Test 1 (Lectures 4-5) Flashcards
(34 cards)
What is ethics? :
Deals with values and customs of a person or a group. It addresses the concepts about right and wrong, good and evil, & responsibility.
Good ____ is more important to morality than good _____”
(motivation & consequence) - Kant
What is an example of Kant’s ideas on morality?
Answer: difference between 1st & 2nd degree murder
What is justice?
Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, law, religion
The veil of ignorance?
The “veil of ignorance” is a a thought experiment used for reasoning about the principles that should structure a society based on solidarity. As a moral reasoning device it ensures impartiality of judgment. The parties would be deprived of all knowledge of their personal characteristics and social and historical circumstances (example: no logical being would create a society in which slavery exists due to the chance that they may be born as a slave)
Experimental participation in research must be:
Because:
- Voluntary
- disrupts regular activities & reveals their personal information
All participants of research must be aware that: (4)
They are participating in a study
All the consequence of the study
And Consent to participate
They need to be informed by a consent form
Unethical research practices
Hiding the identity of the researcher (for eg. A sociologist begging on the street in order to investigate who is generous)
The need to conceal the nature of the study to participants
Not reporting all findings (only reporting what they want the outcome to be, not the contrary).
Research report must include these 5 things:
- Study design
- Data collection
- Sampling
- Techniques used
- Shortcoming/limitations/failures of the study
We can prevent reports based on fake evidence by:
Making results open & repeatable
Ethics of the profession
If there is no free will…
Morality and moral responsibility are not relevant for social activities
Principle of Alternative Possibilities (PAP):
A person is morally responsible for what she has done only if she could have done otherwise
What is a hot topic?
A popular research topic that has been well documented
Understudied topics? are:
Difficult to begin researching but higher chance of being published (versus hot topics)
What is a theoretical study? (compared to an empirical study)
Provides the proofs, logic frameworks and theorems, contribute to the development and explanation of a theory. In general, a theoretical study needs more knowledge, ability in logic and longer time. Often the researcher is not sure whether results will be delivered at the end.
What is an empirical or applied study?
- Uses a theory or tests existing hypotheses using empirical evidence (data). As long as the researcher can explain the results, a research report can be delivered.
- Both qualitative and quantitative studies can be empirical studies
- Empirical research is research that is based on observation and measurement of phenomena, as directly experienced by the researcher.
- The data thus gathered may be compared against a theory or hypothesis, but the results are still based on real life experience.
Descriptive or explanatory?: A specialty food group launching a new range of barbecue rubs would like to understand what flavors of rubs are favored by different people.
A: descriptive
Difference between descriptive research & explanatory research?
Descriptive research is research that aims to describe or define the topic at hand. Explanatory research is research that aims to explain why particular phenomena work in the way that they do.
What is the most important criterion that should guide social workers down their research topic, into a research question?
A: its answer should have significant potential relevance for guiding social welfare policy or social work practice
Common issues in determining the feasibility of research? (6)
Scope Costs in data collection, travel, ect Time Ethical issues Cooperation of others software
A literature review must do the following:(5)
Be organized and related directly to the issue or research question you are working on
Synthesize results into a summary of what is known and what is not known
Identify areas of controversy in the literature
Identify methods used in the current literature
Formulate questions that need further research
What is the difference between a literature review and an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography examines each source based on its relationship to the topic; a literature review draws together multiple sources to examine where they agree or disagree.
Annotated bibliography summarized each source separately
Exploration involves familiarizing a researcher with a topic.
Exploration satisfies the researcher’s curiosity and desire for improved understanding. Exploration tests the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study. Exploration helps develop the methods that will be used in a study.
Description involves:
describing situations and events through scientific observation. Scientific descriptions are typically more accurate and precise than causal ones. For example, the U. S. Census uses descriptive social research in its examination of characteristics of the U. S. population.
