Midterm 1

What was created in order to ensure much more stringent regulations for the protection of health care data?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

A student is writing her literature review and needs to cite a source for the research she is discussing. Which one of the following is a correct parenthetical citation for this?

(Jones 1998) *only need a page number when citing a direct quote, stat, or fact

You are reading the newspaper and come across a survey. At the bottom you see the following box. What is the sampling error/margin of error for the survey? -Results for this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Abt/SRBI Inc. among a nationwide sample of 1,500 adults, 18 years of age or older, from September 30-October 4, 2009 (1125 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 375 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 141 who had no landline telephone). The sampling error is +/-3.1. Both the landline and cell phone samples were provided by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were conducted in English. For detailed information about our survey methodology, see http://people-press.org/methodology/

+/-3.1

Match the variable to their type of quantification:

- gender: discrete - salary in a year: continuous -miles driven to work: continuous -presence of divided government: discrete

Match the scenario to the type of sampling method being used.

-A research team tells its staff to each give 100 surveys to males and 100 surveys to females.: quota sample -A student wishes to conduct a survey of students for her research project on the gender gap in American public opinion. She gives her survey to fellow students in her large lecture math and biology classes.: convenience sample -A research team in California is interested in researching political attitudes among illegal immigrants living in California. Since there are no official lists of illegal residents in California, they decide to administer their survey in parts of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and in the San Berdino area of San Diego County until they have a sample size of 500 illegal residents.: cluster sample -Jenny is doing her research project on university administrators' perceptions of higher education policy in the Great Recession. She interviews two college deans, then one dean introduces her to the college vice-president, who then introduces her to the college president, who connects her to the provost and president at another university in the area.: snowball sample

Match the scenario to whether sample bias is present.

-A student is working on a project to investigate college students' attitudes on voting. He gives the survey to every friendly looking female that comes into the student union until he runs out of surveys.: yes sample bias is present -A CNN Poll is given to 3000 randomly selected Americans using landline and cell phone lists.: No, this is a correctly done sample -A student is interested in researching public attitudes on immigration reform. She gives her survey to every 5th person passing by her on Main Street in Ames.: Yes, sample bias present -A student wants to do a study of health care policies in different political systems. She selects Germany and France as her cases since she has visited them before and is going to France for a study abroad semester.: Yes, sample bias is present -A student wishes to conduct a survey of students for her research project on the gender gap in American public opinion. She gives her survey to fellow students in her math and biology classes until she has a sample size of 200.: Yes, sample bias is present -In 1936 the Literary Digest conducted a mail survey on voter preferences in the 1936 election in which they sent out 10 million surveys to U.S. households based on telephone listings and auto registration lists. They received 2 million surveys back. The results showed 65% favored Alf Landon over FDR. The Literary Digest prediction turned out to be wrong. Was this simply an unlucky guess or did they do something wrong?: Yes, sample bias is present -In 2006, a media story sent shockwaves through education experts and youth policy experts. Policymakers renewed calls for expanded sex education and abstinence programs. The story reported a study by a John Hopkins University researcher who reported that 75-80% of teenagers were engaging in oral sex. His study was based on the increase in visits by male teens to an inner city clinic in Baltimore, Maryland between 1990 and 2006.: Yes, sample bias is present -In 2010, the Idaho Statesman conducted a poll of randomly selected 625 likely voters to find out their opinion on state road funding.: No, this is a correctly done sample

Match the variable to their type for the following research: Foreign aid from the U.S. and Europe and corruption among African country officials

-Foreign aid: independent variable -Corruption: Dependent Variable

Match the variable with its type.

