Writing Effective Research Questions: A Guide for Students, Quizzes of Political Science

Download Writing Effective Research Questions: A Guide for Students and more Quizzes Political Science in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 How to write a good research question (4) DEFINITION 1 (Simple, clear and intelligent) simple language common concepts manageable tasks widespread info Converse/Presser TERM 2 Simple Language DEFINITION 2 eliminate elevated language and jargon; keep it plain spoken alternative average person is not a college education keep questions short and concise avoid confusion like double negative or double vision/double barred TERM 3 Double Vision/ Double Bared DEFINITION 3 two or more issues or attitudinal objects in a single question that should be two different questions Do you think women and children should get the flu shot first? TERM 4 Double Negative DEFINITION 4 "ex:teachers should not be required to supervise students in halls, classrooms or parking lots" options: agree/disagree if you disagree this is double negative respondent disagrees with the not thinking- so they actually support it TERM 5 Common Concepts DEFINITION 5 questions should be conceptually clear make sure the average person is accustomed to the terms being used ex: variance and average TERM 6 Manageable Tasks DEFINITION 6 factual questions easier to answer than opinion/attitudes shared definitions are problematic for question construction hard to prove common frame of reference ex: different meanings of family/neighborhood recall past questions (events or behaviors) is difficult espically if happened a long time ago TERM 7 Widespread Information DEFINITION 7 public info level is low when dealing with info that is not widespread need to fill in gaps ex: "As you probably know, Honduras is right next to Nicaragua" but be careful, somtimes this doesnt help; what if dont know where Nicaragua is be careful not to introduce questions that could make a bias TERM 8 Techniques to use when past questions (5) DEFINITION 8 bound recall averaging landmark narrowing the reference period cueing TERM 9 Bound Recall DEFINITION 9 forward telescoping over-reporting asking about current events in the last six months may generate more than that - things that happened before establishes a baseline for initial survey so next time can ask since then.. TERM 10 Narrow Reference Point DEFINITION 10 6 months or less for better factual evidence TERM 21 Resonance DEFINITION 21 how familiar is the concept? is it used in ordinary language? does concept describe its normal usage?EX: are people more likely to use ideology or political belief system TERM 22 Contextual Range DEFINITION 22 how far can concepts travel? different languages?Broader concepts are more usefulEX: democracy in other countries TERM 23 Parsimony DEFINITION 23 concepts should not have endless decisions, cant measure all things TERM 24 Analytic /Empirical utility DEFINITION 24 concept needs to be useful for a particular theoretical context or research designEX: party identification is the strongest predictor of voter choice/policy preference TERM 25 Sears- Symbolic Racism DEFINITION 25 definition: blend of anti black affect and traditional Protestant morals a form of resistance to change in the racial status quo based feelings that blacks violate such traditional American values (like individualism, self reliance, workt ethic, etc. core meaning: blend of negative feelings towards blacks and violation of American moral values TERM 26 Main Attributes of Symbolic Racism [Sears] DEFINITION 26 antagonism towards black demands resentment about special favors for blacks denial of continuing discrimination Effect of race in 2008 election was bigger than partisanship. Peoples race was a bigger predictor of who people voted for, rather than partisanship TERM 27 Is SR a concept that adequately captures racial prejudice? DEFINITION 27 coherent- core meaning-anti black affect blend w/ violation of am valopearation- measure with survey qs to capture attributes?valid - is it a valid measure?field utility-closely related terms (ideology/stereoty)resonance- familiar with american public? -yes now racial resentmentcontextual range- apply other pais?NO! not only group w/prejud;too specific to USAparsimony- definition too encompassing(analytical utility- is it important? yes obama changed political field forever TERM 28 Wolcott- primary ways of gather QA research (3) DEFINITION 28 participant observations (experiencing) interview (inquires) study material based on others (examining) TERM 29 Wolcott, 3 ways to present data DEFINITION 29 description analysis interpretation TERM 30 Description (present data) DEFINITION 30 addresses, "whats going on here" Data consist of observations made by the researcher and/or reported to the researcher by others. TERM 31 Analysis (present data) DEFINITION 31 addresses the identification of essential features and the systematic description of interrelationships among them- in short, how things work TERM 32 Interpretation (present data) DEFINITION 32 calls for interpretation. The goal is to make sense of what goes on and to reach out for an understanding or explanation beyond what can be observed- Interpretation addresses questions of meaning and contexts: what is to be made of it all? TERM 33 Progressive Focusing DEFINITION 33 slowly zooming from broad context (War) to particular cases (battles/conflicts) or starting with particular case and backing away to a broader context TERM 34 Critical or Key Event DEFINITION 34 since researchers can never expect to tell the whole story, they should focus on one or two key events TERM 35 Rashomon Effect DEFINITION 35 there is not one version of any event but as many version as there are viewers. Therefor have different participants disclose their own descriptive account.