Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

STRATEGIES OF RESEARCH DESIGN

prediction. Notice that we can reformulate and bet-

ter focus it now into: “Are couples who marry

younger more likely to divorce?”

We can create several hypotheses for one

research question. Another hypothesis from the

same research question is as follows: “The smaller

the difference between the ages of the marriage

partners at the time of marriage, the less likely that

the marriage will end in divorce.” In this case, we

specify the variable age at marriage differently.

We can have a hypothesis that specifies that a

relationship holds under some conditions but not

others. As Lieberson (1985:198) remarked, “In

order to evaluate the utility of a given causal pro-

position, it is important that there be a clear-cut

statement of the conditions under which it will

operate.” For example, a hypothesis states: The

lower the age of the partners at time of marriage,

the higher are the chances that the marriage will

end in divorce, unless it is a marriage between

Ecological Fallacy Error of Reduction

Teleology Tautology

Levels

of Analysis

Spurious Relationship

= researcher makes statements about this level

= researcher has evidence for this level

Not

measurable

Not earlier

in time

Variable 1 Variable 2

?

Variable 2

Variable 1

Variable 2

Variable 1 Variable 3

FIGURE 5 Five Errors in Explanation to Avoid