Research methods quizzes
Determine the percent decrease from 30 to 18 a. 33.33% b. 66.66% c. undefined d. 40%
D
Professor Wo and Hyunsik want to understand whether the right to carry guns on campus reduces school violence. Therefore, it would be an ethically wise decision for them to give one class of students guns, and make sure another class of students is unable to bring guns to class T/F
False
Qualitative data is numerical by nature (i.e., in its raw form) T/F
False
The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment found statistically significant differences in crime rates when comparing police beats with three levels of preventative patrol T/F
False
The scientific criteria for causality include __________ a. a correlation between the cause and the effect b. the effect preceding the cause in time c. the effect being caused by some third variable d. a cause that is not probabilistic
A. a correlation between the cause and the effect
A qualitative interview involves an interaction between an interviewer and a respondent T/F
True
Contingecy questions are most appropriate when __________. a. certain questions are clearly relevant to only some of the respondents and irrelevant to others b. you want the respondents to write out an answer c. you want the respondents to rank their answers on a scale d. you want to impress the respondents with your questions
A
Researchers examine and identify patterns that are ________ a. probabilistic b. circular c. based on the national geographic d. deterministic
A
Students observe a murder trial wherein they are asked to give their impression of the defendant. A survey asks these students: please indicate how truthful the defendant appears. Potential answers to choose from include: not truthful whatsoever, somewhat truthful, and very truthful. Indicate what level of measurement this represents. a. ordinal b. interval/ratio c. nominal d. none
A
Surveys tend to be _________ on reliability, but validity can be __________. a. high, low b. low, high c. High, high d. Low, low
A
Describe what a cohort study entails. For full credit, you almost certainly would want to provide an example.
A cohort study entails studying a more specific population as they change over time which is what makes it a longitudinal study. An example of this would be a study where a graduating class of engineering majors is followed up after multiple years and seeing their success over the years.
When is it necessary to study phenomenon in their natural setting, experiments are the best approach to take T/F
False
Describe some of the reasons why a criminological researcher might not want to design and conduct a panel study.
Although a panel study could provide the researcher with solid information to see causal inferences as it can be viewed as a motion picture. It can require a lot of money and patience. This wouldn't be something you do once, it would be over a period of time.
A study collects data on the crime rates of U.S. cities. Indicate what level of measurement this represents: a. ordinal b. interval/ratio c. nominal d. none
B
Criminological research typically focuses on _______ patterns rather than on patterns of a particular ________________. a. individual; aggregate b. aggregate; individual c. cultural; religion d. religion; cultural
B
Determine the percent increase from 12 to 18. Choose the best option below: a. 33.33% b. 50% c. 66.66% d. undefined
B
Sherman and Weisburd structure the introduction of their article in response to what previous policing study? a. shaw and mcKay in Chicago b. the Kansas City Preventative patrol experiment c. the minneapolis preventative patrol experiment d. Wilson and Kelling in New Jersey
B
A survey asks: what is the color of your car? Potential answers to choose from include: green, red, black, blue and other. Indicate what level of measurement this represents: a. ordinal b. interval/ratio c. nominal d. none of the above
C
In cause and effect terms, the independent variable is the _______________ and the dependent variable is the _______________________. a. most important variable; somewhat important varible b. somewhat important variable;most important variable c. cause; effect d. effect; cause
C
It is usually best to begin a self-administered questionnaire with the following content ______. a. eating disorders b. age, gender, education, etc. c. Sexual behavior d. the most interesting set of questions that pertain to your independent and/or dependent variable (assuming they aren't intrusive topics)
D
__________________ interviews make it possible to allow for unscheduled probes, or spontaneous questions that are relevant to the dialogue a. structured interviews b. telephone survey interviews c. computer assisted interviews d. semi-structured interviews
D
Prof. Berg wants to know the rate of violent crime in California for 2014, 2015, and 2016. He finds that in 2014 the rate of violent crime was 300 incidents per 100,000 persons; in 2015 the rate of violent crime was 350 incidents per 100,000 persons and; in 2016 the rate of violent crime was 400 incidents per 100,000 persons. According to Maxfield and babbie this example is consistent with what purpose of research? a. explanation b. application c. description d. journalism
Description
Which one of the following is least likely to be an attribute of the variable occupation: a. teacher b. lawyer c. police officer d. doctor e. salary
E
Indicate and explain whether the existence of exceptions invalidates the existence of social regularities/patterns. Provide at least 1 example in your answer.
Exceptions do not negate regularities because relationships are probabilistic not deterministic, therefore, they do not need to be reflected in 100% of observations. An example of this would be the statement that women are MORE LIKELY to get married at a younger age than their male counterparts. This simply goes to show that although there exists a pattern of women getting married at a younger age than males does not mean that every single woman has to get married at a younger age in order for this relationship to continue to exist and be valid.
According to MB, a response rate of greater than or equal to 40% is acceptable for survey research T/F
False
All research questions in Criminology or Sociology must involve the notion that one variable causes another variable to change (i.e. causality) T/F
False
Individuals are always units of analysis in criminal justice research T/F
False
Obasogie argues that blind people have a diminished understanding of race T/F
False
Explain the distinction between probability sampling designs and nonprobability sampling designs.