-Gender (male/female): Categorical variable -Degree of support for the Iraq War (strongly oppose/oppose/no opinion/support/strongly support): ordinal variable -Student GPA: Interval-ratio variable -Political party ID: Categorical Variable -Income level: ordinal variable -political ideology: categorical variable -How many miles one drives in a year: interval-ratio variable -# of drinks consumed in a week: interval-ratio variable -your weight: interval ratio variable

Identify the reliability test being used in each of the following:

-In some states, standardized No Child Left Behind tests are being given to students at four points during the school year. The same test is given at each of these test dates.: Test- Rated Method -A researcher codes a set of documents in 2010 and then codes the same set a year later in 2011: Intra-rater reliability test -A team of three student researchers are used to code marketing contracts; their scores are compared to determine whether the scoring is consistent.: Inter-rater reliability test -A professor wishes to test whether a new math software program is effective in improving student scores in a math course. He administers a test to students and then gives another version of the test 3 weeks later with different, but similar questions.: Alternative Form/Parallel Form Method -A researcher administers a political ideology survey which contains a set of policy position questions in #1-15 with similar questions in #16-30. She compares respondents' answers in section 1 to those in section 2.: Split Half Method

Match the situation with the social science reasoning error being committed.

-Jeremy surveys ten of his friends about their opinions on the immigration reform bill and finds out that 9 out of 10 friends support the bill. He concludes that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the immigration reform bill.: Selective observations -Tracy is studying the effects of climate change on the glaciers in Glacier National Park in Montana. She uses a measurement instrument that senses the depths of the ice. Another researcher uses a different instrument and gets completely different readings. The difference may likely be due to....: inaccurate observations -Bill meets a Tea Party Republican in one of his classes who happens to have very strong views against gay marriage, taxes, social security and health care reform. Bill concludes that all Republicans believe this way.: overgeneralization -A group of people are playing Pictionary. A player selects a card, which says "South Pole." She proceeds to draw a picture of a warm beach, woman sunbathing and a bright sun and beach ball. No one guesses it. When time is up and the team finds out the answer was south pole, the team is stunned and asks, "What were you thinking Mom?" she replied, "Well, you go south for the winter because it is warm right? Isn't the south pole really warm since it is the furthest south?": Illogical reasoning -After twenty years of data collection, a majority of scientists have concluded that climate changes are occurring due to man made changes. Yet, many people still do not accept the research data that the earth is warming.: resistance to change

Identify the variables for the following research finding: Students are more likely to go on to college if their parents went to and graduated from college.

-Parents education: independent variable -student college admissions: Dependent Variable

Match the hypotheses to whether they are a good or poor hypothesis.

-Some countries are more likely to have authoritarian regimes than others.: POOR -College students are less likely to vote in presidential and local elections than 65+ year olds are.: GOOD -Rural towns are more likely to have city manager forms of government.: POOR -Countries with lower levels of social inequality are more likely to have stable democraicies than counrties that have high levels of social inequality.: GOOD

Place the research process steps in the correct order by matching the activity to their step number.

-Step 1: Develop a Research Q -Step 2: Literature review -Step 3: Theory and concepts -Step 4: Hypothesis & Variables -Step 5: Research Design -Step 6: Data Collection -Step 7: Analysis & Findings -Step 8: Conclusions

Match the situation with the validity issue.

-Teachers giving tests in K-12 must indicate which state standards their questions are designed to assess. Which type of validity is this measuring?: Criterion Validity -The use of SAT and ACT scores by colleges and universities to predict college success is using which type of validity measure?The use of SAT and ACT scores by colleges and universities to predict college success is using which type of validity measure?: Predictive Validity -If you are looking for a relationship between two concepts and you test it using different methods, you are looking for which type of validity?: Convergent Validity -If you are looking to see that two concepts are unrelated and confirm it through two different methods, you are testing for which type of validity?: Discriminant validity -A student writes a paper for his statistics class and applies an incorrect statistical test to his dataset. The instructor will downgrade his paper for violating which type of validity?: Statistical conclusion validity -A study looks at whether people are more likely to engage in political discussions on Facebook than in everyday life, such as coffee shops. A researcher tests this question by looking at 100 college student Facebook pages and visiting a coffee shop located near a senior care facility. What type of validity is being violated?: External Validity -From 1952 to 1976, when the American League team won the World Series, the Republican candidate won. When the National League team won, the Democratic candidate won. Another sportswriter discovered that since 1936, whenever the Redskins won the week of the election, the incumbent President will win. Why don't we take these seriously—what do these violate?: Face validity -A student is interested in studying the factors that influence graduation rates. She looks at Grand View's 4 year graduate rate of 23% and Drake University's 4 year graduation rate of 69% (U.S. News 2011 data) and concludes that GV has a higher percentage of first generation college and low income students than Drake has. What type of validity error might she be making?: Ecological inference error

