COMM 410 Quiz Questions
A major problem with Internet research is establishing the authenticity of individuals in cyberspace.
True
A null hypothesis shows no relationship between variables.
True
A spurious relationship occurs where a relationship between variables has been found but is actually explained by another variable the researcher was not focused on.
True
A study that includes every member of a population is a census.
True
An advantage of qualitative methods is that they often have higher "real-life" validity.
True
Authority is the way of knowing that comes because someone said it.
True
Branching is routing respondents around questions they do not need to answer.
True
Content analysis can be done using computer software.
True
Content analysis can be used to analyze the behavior of individuals as well as analyzing texts.
True
Content analysis data can be analyzed statistically.
True
Convenience sampling is named that due to the convenience for the researcher.
True
Correlation is a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables.
True
Deduction is reasoning from theory to observation.
True
Degrees of freedom is an estimate of the number of independent pieces of information on which an estimate is based.
True
Double-barreled questions ask two questions simultaneously but allow for only one answer.
True
Content analysis is a qualitative, systematic, and subjective technique for describing the manifest content of communications.
False
Descriptive statistics help us make generalizations about a population from a smaller sample of that population.
False
Focus groups are basically the same as interviews.
False
Generally, quantitative methods and statistics provide greater insight into human communication than qualitative methods.
False
In an asynchronous focus group, members interact with one another in "real time."
False
In searching the scholarly literature, "relevance" and "quality" mean the same.
False
It is not necessary to explain to readers that deception was used in your research report.
False
It is not necessary to record the complete bibliographic information when doing a literature search.
False
Letters or postcards letting potential respondents know that they will be getting a research phone call or questionnaire are unlikely to increase the response rate.
False
Mean, median, and mode all summarize data in the same way.
False
Mean, median, and mode are all measures of dispersion.
False
Observation is a tool that can measure all communication phenomena.
False
One issue with postal sampling frames is the high response rates.
False
Open-ended questions are the most common format in most surveys.
False
Qualitative researchers look for relationships among phenomena.
False
Scientific methods often combine control, tenacity, and exploration.
False
Snowball sampling strives to obtain representative samples that statistically represent the overall population.
False
The goal of experimental design is to determine correlations.
False
The leadership in my organization is ______. Powerful - - - Weak The above is an example of a Likert Scale.
False
The results from surveys of Internet users can be easily generalized to nonusers.
False
Good experimental design does not require nonprobability sampling.
True
If a measure has "face validity," it means the questions appear to measure what they're supposed to measure.
True
If your results are reliable, it means other researchers doing your study should get basically the same results each time.
True
In a statistically perfect world, data conform to a symmetrical so-called normal curve.
True
In asking about the validity of an experiment, a researcher is asking whether the experiment captured the concepts the researcher intended to capture.
True
In panel studies, a group of individuals is sampled and recruited, and the same individuals are retained to answer questions over time.
True
Inferential statistics are based on the assumption that the sample studied is randomly selected.
True
Inferential statistics are based on the assumption that the sampled population has normally distributed characteristics.
True
Inferential statistics help us make generalizations about a population from a smaller sample of that population.
True
Interval measures assume an equal distance between points on a scale.
True
Interviews generally consist of a series of questions asked by a researcher in order to elicit information he or she is interested in.
True
One way to review literature includes treating it like journalism—asking questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how.
True
Peer-reviewed articles are likely to be high-quality studies.
True
Question format and wording are very important and influence respondents' answers to survey questions.
True
Ratio scales measure from a "true" zero point.
True
Relevance" and "quality" are two goals of a literature search for your study.
True
Scholarly publication articles are peer-reviewed and use citations.
True
Social scientists assume that human behavior and thought can be measured objectively.
True
Social scientists often bring the assumption of an external "real" world that can be observed, understood, and agreed on to the study of human interaction.
True
Stratified random sampling is a way to ensure that small but important subgroups of a population are captured in a sample.
True
Studies based on explanation attempt to answer the "why?" question.
True
Surveys are a useful method for quantitative research.
True
The "Veil of Ignorance" approach asks us to take a dispassionate approach, reviewing all sides of a decision equally.
True
The Hawthorne effect refers to increases in worker productivity explained by workers apparently interpreting research by management as management taking an interest in them.
True
The basic assumption behind probability sampling is that the sample will reflect the broader population from which it is drawn.
True
The biggest challenge of Internet sampling is the difficulty in developing an Internet sampling frame.
True
The chi-square test assesses the differences in the distribution of data between groups.
True
The concept of "theory as grounded in data" means that a theory is expected to emerge as data analysis proceeds.
True
The first step to content analysis is developing a research question or hypothesis.
True
The focus of internal validity is on experimental design.
True
The only numbers researchers can get from nominal variables are counts or percentages.
True
The principle of utilitarianism argues for the greatest good for the greatest number.
True
The two tests most commonly used to see if two groups differ in some way are the t-test and chi-square test.
True
To determine causation, the dependent variable must be caused by the independent variable.
True
Understanding human communication through observations is known as empiricism.
True
Books and journals published by a university press are unbiased.
False
Both the t test and the chi-square test look for differences in average scores between two groups.
False
"To what extent do my sample data reflect the wider population from which I sampled?" is a question that inferential statistics cannot answer.
False
A "pilot" study is a follow-up study done after an initial study.
False
A hypothesis is a question about the relationship between variables.
False
A research question is a statement about the relationships you expect to find between two variables.
False
A research study that finds nothing is an invalid study.
False
Although a research study only has volunteers who are students, it's acceptable to generalize to all people.
False
"Coding" typically means assigning units of information to a category.
True
"Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior" is an example of an ordinal level of measurement.
True
"How many violent acts occur on "Game of Thrones?" is a question that content analysis can answer.
True
A Judeo-Christian test of ethical behavior is "would you be willing to be a participant in your research study yourself?"
True
A data set consists of all the data from a research project.
True