In a probability sampling design, all subjects in the population have the same opportunity of being selected as everyone else in contrast to a nonprobability sampling design where it is NOT known that which individual from the population will be selected as a sample. (arbitrarily instead of randomly) nonprobability is biased and subjective. (generated) - Give examples of how they are probability used
Describe and differentiate the following levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, and interval/ratio.
Nominal: typically provides a name or label for a characteristic of the subject. An example would be someone's race, gender, or state of residence. These are purely categorical and do not have a particular logical order or ranking. On the other hand, ordinal can be logically ranked such as education, opinions, and occupational status. Lastly, interval/ratio measurement has a true zero point. There is a meaningful distances between these attributes for example age. When comparing someone who is 2 to an individual who is 22, you know there is exactly a 20 year difference. Same goes for IQ or income and so on.
Distinguish between reliability and validity in terms of measurement. For full credit, it is recommended that you provide at least one example.
Reliability is whether a measurement technique utilized multiple times provides the same answer every single time. Reliability helps you point out whether you have faulty instrumentation. One thing to keep in mind is that reliability does not necessarily insure accuracy. An example would be a police officer standing on the side of the street guessing peoples speeds and pulling you over for going too fast. This would be unreliable because the way he measured your speed was unreliable. Validity is the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the meaning of the concept under consideration. (are you really measuring what you say you are measuring?) For example, you can't weigh an individual multiple times to find out whether they've grown taller.
Describe what "snow ball sampling" is, and in doing so, explain the conditions in which it is employed over other sampling procedures.
Snow ball sampling is a type of nonprobability sampling that is employed in field observation or specialized interviewing. Begins by identifying a single subject that you would want to incorporate and asking them to find others like them who would be willing to participate. Typically used in research that involves studying drug dealers or users. It provides a form of entry into their world since once person will have multiple connections and relationships already built with other people.
(Short Answer). Indicate and explain the criteria for establishing causality as indicated by MB and your Professor.
The criteria for establishing causality is the existence of an empirical relationship between the variables (they need to empirically move together and be correlated in some way) and there must be temporal ordering, meaning that the cause precedes the effect. The relationship between these variables is not found to result from the effects of some third variable. For example, just because drug markets are found near bus stops does not mean that bus stops encourage drug markets. A third variable is that groups of people naturally congregate near bus stops.
Describe and differentiate the purposes of research as communicated by MB and your Professor (Hint: prediction is one of them)
The purposes of research are application, exploration, explanation, prediction, and description. Application stems from the need for facts and findings with specific policies. Usually broken into two types, one being policy/problem analysis which is simply the analysis of policies and more specific problems. Second, evaluation research which evaluates the effectiveness of CJ programs and whether the intended purpose is being done. Exploration research addresses topics that very little is known about for example with bullying, one might ask how many reports are made to high school teachers? Explanation research addresses the "why" questions such as why are crime rates higher in urban areas than in rural cities? Prediction research seeks to accurately predict future crime rates. This is the most difficult as crime and people are constantly changing. Description research is more about observing and then describing what they observed. More concerned with counting or documenting observations whereas exploratory studies are more about developing a preliminary understanding of a societal problem. An example of description would be what was the murder rate in Chicago in 2015?
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of BOTH quantitative and qualitative research.
The strengths of qualitative has a bigger richness of meaning, it's not just a number like quantitative but it provides deep information that can't be quantified and can provide context for many different experiments. Qualitative research can provide information on things like emotions, and personalities. Weaknesses would be that this kind of research requires more time and money as you can't calculate a value from an interview. You must observe and interact on a different level. Quantitative research you have the option of applying statistical tests when making statements about the data you collect. Quantitative data provides numbers that you can utilize to show what you are trying to prove. (percents and fractions). Weaknesses would be that the inability to answer why questions that would be answered with qualitative research. You need a certain sample size in order for your finding to have statistical power.
Explain the following statement: "reliability does not necessarily insure accuracy/validity." It may be helpful to provide an example.
This basically means that even though you might get the result every single time, it does not mean that the result you get from the multiple trials is correct. You could be getting the incorrect answer every single time. An example would be the speedometer given you a certain speed that might not actually be correct and therefore you could be pulled over by a police officer who is receiving your correct speed through their radar.
According to professor Wo, "everyone is a consumer of research" T/F
True
Applied research can be used to provide facts that can help, evaluate, and improve policies/programs in criminal justice system T/F
True
Both inductive and deductive reasoning are valid avenues for criminal justice and other social scientific research T/F
True
In addition to the purposes of research communicated by MB, your professor has argued that prediction is another purpose T/F
True
Logic and observation are the most important elements of generating empirical knowledge in science T/F
True
Milgram's experiment sought to identify and understand the conditions by which people will obey authoritative orders/instructions, despite the fact completion of these orders/instructions conflict with conventional morals. T/F
True
Social scientific (criminological) theory has to do with what is, not what should be T/F
True
Explain the logic of probability sampling.
We want to select a sample to accurately represent a larger population (target) in order to generalize from the sample to a population the sample is intended to represent. Probability sampling would provide the researcher with the most accurate sample that reflects the true composition of the target population being studied. It's not possible to actually look at the entire population that you are trying to study so this is the closest thing we can do. (Tie in sampling bias) You can't go to the NRA meeting and survey people there because they are all mainly republican.
