Political Science

Part A:

1.      Inductive reasoning involves making broad generalizations from a specific observation such as using data to conclude. On the other hand, deductive reasoning involves the use of generalized principles known to be true to make a specific conclusion. The accuracy of the conclusion made from inductive reasoning is questionable.

2.      Deterministic laws explain that every event occurs with known certainty and probabilistic laws explain that the occurrence of events cannot be fully and perfectly predicted. In probabilistic laws, there is a degree of error associated with the prediction of behavior, unlike deterministic laws that focus on the certainty of events.

3.      Reliability is the repeatability of findings and for a scale; it has to report the same thing over and over again. Validity refers to how certain a test or research measures what it is supposed to measure.

4.      The range of variation shows the difference between the highest value and the lowest value which is usually affected by extreme values. Variation between the extremes explains the variables that fall way too high or too low for a range of variables.

5.      The reasons for researchers to conduct a literature review are enhancing thorough understanding of the topic, identifying potential areas for research, identifying similar work done on the topic, and identifying knowledge gaps for further investigation.

6.      The characteristics of useful hypotheses are having the power of prediction, is simple, has clarity, testability, and relevant to the problem.

7.      Indexes and scales are useful tools in social science research. An index is a method of compiling one score from various questions or statements representing a belief, feeling, and attitude. Scales on their part measure the levels of intensity at a variable level especially on how much an individual agrees or disagrees with a statement.

8.      An antecedent variable is the one that explains the apparent relationship between other variables in a cause and effect relationship. Intervening variable helps to explain an observed relationship between variables usually dependent and independent variables.

9.      The meaning of “Scientific knowledge must be transmissible” is that science takes several scientists, analyzing and critiquing each other to generate reliable knowledge and thus helps to identify and control biases evident in research activities.

10.  Ecological fallacy is the failure in of reasoning as a result of making inference about individuals by aggregate data. The significance of the fallacy is that certain assumptions are made about a particular individual based on the general population data which may be untrue.

11.  Face validity explains the extent of a test being subjectively viewed as to cover the concept it purports to measure. On the other hand, content validity estimates how much a measure represents the elements of a construct and the desired content domain.

12.  The functions of concepts in scientific research process include making conceptual distinctions and organizing ideas by capturing the real thing that a research process focuses on capturing. Concepts labels and name a phenomenon and assists in the formulation of a mental image about a situation.

13.  Grand theory comprises of concepts that represent global and extremely complex phenomena. It is broad in scope and has an abstract level of development to address the broad phenomena within a discipline. Middle-range theory addresses more concrete and narrowly defined phenomena than the grand theory. A narrow-range theory is the most concrete and narrow in scope and explains the specific phenomenon of concern in a discipline.

14.  Test-retest reliability entails the administration of the same test twice over a specific period to a population. Alternative-form reliability occurs when an individual participates in research or test scenario is given to two different versions of the similar test but at different times. Split-halves methods involve the assessment of the internal consistency of a test and measures the extent to which parts of a test contribute equally to what is being measured.

15.  The significance of falsifiability is that it emphasizes on immediate demands on theories that are not yet mature. It involves conceiving an observation or an argument which could negate them.

PART B:

1.        The independent variable is banking failures 

The dependent variable is political repression

2.    Level of measurement of:

Employment status (unemployed, hourly wage, salaried)-Nominal

Line item veto power (yes/no)-Nominal

Per capita gross national product-Ratio 

Political ideology (strong liberal, liberal, neither liberal nor conservative, conservative, strong conservative)-Nominal

College student poverty (percentage of college students living in poverty)-ratio 

Number of children in families-Ordinal. 

      Carolyn Morgan is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in professional academic writing services. If you need a similar paper you can place your order from cheap reliable essay writing service.