Chapter 12

Question 1

material-based methods ______ directly engage with human research subjects

Answer 1

DOES NOT

Question 2

what are the common methods for data analysis?

Answer 2

• historical comparative
• content analysis
• secondary data analysis

Question 3

why choose material based?

Answer 3

• macro-social phenomena
• societal blind spot
• living memory
• pragmatic reasons

Question 4

macro-social phenomena covers what?

Answer 4

social patterns/ trends that are bigger than people
Ex. why revolutions start in some countries over others

Question 5

what are societal blind spots?

Answer 5

• tendency of some people to romanticize the past or presume that certain things are true, even when facts contradict them
  Ex. family instability in 19th century

Question 6

pragmatic reasons need _____.

Answer 6

feasibility

Question 7

materials needed?

Answer 7

• expert analyses
• reports
• records
• news media
• cultural artifacts
• individual accounts
• physical materials
• maps
• data sets
• big data

Question 8

what is an expert analysis?

Answer 8

research reports, 1 person

Question 9

what are reports and can they be trusted?

Answer 9

published by reputable organizations
- not everything can be trusted

Question 10

what are records?

Answer 10

• government records, capture population, birth rate, death rate, marriage

Question 11

what is news media?

Answer 11

newspaper, anything news related

Question 12

what is a cultural artifact?

Answer 12

tv shows, books, popular in public

Question 13

what are physical materials?

Answer 13

soil, toys, water

Question 14

what are maps?

Answer 14

GIS, geographic information system, housing, traffic, crowding

Question 15

what are data sets?

Answer 15

GSS, public

Question 16

what is big data?

Answer 16

digital trace, less organized, no sampling strategy just data

Question 17

primary information

Answer 17

• information given in materials is as good as gathering it yourself, direct observation

Question 18

examples of primary information

Answer 18

diary entries, birth certificate, congressional record

Question 19

secondary information

Answer 19

information given through 2 or more people, not a person being studied or researcher

Question 20

examples of secondary information

Answer 20

NYT article, GSS data, death certificate (sometimes), U.S. department of state human rights reports

Question 21

how can a death certificate be primary or secondary?

Answer 21

who wrote the death certificate or when it was issued to see if it can be classified as primary or secondary

Question 22

what type of information is typically included in records?

Answer 22

vital statistics about populations

Question 23

what are the methods for data analysis?

Answer 23

1. historical and comparative methods (qualitative)
2. content analysis
   
   • quantitative
   • critical (qualitative)
3. secondary data analysis (quantitative, sometimes qualitative)

Question 24

what is a historical method?

Answer 24

• qualitative
• examine change overtime

Question 25

what is a comparative method?

Answer 25

- qualitative - use materials to examine change across locations

Question 26

what typical materials are used as evidence of events?

Answer 26

- gov. records - official reports - preexisting academic lit/ expert accounts

Question 27

what sampling methods are used for historical and comparative data analysis?

Answer 27

- case-oriented research (case study) - selecting time and location - purposive sampling using Mill's methods

Question 28

what is Mill's methods?

Answer 28

importance, how typical they are, contrasting outcomes/ key differences

Question 29

what are counterfactuals?

Answer 29

- imagine what might have happened but didn't - 1 case vs. theoretical predictions - 2+ cases with similar context but different outcomes

Question 30

what is the typical sample size?

Answer 30

less than 5

Question 31

what method considerations do you use for data?

Answer 31

- who will be left out of each kind of data - what information can we learn/ not learn - what's good about these data

Question 32

how is history different from sociology?

Answer 32

history: accurate accounts of history socio: connects to theories, confirms, explains relationships between concepts

Question 33

Content analysis types

Answer 33

quantitative content analysis critical content analysis (qualitative)

Question 34

content analysis sampling dictates if its __________ or __________

Answer 34

quantitative; qualitative

Question 35

quantitative content analysis uses _____ and ______.

Answer 35

coding (create variables from materials) analysis (ratio of male: female names overtime)

Question 36

critical content analysis uses ______ and is a type of ______ sampling.

Answer 36

deconstruction (uncover hidden or alternative meaning) purposive sampling

Question 37

secondary data analysis can be ______ or sometimes ________.

Answer 37

quantitative; qualitative

Question 38

secondary data analysis is...

Answer 38

- data sets that were collected by other researchers - data sets can be qualitative (crime/ deviance over life)

Question 39

advantages or disadvantages of secondary data analysis

Answer 39

advantages: - save time/ resources - large probability samples are expensive - min. respondents fatigue disadvantages: - pre-existing data may not be related to your research question - data can be flawed/ poorly documented

Question 40

why use a codebook in secondary data analysis?

Answer 40

- system of organizing information about a data set - variables it contains - possible values for each variable - sampling & weight

Question 41

in a codebook the rows are for _______ and the columns cover _____.

Answer 41

observations/ cases; variables

Question 42

how do you merge materials?

Answer 42

- 2 or more secondary data sets if they have common unit of analysis - combine multi. years of data (repeated cross-sectional) - combine multi. sources of data (more variables & levels of analysis)

Question 43

possible mistakes of merging materials?

Answer 43

- level of analysis can be shaded - aggregation (statistic from diff. level of analysis than what you study)

Question 44

limits to material-based methods and a solution

Answer 44

- barriers to access materials (hidden records) - materials don't equal people - materials are rarely perfect for any research question - solution: triangulation

Question 45

ethical considerations for this method

Answer 45

- personal materials from living people need informed consent - online materials are a grey zone for informed consent

Question 46

identify which is primary or secondary information A. GSS from online B. birth certificate from 1922 C. diary entries written by child living in warzone D. newspaper article describing public's reaction to a political debate

Answer 46

A. Secondary B. Primary C. Primary D. Secondary

Question 47

what could be advantages of using materials rather than survey or interview data to study life in NYC in the months following the attacks of 9/11

Answer 47

macro-social phenomena, societal blind spots, living memory, feasibility