug addicts). Meanings behind people's actions, see what issues concerns people. Answers the question: "What is going on?" |
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Term
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Definition
| Identify cause and effect behind phenomena. Answers the question: "Why is this going on?" i.e., Why do juveniles become delinquent? Helps us predict how one phenomenon will change or vary in response to variation in another phenomenon. i.e., If unemployment increases, will crime increase? |
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Term
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Definition
| Takes the cause and effect explanation to determine the effect of social programs or other types of intervention. Considers the implementation and outcomes of social policies. Answers the question: "Will this policy work?" and "How does the policy work?" |
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Term
| Strengths and Limitations of Social Research |
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Definition
| Research problems tend to be too focus and be limited in scope. Research does however help us to be specific. |
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Term
| Types of Research Methods |
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Definition
| Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods |
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Term
| Quantitative Methods of Research |
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Definition
| The method involving the counting of data and the analysis of this data using statistics |
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Term
| Qualitative Methods of Research |
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Definition
| The method involving the usage of written or spoken accounts, typically not involving the counting of data statistically. |
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Term
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Definition
| Statements about reality or perceptions are correct (it is the major focus of all studies, regardless of method or philosophy) |
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Term
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Definition
| exists when a measure measures what we think it measures |
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Term
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Definition
| exists when a conclusion that A leads to/results in the correctness of B. |
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Term
| Evaluating research questions |
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Definition
| Three factors are feasibility, social importance, scientific relevance |
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Term
| Feasibility (Evaluating Research Questions) |
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Definition
| Consider if the theory is difficult to perform, such as too much time or too expensive. |
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Term
| Social Importance (Evaluating Research Questions) |
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Definition
| Consider if the theory matters in society. Do we care about this? |
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Term
| Scientific relevance (Evaluating Research Questions) |
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Definition
| Consider if there is prior research done. Is the research filling the gaps of existing research? |
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Term
| Role of Criminological Theory |
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Definition
| To study why individuals commit crimes and why they behave in certain situations. By understanding why a person commits a crime, one can develop ways to control crime or rehabilitate the criminal. |
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Term
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Definition
| states a relationship between two or more variables |
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Term
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Definition
| states no relationship between two or more variables |
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Term
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Definition
| The cause. The variable that creates change or causes variation to another variable. |
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Term
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Definition
| The effect.The phenomenon you want to explain. A variable hypothesized to vary depending on or under the influence of another variable. It depends on the independant variable. |
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Term
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Definition
| Research using reasoning that works from the more general to the more specific. Sometimes this is informally called a "top down" approach. Conclusions follows logically from premises (available facts) |
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Term
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Definition
| Research using reasoning that works from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. Informally, we sometimes call this a "bottom up" approach. Conclusion is likely based on premises. Involves a degree of uncertainty. |
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Term
| Why do we need to consider research ethics? |
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Definition
| In order to protect human subjects from unethical and harmful research. |
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Term
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Definition
| In response to the Tuskegee syphallis report, where black men was purposely injected with syphallis, created the standard for ethical research by guidelines and regulations. |
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Term
| Respect for persons (Belmont Guidelines) |
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Definition
| Treat persons as autonomous agents and protect those with diminished autonomy (elderly, children, mentally disabled, prisoners) |
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Term
| Beneficience (Belmont Guidelines) |
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Definition
| Minimize possible harm and maximize benefits |
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Term
| Justice (Belmont Guidelines) |
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Definition
| Distributing benefits and risks of research fairly. |
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Term
| truthful and valid results (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Research serves no purpose if it is not obtained. Must be as objective as possible without bias. Research that seeks to validate our own prejudices is not valid or ethical. |
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Term
| honesty and transparency regarding research procedures (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Researchers who publically and honestly report their research methods are less vulnerable to political or personal pressure to distort the result of their study. Publication is vital to the concern as it allows others through the peer review process to evaluate the appropriateness of research methods. |
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Term
| Protect research participants (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Voluntary participation , guaranteed anonymity and/or confidentiality, and research that benefits the subjects more than the foreseeable risks are ways to ensure this. |
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Term
| Voluntary participation (Protect research participants, Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Subjects who participate without coercion, with information given about the study, and an informed consent from any autonomous person (. |
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Term
| Avoid harming research participants (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Ensure that subjects are free from physical or psychological harm. If there is harm, ensure that there were measures implemented to reduce or address potential harm. |
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Term
| Criteria for obtaining informed consent (Protect research participants, Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| 18 years old, not in prison, or mentally disabled) and written consent forms at a 5th-8th grade reading level |
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Term
| Avoid deception and misleading research subjects (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Should be avoided except in limited circumstances. One should always analyze the potential harm when applying to a subject. |
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Term
