sociology
Scientific Method
1. Identify question 2. conduct literature review 3. form hypothesis 4. create research method 5. collect data 6. analyze data 7. disseminate findings
Which of the following statements accurately describes culture?
Accurate Description: Culture includes both symbolic and material elements. Culture is handed down from generation to generation. Culture acts as a lens through which individuals view the world. Inaccurate Description(s) Culture is second nature.
Which of the following is an example of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
An indigenous people have no equivalent words for planet, Earth, or world. They do not view a macro picture of multiple planets.
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Before collecting data, social researchers must identify a (target population) from which to select their (sample). After that, if they want to interview (respondents), sociologists must first get (informed consent), which means that participants agree to be interviewed and know what they are getting into.
Which of the following are double-barreled questions?
Correct Answer(s) Do you support raising taxes to provide additional childcare subsidies to the poor? When was the last time you ate pizza and what were the toppings you had on it? Incorrect Answer(s) On a scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 equals strongly disagree and 5 equals strongly agree), how much do you support the current president's policies? How many times per week do you read?
Identify the true statements about internet-based surveys.
Correct Answer(s) One disadvantage of online surveys is representativeness. One advantage of online surveys is cost. Incorrect Answer(s) New online tools can automatically adjust the reliability and validity of survey questions. Most researchers still see online survey methods are unconventional.
Which of the following measurement methods would yield results that can be generalized to the student population of a large university?
Correct Answer(s) School records are used to select 100 students from different categories (male and female, white and non-white, etc.) in numbers that mirror the overall student population. These students will fill out a short questionnaire. Comprehensive school records are used to randomly select a sample group of 100 students who will fill out a short questionnaire. Incorrect Answer(s) Five students are randomly selected for in-depth interviews, each lasting half an hour. Students passing by a campus booth are invited to fill out a questionnaire; several hundred do so.
Which of the following are advantages of survey research?
Correct Answer(s) Survey research is usually quick and economical. Survey research is less concerned with interviewer or observer bias. Incorrect Answer(s) Surveys may help the researcher dispel certain preconceptions and discover issues that might have been otherwise overlooked. Survey research never has sampling problems
A sociologist wants to study a global community of online gamers who all play the same multiplayer game. Identify the activities that could realistically be part of the research.
Correct Answer(s) becoming a player and observing interactions in real time analyzing player statistics, such as time played and level achieved Incorrect Answer(s) in-person interviews focus group
A sociologist is worried that her presence is affecting interactions between the people he is studying. Identify the concepts from research methodology she would first review and then strive to practice during her study.
Correct Answer(s) reactivity reflexivity Incorrect Answer(s) autoethnography bias rapport
A sociologist begins participant observation of a group of community college students in the hopes that she can learn more about how young people form new relationships. This group of students is diverse in terms of race, gender, and age. When the sociologist is asked to teach an ethnography class, she hangs out with the students and teaches them more about ethnography in a small group setting. She quickly begins to see many of the group members as her friends, and participates in social events with them. Identify the concepts from research methodology that might be problematic for this study.
Correct Answer(s) replicability representativeness reflexivity Incorrect Answer(s) bias
A simple random sample is also which of the following?
Correct Answer(s) sample probability sample Incorrect Answer(s) representative sample spurious sample
Which of the following statements apply to typical survey research?
Correct Answers: Survey research is quantitative in nature. Survey research uses closed-ended questions. Incorrect Answer(s) Survey research focuses on the micro level. Survey research uses only Likert scale questions.
Which of the following are disadvantages of survey research?
Correct Answers: Survey research often doesn't capture a full range of expression from the respondents. Survey research may have low validity because respondents are dishonest. Incorrect Answer(s) Survey respondents are sometimes difficult to talk to and other times try too hard to be helpful. Survey research has low reliability.
Which of the following areas may present ethical concerns for individuals conducting social science research?
Correct: confidentiality and deception Incorrect: reactivity and unobtrusive measures
Which of the following elements could be considered culture?
Correct: films, historical artifacts, style of dress Incorrect: dogs
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Cultural (diffusion) usually occurs in the direction from more-developed to less-developed nations, while cultural (leveling) occurs when cultures that were once distinct become increasingly similar to one another. A third type of cultural change is cultural (imperialism), or the imposition of one culture's beliefs and practices on another culture through (media and consumer products) rather than by (military force).
A sociologist conducts an experiment to see how watching a documentary on young men in gay relationships affects individual attitudes toward gay marriage. Both men and women are given a survey, but only those in the experimental group watch the video before answering the survey questions.
Dependent Variable(s) attitudes toward gay marriage Not Dependent Variable(s) exposure to a video on young men in gay relationships answering a survey sex/gender
Identify the disadvantages of existing sources research.
Disadvantage(s) Existing sources research can describe the messages inherent in the media, but not illuminate how such messages are interpreted. Existing sources research does not allow researchers to answer all questions. Not Disadvantage(s) Existing sources research has low replicability. Existing sources research may have low validity because respondents are dishonest.
Which of the following sociologists was one of the first to do work in the area of social network analysis?
Georg Simmel NOT: Nicholas Christakis James Coleman Alice Goffman
What is one of the main points of Horace Miner's article "Body Ritual among the Nacirema"?
It is easy to take one's own culture for granted
Identify each research method as either qualitative or quantitative.
Qualitative An observer takes notes on the nonverbal behavior of members of a focus group for car commercials. Each person at a gathering of academics is invited to talk about his or her political views. Quantitative The number of people in a large gathering is recorded. Each person in a sample group is recorded as being either a United States citizen or a citizen of another country.
Identify some of the shared and differing values of Americans, according to the textbook.
Shared Value(s) democracy freedom Differing Value(s) individualism humanitarianism
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Signs, gestures, and language, as well as values and norms, are all part of (Symbolic) culture. (Laws) are specific types of norms that formally codify what is permissible or forbidden, while (mores) often include severe repercussions and public condemnation. The most powerful of all norms are (taboos).
A sociologist wants to study racial discrimination in hiring, and decides to either distribute a survey asking employers about their hiring methods, or conduct an experiment that involves sending fake resumes to employers to see who gets an interview. Which method would best examine racial discrimination in hiring and why?
The experiment because the researcher can isolate the effect of race by creating otherwise identical resumes
conflict theory
Values and norms are often contested by various groups in society. Dominant culture tends to represent and protect the values, norms, and interests of the most powerful groups in society.
symbolic interactionism
Values and norms are social constructions that may vary over time and in different contexts; meaning is created, maintained, and changed through ongoing social interaction.
structure functionalism
Values and norms are widely shared and agreed upon; they contribute to social stability by reinforcing common bonds and constraining individual behavior.
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While (basic research) is most closely associated with value-free sociology, pre-existing values are not the only reason a sociologist might be biased. The notion of (objectivity) can be skewed by the direction and focus of prior research. Additionally, the concept of (reactivity) suggests that researchers can also influence those who are being studied.
The increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media by terrorist organizations in other countries to recruit new members is an example of what cultural phenomenon?
cultural diffusion
The controversy surrounding North Carolina's 2016 HB2 law is an example of which of the following concepts?
culture wars
If two variables are correlated, a change in one must directly produce a change in the other.
false
Questions in a Likert scale format are open-ended.
false
Most large retailers such as Target, H&M, and Old Navy carry similar clothing styles, and thus there is not extreme variation in what most Americans wear. Which sociological concept best explains this phenomenon?
hegemony
match
hypothesis: "Teenagers are more susceptible to internet advertising than young adults." operational definition: total number of advertisements clicked on by an individual each day variable: age
What is one of the biggest problems with non-academic uses of research methods?
it often has a lack of rigorous standards
Which of the following does your textbook suggest to be the most common of all non-academic uses of sociological methods?
market research
Any physical object that has social meaning can be considered a part of material culture.
true
Culture is the human equivalent of instinct in animals.
true
