scientific method- the process a sociologist uses to develop and test theories
American Sociological Association (ASA)- a national organization for sociologists dedicated to advancing sociology as a scientific discipline and profession serving the public good
peer review- a process by which research is evaluated by a group of experts in the specific subject area
hypothesis- an educated guess about a relationship between two or more situations, events, or factors
independent variable- a factor that causes a change in another variable
dependent variable- a factor that is changed by another variable
validity- the extent that the study measures what it claims to measure
operational definition- a clear, concise, and observable measure of the variable
reliability- the extent to which a study yields the same result in repeated studies
quantitative research design- data collection that focuses on exploring correlations by using systematic, numerical, and other objective measures to generalize across groups of people
qualitative research design- data collection using interviews, fieldwork, observation, photos, text, and other subjective measures
representative sample- a subset of the population whose characteristics accurately reflect those of the larger population from which it is drawn
Institutional Review Board (IRB)- a committee that reviews research proposals to protect the rights and welfare of human participants in research
informed consent- a signed statement by participants indicating full knowledge of the risks involved, and acknowledgment of the procedures to withdraw from the study at any time willingly
Anonymity- concealing the identities of participants within the research project
confidentiality- guarding who has the right of access to the data provided by the participants