Sociology ch 2
Which of the following are examples of the experimental method?
Correct: - A researcher deliberately drops a wallet in a public place and observes the reactions of passersby. - A researcher compares the attitudes of two focus groups after each group watches a corporate training video. One video has sexist content and the other does not. Incorrect: - A researcher poses as a store clerk and documents several varieties of shoplifting behavior over a period of time. - A researcher sifts through data about divorce rates and gas prices, looking for a correlation.
Which of the following are disadvantages of existing sources research?
Correct: - Existing sources research does not allow researchers to understand the interpretations of the original messages .- Existing sources research does not allow researchers to answer all questions. Incorrect: - Existing sources research has low replicability. - Existing sources research may have low validity because respondents are dishonest.
What is the term for interviewing a number of participants at the same time?
Focus Group
Before collecting data, social researchers must identify a target population from which to select their sample. After that, if they want to interview respondents,sociologists must first get informed consent, which means that participants agree to be interviewed and know what they are getting into.
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What is one of the biggest problems with nonacademic uses of research methods?
It often has a lack of rigorous standards (2.8 pg.57)
What is the name of the governing body within a university that decides whether or not to approve research proposals?
institutional review Board
Which of the following are advantages of existing sources research?
Correct: - Existing sources research allows researchers to work with information they could not obtain on their own. - Existing sources research allows researchers to use the same data that has been used for previous research and thus has high replicability. Incorrect: - Existing sources research allows researchers to avoid the unpredictable intrusions of the real world - Existing sources research allows researchers to gain the context and interpretations of the original messages.
TRUE OR FALSE: Questions in a Likert scale format are open-ended.
FALSE
Which of the following sociologists was one of the first to do work in the area of social network analysis (SNA)?
George Simmel
`A sociologist creates a questionnaire but is not sure if the questions will be suitable for the research hypotheses she wants to test. Which type of study should she conduct to test the validity of her survey?
Pilot
Identify the true and false statements about Internet-based surveys.
True: -One advantage of online surveys is cost. -One disadvantage of online surveys is representativeness. False: -New online tools can automatically adjust the reliability and validity of survey questions. -Most researchers view online survey methods as unconventional.
Page(s) 54-552.6. Experimental Methods A sociologist conducts an experiment to see how watching a documentary on young men in gay relationships affects individual attitudes toward gay marriage. Both men and women are given a survey, but only those in the experimental group watch the video before answering the survey questions. Identify the dependent variables in this experiment.
DEPENDENT: attitudes toward gay marriage NOT DEPENDENT exposure to a video on young men in gay relationships sex/gender answering a survey
Which of the following are double-barreled questions?
Correct: - Do you support raising taxes to provide additional childcare subsidies to the poor? - When was the last time you ate pizza and what were the toppings you had on it? Incorrect: - How many times per week do you read? - On a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 equals strongly disagree and 5 equals strongly agree)how much do you support the current president's policies?
Which of the following are examples of existing sources research?
Examples: -finding newspaper stories about community leaders -using data collected during the administration of the SAT Not Example: -interviewing respondents about the necessity of the U.S. Census -giving your fellow classmates a survey about their knowledge of different types of research methods
A sociologist fields a survey that collects data on where high school students apply to college. After some preliminary analysis, he attempts to use his data to create a new program that will encourage low-income students to apply to more rigorous colleges that may be a better fit for them. The researcher hopes that the program will increase the percentage of low-income students who attend elite colleges. What type of research is involved in this scenario?
Action Research
Which scholar's research sparked debate about both ethical and legal violations?
Alice Goffman
TRUE OR FALSE:If two variables are correlated, a change in one must directly produce a change in the other.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE: Value-free sociology suggests that sociologists should not allow their personal beliefs to influence their research.
TRUE (2.8 pg.57-58)
What is the primary reason to include a control group in an experiment?
The control group allows you to make comparisons to the experimental group. (2.6 Pg.54)
Choose the answer that best completes the sentence. Social network analysis (SNA) is a tool for measuring and visualizing the structure of social relationships between ________ or more people.
Two
Which of the following are ADVANTAGES of survey research?
-Survey research is less concerned with interviewer or observer bias. -Survey research is usually quick and economical (2.4 pg.51)
Identify the red flags that hundreds of researchers noted about the 2012 New Family Structures Survey (NFSS) conducted by sociologist Mark Regnerus.
-The article was reviewed by unqualified reviewers with obvious ties to the author. -The research was funded by conservative and religious foundations. -The researchers grouped all types of same-sex relations together—both long-term partnerships and brief or one-time affairs. -The researchers used analytic categories that did not distinguish between family structure and family stability. (2.8 pg.59)
A sociologist is worried that her presence is affecting interactions between the people she is studying. Identify the concepts she should consider during her study.
-bias -reflexivity -reactivity
A sociologist includes the following interview question in his research: "Most people now believe gay marriage should be legal. How do you feel about gay marriage?" Which of the following categories should we use to classify this research question?
-open-ended question -leading question
Two basic goals of social scientists when conducting experiments?
1) to attempt to control for all possible variables except the one under investigation 2) to develop precise tools with which to observe, record, and measure their data
What is the most common of all nonacademic uses of sociological methods?
MARKET RESEARCH (2.8 pg.57)
Ethnographers look for patterns and themes that are revealed in their field notes. While the _________________ generally uses a ___________ approach—forming a hypothesis first and then testing to see whether it is accurate—ethnographers use an ______________ approach, beginning with specific observations and then forming broad generalizations from them.
Scientific Method, Deductive approach, Inductive approach
Identify the true and false statements about survey research.
TRUE: -Survey research is quantitative in nature. -Survey research mainly uses closed-ended questions. FALSE: -Survey research mainly focuses on the micro level. -Survey research uses only Likert scale questions.
A sociologist wants to study racial discrimination in hiring, and decides to either distribute a survey asking employers about their hiring methods, or conduct an experiment that involves sending fake resumes to employers to see who gets an interview. Which method would best examine racial discrimination in hiring and why?
The experimental method because the researcher can isolate the effect of race by creating otherwise identical resumes.
Peter Stearns (2004) consulted various existing sources for his book Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America. What did he find? (2.5 pg. 53)
While children were once viewed as self-sufficient mini-adults, beginning in the late 1800s children were seen as particularly vulnerable.
Which of the following are advantages of ethnographic research?
-Ethnographic research can challenge our notions about groups we thought we knew. -Ethnographic research has been a pioneer in methodological innovation.
Which of the following are disadvantages of ethnographic research?
-Ethnographic research often is not representative of a larger part of society. -Ethnographic research suffers from a lack of replicability.
Which of the following are DISADVANTAGES of interview research?
-Interview research may lead to conclusions that cannot be applied to a larger group. -Interview respondents are not always forthcoming or truthful. (2.3 pg.49-50)
Which statement correctly explains the difference between participant observation and autoethnography?
Only in autoethnography are the feelings and actions of the researcher a focal point of the study (2.2 pg. 43-44)
Place the following steps in sequential order, according to a researcher conducting ethnographic research.
access, rapport, field notes, analysis