Match the hypothesis with the type it is.

-Voters' frequency of religious attendance affects voting turnout rates. : nondirectional hypothesis -The older one becomes, the less likely they are to support higher education spending.: inverse hypothesis -As poverty levels increase, crime rates will increase.: direct hypothesis -There is no difference between males and females in voting turnout rates.: null hypothesis -As education levels increase, unemployment rates decrease.: Inverse hypothesis -The more educated one is, the more likely they are to vote for a Democratic candidate.: Direct Hypothesis -There is no difference between public university and private university graduation outcomes.: Null hypothesis

Match the literature review style to its description.

-compare author arguments on specific issues: Methodological Comparison Style -compare/contrast study findings and show how their methods are different: Thematic -trace the theory development on the topic, ends with your extension to the theory: Chronological -organize the works into groupings based on major theoretical approaches to the topic: Theory Building Style -shows how studies have developed and aded to our knowledge of a topic over time: Point to Point Style -organize the literature by themes: Schools of Thought Style

Match the type of research to their description

-going undercover, groups/individuals have no idea they are being studied: unobtrusive researcher -participants know they are being interviewed, observed, studied: participant -researcher is a member of the group they are studying: overt research -researcher's presence is known, participants' actions may be different than if they weren't being studied: covert -researcher's presence does not need to be known; participants can go about their daily life in natural settings.: obtrusive research

A researcher is interested in whether Americans' support for environmental reform affected their vote for President in 2008. She samples 1000 randomly selected individuals from across the country using random digit dialing methods. She asks about their outdoor recreation activities, position on climate change and stricter environmental laws and then asks which ticket they voted for in 2008. Match the variable to their type

-outdoor reaction activities: Antecedent variable -position on climate change: independent variable -tickets they voted for in 2008: dependent variable

Match the sampling method to their category type

-simple random sample: probability sample -stratified sample: probability sample -disproportionate sample: probability sample -cluster sample: probability sample -purposive sample: nonprobability sample -convenience sample: nonprobability sample -quota sample: nonprobability sample -snowball sample: nonprobability sample -systemic sample: probability sample

Match the ethics debate position to their definition

-the position that all types of research should be subject to the same strict guidelines for approval: anything goes -the position that not all types of research is the same or involves the same amount of risk, so approvals and rules should be on a case by case basis: situational ethics -the position that social science research is fundementally different from the natural sciences and that social science research should not be subject to IRB rules: universalism

What should you do if you find too many sources in your search for articles and books? (choose all that apply)

. restrict your search to the inner circle, restrict your search to the most recent studies, estrict your search to articles published in top peer reviewed discipline journals

Based on the following national polling chart, how many people would you need to survey to get a margin of error of +/-2?

4000

You have a population of 1000 students, of which 75% are male. You want to draw a sample of 100 students, of which 50 are male and 50 are female. What is the probability of selection for men?

50/750

Which of the following is not considered plagiarism?

All of these are considered plagiarism

Children are only allowed to give ______ to participate in research; their legal guardian must then provide written ______ for them to participate.

Assent, consent

How can a researcher test the validity of cross-population generalizations?

