Exam 1 review sheet
[PA: Introduction, Ch1, Ch2
(pp26-30) Ch3 (pp44-54), SPSS: Getting started, Ch1,
Phase 1]
This review is intended to give you a general idea of what may appear on
the exam. The exam will cover material from the assigned readings and material
that was presented in the lectures and the lab hours.
1. Research questions
What
are some examples of bad research questions?
Normative,
factual, etc
2. Concepts, variables
3. Operationalization
4. Variation
5. Reliability and validity
6. Systematic measurement error and random
measurement error
7. Cases
8. Units of analysis
Individual and aggregate data
Ecological fallacy
9. Levels of measurement
Nominal, ordinal, and interval/ratio
10. Types
of variables
Dependent, independent, intervening,
antecedent
11. Explanation/theory
Acceptable
and unacceptable explanations
12. Correlation, causal relationship, and spurious relationship
13. Hypotheses
How to state a hypothesis:
Characteristics of good hypotheses
Directional and null hypotheses
14. Democratic Peace
15. Duverger’s Law
16. Datasets
GSS,
NES, World, and States
17. Phase 1
Descriptions
online
18. Read the required readings carefully.