lecture 4 - causality & RD

Question 1

necessary conditions causality

Answer 1

Stuart Mill:

1. covariance
2. temporal order
3. temporal and spatial contiguity/link
4. nonspurious relationship

Question 2

two types/names of causality

Answer 2

1. deterministic/nomothetic causality
2. probablistic

Question 3

intervening and anteceding factors

Answer 3

intervening = come between cause and effect

• mediators: factors that come between IV and DV
• moderators: factors that affect the relationship between IV and DV
  *suppresor vs distorter vs reinforcer

anteceding = alternative/correct DV

• confound = completely explains observed relationship

Question 4

different types of relationships

Answer 4

1. zero-order relationship
2. partial relationship: part of the relationship is direct, other part goes through the mediator
3. spurious relationship / correlation = both IV and DV are caused by the confound, the real explanatory factor

Question 5

Research Design

Answer 5

= strategy/blueprint to investigate the research question

includes:

1. type of research
2. what data to collect
3. method of data collection
4. mode of analysis
5. how threats to internal and external validity and measurement validity and reliability are minimized
   - internal validity = causal relationship without confounding
   - external validity = generalizability to other cases
   - measurement reliability = consistency and replicability of results
   - measurement validity = does it measure what it claims to measure?

Question 6

types of research design

Answer 6

1. experimental design = by definition randomized assignment treatment and control (-> ruling out confounding variable)
   - lab experiment
   - field experiment
   - survey experiment
2. cross-sectional and longitudinal designs
   - cross-sectional = multiple cases in one point of time
   - longitudinal = longer periods of time (panel vs cohort designs)
3. comparative design
4. historical design

Question 7

methods of data collection

Answer 7

data collection requires: clear boundaries of space/place, time, units/actors, factors/variables

• questionnaires/surveys
• interviews
• participant observation / ethnographic research
• textual/content/discourse analysis
• statistical data