Research Methods Midterm

Professor Winer sent a mail questionnaire to 2000 subjects. Winer told subjects that their responses would be held in strict confidence. After the first mailing, 500 completed surveys were returned. For a second follow-up mailing, Winer should mail:

1,500 questionnaires

Critical Race Theory

A paradigm grounded in race awareness and an intention to achieve racial justice

Symbolic Interactionism

A paradigm that views human behavior as the creation of meaning through social interactions, with those meanings conditioning subsequent interactions.

panel study

A type of longitudinal study, in which data are collected from the same set of people (the sample or panel) at several points in time.

Ethics in social research:

All of these choices are correct.

Correlation

An empirical relationship between 2 variables that 1) changes in one are associated with changes in another or 2) particular attributes of one variable ante associated with particular attributes of another

Hypothesis

An expectation

the following items measure the extent to which Americans are willing to associate with extraterrestrials: Its ok if my child marries them its ok to befriend them its ok for them to live on the block its ok to live in the state

Bogardus social distance scale

Agreement Reality

Both assists and hinders our attempts to find out for ourselves

Both scales and indexes are interval measures

False

Replication

Repeating a research study to test and either confirm the findings of an earlier study

Methodology

Science of finding out

What is a probabilistic statement?

When serving as jurors, women tend to vote for aquital

spurious relationship

a coincidental statistical correlation between two variables, shown to be caused by some third variable

paradigm

a model or frame of reference through which to observe and understand

Structural Functionalism

a paradigm that divides social phenomena into parts, each of which serves a function for the operation of the whole

Critical Realism

a paradigm that holds that things are real insofar as they produce effects

Postmodernism

a paradigm that questions the assumptions of positivism and theories describing an "objective" reality

Conflict Paradigm

a paradigm that views human behavior as attempts to dominate others or avoid being dominated by others

dimension

a specifiable aspect of a concept

Reductionism

a strict limitation (reduction) of the kinds of concepts to be considered relevant to the phenomenon under study

cross-sectional study

a study based on observations representing a single point in time

longitudinal study

a study design involving the collection of data at different points in time

cohort study

a study in which some specific subpopulation, or cohort, is studied over time, although data may be collected from different members in each set of observations

Microtheory

a theory aimed at understanding social life at the intimate level of individuals and their interactions

Macrotheory

a theory aimed at understanding the "big picture" of institutions, whole societies, and the interactions among societies

trend study

a type of longitudinal study in which a given characteristic of some population is monitored over time

Our attempts to learn about the world we live in come from:

all of the above

Among the reasons for the frequent use of composite measures is (are) that

all of these choices

Idiographic

an approach to explanation in which we seek to exhaust the idiosyncratic causes of a particular condition or event

Nomothetic

an approach to explanation in which we seek to identify a few causal factors that generally impact a class of conditions or events

What hypothesis best fits the criteria of causality?

as education increases, income tends to increase even after controlling for gender and race

Attributes

characteristics; qualities of a person or thing

When names are removed from questionnaires and are replaced with identification numbers so that only the researcher can later link a response to a name, the researcher should tell the respondent that the information is

confidential

The topic surrogate mothers interested Professor Snyder. Snyder read the available materials on the topic and wanted to develop an age, and income profile of women who serve as surrogate mothers in the United States. To develop this profile, Snyder should undertake an:

descriptive study

Professor Root was studying the arrest rates for drunken driving in urban and rural areas of Ohio. It was found that the arrest rate was higher in the rural areas. Professor Root concluded that people who live in rural areas are more likely to drive while intoxicated than are people who live in urban areas. Root's conclusion

ecological fallacy

If a researcher wanted to know why there was a noticeable increase in the number of burglaries in the town of Southpaw during 2005, the researcher would design a(n):

explanatory study

Professor Dooley examined the literature on AIDS and could find nothing that examined children's attitudes toward parents and friends with AIDS. To examine this topic, Dooley should undertake a(n):

exploratory study

A nominal measure can have only two categories

false

Every observation is quantitative at the outset.

false

Everyone agrees that Tom's research does NOT inflict physical harm on subjects. Tom is pleased by this conclusion because it means that he no longer has to be concerned with the issue of harm to subjects

false

If a measure is reliable, it must also be valid.

false

If two variables are correlated with each other, there must be a causal relationship between them

false

In deduction we start from observed data and develop a generalization that explains the relationship between the observed concepts

false

It is impossible to have several indicators of only one concept

false

Longitudinal studies may be either trend or cohort studies, but not panel studies

false

Once people are told that their participation in a research study is voluntary, there are no ethical problems.

