SSH 301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Dependent And Independent Variables

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Social Sciences and Humanities
• Course: SSH 301
• Professor: Patrizia Albanese

Document Summary

Common sense: correlation or explanation that appears correct on the surface. Something we accept and don"t question, perhaps an authority said it. Empirical verification findings are observable and can be experienced through the senses. Scientific method: a process of creating knowledge using rules created by a. Theory -> hypothesis -> observations -> empirical generalizations ->theory. Theory a systematic (& detailed) explanation of observation. Hypothesis a proposition with at least 1 independent and one dependent variable that must be empirically tested. Deduction is theory downwards (begins with ideas and principles then tests them) Induction is observation upwards (begins with evidence and testing then begins to theorize based on them) Variable a concept that can take/has multiple values (logical grouping of attributes) Independent variable the variable that causes/produces the effect in an explanation or hypothesis (causal variable = x) (hair color in hypothetica) Positive correlation an association between 2 variables in a positive way (when y increases x increases.