Conducting more research in other sites

________ must occur if deception is used in an experiment.

Debriefing

"How many more students attended BSU than UI this year?" is a good research question.

False

A negative direction of association occurs when as the independent variable decreases, so does the dependent variable.

False

Control variables are variables that influence or change the dependent variable.

False

Two student coders code 5 documents each to count how many times a political concept was used. student A comes up with: 25, 32, 5, 78, and 16. Student B comes up with 45, 97, 2, 30 and 135. The researcher concludes her coding system is reliable.

False

Undergraduate students conducting human subject research do not need to get approval from the Grand View University Institutional Review Board.

False

Conference papers and government reports are part of which category?

Grey Literature

Which of the following is an example of a variable measured at the nominal level of measurement?

Location in which respondent was born

The simple answer to the question "What is ethical research practice" is:

Making sure no harm is caused to subjects

Regarding the ability to give consent to participate in research, adolescents (ages 13-17):

May give assent to participate, but must have a legal guardian give written permission for them to participate

Is the following conceptual definition a good one? Climate change is the situation that occurs when the earth gets warmer.

NO

A researcher is interested in whether Americans' support for environmental reform affected their vote for President in 2008. She samples 1000 randomly selected individuals from across the country using random digit dialing methods. She asks about their outdoor recreation activities, position on climate change and stricter environmental laws and then asks which ticket they voted for in 2008. Are there any reliability issues?

No

A subset of the population used to study the population as a whole is known as a/an:

Sample

Which level of measurement has a value that signifies absolutely no amount of whatever variable it indicates?

Ratio

Which of the following is NOT a means for generating a random sample?

Stopping the first people you meet on the street

In random selection, every participant must have an equal chance of being selected.

TRUE

Which causal criteria is the most difficult to establish when using cross-sectional designs?

Time order

Magazoine and newspaper articles are part of which type oof literature category?

Trade Literature

"Why has Congress found it increasingly difficult to find minimum winning coalitions to pass budget appropriations bills?" is a good research question.

True

In the population of New Town, 30 percent of the people work for Bigg Corporation, 30 percent work in the public sector (including education), and 40 percent are self-employed. In a survey of 100 residents of New Town, 40 people worked for Bigg Corporation, 40 percent worked in the public sector, and 20 people were self-employed. This sample was:

Unrepresented

When we say a study measures what it was intended to measure, we say the study is:

Valid

A researcher is interested in how Americans respond to negative campaign ads. He posts flyers around town inviting people to participate in his research study by showing up to the local tavern for free drinks as an incentive to participate. 50 people show up to the tavern on the specified evening. He then shows them 10 different kinds of negative ads over a two hour period and administers a survey afterwards. Are there any reliability issues in this study?

Yes, both systematic and random errors

A researcher conducts a randomized experiment and finds significant differences in responses between the control and test groups in the pre-test measurements before the experimental treatment. Is this a problem?

Yes, this means the two groups may not have been selected randomly and it will be difficult to determine an experimental effect

Researcher M found that when temperatures rise, so does the crime rate. Researcher M has satisfied which criterion for causality?

association

How can we make reliable estimates of the American national population's views on a policy issue based on a small sample?

based on the principles of statistical inference so long as the sample was randomly drawn

A health policy researcher is interested in how a hybrid health care model works; she spends 6 months in Germany studying the German private-public system. Which type of design is this?

case study

A researcher interested in whether different political systems produce different policy outcomes on health care and environmental polices conducts a study comparing political systems and policy outcomes in France, Great Britain, Germany and Russia. What type of design is this?

comparative analysis

Jack theorizes that Republican Presidents are more likely to engage in international interventions than Democratic Presidents are. He then collects data to test whether his theory and hypotheses are true. This is which type of theory building?

deductive theory

A researcher is interested in whether female college students were more likely to support President Obama in the 2008 election than for Senator McCain. She collects data from aggregate statewide data for the state of California which has the most universities and colleges in the U.S. and collects data for the state of Montana. She concludes from her data that more female students voted for Obama than McCain. Are there any validity issues with this study?

