Justice Studies 301

Dr. Cecilia Menjívar

Study Guide for Exam # 1

Chapter 1.

Define the fundamental differences between social science and other ways of looking at social phenomena (social regularities; philosophy not belief; what is, not what should be; aggregates not individuals.

List safeguards against error in social science research.

Give examples of variables and their attributes.

Differentiate independent and dependent variables.

Contrast the idiographic and the nomothetic models of explanation.

Chapter 2.

Differentiate between paradigms and theory.

Describe the basic tenets of the main theories in social science (that your book lists) and illustrate each.

Differentiate macro-level theory from micro-level theory.

Differentiate inductive logic from deductive reasoning and outline the steps in deductive and in inductive theory construction.

Chapter 4.

List and illustrate the three prerequisites for establishing causality.
Differentiate nomothetic and idiographic modes of explanation using examples.

Differentiate a necessary cause from a sufficient cause.

Define the three major purposes of research.

Define units of analysis and units of observation.

Define and illustrate ecological fallacy and reductionism.

Identify and illustrate each of the time dimensions in research (cross-sectional and the three longitudinal designs).

Identify the basic steps in designing a research project.

TIP: When preparing for the exam make sure that you understand the concepts well. Do not memorize examples because even though the exam contains many examples, they are not exactly like those used in class