Ch. 2 Studying Sex and Gender Flashcards
Week 4 (21 cards)
How are sex differences evaluated/what is the meaning of sex differences?
when researchers find that ppl from diff sexes differ significantly on some variable it means the avg difference found btwn men and women is unlikely to have occurred due to chance. this doesnt convey anything about the size, variance, or importance of the sex difference. so it doesnt tell us the magnitude of the effect/difference or if it has meaningful consequences in everyday life. the maximalist and minimalist approach are relevant to this. where the maximalist approach is more common bc of biases towards publishing research that shows significant differences, but the minimalist approach has had more impact in the recent years.
What is the maximalist approach?
the tendency for researchers to emphasize the differences btwn sex groups.
What is the minimalist approach?
the tendency for researchers to emphasize the similarities btwn sex groups.
What is the scientific method used in gender and sex studies?
this is when researchers conduct systematic studies to test hypotheses derived from theory. attempting to falsify the hypoth through data collection. if a hypoth is supported it might be used to support a theory. researchers might use quantitative or qualitative methods.
What is a hypothesis?
a testable prediction about the outcome of a study.
What is the quantitative method?
researchers assign numerical values to traits and attributes and measure them through standardized tests.
What is the qualitative method?
researchers collect non-numerical info in order to understand participants subjective experiences in a spec context.
What are meta-analyses?
a technique for analyzing a collection of results from individual studies on a given topic. all the data is combined to produce the effect size and therefore d statistic.
What is effect-size?
a quantitative measure of the magnitude and direction of a difference btwn groups or of the strength of a relationship btwn variables. so tells us how large or small the effect/difference is.
What is the d statistic?
an effect size statistic that expresses the magnitude and direction of sex or gender differences on some variable of interest. so tells you how much overlap there is btwn male and females on some task ability or trait. larger d stats mean more differences and less overlap, so that means its probably a true difference. whereas smaller d stats means less differences and more overlap.
What are some methodological challenges and biases in sex and gender research?
one bias is androcentric thinking which is the framing of ones research hypoth or findings in a way that presents the male experience as the norm and the female experience as outside the normal. can be subtle and often not recognized by the researchers.
How do we do gender-fair and inclusive research?
researchers must ensure that their research designs and their research reports are not gender biased. research must be motivated by cultural considerations related to power and privilege. researchers need to actively consider the messages conveyed by their studies to ensure that their research both represents and reaches a diverse audience.
What is an independent variable?
a variable thats assumed to cause changes in the dependent variable. in an experiment, the idp vari is manipulated by the researcher. ie having different conditions (ppl writing about a time they were socially dominant, and the others writing about smthn else) and then having those ppl sit in a waiting room to find out if dominance causes ppl to take up more physical space. dominance is idp and physical space is dp, bc the manipulation of dominance causes the outcome/dp vari.
What is a dependent variable?
an outcome variable. in an experiment, the dp vari is the one hypothesized to change as a result of manipulation of the idp vari.
What is the gender diagnosticity score?
the estimated probability that a person is M or F given their gender-related interests. a GD score of 0.85 means that the person has an 85% chance of being M and 15% chance of being F.
What is a participant variable?
a naturally occurring feature of research participants (sex, gender, personality, cultural background) that is measured in a study rather than manipulated. so measuring the differences btwn groups of ppl.
What is an ex post facto design?
a. nonexperimental design where researchers compare groups of ppl (smokers/nonsmokers, women/men, etc.) to see whether they differ on some dp vari of interest. theres no random assignment so no cause and effect conclusions. ie testing hypoth to see if women smile (dp) more than men. women and men are the comparison groups.
What is a person by tx design?
researchers select ppl who differ on some participant variable (sex, race, ethnicity, etc) and then randomly assign them to different conditions of an idp vari. allow for some degree of cause and effect conclusion. ie assigning men and women to a supervisory or subordinate role to test the lvls of dominance in each condition. (men and women are particip vari, and roles are idp, dominance dp).
What is the third variable problem?
in correlational research the possibility that an unmeasured third variable is responsible for the relationship btwn 2 correlated variables.
What is postpositivism?
an orientation that views empirical investigation as a useful method for acquiring knowledge, but recognizes its inherent biases and values.
What is scientific positivism?
an orientation that emphasizes the scientific method and proposes that objective and value free knowledge is attainable through empirical observation.
