Research and laguiry Skills Sources in Social Science Variables and Control Groups in Social Science As you learned in Chapter 1, when social scientists have an issue or a topic they wish to research,...

Extracted text: Research and laguiry Skills Sources in Social Science Variables and Control Groups in Social Science As you learned in Chapter 1, when social scientists have an issue or a topic they wish to research, they first must develop a central research question. This question becomes the focus of an experiment, where a researcher looks at the effects of one factor on another. These factors are called variables. You need to avoid making a conclusion until you finish your research. Look at the following example of a good central research question to learn more about experiments: Does using a cell phone at school affect students' grades? When you conduct research in the social sciences, you must select from a variety of primary and second- ary sources. Primary sources (for exâmple, interviews, observations, surveys) are obtained from field research, while secondary sources (for example, research reports, newspaper articles, journal or magazine articles) summarize what other people have to say about a topic. When starting research, you begin with secondary sources to see what has already been found about your question. Then you design your own primary source to test your hypothesis. Quantitative and Qualitative Research Independent and Dependent Variables In an experiment, there is an independent variable and a dependent variable. The independent variable is the variable whose effect is being studied. In the central research question above, the independent variable is the use of a cell phone. The dependent variable is what is being measured and may change in response to manipulation of the independent variable. In our central research question, the dependent variable is the students' grades. Generally, the various ways in which social scientists conduct their research can be categorized into quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative Research Qualitative Research • to build a hypothesis based on Purpose • to test a hypothesis • to establish relationships between research data • to understand relationships between variables Control Groups To accurately measure the results of an experiment, researchers estabilish a control group. The control group serves as a comparison to the group under study. Control groups can be made up of individuals who are not exposed to the independent variable in the same way or individuals who are fundamentally different in nature. In the cell phone example, a control group would consist of students who do not use cell phones in school. variables • closed-ended questions • numerical results • open-ended questions • descriptions and comparisons Description Examples • interviews surveys • laboratory-based • naturalistic observation Activities observation 1. For each of the following central research questions, indicate the independent and dependent variables and suggest an appropriate control group: a) Does playing on a sports team affect students' behaviour? b) Are students' attention spans affected by eating Activities 1. For each of the following central research questions, suggest whether quantitative or qualitative research, methods would be more appropriate and provide a reason explaining your decision: a) How is a child's academic success affected by how much time the child spends with his or her family? b) Is there a relationship between time spent on the Internet and number of friends? breakfast? c) Does wearing brand name clothing affect the number of friends a student has? 2. Write three social science central research questions on issues that are important to you. For each central research question, indicate the independent and dependent variables and a possible control group. Chapter 2 What Is Psychology? MHR 57