Ch 4 - research methods

The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment provides an example of:

construct validity problems.

Which of the following would serve as a "photographic look" of a phenomenon at one point in time?

cross-sectional study

Automobile deaths in 2015 were lower in Newark than in Miami, Denver, and Chicago. The unit of analysis used to attain this research outcome is an example of what?

group

A study that seeks to understand the differences between gangs uses what unit of analysis?

groups

When we are concerned with whether we are correct in inferring that a cause produced an effect, we are concerned with the:

validity

________ is concerned with whether or not the connection between a cause and an effect is correct.

validity

Which of the following would be an example of a prospective approach to longitudinal studies?

Asking how many victims of childhood abuse later abuse their own children

Which of the following is an example of a social artifact?

Citizen attitudes about the death penalty

Which of the following would not be an example of organizations as units of analysis?

Correctional inmates

Which of the following is not a type of longitudinal study?

Cross-sectional study

Which of the following terms is defined as to the danger of making assertions about individuals as the unit of analysis based on the examination of groups or other aggregations?

Ecological fallacy

Which of the following terms denotes when researchers wish to explore the more specific consideration of a causal mechanism in a specific situation?

Ideographic model of explanation

A systematic error would be found in what type of validity problem?

Internal validity

If one particular unit of measurement appears more relevant than another, _______ is a possible concern with regards to units of analysis.

Reductionism

Nonsystematic bias would be found in what type of validity problem?

Statistical conclusion validity

Our ability to determine whether a change in the cause is statistically associated with a change in the effect is referring to what type of validity?

Statistical conclusion validity

Which of the following would allow a researcher to measure a change in a general population over time?

Trend study

Which of the following is not a potential problem in using the technique of a retrospective study?

When subjects are selected for the study

What is a common threat to statistical conclusion validity?

a. The manner in which a sample is selected b. Whether the sample is randomly selected c. The size of the sample d. ALL OF THE ABOVE

Causation _________.

a. suggests a cause-and-effect relationship. b. is inherently probabilistic in the social sciences. c. is the focus of explanatory research. d. ALL OF THE ABOVE

Which of the following does not represent a criterion for causality?

it is not necessary for two variables to be correlated with each other

It is necessary to be charged before one can be convicted. This statement is representative of:

necessary cause.

A ______ cause is a condition that must be present for an effect to follow, whereas a _____ cause is a condition that most likely guarantees the effect in question.

necessary/sufficient

Another way to say that two things are causally related is to say that:

one thing causes another.

What type of study attempts to account for errors in drawing a sample by measuring the same people on two or more occasions?

penal study