NAME:
DATE:
Fundamentals of Quantitative Methods
470.854.82 Fall 2021
Problem Set 1
Scientific Research and Building Good Theories
Complete the following set of questions, and submit this problem set to Blackboard by 9/12 at 11:59pm EST. These questions are based on the lecture materials and readings from Modules 1 and 2. The questions on this problem set require judgment and explanation, meaning they do not necessarily have one right answer.
Exercise 1: Which of the statements below can be considered empirical, and which are normative? Are any statements so ambiguous that it is hard to tell whether it is an empirical or normative statement? Write your response in the space provided below each statement and briefly explain your answer.
The Democrats won a majority of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 2020 elections.
Catholics are more likely to vote than Protestants.
People in North Korea would be far better off if they lived under a democratic government.
The average 40-year-old high school dropout is in worse health than the average 60-year-old high school graduate.
Access to healthcare is a fundamental right.
Outlawing guns will do no good because the crime rate will increase.
Exercise 2: Below is a list of research questions. In the space below each question, respond to the following items:
Determine if the research question seeks to investigate a relationship between concepts. If it does, say so and proceed to the next question. If it does not, rewrite the research question so that it proposes such a relationship, then proceed to:
Write the relationship between concepts in the form of a hypothesis.
Identify the independent and dependent variables for the hypothesis.
Identify the unit of analysis indicated or implied by the hypothesis.
Are people in the world concerned about global climate change?
Is the U.S. public more willing to support the use of U.S. military force when U.S. interests are affected than when they are not?
How important was political experience of presidential candidates to voters in the 2020 presidential election?
Does a country’s turnout rate in elections influence how much that country’s social welfare policies change?
Exercise 4: Recall the three types of variables (nominal, ordinal, interval). Next, identify each of the following concepts by type of variable and use the space below to explain your reasoning.
Religion
Support for school vouchers
Income
‘Great Power’ country status
Increase in sea level
Member of NATO
Gender
Liberal-ness of Supreme Court
Inventory of U.S. nuclear missiles
Level of campaign donation
Percent of support for marijuana legalization
Political freedom of a country
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