Chapter 2 Studying Social Life
A sociologist wants to examine how black men have been portrayed in television shows in the past year. Which type of study is most appropriate to examine this research topic and compare the portrayal of black men across different television shows? 1.content analysis 2.focus group 3.comparative historical 4.experiment
1.A content analysis of a number of different television shows shown in the last year is the most appropriate method to examine this research question.
A team of sociologists is commissioned to study the effects of lighting levels and amount of time for breaks on workers' productivity in an office setting. Before the study begins, office workers are told why the researchers are there. When the team analyzes their data, they find that no matter what they do, productivity levels go up while they are physically present. When the team is not physically present, productivity levels return to normal. What is the likely explanation for these findings? 1.excessive objectivity 2.the Hawthorne effect 3.a lack of confidentiality 4.a lack of a control group
2.This is a clear case of the Hawthorne effect because the workers were motivated to be productive in the presence of the researchers due to the interest being shown in them.
What is the most common of all nonacademic uses of sociological methods? 1.government censuses 2.organizational experiments 3.market research 4.political polls
3.Market research is especially useful and lucrative in the corporate world
A simple random sample is also which of the following? 1.representative sample, 2.probability sample, 3.spurious sample, 4.sample,
Correct Answer(s) 3.A sample does not have to be a simple random sample, but a simple random sample also fits into the category of sample. 2.A probability sample does not have to be a simple random sample, but a simple random sample is always a particular type of probability sample Incorrect Answer(s) 3.A spurious sample is not a real concept from social research methods. 4.A representative sample is a more advanced type of probability sample
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? 1.closed-ended question, 2.open-ended question, 3.leading question, 4.double-barreled question,
Correct Answer(s) 3.The question suggests how the majority feels, and therefore could lead the respondent to answer in a certain way 2.The question allows respondents to answer in a number of different ways Incorrect Answer(s) 1.The question does not force respondents to choose amongst a predetermined set of answers 4.The question does not pose multiple issues at once
Which of the following measurement methods would yield results that could be generalized to the student population of a large university? 1.Five students are randomly selected for in-depth interviews, each lasting half an hour. 2.Students passing by a campus booth are invited to fill out a questionnaire; several hundred do so. 3.School records are used to select 100 students from different categories (male and female, white and nonwhite, etc.) in numbers that mirror the overall student population. These students will fill out a short questionnaire., 4.Comprehensive school records are used to randomly select a sample group of 100 students who will fill out a short questionnaire.,
Correct Answer(s) 3.This is called stratified sampling, which is one way to ensure that results can be generalized 2.The details of the questionnaire are less important for generalizability than the fact that the sample comes directly from a list of the entire population Incorrect Answer(s) 2.This method will sample only the part of the student population passing near the booth. Also, there may be important differences between students who take the time to complete a questionnaire and those who decline. 1.A group of five students is too small to be representative of the entire university population.
Identify the disadvantages of existing sources research. 1.Existing sources research has low replicability 2.Existing sources research may have low validity because respondents are dishonest 3.Existing sources research does not allow researchers to answer all questions 4.Existing sources research can describe the messages inherent in the media, but not illuminate how such messages are interpreted.
Correct Answer(s) 4.It can only describe the original messages that existed, but not how people reacted or viewed those messages. 4.Researchers may not be able to answer some questions from the data. Incorrect Answer(s) 2.The source material or data does not change. Although researchers may differ in how they interpret or code the data, the replicability should still remain quite high 3.This is a disadvantage of survey research
Page 502.4. Surveys Questions in a Likert scale format are open-ended. True False
False
Identify the true and false statements about survey research. 1.Survey research mainly uses closed-ended questions 2.Survey research is quantitative in nature 3.Survey research mainly focuses on the micro level 4.Survey research uses only Likert scale questions
True Statement(s) 1.Although a survey can include open-ended questions, it is rare, and the bulk of the questions will still be closed-ended questions. 2.Ethnography is an example of qualitative research. False Statement(s) 3.Although survey research may be able to garner some details about micro-level processes, qualitative research is usually a much better research tool to focus on the micro level 4.Although a survey can include Likert scale questions, it is highly unlikely that all of the questions would be Likert scale questions
Identify the true and false statements about Internet-based surveys. 1.Most researchers view online survey methods as unconventional 2.One disadvantage of online surveys is representativeness 3.New online tools can automatically adjust the reliability and validity of survey questions. 4.One advantage of online surveys is cost
True Statement(s) 4.Online surveys promise a certain amount of ease and cost-effectiveness. 2.Online surveys present researchers with significant challenges, especially in terms of scientific sampling. For example, Survey Monkey provides free online survey capabilities to just about anyone. While the software does offer some assistance in writing good questions, calculating randomness, and doing representative sampling, users who are not trained social scientists will likely not make use of these features False Statement(s) 1.As more researchers use online methods, the perception of them as unconventional or out of the mainstream is fading (Roberts et al., 2016). 3.Survey Monkey and other online survey tools can make survey methods more accessible to users, but it is still the users themselves—not the software—who have to make sure the survey is reliable, valid, and representative.
Which of the following are advantages of existing sources research? 1.Existing sources research allows researchers to work with information they could not obtain on their own. 2.Existing sources research allows researchers to avoid the unpredictable intrusions of the real world. 3.Existing sources research allows researchers to use the same data that has been used for previous research and thus has high replicability 4.Existing sources research allows researchers to gain the context and interpretations of the original messages.
Correct Answer(s) 1.Even a small team of sociologists could not do the work that the U.S. Census does. 3.The source material or data does not change. Although researchers may differ in how they interpret or code the data, the replicability should still remain quite high. Incorrect Answer(s) 2.This is an advantage of experimental research. 4.Existing sources research cannot allow the researcher to understand how people originally interpreted messages. Additional research would be necessary to do so
Which of the following areas may present ethical concerns for individuals conducting social science research? 1.deception, 2.unobtrusive measures, 3.confidentiality, 4.reactivity,
Correct Answer(s) 1.Researchers may engage in deception in certain types of research but must be sure that the deception does not do unreasonable harm to their subject. 3.Researchers must guarantee that their respondents will be kept anonymous. Incorrect Answer(s) 2.Research can use unobtrusive measures, such as existing sources research, but does not have to. 4.Reactivity is more of a concern for the validity of the research rather than an ethical concern.
Identify the advantages of social network analysis. 1.Social network analysis captures important details and diversity among actors., 2.Social network analysis contributes to the production of "big data." Big data is extremely useful to both corporations and social scientists. 3.Social network analysis usually involves original data collection where studies are carefully designed to accurate capture all network connections. 4.Social network analysis is very useful for a variety of researchers.,
Correct Answer(s) 2.Big data enables corporations to identify major trends quickly, target audiences effectively, and make predictions. Big data also creates new fields of research for social scientists. 4.Social network analysis can trace the route of just about anything—an idea, disease, rumor, or trend—as it moves through a social group, community, or society. This makes SNA a useful method for epidemiologists (scientists who study diseases within populations), political sociologists, and market researchers. Incorrect Answer(s) 1.Social network analysis, because it is fundamentally quantitative, can gloss over important details and diversity in the experiences of social actors. 3.Big data is expensive to collect and analyze, and large social network data sets often come from sources that have been assembled for other purposes (such as advertising) or that pose a threat to privacy. If you look at a network with thousands or millions of links, you're likely to discover some sort of finding. The question becomes one of asking if such a finding would hold up in a smaller, more connected, interpersonal network.
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. 1.exposure to a video on young men in gay relationships 2.answering a survey 3.sex/gender 4.attitudes toward gay marriage,
Dependent Variable(s) 4.The sociologist hypothesizes that attitudes toward gay marriage will be changed by the independent variable Not Dependent Variable(s) 1.The exposure to the video is the independent variable (or in the case of an experiment, the treatment variable). The sociologist hypothesizes that exposure to the video will change the dependent variable. 2.Answering a survey is not a variable; the survey is part of the method. 3.Sex/gender is a particular type of independent variable known as a control variable. Although the sociologist does not believe that the sex/gender changes attitudes toward gay marriage, it may be related, so he has chosen to control for it by testing men and women in separate groups.
Identify the red flags that hundreds of researchers noted about the 2012 New Family Structures Survey (NFSS) conducted by sociologist Mark Regnerus. 1.The article was reviewed by unqualified reviewers with obvious ties to the author. 2.The researchers grouped all types of same-sex relations together—both long-term partnerships and brief or one-time affairs 3.The researchers used analytic categories that did not distinguish between family structure and family stability. 4.The research was funded by conservative and religious foundations. 5.Regnerus is a Catholic conservative.
Drag appropriate answer(s) here 1.Academic reviews should be completed by experts in the field who have no direct ties to the author. 2.The researchers also included in the category "children of gay parents" those children who had never or only briefly lived with a gay or lesbian parent. 3.This distinction would have been important variables for a study of youth outcomes. 4.Partisan or religious funding sources might influence the course of the research and the author's conclusions Not Red Flag(s) 5.Regnerus's political and religious identity was not identified as a red flag. Indeed, sociologists of diverse political and religious backgrounds can produce methodologically sound research.
