Introduction to Sociology

GLOSSARY

correlation: when a change in one variable coincides with a change in another variable, but does not necessarily indicate causation
dependent variable: a variable changed by other variables
hypothesis: a testable educated guess about predicted outcomes between two or more variables
independent variables: variables that cause changes in dependent variables
literature review: a scholarly research step that entails identifying and studying all existing studies on a topic to create a basis for new research
operational definitions: specific explanations of abstract concepts that a researcher plans to study
reliability: a measure of a study’s consistency that considers how likely results are to be replicated if a study is reproduced
scientific method: an established scholarly research method that involves asking a question, researching existing sources, forming a hypothesis, designing and conducting a study, and drawing conclusions
validity: the degree to which a sociological measure accurately reflects the topic of study
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