ecological inference error

Research that does not need IRB approval is known as ____ research?

exempt

According to the Knopf Literature Review article you read, what should you do if you find too few sources in your literature search?

expand your search to the outer circle

A researcher is interested in whether different types of voting methods are better in improving voter turnout and ease of voting than others. She randomly assigns her respondents to four groups—mail-in voting, online voting, early voting and traditional voting (control). Each group is given a pre survey before the election season. Then the mail in group is sent mail in ballot forms, the online group is sent a link to the online voting system, and the early voting group is invited to the city clerk's office to vote early anytime before election day. A post survey is administered afterwards. Which type of research design is this?

field experiment

A researcher is interested in why college students don't vote and are cynical about politics. She recruits students at 15 colleges and universities across the country by offering pizza as an incentive to come to group sessions in which students talk about their feeling about politics and voting and answer questions about their attitudes towards the political system.

focus group

A researcher interested in why countries defect from international treaties writes a formal mathematical model in which he projects the conditions under which a country will be more likely to defect from a treaty agreement. Which type of design is this?

game theory

Which is the independent variable? Relationship between having a family member in Iraq and support for the war

having a family member in Iraq

If you wanted to study patterns over a period of time, which of the following research designs would help you do this? (select all that apply

historical methods, trend analysis, longitudinal case studies, panel study, repeated test design, historical comparative analysis, intervention analysis (before and after study)

A student is interested in whether Americans' political knowledge is tied to their levels of education. He administers a survey to 100 random people in the community asking questions about their knowledge of Hollywood personalities and questions about their opinions on President Obama. Are there any validity issues in this study?

internal Validity

Why is the National Research Act of 1974 important?

it contains rules for research ethics, institutional review boards and protections of research subjects

A psychologist interested in political behavior sets up an experiment involving lab rats with three groups. One group of rats is subjected to 24 hours of negative ads. The second group is subjected to listening to 24 hours of positive ads and the control group is not given any treatments. The research assistants are instructed to observe and records the lab rats behaviors over the course of the experiments. Which type of research design is this?

multi-group experimental design

A survey asks students: "What type of school in Iowa do you attend?" a. in state private 4 year college b. in state community college c. for profit 4 year school d. out of state 4 year college" Which principle does this question violate?

mutually exhaustive

What type of research is the following? "Should the U.S. be involved in humanitarian interventions in other countries?"

normative

Jill comes up with a theory that has 26 variables and 14 hypotheses. Which criteria of good theories does her theory violate?

parsimony

Research that is published in a trade magazine, is not subjected to empirical hypothesis testing, uses selective data and claims findings that are not verifiable by independent researchers is known as:

psuedo science research

A research project investigating how "going public" presidential strategies on a policy issue affects voters' perceptions of the policy is designed with multiple pre-surveys before the strategies begin, then administers multiple post-surveys during and after the policy campaign. What type of research is this?

repeated test design

Which type of literature review involves comparing similarities in study findings and then contrasting study findings?

similarities-differences style

A researcher conducts a study in which he assigns volunteers to a treatment and a control group, then shows the treatment group the President's jobs program speech. Both groups are then given a survey. Which type of design is this?

simple post test design

Dr. Smith is exploring the effects of bullying on children's self-esteem. In order to conduct her research, she decides to interview children at a local high school about their experiences with bullies. What are the units of analysis for this study

the children being interviewed

To establish time order, which of the following must come first?

the independent variable

Which of the following are the answer to your research question?

theories

Studies of international conflict use mathematical models to explain why international trade negotiations often break down. Which type of research is this?

theory oriented research

Why is the use of a control group important in experimental designs?

to measure the true effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable by comparing the control group to the treatment group

Which of the following groups is NOT considered a protected group under federal research guidelines?

women