QUIZ: Chapter 2: Sociological Research Methods

Jai is conducting a sociological research study on differences in interactions between similar and dissimilar co-workers. After reviewing the literature, he developed a hypothesis and has operationalized the variables he will study. What is the next step Jai should take n the scientific method?

Choose a research design or method.

You want to conduct some sociological research on whether people on social networking sites are less likely to meet in person as a result of their online community participation. What is the next step in the scientific method?

Conduct a literature review.

According to the scientific method, what are the steps in conducting research, and in what order should they be completed?

Form a hypothesis, define variables, choose research method, collect data.

A study found a strong correlation between parental bonding and adolescent drug use. Children with stronger bonds to their parents were far less likely to try drugs or alcohol. However, the researchers, after examining their data more closely, discovered that the parental bonding was really a predictor for teen religiosity. Consequently, high levels of religiosity prevent drug use rather than parental bonding. This means that religiosity was a(n):

Intervening variable.

A paradigm shift is a major break in the assumptions that are used to understand the world. For social scientists, what causes a paradigm shift?

New data forcing a new way of looking at the world.

A social research methods class wants to study smoking. First, the professor asks how many people in the class are smokers. Two people indicate that they are. Then she asks how many people have smoked a cigarette in the past week and ten people indicate that they had. From this the class then decides, for the purposes of the survey, a smoker will be anyone who has smoked a cigarette in the past week and currently owns a pack of cigarettes. This is a(n):

Operational definition.

What kind of research are you doing if you observe a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings?

Qualitative.

A graduate student is almost done with their dissertation when they are informed that twenty years ago someone did a similar project and already demonstrated what they had hoped to be the first to discover. What basic step of the scientific method should have saved them from this problem.

Reviewing the literature.

What is the scientific method?

The procedure for acquiring and collecting concrete data.

You are doing a research project on the effects of contemporary media. What are your variables if your hypothesis is "watching violence on television causes an increase in violent behavior"?

Violence on television and violent behavior.