Chapter 3

Angela observes that children from lower-income families tend to have higher rates of lead poisoning. She finds out that low income does not cause lead poisoning but is connected to conditions that can result in lead poisoning. Angela's results are an example of which of the following?

A correlation

A researcher is planning on a study to find out whether the number of hours of sleep a student gets before an exam affects the score the student achieves. The researcher thinks that fewer hours of sleep will result in the student achieving a lower exam score. This is an example of _______.

A hypothesis

A conclusion about how one factor can result in a change in another factor is known as a _____.

Causal inference

A sociologist wants to find out personal details about her participants' married life. Which of the following types of data collection methods is the most appropriate?

Conduct in-depth interviews

Which of the following is the best example of a causal inference?

Confusing voter registration laws result in some voters not knowing how to register.

________ is the term used to describe when two factors or two social phenomena "co-vary" with each other.

Correlation

A researcher has formulated a clear research question that can be studied and that balances general and specific details. Also, the researcher does not know the answer to this question and cares about getting the answer. What else should the researcher consider to determine whether or not the question is good for a study?

Does the question connect to existing literature or studies?

What is the difference between empirical generalizability and theoretical generalizability?

Empirical generalizability means research results can be applied to a larger population, whereas theoretical generalizability means research results can be applied to larger processes.

Before conducting research, sociologists often come up with a prediction about what might be discovered by the research. This prediction is called a ______.

Hypothesis

Which of the following sociological questions reveals a comparative-historical perspective?

In what ways are modern neo-Nazis different from Nazis during World War II?

What term describes when a researcher sits down one-on-one with a participant in order to ask a series of questions?

In-depth interview

An institutional review board at a university has evaluated a particular research study and submitted a request to the researcher requiring that she have all participants sign a document stating that they agree to participate in the study. This IRB is focusing on ______.

Informed consent

Sociologist A completes an experiment and records the results. Sociologist B completes the same experiment, following the same steps as Sociologist A, but gets different results. This means that the experiment ___________.

Is not reliable

Data collected over a long period, such as many years, is called __________.

Longitudinal data

Based on her data, Tamara infers that children from higher income families are more likely to receive tutoring. She wants to make the general claim that children from higher income families tend to receive more school support. This is an example of _______.

Making a generalization

A sociologist plans to conduct a study that involves observing families interacting at the zoo. The sociologist documents all of her observations, takes photos of the families, and writes down descriptions of what she sees. This study illustrates _____.

Qualitative research

Jennifer is studying the effects of nutrition on student performance in school. She researches a group of students and finds that students who miss breakfast often do poorly during the school day. What is the dependent variable in this scenario?

Student school performance

A group of questions asked to a large group of people is called a(n) ________.

Survey

Which of the following scenarios depicts a researcher breaking an ethical code?

The researcher publishes the full names of participants alongside the study in a research journal.

A sociologist supports marriage equality, and he decides to conduct a research project on marriage laws in each state. His support of marriage equality could also be called his _____.

Values

Which of the following research questions would lead to a cross-national comparison?

What causes England's infant mortality rate to be lower than the United States' infant mortality rate?

As part of a study, a sociologist observes a group of people. Then the sociologist applies the gathered data toward a broader theory of human behavior. This is called _______.

Making a theoretical generalization

What is the difference between reliability and validity?

Reliability describes when an experiment repeatedly produces similar results, whereas validity means that results measure what they were intended to measure.

Lengthier versions of research notes are known as _______.

Research memos

Which of the following statements best explains the relationship between data analysis and research?

A qualitative sociologist is likely to organize her primary data into key categories and concepts.

Which of the following illustrates a researcher obtaining informed consent?

A researcher describes the risks and benefits of participating in a study before enrolling the subject.

Which of the following correctly defines the term "sampling"?

A technique to define what or whom to include in a study

Emilio is reviewing the data he collected from historical records about immigration in the United States. He decides to organize the data by the country the immigrants came from, such as Ireland, Italy, and Russia. Based on this description, you can tell that Emilio is ______.

Data coding

When researchers organize the data according to key categories and concepts, they are ______.

Data coding

After completing a study on the elderly and the costs of healthcare, a sociologist notices a pattern. The sociologist notices that the cost of prescription medications increases as the age of the elderly person increases. This pattern became easily noticeable after the sociologist constructed a ______.

Data display

Michael is going to conduct a study in a college dorm. He decides to include in the study only students in every third dorm room. This is an example of which of the following?

Developing a random sample

A sociologist wants to know the reasons some people break up with their romantic partners through e-mail and the reasons other people break up in person. Which of the following would be the most reliable way to conduct this research?

Observe people's real behaviors and interactions.

Which of the following statements best highlights the key differences between qualitative and quantitative research?

Qualitative research relies on words, pictures, and observations, whereas quantitative research relies on statistical analysis.

_________ relies on the statistical analysis of data.

Quantitative research

Sociologists often use conceptual frameworks inherited from earlier scientists. These historical conceptual frameworks are called _______.

Theoretical traditions