Research Methods

Which of the following are issues with obtaining informed consent?

-Consent form must be clear and understandable. -Consent form should be sufficiently long and detailed to explain what will actually happen in the research. -Some participants cannot truly give consent. -Researchers must be aware of vulnerable populations.

The researcher's commitment to maintaining privacy and confidentiality

-Should be included in the informed consent agreement -Is a key ethical standard for protecting participants -Does not apply to observations in public places or information available in public records

Social science is best defined as the:

Application of scientific methods to the study of human social reality

Consent may only be given by people who

Are competent to give consent Have consented voluntarily Are fully informed about the research Have comprehended what they have been told

Which of the following is an example of a negative direction of association?

As number of hours of television watched per week increases, the number of hours spent reading per week decreases.

Although researchers are often protected from sharing confidential records of their participants, they still must report

Child abuse or neglect

Dimensions of a theoretical concept

Construct validity measures how well something is measured in comparison with:

When the results of a study hold true for multiple populations, it can be said that the study has:

Cross-population generalizability

Research that collects data at a single point in time is called:

Cross-sectional

Panel studies are distinguished by which of the following designs?

Data are collected from the same individuals at multiple points in time.

A variable that is hypothesized to vary depending on the influence of another variable is called a(n):

Dependent variable

Which of the following are some of the ethical principles emphasized by the ASA's Code of Conduct?

Do no harm to subjects. The benefits should outweigh possible risks. Researchers should disclose their identity.

In the process of debriefing, the researcher

Explains to the subject what happened in the study and why

The extent to which a researcher's sample is representative of the population that it was drawn from is called:

External validity

Descriptive research suggests how social phenomena (such as neighborhood characteristics) affect other social phenomena (such as youth outcomes).

False

Jason jumped to the conclusion that people who play video games all day are not athletic. This is an example of:

Illogical reasoning

Measure the same phenomena in the same way

Interobserver reliability occurs when different observers:

Which of the following is a component of science?

Logical methods. Systematic methods. Documented methods. Investigation of natural processes.

Research that collects data at more than one point in time is called:

Longitudinal

A measure is valid when it:

Measures what the researcher intends to measure

A researcher is planning a study looking at first-year college students and their experiences at a four-year university. A sample of individuals from the first-year class is taken at Time 1 and data are gathered. A year passes and some participants leave the study. However, the researcher gathers data from the same people from the first time, minus those who left. This is an example of what kind of study?

Panel design

That a measure yields consistent scores

Reliability refers to which of the following?

Social science reduces the risk of selective or inaccurate observation by:

Requiring systematic measurement and sampling

The scientific relevance of a research question refers to its ability to:

Resolve contradictions in or advance social theory

How well the people selected to complete the General Social Survey actually reflect the larger U.S. population is a question of:

Sample generalizability

Attrition in panel studies refers to which of the following?

Some members of the panel may drop out of the study.

What famous prison simulation raised questions about the ethical treatment of subjects?

Stanford Prison Study

Jack designed a research study that examined bullying among high school children, ages 12 to 17. After collecting survey data, he compared the percentages of how many children feel as though they are bullied on a daily basis across five different high schools in the area. What are his units of analysis?

The five different high schools

Cross-population validity determines whether the findings based on a sample can be generalized to a population different than the one from which it was drawn.

True

Evaluation research can be used to describe the impact of social programs.

True

Triangulation

Using more than one measure of the same variable, such as using a survey and direct observation, is known as:

Social science reduces the likelihood of overgeneralization by:

Using systematic procedures for selecting individuals to study that are representative for the groups to which we hope to generalize

When determining how accurate research is in capturing social reality, social scientists refer to dimensions of:

Validity

Not mutually exclusive, Not exhaustive

What is wrong with the response categories for the following question: "How often to you attend live music concerts: never, 1-2 times per week, 2-5 times per week, or 5 or more times per week?

Not exhaustive

What is wrong with the response categories for the following question: "What is your class status: freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior?"

Ordinal

Which level of measurement is the most mathematically precise?

Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.

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

Location in which respondent was born

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

All of the above are measured at the ordinal level

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

Income in dollars

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

Most sociological and psychological studies use which unit of analysis?

individual

When the findings of a study accurately represent empirical reality, the results are said to be valid.

true