Social Science Inquiry Model

Scientific inquiry has 5 steps

• Identify a problem• Develop a hypothesis• Gather data• Analyze the data• Draw conclusions

Identify the problem or question

• Initial investigation of topic of interest

• Conduct preliminary research via the internet, books, databases, etc. To see if your topic of interest has been explored before.

Develop a hypothesis

• A possible answer to the initial question that guides your research by indicating what would confirm or disprove the experiment

• Needs to be concise• Arguable• Requires research• Can be tested

Gather data

(A) Secondary research- what is already known about the topic (other people’s research and statistics)

(B) Primary research – your own experiments or investigation, etc

Analyze the data

a) Tally the resultsb) Organize them into tabular formc) Present them as graphsd) Interpret the results

Draw conclusions

• Did the study support the hypothesis?

• Is it consistent with the secondary research?

• What were the limitations and flaws?

• Recommendations for future research

Example of a journal article...

Abstract: an abstract is a summary of the article found at the very beginning of a scholarly journal indicating the thesis

statement, hypothesis and overall general findings of the experiment conducted.

A.P.A. Format: American Psychological Association format of citing scholarly journal

articles used for all social science papers.

Qualitative research

•involves analysis of data such as words (e.g., from interviews),

pictures (e.g., video), or objects (e.g., an artifact).

The aim is a complete, detailed description.

Quantitative research

•involves analysis of numerical data.

The aim is to classify features, count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is observed.

Analyzing data

Central tendency

• The degree of clustering of the values of a statistical distribution

• Mean – the average of the values • Median – the midway point or

middle value • Mode – the most reoccurring

number in the set of data.

Measure of dispersion

• A measure to determine how observed values differ from each other, how spread out or homogenous the data is

• Range• Standard deviation

Sample question:

On a recent test out of 25, selected students received

marks of:22, 20, 16, 13, 22, 8, 18

Mean

•Average of the values

=17

Median

•The middle value

= 18

Mode

•The most commonly occurring number

=22

Range

• The distance between the highest and lowest values

=14

Standard Deviation

• The average distance of values from the mean

Mark Distance from mean Distance from mean squared

22    

22    

20    

18    

16    

13    

8    

Total    

Mark Distance from mean Distance from mean squared

22 22-17= 5 25

22 22-17 =5 25

20 20-17= 3 9

18 18-17 =1 1

16 16-17 = -1 1

13 13-17 = -4 16

8 8-17 = -9 81

Total   158

Standard deviation

• # of values • 7• If you add up the second column you

get 158

• 158 ÷ 7 = 22.57• √22.57 = 4.75

Standard deviation = prediction of where most

of the scores will fall when graphed.

Line of Best FitIn cases of a strong correlation (where points

on a graph are closely clustered), a line can be drawn through the data so that as many

points as possible are on the line and the line has approximately the same number of

points, above and below the line.

This helps to predict where additional points might fall if and when your experiment is

repeated...

A group of people are gathered in a room. A bar is opened and they are told to drink

whatever they like – a bartender will serve them. There is gin, rye, beer, wine, etc...

Two hours later, most people are showing distinct signs of intoxication. When asked to perform simple coordination tasks, they fail.

How can we explain this?

JUST ONE THING: there was really no alcohol content to any of the drinks.

How can we explain this??

Be Mindful of the Placebo Effect!

When a Subject gives the response they believe the Researcher is

expecting...

In many experiments, there is a Control group and a Placebo group.

Both are given similar situations with slight differences and then

compared.

Produces much more reliable results.

Placebo Effect...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfRVCaA5o18