Deck 3: Studying People

Question 1

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A form of qualitative study in which researchers directly observe people's behavior.

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A form of field research that includes a descriptive analysis of a group or organization.

Answer 2

M

Question 3

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Semi-structured interviews with small groups of people.

Answer 3

T

Question 4

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The variable that is predicted to change as a result of the independent variable.

Question 5

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ How valid or accurate the findings of the study are.

Question 6

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Specific statements about how variables will relate to one another in a research study.

Question 7

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Experiments that take place in people's everyday environments.

Question 8

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Participants in an experiment that are exposed to an independent variable.

Question 9

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A qualitative research method employing an unstructured or semi-structured series of questions.

Question 10

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Participants in an experiment that are not exposed to the independent variable.

Question 11

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A type of quantitative research procedure in which investigators control participants' exposure to an independent variable.

Question 12

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Groups that ensure that the benefits of a research project outweigh any potential harm to research participants.

Question 13

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Experiments in which the experiences and behaviors of participants are monitored in a controlled laboratory setting.

Question 14

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A sample in which any available person is included in the study.

Question 15

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A type of variable in which the difference between any two adjacent values is the same.

Question 16

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The larger group of people about whom a researcher seeks to draw conclusions.

Question 17

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A form of qualitative research in which a researcher becomes a member of the group being studied.

Question 18

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A series of related questions designed to measure an underlying concept such as mastery.

Question 19

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ The variable predicted to lead to a change in the dependent variable.

Question 20

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ When a study yields the same results using the same techniques and data.

Question 21

Social psychologist B. F. Skinner developed __________, in which animals learned to press levers to obtain rewards, such as food pellets.

A) the "Skinner box"
B) autoethnography
C) animal testing
D) laboratory experimentation

Question 22

Age is what kind of variable?

A) ordinal
B) nominal
C) rational
D) categorical

Question 23

Indices include a series of __________ designed to develop one or more dimensions of a given concept.

A) related questions
B) interval variables
C) statistical equations
D) testable hypotheses

Question 24

An instructor developed a study to determine ways of producing more participation in her classes. In one class, she provided free doughnuts to students every day, whereas in another she gave them nothing. She had an assistant takes notes on the number of comments and questions students made in each class. Which class represents the control group?

A) the class not given the doughnuts
B) the class given the doughnuts
C) neither the class given nor not given the doughnuts
D) both the class given and not given the doughnuts

Question 25

At which step in the research process does the researcher conduct a literature review, using the library and other resources?

A) step 1
B) step 2
C) step 3
D) step 4

Question 26

Research conducted by interview, participant observation, and ethnography is what kind of research?

A) quantitative
B) qualitative
C) breeching
D) experimental

Question 27

What role does the researcher take on in the research technique called "autoethnograpy"?

A) the role of a "co-participant" in the research process, an equal partner in the study
B) the role of an objective observer
C) the role of a data analyst
D) the role of a research controller, who manages events

Question 28

Which of the following research methods is most likely to demonstrate causal relationships between variables?

A) ethnography
B) focus group
C) survey
D) experiment

Question 29

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Variables for which response categories are ordered but the distances between adjacent categories are not necessarily equal.

Question 30

Focus groups include semi structured interviews with small groups, usually of __________ participants.

A) 2 to 5
B) 6 to 15
C) 15 to 25
D) 10 to 20

Question 31

You are studying student attitudes toward tobacco and alcohol consumption by asking students to respond to questions using answer categories that range from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree). These items represent which type of variable?

A) ordinal
B) interval
C) rational
D) categorical

Question 32

An instructor asks you to develop a study of the homeless that will provide a great deal of insight into what it is like to be homeless. Given this mandate, which of the following methods would most likely produce the information that you need for such a project?

A) ethnography
B) focus group
C) survey
D) experiment

Question 33

In preparing for a survey of country club members, Donella asked the manager of the club for a list of members. This list refers to a __________.

A) random sample
B) probability sample
C) sample list
D) sampling frame

Question 34

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ A measure of the dependent variable after exposure to the independent variable in an experiment.

Question 35

Samantha started a research project predicting that men would be more supportive of using military force to go to war than women. In this case, attitudes toward going to war is what kind of variable?

A) an index
B) a scale
C) an independent variable
D) a dependent variable

Question 36

Which of the following types of samples is considered most representative of any given population?

A) a random sample
B) a convenience sample
C) a snowball sample
D) either a convenience sample or a snowball sample

Question 37

At which step in the research process does the researcher actually go out and collect data?

A) step 1
B) step 2
C) step 3
D) step 4

Question 38

How are social theories and hypothesis related to one another?

A) Theories include specific statements, whereas hypotheses are more general statements.
B) Theories are an extension of hypotheses.
C) Theories are used to develop hypotheses.
D) Theories use variables but hypotheses do not.

Question 39

Humphries' research on the "tearoom trade" was considered controversial because__________.

A) he did not use a snowball sample
B) he studied homosexuality in public places
C) he placed his subjects at risk of emotional and social hardship
D) his research did not use quantitative data

Question 40

Match the term to its definition by filling in the letter before the term in the appropriate blank.

____ Translating a concept into something that can be measured.

Question 41

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
Overall, the research described in the vignette best exemplifies which of the following research techniques?

A) a survey method
B) an experiment
C) a field method
D) a mixed-method approach

Question 42

Social scientists must always be concerned with __________ in order to accurately capture phenomena in questions.

A) truth and reliability
B) reliability and validity
C) truth and validity
D) probability and validity

Question 43

What is a literature review? What role does a literature review play in the development of a research project?

Question 44

Which research method do you like the most? Why? First, review the technique you like the most. Second, using the basic research steps reviewed in the text, discuss how you would apply the technique to study a social phenomenon that interests you.

Question 45

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
Which of the projects would probably be more useful than the other for obtaining deeper insights into the processes associated with decisions to commit suicide? Which project is more representative of the experience of Americans with suicide decisions?

A) project 1; project 2
B) project 2; project 1
C) Both projects are equally insightful and representative.
D) Neither project is terribly insightful nor representative.

Question 46

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
Which method was employed in the first project? The second?

A) in-depth interviews; ethnography
B) in-depth interviews; experiment
C) in-depth interviews; secondary data analysis
D) field methods; secondary data analysis

Question 47

Quantitative research includes __________.

A) experiments and interviews
B) data analysis, surveys, and experiments
C) only surveys
D) data analysis, surveys, and interviews

Question 48

A researcher wants to explore the connection between drinking and sexual assault on college campuses nationwide. The most effective method of measurement would be __________.

A) interviews
B) controlled experiments
C) surveys
D) autoethnography

Question 49

Discuss the difference between social theory and personal theories about why friends and family do the things they do. First, review the basic components of a theory. Second, discuss how these components help in the development of research regarding social-psychological processes.