SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dependent And Independent Variables, The Control Group, Internal Validity
26 Sep 2016
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We deal with aggregated human behaviour b/c people are unpredictable and have free will ---> patterns are easier to explain when done so in groups. Social scientific theories deal with aggregated and not individual behaviour. Their goal is to explain aggregate patterns of behaviour that are regular even though individuals within the aggregate vary over time. These theories try to understand the systems in which people operate. The elements of the systems are not individuals but variables. If it doesn"t vary, there is little interest. A variable that has an effect on another variable. The outcome of the variable that is being caused by the iv (independent variable) Possible other variable that might account for the relationship between x and y. The thing that causes the outcome must come first. A third variable that"s accounting for the co-variation. Spuriousness: when an apparently casual relationships between two variables is actually accounted for by a third variable (extraneous variable: z)example:
