Research Methods Study Guide
Which one of the following is NOT a guideline for reporting analyses
Be a little vague on your conclusions to encourage the reader to become more involved
. Professor Miller argues that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship: 1) belonging/affirmation, 2) interdependence, and 3) intimacy. These "aspects" of quality of a relationship are called
dimensions
William Robinson, a sociologist, found that during the 1930s there was a positive relationship between the literacy rate and percentage of the population that was foreign born. If you concluded on this basis that your neighbor, Yasmine, who is a foreign-born resident, has a higher literacy rate than other native-born residents, you would be committing the
ecological fallacy
Questions about operationalizing "success" and social interventions reflect which section of the evaluation criteria to be used in reading a research report?
evaluation research
Desiree did a study on the causes of juvenile delinquency. Specifically, she examined if living in a city as opposed to the suburbs caused adolescents to become more delinquent. Which purpose of research did she pursue?
explanation
. Dr. Jordan chronicles people's attitudes toward an upcoming property tax levy. Jordan is doing explanatory research
f
. In nomothetic explanations, exceptions disprove the causal relationship.
f
. It is a good idea to drag out the suspense over whether X causes Y.
f
. Longitudinal studies may be either trend or cohort studies, but not panel studies
f
. Several sports coaches are interested in studying the effect of a new training regimen on the performance of their respective teams. The unit of analysis is the sports teams.
f
A good research report should read like a good novel.
f
A good summary reviews every specific finding
f
A necessary condition represents a condition that, if it is present, guarantees the effect in question.
f
Causality can be established by only proving correlation and nonspuriousness -
f
Cohort studies are based only upon the age group of participants
f
Cohorts are defined by year of birth only
f
Cross-sectional data can never be used to approximate longitudinal data
f
For a causal relationship to be true, it must apply to a majority of cases
f
If two variables are correlated with each other, there must be a causal relationship between them
f
Making inferences about a police department based on surveys of the officers who work there is an example of the ecological fallacy
f
Mr. Smith found that males and females were equally likely to support his political platform. Smith correctly concludes that there is a correlation between gender and support for his platform
f
Operationalization is the process of clarifying what is meant by the concepts being used in a study.
f
Research designs are descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory—never more than one
f
Research reports are written for one purpose only
f
Researchers ignore previous work on a topic so that their research can be original
f
The aim of a report may be exploration, description or explanation but never action
f
The ecological fallacy refers to drawing conclusions about individuals based solely on the observation of groups.
f
The independent (effect) variable must occur later in time than the dependent (cause) variable
f
Websites are subject to the peer review process
f
A journal article should always be read from beginning to end
f?
The purpose of the literature review is to
familiarize the reader about the topic and what is known about it
Ricardo studied married couples in order to see if length of marriage affected the nature and quality of communication patterns. Which unit of analysis did he use?
group
Andrea studied Native American women to learn more about how they cope with their minority status. What was her unit of analysis?
groups
An important first rule for writing social research is to
have good language skills
Indicators can be interchanged with one another because
if indicators measure the same concept, the results should be the same
The method used to select a sample from a population and how they were asked to participate in a research project should be addressed in the
methodology
A researcher selects a sample of citizens in a community and interviews them before a new factory is built in the community. The researcher interviews these same citizens six months later and one final time a year later. The researcher has engaged in ______ research design.
pane
Arianna is planning to study the future criminal behavior of individuals currently enrolled in a diversionary juvenile program. What type of research method may she use
panel
Attrition of study participants is most critical for which of the following designs?
panel
Research studies that follow the same people at different times, collecting data at specified intervals, are what kind of study?
panel
__________ mortality is a problem for a specific form of longitudinal study, in which the participants drop out of the project or disappear completely
panel
A problem that plagues panel studies specifically is
panel mortatlity
. When we fall into the trap of believing that terms have real meanings, we are guilty of
reification
In testing a new survey that he developed, Marcus asked his introduction to sociology class to fill out the survey for extra credit, and then a week later asked the same class to take the survey again. Marcus was testing the exam's
reliability
If a reader asks, "Who originally collected the data being reanalyzed?" or "When were the data collected?", that reader is most clearly examining issues that focus on
research design
Questions about the unit of analysis and the purpose of the study reflect which section of the evaluation criteria to be used in reading research reports?
research designs
A(n) ___________ is a book-length research report, either published or unpublished.
research monograph
A short version for reporting research that might be included in a journal is
research note
As an assignment for one of his classes in graduate school, Maron developed a brief set of conclusions regarding the students and their perspectives on a notable campus crime. What would be the most appropriate way to report this?
research note
. Which method for establishing reliability does not depend on using the measure itself?
research worker reliability
Questions about who was studied and how they were selected reflect which evaluation criteria to be used in reading research reports?
sampling
A(n) _____ locates where specified terms appear on web sites.
search engine
Paul is performing a research study in which he is looking at the presentation of gender in children's picture books. His unit of analysis is the book, so what is he studying?
social artifacts
The positive relationship between shoe size and IQ is what kind of relationship?
spurious
When the relationship between the number of firefighters and the amount of fire damage disappears once we control for the size of the fire, we say that "size of fire" is a ___________ variable.
spurious
There is a strong correlation between the number of firefighters that show up at a fire and the amount of damage produced by the fire. The size of the fire influences both the number of firefighters and the amount of damage. This illustrates that the relationship between the number of firefighters and the amount of damage is
spurious.
. A scientific report should
stimulate and direct further inquiry
which is a cohort study
surveying teenagers now, then 20 year olds in a decade, then 30 year olds a decade after that
. Descriptive research answers the question "What's so?" and explanatory research answers the question "Why?"
t
A major shortcoming of exploratory studies is that they seldom provide satisfactory answers to research questions.
t
According to Babbie, tables indicating results should be included in the body of the research pape
t
Any research report that is written should be as in-depth and specific as possible when it comes to methodology and analysis
t
As a rough guide, 25 typed pages is good length for a journal article
t
Chen wrote a research paper in which she didn't quote, but paraphrased another article and forgot to cite it. Chen has committed plagiarism.
t
Facebook has been suggested by Rhodes and Marks (2011) as a way to deal with panel mortality
t
One way to determine if your Internet data is valid is to cross-check the data with other professional data sets
t
Online journal articles can be as reputable as their printed counterparts
t
Panel attrition is comparable to experimental mortality.
t
Plagiarism may be intentional or accidental
t
Reading and writing social research should be treated as it would be in any other discipline True
t
Some web sites advocate particular political, religious, social, or other points of view
t
Students should be prevented from using Wikipedia in writing research reports
t
The date a website was accessed is an important part of an Internet citation
t
The easiest way to identify the unit of analysis is to examine a statement regarding the variables under study.
t
The literature review is an important and necessary component of a research proposal
t
The nomothetic model of explanation is probabilistic in its approach to causation
t
The peer review process is performed in order to ensure that research published will be the most sound and of the highest scientific quality
t
The presentation of data analyses should provide a maximum of detail without being cluttered.
t
The term research monograph refers to published books only
t
The website http://scholar.google.com/ is a valid site for researching professional articles
t
For a causal relationship to exist there must be evidence
that one variable precedes the other in time, that the two variables are correlated and that this relationship is not spurious.
In Sweden, there is a very strong correlation between the number of storks and the number of babies born. However, both of these variables are associated with region (rural vs. urban). This illustrates
that there is no causal relationship between the number of storks and the number of babies.
Correlation between two variables means that
the dependent variable changes proportionally with the independent one
Spurious relationships are relevant for which criterion for establishing nomothetic causality
the effect can't be explained in terms of some third variable
. A good abstract does NOT include a statement about
the findings of each table and a graph
Which of the following is usually NOT included when citing Internet resources
the number of words in the resource
Operationalization is:
the procedures which we go through to identify and measure variables
When writing a research report, it is important to remember that one of the most important aspects of a qualitative research study is that
the study must be replicable.
Committing the error of reductionism is most closely tied to the selection of a(n
theoretical paradigm
Tyler finds that in burglary cases men and women 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 guidelines is(are) FALSE for reporting on analyses
If you're using quantitative data, the reader does not need to be able to recompute percentages in the direction opposite from what you used in your presentation
. Which of the following statements is FALSE about the purpose of a literature review?
Literature reviews should point out general agreements and minimize the disagreements among previous researchers.
A measurement that is inaccurate, but consistently reports the same results is
Not Valid but precise
. Measuring how people feel about proposed income tax hikes when you really want to know how well informed they are on the proposal is a problem of operationalization concerning
Relevant Range of variations
When you are worried about whether you will get the same results if you repeat your experiment again in the future, you are worried about
Reliability
A weighing scale that consistently tells Susie that she is 115 pounds—5 pounds lighter than she really is—every time she stands on the scale is __________, but not
Reliable, Valid
. Juan wanted to be particularly careful to represent all levels of feelings about how ethical members of Congress are. So, instead of just asking how much respondents agreed with a statement that "Members of Congress are ethical," he instead asked for responses ranging from "Members are completely unethical" to "Members are always very ethical." Juan was responding to which operationalization choice?
Range of Variation
. Which of the following would be an example of a ratio variable?
Ratio
The definition of a phenomena that represents the objective, unquestionable "truth" of it, which is rarely used by sociologists is an example of a
Real Definition
The real definition of a phenomena is the most important for researchers to understand
True
The test-retest method for assessing reliability assumes that the phenomena under study does not change.
True
Validity refers to the link between the operational and conceptual definitions
True
When one's research purposes aren't clear, it is advisable to choose the highest level of measurement possible
True
A complete conceptualization involves
c. specifying dimensions and identifying the various indicators of each dimension.
Predictive validity is another term for criterion-related validity
True
A particular focus of the questions provided to help assess Internet sites
data quality
. The average length of a research note is usually
1-5 pgs double spaced
Oral presentations at scholarly meetings are typically
15-20 mins
The typical professional presentation of research findings is how long
2 mins or less
. Professor Spence decided to define socioeconomic status as a combination of income and education. Spence then determined the questions to be asked and the categories of responses. Spence was assigning socioeconomic status
A nominal and operational definition
Which of the following employs the nomothetic model of explanation?
An isolation of the three most important reasons as to why men were selected to all the leadership positions at a former women's college that went coed.
Which of the following hypotheses best fits the criteria of causality
As education increases, income tends to increase even after controlling for gender and race.
Professor Tyler wrote a proposal to study the impact of authoritarianism on child rearing practices. She began her research by reviewing the meaning of authoritarianism in the sociological and psychological literature. Based on this review, she formulated her own definition of authoritarianism. This process illustrates
Conceptualization
Sophie developed a measure of job satisfaction. She validated her measure by seeing if it related to other variables that she logically expected to be related to job satisfaction. Which type of validity does this example reflect?
Construct
In assessing a measure of sexual attitudes Troiden and Jendrek examined the link between the measure of sexual attitudes and sexual experience. They reasoned that people expressing liberal sexual attitudes would have a wider range of sexual experiences than those expressing conservative attitudes. They were concerned with examining the ______
Construct Validity
Maurice is developing a new measure of psychopathy that he hopes to use in his research. His measure includes a series of psychiatric diagnoses and a well-thought out questionnaire. However, when compared to results of other proven measures of psychopathy, his results are incorrect. What kind of validity is lacking
Construct Validity
Professor Tyler believes that her measure of authoritarianism is valid after finding that it varies, as predicted by theory, with child rearing practices and voting behavior. Tyler is relying on a _____ approach to validity
Construct Validity
involves determining the extent to which a measure represents concepts it should represent and does not represent concepts it should not represent.
Construct Validity
Theoretical creations that are based on observations but that cannot be observed directly or indirectly are known as
Constructs
After noting that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship (belonging/affirmation, interdependence, and intimacy) Professor Miller designed an instrument to measure the quality of a relationship. In looking at her questionnaire, she noticed that there were no items tapping intimacy. Her measure lacks
Content Validity
Ignatius wanted to be sure he covered the full range of meanings in his measurement of happiness among college students. Given this, he was particularly concerned with
Content Validity
Professor Willard was interested in examining whether countries with higher GNPs tend to have more gangs than countries with lower GNPs. Willard's unit of analysis was
Coutnries
. Predictive validity is another name for:
Criterion Related Validity
A measurement that does not reflect the logical relationship between the variables lacks what kind of validity?
Criterion Related Validity
Hudson et al. (1983, Journal of Sex Research) developed a series of questions to examine sexual attitudes (SAS). The SAS scores of religious fundamentalists, a group believed to be conservative regarding sexual expression, were compared with the scores of social work graduate students, a group believed to be liberal regarding sexual expression. The researchers were examining the instrument's
Criterion Validity
By itself, the 2000 Census exemplifies a study that when compared to another decennial census could be considered a study.
Cross sectional, trend
. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
Definitions are more problematic for explanatory research than descriptive research
The topic of surrogate mothers interested Professor Snyder. Snyder read the available materials on the topic and wanted to develop an age, education, and income profile of women who serve as surrogate mothers in the United States. To develop this profile, Snyder should undertake a(n)
Descriptive Study
Marlinda developed three aspects for her concept love: communication, trust, and attraction. These aspects are known as
Dimensions
. Which of the following is a nominal variable
Education
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 should design a(n)
Explanatory Study
Nakeia was studying the literature on homicide survivors and found that no studies had been conducted examining the special condition of children of terrorism victims. If she wanted to examine this topic she should perform what type of study
Exploratory Study
. Distances between attributes in ordinal data is meaningful and quantifiable
F
A nominal measure is one that is already quantified and ready to measure
F
Achieving validity is more important than achieving reliability.
F
It is ethical to frame questions in favor of your position as long as you openly admit to the bias.
F
Numerical values on an interval scale can legitimately be added, multiplied, subtracted, and divided.
F
Real definitions appear quite frequently in social science research
F
The level of measurement in a research study only impacts the theory being used
F
Unlike other elements of a research study, the level of measurement has no ethical considerations.
F
Lucinda established the validity of her religiosity measure by making sure it corresponded with our common agreements and our individual mental images concerning her concept. She did this by checking with other people, particularly those familiar with religious issues. Which measure of validity did she use?
Face Validity
Nominal definitions most closely parallel which type of validity measure
Face Validity
. Conceptualization is the development of research procedures that will result in empirical observations representing those concepts in the real world.
False
. It is impossible to have several indicators of only one concept.
False
. Precision and accuracy are synonyms
False
A nominal measure can have only two categories
False
Concepts have a single unambiguous meaning
False
If a measure is reliable, it must also be valid
False
Numbers assigned to ranks on an ordinal scale can legitimately be added, multiplied, subtracted, and divided.
False
Precise measurement is more important than accurate measurement
False
Which one of the following is the BEST example of the ecological fallacy
Felisha studied Census tracts for her study on crime, but then wrote up her conclusions in terms of individuals.
Measuring a respondent's age on an online survey would be considered a(n):
Indirect Observable
In order to determine if his uncle is a psychopath, Jerry interviews his uncle, who has a long criminal record. He compares the interview with other corroborating information (e.g. police reports, interviews with other family members and friends, etc), and applies the information to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (a well-known 20-item scale for measuring psychopathy developed by a criminologist). In using a scale to determine whether his uncle is a psychopath, Jerry is studying ____________.
Indirect Observables
. Larry has developed ten indicators for the concept alienation. He's not yet sure exactly which ones are best. One approach he takes is to see if all the indicators behave the same way when related to Larry's independent variable, gender. Larry is employing
Interchangeability of indicators
When you are worried about whether you are actually measuring what you think you are measuring, you are worried about __________.
Internal Validity
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is a variable that is measured at which level
Interval
What is the lowest level of measurement in which there is an exact difference between attribute values?
Interval
. Professor Twist created the categories of less than 20 hours, 20 hours to 40 hours, 40 hours to 60 hours, and 60 hours or more for the variable "number of hours employed outside the home." Salton's scheme is
Interval Variable
While evaluating a research report, Dr. Childs focused on the issue of research design. Which of the following questions would be the LEAST useful for evaluating the design?
Is the study cross-sectional or longitudinal?
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a cross-sectional study?
It concentrates on the changes that take place among a specific sample over a period of time
An example of an established measure would be
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index
Luke developed a measure of religious affiliation that included these attributes: Protestant, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Other, None. Which quality of measures does this measure lack?
Must Be Mutually Exclusive
When the variable religious affiliation is classified as Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, this variable has the important quality of being
Mutually Exclusive
A researcher examined newspaper editorials that focused on the Patriot's Act. She examined the editorials published in the major newspapers in major cities in the United States. The unit of analysis was
Newspaper Editorials
. Region (East, West, South, Midwest) is what level of measurement
Nominal
A measurement of religion in which the indicators include Christian, Muslim, Judaism, and Other would be at what level?
Nominal
In terms of specification, which of the following statements about nominal definitions is FALSE?
Nominal definitions assign a definition to a concept
A researcher who defines "elite families" as those with annual incomes larger than $250,000 has __________ this concept.
Operationalized
A measure of recidivism risk for juveniles completing a diversionary program instead of a traditional residential sentence, which ranks their level of risk as low, medium, or high is using which level of measurement?
Ordinal
Letter grades given at the end of the term are an example of ________ measurements; calculated GPAs are a type of _________ measurement
Ordinal, Interval
Which one of the following is the best example of reductionism?
Sam reduced his sample of church members from 500 to 200 so that it was more manageable.
. Professor Rogers created two surveys, each containing five different indicators for his measure of student engagement. She asked students in the two different sections of her research methods course each to voluntarily answer the five indicators. Which type of reliability is she likely testing?
Split Half
Monty used his ten-item scale on love to see how separate sets of five indicators correlated with each other. Which type of reliability is reflected in this example
Split-Half
Chan created a composite measurement to determine how likely a child is to engage in delinquency from the age of 10 to 14. She tests the reliability for this instrument by performing a pilot study in which two groups each received five of the ten questions. She then compares the results, hoping they are similar. What method did Chan use?
Split-Half Method
. Specification is the process through which concepts are made more specific.
T
Face validity is essentially whether or not a measurement is related to the concept it is intended to measure
T
Numerical values on a ratio scale can legitimately be added, multiplied, subtracted, and divided
T
The split-half technique for assessing reliability is closely linked to the concept of the interchangeability of indicators.
T
Monique developed a measure of religiosity and gave her instrument to her sample on two different occasions to see how reliable it was. Which type of reliability is reflected in this example?
Test-retest
Conceptions are mental images that summarize collections of seemingly related observations and experiences
True
To look at changes in the average age of marriage for men and women in the United States, Professor Torme studied the U.S. Censuses over a period of decades. Torme was doing a(n)
Trend study
. A particular variable can usually be measured in several distinct ways using different sources of information and various observation techniques.
True
Changing definitions almost inevitably results in different descriptive conclusions
True
Explanatory studies are designed to find answers to which of the following questions?
Why are people changing careers in midlife
Cindy established that gender came before voting in her study of adults in her city, so the time order was clear. She also ruled out the effects of age, religiosity, and other "third" variables. Which criterion for causality remains for her to establish?
a causal relationship exists
Sampling is a way to learn about ______ by obtaining information from _______ of a larger population.
a larger population, a subset
The brief summary of a journal article that quickly presents the theory and findings to the reader is known as the
abstract
The following are commonly used formats for citing bibliographic sources
all the above
the final stage of the research process involves
analysis
The form of reporting research that is included in an academic journal is
article
The research report that is probably the most popular is
article
Andrew studied family conflict as portrayed in the media by reading letters to advice columns. What was his unit of analysis?
artifacts
Techniques used to create reliable measures include
asking about things relevant to respondents.
While reporting on the work of others, authors should be especially alert to
avoiding plagiarism
. A review of the literature pertaining to your topic of study should be completed _________ you formulate your hypotheses.
before
Yugorsky studied five fifth-grade classes over three years to determine how friendship patterns established in the fifth grade affected friendship patterns in the eighth grade. He studied the same group of students over time, but not necessarily the same individuals. Which design did he use
cohort
Which of the following designs uncovers only net changes
cohort and trend studies
When a researcher has only cross-sectional data but wants to apply longitudinal strategies, he or she may be able to if
cohorts are available
Brunelle concluded from her study on gender and delinquency that it is not just probabilistic that men commit more delinquency, but that gender is the only relevant factor in that high levels of delinquency are always committed by men. Which false criterion for nomothetic causality is reflected in this example
complex causations
Once you have a well-defined purpose for your study and a clear description of the kinds of outcomes you want to achieve, the next step in your research design is
conceptualization
Which of the following sequences illustrates the progression of measurement steps?
conceptualization, nominal definition, operational definition, and measurement in the real world
Elmer worked hard to establish the meaning of the term "prejudice" for his study on police officers. He consulted the literature and consulted with colleagues who have studied prejudice in order to come to an agreement about what the term means. Elmer engaged in
conceptualization.
In reporting the design and execution of a survey, which of the following does NOT need to be reported
cost of administering survey
Which of the following does NOT need to be considered when examining experimental research?
cost of the experiment
Because low marital adjustment should lead to divorce, Professor Rogers checked his measure of marital adjustment by examining whether couples with low marital adjustment scores were more likely than couples with high marital adjustment scores to later obtain a divorce. This illustrates the use of
criterion related validity
Which of the following is NOT usually a part of a final research article, paper, or book?
criticism of research by a colleague
Which one of the following designs is the most likely to be used for descriptive purposes?
cross sectional
A second researcher decides to select a LARGE sample of citizens in a community to interview before a new factory is built in the community. This researcher does not believe there is a need to re-interview these citizens at a later date. This researcher has engaged in _________ research design
cross-sectional
This type of research design examines a phenomena at a single point in time
cross-sectional
A single U.S. Census exemplifies a
cross-sectional study
. Questions about response rates and social desirability reflect which type of research report?
data analysis
Questions about the appropriate use of control variables and about whether particular research findings really matter reflect which section of the evaluation criteria to be used in reading a research report?
data analysis
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
illustrates the ecological fallacy
In recent years, the popularity of mixed models has
increased
A measurement of fear of crime, ranked from 1 to 10 with 10 being "most fearful" and 1 being "not fearful at all" would be an example of
indirect observable
Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning data on the web?
info that is placed on the web is typically screened for accuracy
. Which of the following is NOT a suggestion used for evaluating a web site?
is the website aesthetically pleasing
Akerlof and Kennedy (2013) suggest all but which of the following ways in which social research can be used to design and evaluate programs to fight environmental degradation?
isolate those who disagree
After compiling a work of nearly 25 pages to study the effectiveness of a sex offender treatment program, Rodrigo has a work with a clear, tested theory. The analysis is definitive, and it was methodologically sound research. Which would be the best way for him to share his work with the public
journal article
. A literature review serves to
lay the groundwork for your research
. Questions about the researcher placing the project in the context of previous research and also about the researcher reporting flaws in the study reflect which section of the evaluation criteria to be used in reading a research report
lit review
Nate wants to make some causal assertions in his cross-sectional study about the effects of high school involvement on violence among young adults (all the people he studied are in their early 20s). He can approximate a longitudinal study by
making logical inferences based on the time order of his variables
Questions about dimensions of variables used and the appropriateness of indicators reflect which section of the evaluation criteria to be used in reading research reports?
measurement
Which of the following would NOT constitute an outlet for social science research
newspaper
In writing her research paper for her class on juvenile delinquency, Layla paraphrased several paragraphs in one of her reference articles, and passed them off as her own. She claims that it is not considered plagiarism because she did not quote the author verbatim. Is her assumption correct
no
The specification of concepts in a scientific inquiry depends on
nominal and operational definitions.
The period of a research study in which data is actually collected is what step?
observation
. When one defines a concept by specifying how it will be measured, what definition has he or she created
operational definition
Which of the following is NOT a commonly used style of citing work in research
opp
. Professor Tilton measured the variable "feelings toward drafting women" with the categories strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree, and strongly disagree. Professor Tilton was using the _____ level of measurement
ordinal
. Professor Stone designs a study to examine the effect of a teenage pregnancy on young women's career choices. Stone wants to interview a sample of teenage women during their pregnancy, after the baby's birth, and once a year after that for a ten year period. Stone is using a
panel study
Margot wants to examine how student nurses change in their orientation towards patients over the course of their three years in nursing school. She is particularly concerned with following changes within the same individuals. It would be best to use a
panel study
Which of the following is NOT plagiarism
paraphrasing and citing information from a journal article in your own paper
A downloadable electronic copy of a journal article that is paginated exactly the same as a printed copy is usually in which format
Plagiarism can be a problem in which of the following:
plagiarism can affect any work
Which of the following is NOT a factor that research reports should be evaluated upon?
political perspective
The overall group in which a smaller portion is selected for study is known as the
population
Doing well in reading and writing social research requires
practice
Which of the following guidelines for reporting on the analysis of qualitative data is FALSE?
provide only those data that support your interpretations
Abstracts do all of the following EXCEPT
provide specific details of statistical analysis
A typical report begins with a
purpose and overview statement
After reading the abstract, it is a good idea to
read the summary and conclusions
Jenny decided to read an article published in Law and Society Review. Babbie would urge her to begin reading the article by
reading the abstract
Longitudinal studies are particularly useful for addressing which criterion for establishing causality?
time order
The two purposes of an abstract to a journal article are
to help you determine if you want to read the article and to establish a framework for reading the article
Exploratory studies are done for all EXCEPT which one of the following purposes? a. to satisfy the researcher's curiosity and desire for better understanding
to sort out the ethical implications of a study
Senator Robertson wants to know how voter interest in issues in his district has changed over time. It would be best to use a
trend study
The ecological fallacy is most relevant in terms of which one of the following
unit of analysis
A researcher focuses on the ________when faced with the question "From whom or what will the information be gathered?"
unit of anlaysis
Professor Myth asked respondents whether they had ever been divorced. One year later Professor Myth asked the same respondents the same question. Myth found that with repeated applications of the measure, different responses were obtained for the same respondent. This means that the measuring instrument was
unreliable or the value on the variable had changed.
. Professor King examined all the reasons given by 50 couples for their marriages. In the final research report, King listed all the reasons given by the 100 people for their marriages. Professor King is
using an idiographic explanation for marriage
. If we can establish that variable X comes before variable Q in time, then we can say a. variable X is a cause of variable Q.
variable Q is not a cause of variable X.
The best location to place your tables or figures is
where the table or figure is referenced within the text
The aim of the report should reflect which one of the following?
whether the purpose of the study was exploration, description, or explanation
. An important first question to ask when assessing a web site is
who is the author
If a researcher was conducting a study of women's attitudes toward abortion, the unit of analysis would be
women
Edgar is looking to present some tentative research findings he found from a recent ethnographic study. He feels his findings are quite interesting and wants to share them, but they are not entirely verified and does not want to risk his reputation on submitting questionable research results. What outlet should Edgar present his research in
working paper
Lisa wants to present her tentative findings on a very complex project to a research audience. The most appropriate form for her presentation would be a(n)
working paper
The main reason you need to know the level of measurement for your variables is so that
you can try to change the variables to higher levels of measurement
Which one of the following is NOT one of the functions of scientific reporting?
your report should illustrate what can go wrong in research