false

Researchers ignore previous work on a topic so that their research can be original.

false

T.F: Idiographic explanations are inductive and nomothetic explanations are deductive

false

The ethical issues are readily apparent in research projects

false

Theo is excited because he received a grant from the National Institute of Health to conduct his study. As an undergraduate student he is exempt from bringing his research before his school's IRB

false

What is the lowest level of measurement in which there is an exact difference between attribute values?

interval

Conceptions are:

mental images

Which of the following does NOT harm subjects

none of the above

What illustrates the use of the inductive method?

observations, pattern finding, and generalizations

Likert scales are designed to be ______ in measurement

ordinal

Feminist Paradigm

paradigms that (1) view and understand society through the experiences of women and/or (2) examine the generally deprived status of women in society

Shipley developed a NEW test to measure IQ> Using his test, someone with an IQ of 180 would be considered twice as intelligent as someone with an IQ of 90 and someone with an IQ of 90 was three times as intelligent as someone with an IQ of 30. Shipley's test treats IQ as a(n):

ratio variable (true zero)

Professor Smith gave an exam on Monday. On Wednesday Smith gave the same class the same exam. Professor Smith was clearly interested in assessing the exam's:

reliability

While doing research on crime, Professor Middler notes that crime creates jobs in law enforcement and related careers. He also notices that crime reinforces community norms when criminals are caught and punished. Professor Middler has probably adopted a ___________ approach to the study of crime.

structural functionalism

Epistemology

study of knowledge

Professor May wants to learn how grandparents define their role when they become the guardians of their grandchild. May asks grandparents questions like, "How did you come to have custody of your grandchild?" and "Do you feel more like a parent or a grandparent?" Which of the following paradigms is May probably using?

symbolic interactionism

Theory

systematic explanation of the relationship among phenomena

In comparison to nonscientific inquiry, scientific inquiry:

takes special precaution to avoid error

tolerance for ambiguity

the ability to hold conflicting ideas in your mind simultaneously, without denying or dismissing any of them

panel mortality

the failure of some panel subjects to continue participating in the study

What topics would a macro theorist be more likely to study than a micro theorist?

the relationship's between government, family and the economy

interest convergence

the thesis that majority group members will only support the interests of minorities when those actions also support the interests of the majority group

Which outlines the steps in the traditional science model?

theoretical understanding, operationalization of concepts, a testable hypothesis, empirical observations

What statement BEST exemplifies a null hypothesis?

there is no relationship between gender and jury verdict

Tyler finds that in burglary cases male and female jurors are equally likely to vote to acquit. Tyler should conclude that:

there is no relationship between gender and verdict in burglary cases

which of the following do indexes and scales have in common?

they rank order the units of analysis in terms of specific variables

A research proposal describes what you intend to accomplish and how

true

All of our experiences are inescapably subjective.

true

Concepts are derived by mutual agreement from mental images that summarize collections of seemingly related by observations and experiences

true

Descriptive research answers the question "What's so?" and explanatory research answers the question "Why?"

true

Scientific inquiry is a process involving an alternation of deduction and induction

true

Social scientific theory aims at the determination of logical and persistent patterns of regularities in social life

true

T.F: Patterns of cause and effect are probabilistic in nature

true

The ethics as well as the politics or research hinge on ideological points of view

true

The test retest methods assume that the phenomena under study does not change

true

Thurstone scales use judges in their construction

true

While our subjectivity is individual, our search for objectivity is social.

true

Professor King examined all the reasons given by 100 couples for their marriages. In the final research report, King listed all the reasons given by the 200 people for their marriages. Professor King is:

using an idiographic explanation for marriage

Most social scientists would not accept the conceptualization of prejudice as foot size because such a measurement would lack

validity

An independent variable is a

variable influencing other variables

Professor Smith decides to track the dating behaviors of college students throughout their college careers. She decides to begin her research using her introductory class. After explaining the study, she assures students that their responses will be kept confidential. The students complete her survey during class. Her research most clearly impinges on:

voluntary participation

social scientific theory addresses:

what should be and what is

Dr. Jordan records people's attitudes toward an upcoming property tax levy. Jordan is doing explanatory research.

False, descriptive

Variable

Logical set of attributes

Positivism (Auguste Comte)

Philosophical system grounded on the rational proof/disproof of scientific assertions