| Maintain privacy and Confidentiality (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Ensure that the subjects identity is unknown or known but not revealed in the study. If the study involves a situation where there is no expectation of privacy, then it is okay to not be confidential. |
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Term
| Ethical use of research (Ethical Principles in Research) |
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Definition
| Considering the ethical dilemmas, one should be mindful of how studies are used to create programs or policies. Protect yourself from future usage or misusage. i.e. Minneapolis Domestic Violence study that created policies for mandatory arrests for domestic violence disputes because people only depended on that one study. |
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Term
| Empirical correlation (Criteria for Causation) |
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Definition
| Must show that variables are related through observable evidence that isn't assumed. Must show that changes in IV effects the changes in DV. Must vary together. Must be stated in the hypothesis. |
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Term
| nonspuriousness (Criteria for Causation) |
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Definition
| Just because there is a relation doesn't mean one variable caused the other, due to a third variable that appears to also have a direct connection. Must be sure there isn't a third variable. |
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Term
| time order (Criteria for Causation) |
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Definition
| Must be sure that changes in the IV occur before changes in the DV. Often difficult to establish cause to effect relationship in social research because it can be difficult to determine which came first. |
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Term
| context (Criteria for Causation) |
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Definition
| Set of circumstances surrounding an event or situation. No cause has its effect apart from some larger context involving other variables (when, for whom, and in what conditions does that effect occur?). Cause is really one among a set of interrelated factors required for the effect. |
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Term
| causal mechanism (Criteria for Causation) |
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Definition
| Process creates connection between variation in an independant variable and the variation in the dependant variable it is hypothesized to cause. The reason why the relationship is causal. |
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Term
| Experimental Research Design |
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Definition
| True Experiments, Have 3 features that help establish criteria. 1) two groups (control and experiment group, 2) Random assignment of groups, 3) Pretest and Post-test |
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Term
| Two Groups (Criteria for Experimental Design) |
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Definition
| Must have a Control and Experiment Group |
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Term
| Random Assignment of Groups (Criteria for Experimental Design) |
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Definition
| Each subject must have an equal chance of getting in to the group. |
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Term
| Pretest and Post-Test (Criteria for Experiment Design) |
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Definition
| Assessment of change in the DV in both groups after the experimental group receives the experimental condition. |
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Term
| Quasi-experimental Research Design |
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Definition
| Resembles experimental design, but not quite all the features. Do not use random assignments, so has less explanatory power and more validity problems. |
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Term
| Nonequivalent Control Group (Quasi-experimental Design) |
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Definition
| Similar to experimental design, except the subjects in the groups are not selected randomly. Groups are named comparison (control) and the treatment (experiment) groups. A lot more doable due to being more selective, not forced in to groups, and no due process problems. |
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Term
| Individual Matching (Nonequivalent Control Group) |
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Definition
| Selecting groups based on individualizing characteristics of each subject in the group. |
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Term
| Aggregate Matching (Nonequivalent Control Group) |
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Definition
| Involves the average characteristics of a total group or in similar groups. |
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Term
| Before and After (Quasi-Experimental Design) |
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Definition
| No comparison group, only one group is observed. All members in the group receives the treatment or intervention (i.e. a new law passing). This is the weakest type of design because it can not draw conclusions about effectiveness of treatment from the result. |
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Term
| Ex post facto control Group (Quasi-experimental Design |
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Definition
| Study done after the fact, through retrospectively looking back. Could be the same as non equivalent. Identifies treatment and comparison after the results have already occured. |
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Term
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Definition
| How long or often the studies are done. Studies can be done as a cross-sectional study or a longitundinal study. |
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Term
| Cross-sectional (Time Design) |
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Definition
| A snapshot at a period of time. Can not determine causal order, but sometimes can infer if the timing information exists. |
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Term
| Longitudinal-Repeated Cross Sectional or Trend Study (Time Design) |
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Definition
| Data collected at 2 or more points in time from different samples selected from the same population. i.e., surveys on public opinion |
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Term
| Fixed sample panel (Time Design) |
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Definition
| Study on the same group of people at several intervals, looking at change in the individuals. i.e., Following the same group of offenders after they are released from prison to learn about reentry. |
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Term
| Difficulties with the Fixed Sample Panel (Time Design) |
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Definition
| Expenses (i.e. incentives, difficult to track subjects), Attrition (i.e. quitting, disappearing, death), Subject Fatigue (i.e. subjects tired of answering the same questions) |
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Term
| Event Based or Cohort Study (Time Design) |
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Definition
| Group of individual units who enter or leave defined population during a specified time period. i.e., 2012 middle school students who start drug use at the same time., comparing like with like based on time or age. |
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Term
| Cohort (Event Based or Cohort Study) |
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Definition
| Subjects who experience a similar event or have a common starting point. |
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Term
| Internal Validity of Research Designs |
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Definition
| Only regards the Independant variable effect the dependant variable. Conclusions reflect what actually occured in the experiment. The ability to yield valid conclusions is determined by comparibility of experimental and control groups. |
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Term
| External Validity of Research Designs |
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Definition
| the validity of generalized (causal) inferences in scientific experiments as experimental validity. In other words, it is the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people. |
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Term
| Threats to validity in research designs |
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Definition
| o Selection bias, Endogenous change, External events, Contamination, Treatment misidentification |
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Term
