SRM Midterm

A fence-sitter is a respondent that chooses between two substantive responses on a survey even when he or she does not really know.

False

A hypothesis suggests that change in the independent variable creates change in the dependent variable.

False

A theory is a tentative statement about empirical reality including a relationship between two or more variables.

False

According to the requirement of time order in establishing a causal effect, the dependent variable must come before the independent variable.

False

Age in years is a good example of nominal level of measurement.

False

Although science requires the systematic data collection, scientists should protect the specific methods of data collection that need not be disclosed

False

An example of a cohort study would be to conduct a survey of people born in the 1950s at one point in time.

False

An open-ended question is designed with explicit response choices.

False

Availability sampling is another name for simple random sampling.

False

Cluster sampling is a form of nonprobability sampling.

False

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

False

Exploratory research is designed to identify causes and effects.

False

Illogical reasoning occurs when people conclude that what is true for one case is true for all cases.

False

In a census, the probability of selection is always less than 1.0.

False

In an experiment, the control group receives the experimental treatment.

False

Operationalization is the process of defining what exactly a researcher means by a key concept.

False

Periodicity is a source of sampling error in most nonprobability sampling.

False

Purposive sampling selects elements for inclusion in the sample based on chance.

False

Random digital dialing (RDD) cannot "capture" unlisted numbers, whose are systematically different.

False

Reliability is a prerequisite for measurement validity.

False

The American Sociological Association has adopted ethical guidelines that are more lenient than federal standards.

False

The ecological fallacy suggests that change in the dependent variable is caused by something other than the independent variable.

False

The ex post facto control group design is a quasi-experimental design.

False

The goal of validity is the pursuit of objective knowledge about human behavior.

False

There were no concerns about the ethical treatment of participants in Milgram's studies.

False

Treatment misidentification can be limited by a double-blind procedure.

False

When a measurement measures what we think it does, it has external validity

False

When the independent variable decreases, so does the dependent variable. This pattern is known as positive direction of association.

False

A census collects data from every element in the entire population of interest.

True

A cognitive interview is conducted to understand how respondents interpret survey questions.

True

A context effect occurs when a question on a survey influences how a respondent will interpret a later question.

True

A good social research question will be feasible and have social and scientific relevence.

True

A major weakness of web-based surveys is that internet access is not widely or evenly available in the general population.

True

A nonspurious relationship between variables is a false relationship.

True

A scale is an index in which different items are different weights.

True

A simple random sample of students can be achieved by stopping every other student who enters the library.

True

According to the ASA's code of conduct, research should cause no harm to subjects.

True

Aggregate matching is when individual cases in the treatment group are matched with similar individuals in the comparison group.

True

An anomalous pattern in the data not seem to fit the theory from which a research hypothesis was derived.

True

Anonymity and confidentiality must be maintained under the ASA's Code of Conduct.

True

Association, time order, and nonspuriousness are required to establish the causal effect.

True

Before-and-after experimental designs lack control groups.

True

Cluster sampling is a type of sampling in which elements are selected in two or more states with the first stage being random selection of naturally occurring clusters.

True

Concepts have meanings that are understood well by almost all members of the population.

True

Concepts that do not vary are known as constants.

True

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

Deductive research begins the research process with theory, from which a hypothesis is derived.

True

Descriptive research starts with data and proceeds only to the stage of making empirical generalizations; it does not generate entire theories.

True

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

True

Every social scientist needs to consider how to practice his or her discipline ethically.

True

Group administered surveys tend to have higher response rates than mail surveys.

True

In a panel design, data are collected from the same individuals at multiple points in time.

True

In experiments, subjects are ideally assigned to control and experimental groups using random sampling.

True

In purposive sampling, interviews should continue until a saturation point is reached.

True

Institutions seeking federal funds for research involving human subjects must have a group that reviews research proposals.

True

Interitem reliability should occur when using multiple indicators of a single concept.

True

Internal validity is also referred to as casual validity.

True

It is difficult to justify any risk to human subjects or any expenditure of time and money if our findings tell us nothing about human behavior.

True

It is never ethical to deceive subjects about an experiment.

True

It is not possible to determine the probability of selection of elements in a disproportionate stratified random sample.

True

Milgram used both undergraduates and nonstudent populations in his studies on obedience.

True

Nominal and ordinal level closed-ended questions must be mutually exclusive and exhaustive.

True

Overgenerlizations occur when people conclude that what is true for some is true for all.

True

Respondents will sometimes agree with a statement in a survey simply because they do not want to be disagreeable.

True

Subjects who can be recruited for a lab experiment, randomly assigned to a group, and kept under carefully controlled conditions for the duration of the study are the most likely to be representative of the larger population.

True

Survey research collects information from individuals through responses to standardized questions.

True

The Belmont Report established three basic ethical principles for the protection of human subjects.

True

The following the example of a double-barreled questions: "Do you agree or disagree with university policies that raise student fees and spend them on athletics?"

True

The larger the sample, the more confidence we can have in the sample's representatives.

True

The researcher who conducted famous studies on obdeience was Stanley Milgram.

True

Through systematic sampling and measurement, social science can overcome selective and inaccurate observation

True

Web surveys are becoming popular due to their flexibility and inexpensiveness.

True

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

True

Whether the SAT can accurately predict college GPA is a question of its concurrent validity.

True

an omnibus survey does not need a specific research focus.

True