PUP 3002 Exam #1 Questions and Answers Already Passed
Is the social world deterministic or probabilistic?
Why do we care about this distinction? - Answers Probabilistic
-the social world is probabilistic,
-human beings are not deterministic robots whose behaviors always conform to law-like
statements
-in the social world, correlation doesn't mean causation
probabilistic relationship - Answers One that will produce an output from a treatment or initial
state, with some probability
deterministic relationship - Answers one that will always produce the same output from a
treatment or initial state
What does it mean
to say the social world is multivariate? - Answers any interesting dependent variable is caused
by more than one factor
-multivariate= multiple variables
causal relationship - Answers one between an input variable and an output variable, where on
outcome variable has changed due to an exposure to an input variable
Unit of Analysis - Answers -the entity we want to describe and analyze
-the entity to which the concept applies
-could be a person, state, or , country, or a certain group
counterfactual - Answers -expressing what did not happen
-What would Y be if X had occurred
-hindsight basically
Causal Inference - Answers drawing a conclusion about causal relationships between various
inputs and policy outputs and outcomes
What does a counterfactual have to do with understanding causal inference? - Answers the
fundamental problem of causal inference:
the difficulty that we face in experimental situations where we cannot expose the same
individual to both treatment and control at the exact same moment in time
,repetition effect - Answers any change in a subject's performance due to repeating the
experimental condition
What are independent variables? - Answers - variable that is theorized to cause variation in the
dependent variable
-- IV, X
How are independent variables related to dependent variables? Know how to identify each in a
theory or hypothesis. - Answers dependent variable: variable for which at least some of the
variation is theorized to be caused by one or more IVs
-Dependent variable = DV, Y
---the value of the DV *depends* on the value of the IV
---according to our theory, change in the value of the IV causes change in the value of the DV
What are antecedent and intervening variables? Know how to identify each in a theory or
hypothesis. - Answers - in an indirect effect: X // Z // Y
--X is the antecedent = comes before
--Z is the intervening = comes in between
Law of Supply - Answers as the price of a good increases, the quantity supplied increases and
vice versa
Shortage of supply - Answers the price fixed below equilibrium price
Surplus Supply - Answers the price fixed above equilibrium price
Law of demand - Answers as the price of a good increases, the quantity demanded decreases
and vice versa
Pareto Efficiency - Answers concept used to describe the relative levels of performance among
alternative states of allocating goods among individuals
--if we change the allocation of goods among individuals and 'no individual is worse off' and at
least one individual is better off, it is Pareto efficient
Kaldor - Hicks criterion - Answers when reallocation goods, if the beneficiaries collectively gain
more than the losers are made worse off, it is efficient.
Market Equilibrium - Answers when the demand of the good is exactly equal to the supply of the
good
Negative Externality - Answers when a market transaction between two parties harms third
, party not involved in the transaction. the market is failing to account for a cost, this "cost" leads
to inefficiency
What is a theory? - Answers a tentative conjecture about the causes of some phenomenon of
interest
-a model of the world
-- a set of interconnected statements
--identifies what cause something and why
--good theory:
-causal,
-not driven by data alone,
-empirical,
-non-normative,
-general,
- parsimonious
Parsimonious - Answers to explain much with very few moving parts.
-a ..... theory is simple b/c it does not introduce many assumptions
Generalizable - Answers can produce hypothesis across a broad range of contexts
-can out model of voter turnout be generalized to other contexts?
Where do theories come from? - Answers identifying interesting variation in the DV
-go from general to specific
-learn from previous research
-formal theory
How do we evaluate a theories merit? - Answers by testing our theory in steps:
1) create *causal theory* to explain our phenomenon of interest
2) restate theory as one or more testable *hypotheses*
3) conduct *empirical tests* of our hypotheses
Is the social world deterministic or probabilistic?
Why do we care about this distinction? - Answers Probabilistic
-the social world is probabilistic,
-human beings are not deterministic robots whose behaviors always conform to law-like
statements
-in the social world, correlation doesn't mean causation
probabilistic relationship - Answers One that will produce an output from a treatment or initial
state, with some probability
deterministic relationship - Answers one that will always produce the same output from a
treatment or initial state
What does it mean
to say the social world is multivariate? - Answers any interesting dependent variable is caused
by more than one factor
-multivariate= multiple variables
causal relationship - Answers one between an input variable and an output variable, where on
outcome variable has changed due to an exposure to an input variable
Unit of Analysis - Answers -the entity we want to describe and analyze
-the entity to which the concept applies
-could be a person, state, or , country, or a certain group
counterfactual - Answers -expressing what did not happen
-What would Y be if X had occurred
-hindsight basically
Causal Inference - Answers drawing a conclusion about causal relationships between various
inputs and policy outputs and outcomes
What does a counterfactual have to do with understanding causal inference? - Answers the
fundamental problem of causal inference:
the difficulty that we face in experimental situations where we cannot expose the same
individual to both treatment and control at the exact same moment in time
,repetition effect - Answers any change in a subject's performance due to repeating the
experimental condition
What are independent variables? - Answers - variable that is theorized to cause variation in the
dependent variable
-- IV, X
How are independent variables related to dependent variables? Know how to identify each in a
theory or hypothesis. - Answers dependent variable: variable for which at least some of the
variation is theorized to be caused by one or more IVs
-Dependent variable = DV, Y
---the value of the DV *depends* on the value of the IV
---according to our theory, change in the value of the IV causes change in the value of the DV
What are antecedent and intervening variables? Know how to identify each in a theory or
hypothesis. - Answers - in an indirect effect: X // Z // Y
--X is the antecedent = comes before
--Z is the intervening = comes in between
Law of Supply - Answers as the price of a good increases, the quantity supplied increases and
vice versa
Shortage of supply - Answers the price fixed below equilibrium price
Surplus Supply - Answers the price fixed above equilibrium price
Law of demand - Answers as the price of a good increases, the quantity demanded decreases
and vice versa
Pareto Efficiency - Answers concept used to describe the relative levels of performance among
alternative states of allocating goods among individuals
--if we change the allocation of goods among individuals and 'no individual is worse off' and at
least one individual is better off, it is Pareto efficient
Kaldor - Hicks criterion - Answers when reallocation goods, if the beneficiaries collectively gain
more than the losers are made worse off, it is efficient.
Market Equilibrium - Answers when the demand of the good is exactly equal to the supply of the
good
Negative Externality - Answers when a market transaction between two parties harms third
, party not involved in the transaction. the market is failing to account for a cost, this "cost" leads
to inefficiency
What is a theory? - Answers a tentative conjecture about the causes of some phenomenon of
interest
-a model of the world
-- a set of interconnected statements
--identifies what cause something and why
--good theory:
-causal,
-not driven by data alone,
-empirical,
-non-normative,
-general,
- parsimonious
Parsimonious - Answers to explain much with very few moving parts.
-a ..... theory is simple b/c it does not introduce many assumptions
Generalizable - Answers can produce hypothesis across a broad range of contexts
-can out model of voter turnout be generalized to other contexts?
Where do theories come from? - Answers identifying interesting variation in the DV
-go from general to specific
-learn from previous research
-formal theory
How do we evaluate a theories merit? - Answers by testing our theory in steps:
1) create *causal theory* to explain our phenomenon of interest
2) restate theory as one or more testable *hypotheses*
3) conduct *empirical tests* of our hypotheses
