This document summarizes key concepts from Chapter 5 of an Introduction to Sociology textbook. It defines variables, hypotheses, dependent and independent variables, and how they relate in experiments. It also explains different types of relationships between variables, how to operationally define concepts, and different types of averages including mean, median, and mode. Finally, it distinguishes between correlation and causation.

1. Introduction to Sociology

2. Week 4: Chapter 5 Review

3. CHAPTER 5
Variables-
• A variable is either a result of some force or is itself the
force that causes a change in another variable. In
experiments, these are called dependent and
independent variables respectively.
Attributes-
• Inferences made about the causes of other people's
behavior.

4. CHAPTER 5
Hypothesis-
• An "educated guess”.
Dependent variables-
• The outcome factor; the variable that may change in
response to the manipulations of the independent
variable.
Independent variables-
• The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

5. CHAPTER 5
Positive relations-
• Variables that vary in the same direction have a positive
relationship.
Negative relations-
• Variables that vary in the opposite direction have a
negative relationship.

6. CHAPTER 5
Operational definitions-
• Observable operations, procedures, and measurements
that are based on the independent and dependent
variables

7. CHAPTER 5
Averages-
• A number expressing the central or typical value in a set
of data, in particular the mode, median, or the mean.
Mean-
• The mean is the average of the numbers.
Median-
• A value or quantity lying at the midpoint of a frequency
distribution of observed values or quantities.
Mode-
• The value that occurs most often.

8. CHAPTER 5
Correlation vs. Causation-
• A measure of association vs. cause. Just because two
things are associated
does not mean that one causes the other.