| Selection Bias (Threats to Validity) |
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Definition
| Before the experiment or treatment, there is a difference in group to begin with. |
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Term
| Endogenous Change (Threats to Validity) |
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Definition
| Subjects might know what to expect, may learn or grow wiser. Could apply to fixed sample panel designs. |
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Term
| External events (Threats to Validity) |
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Definition
| Something catastrophic happens where life circumstances change that affects the study. Major events that no one has control over. |
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Term
| Contamination (Threats to Validity) |
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Definition
| Crossover of some treatment group subjects in to the control group. |
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Term
| Treatment misidentification (Threats to validity) |
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Definition
| Mislabelling of outcomes. i.e., Hawthorn effect, where people change how they acted because they are being watched. |
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Term
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Definition
| The entire group you want to generalize your research to. (i.e., individuals or other entities like cities, states, prisons, schools, etc.) |
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Term
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Definition
| Actual people or unit of analysis we pick. A subset of elements/units of analysis from the population. |
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Term
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Definition
| List of members of the population from which the sample is selected, as a way to narrow down the population. Selections can be filtered by time, place, number of institutions, etc. |
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Term
| Units of analysis or Sampling Unit |
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Definition
| Who or what (entity) you want to learn about. |
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Term
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Definition
| Where the data is collected from. Who or what must be observed to enable the researcher to study the entity of interest. |
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Term
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Definition
| the extension of research findings and conclusions from a study conducted on a sample population to the population at large. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ability to generalize from a sample of a larger population to that population itself. |
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Term
| Cross-Population Generalizability |
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Definition
| Ability to generalize from findings about one group, population, or setting to other groups, populations, or settings. |
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Term
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Definition
| A sample that is similar to characteristics of the populations it was drawn from. |
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Term
| Non Representative Sample |
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Definition
| May have characteristics that is over or under represented. |
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Term
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Definition
| The difference between the characters of a sample and the population from which it was drawn. It is a numerical equation, where the larger the error, the less generalizable. |
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Term
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Definition
| Chance of selecting a specific sampling units is known and each sampling unit has a chance of being selected for the study. Allows us to know how likely it is that any element of a population will be selected for the sample. Allows us to select participants to be statistically representative of the population that one wants to learn about. |
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Term
| Simple Random Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Identifies cases strictly on the basis of chance. i.e., flipping a coin or rolling a dice. Every element has an equal and independant chance of being selected. |
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Term
| Systematic Random Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Determine the number of elements to sample in the population, but still has equal and independant chance. Selection can be done through sampling intervals. |
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Term
| Sampling Intervals (Systematic Random Sampling) |
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Definition
| Selecting the 1st element randomly from an organized listing and then selecting every nth element. |
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Term
| Stratified Random Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Separate in to groups on categories which allows more control and increases representativness. Purpose to ensure that various groups will be included in the sample, especially the inclusion of small groups. |
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Term
| Stratified Proportionate Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| By creating a sampling strata based on a characteristic of interest. Randomly select cases from each stratum, in exactly the same proportions. i.e., Percentage in each group in the sample will be the same as the percentage in the population. |
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Term
| Stratified Disproportionate Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| The proportion of each stratum that is included in the sample in intentionally varied from what is is in the population. i.e., the percentage from each group in the sample will be different from the population. or selecting an equal proportion from each ethnic group to prevent underrepresentation. Common in qualitative research. |
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Term
| Cluster Sampling (Probability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Naturally occurring, mixed group of elements of the population. Each element appears in one and only one group at one time. i.e., Prisons as naturally occuring groups for sampling inmates or city blocks for sampling residents. Useful when sampling frame is not available or too expensive to cover. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each member of the population has an unequal probability of selection. Typically used when one can't obtain a probability sample, a topic or study is inappropriate for probability sampling, such as vauge and uncertain populations, or as an exploratory study where there isn't a sampling frame, just to find out a group. |
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Term
| Availability (Nonprobability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Subjects are in the study because it is easy to find. i.e., Interviews at a mall, street corner, magazine survey, etc. Convenient, but possible bias and not representative of the population. |
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Term
| Quota (Nonprobability Sampling) |
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Definition
| It ensures characteristics represented in the sample reflects the population. Helps to get a more representative sample. May be representative of the particular characteristics for which they has been set, but may not be representative in terms of any other characteristics. |
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Term
| Purposive (Nonprobability Sampling) |
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Definition
| Each sample element is selected for a purpose or unique position of the sample elements. May involve studying entire populations of some limited group. A subset of a population, i.e., prison unit managers. |
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Term
| Key Informant Survey (Purposive Sampling) |
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Definition
| A target who can give knowledge about issues under investigation. |
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Term
| Snowball (Nonprobability Sampling) |
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Definition
| To approach one subject in order to find more referred samples. Useful in hard to reach population that have no sampling frame, but members know each other in the group or are interconnected. i.e., Drug dealers are interconnected, but hard to reach, rely on one subject as a source to others as a sample. |
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