Deck 2: What Do Sociologists Do

Question 1

When reading a table, the states the topic of the table.

A) running head
B) source
C) heading
D) headnote
E) title

Answer 1

E

Question 2

In Humphrey's study, the men who acted as an early warning signal for police were called:

A) watchdogs.
B) guardians.
C) look-out queens.
D) watchqueens.
E) tearoom attendants.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A[n] is a factor that varies from one case to another.

A) variable
B) discriminant
C) unobtrusive measure
D) hypothesis
E) valency

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Jessica has decided to repeat Max's study of spousal abuse to test the findings. This process is known as:

A) reproduction.
B) validation.
C) replication.
D) reification.
E) verification.

Question 5

Phillip would like to collect information from a large number of people, but only has a limited budget. In order to sample a large number, but to keep the cost low, Phillip will most likely use _ as a research method.

A) structured interviews
B) unstructured interviews
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis
E) self-administered questionnaires

Question 6

Studying would be considered a legitimate topic for sociological research.

A) genetics
B) psychological dysfunction
C) physiological degeneration
D) people's disgusting or inappropriate behaviour
E) controlled experimental design

Question 7

Laud Humphrey's research focused on:

A) the behaviour of radical environmental groups.
B) anonymous sex among men in public restrooms.
C) the treatment of restaurant workers.
D) rape as an act of power.
E) homelessness in Toronto.

Question 8

After research is published, the research "belongs" to the scientific community and the findings are available for:

A) reification.
B) validation.
C) verification.
D) replication.
E) reproduction.

Question 9

Although establishing rapport with participants is an important concern for researchers, it can sometimes lead to the problem of:

A) "going native" or getting too close to participants.
B) invalidating the experiences of women and gay men.
C) discarding undesirable results.
D) a narrow focus on structured interviews.
E) a discrepancy between hypothesis and research method.

Question 10

Michael has conducted two studies and the results of his studies show very similar results. This is an example of:

A) plagiarism.
B) validity.
C) reliability.
D) duplication.
E) probability.

Question 11

John is developing an operational definition to measure the military strength of different nations. He is concerned that his operational definition actually measures what it is intended to measure. John is concerned about the:

A) accuracy of his hypothesis.
B) extent his measure varies from one case to the next.
C) reliability of his measure.
D) inter-rater consistency of his measures.
E) validity of his operational definitions.

Question 12

To be able to generalize your findings to a total population, it is important to select a sample that is:

A) convenient.
B) representative of the population.
C) stratified.
D) a binomial population sample.
E) valid and reliable.

Question 13

Max has formulated a hypothesis that men who are unemployed are more likely to abuse their wives than men that are employed. In this statement, unemployed and employed are termed:

A) operational definitions.
B) topics.
C) variables.
D) unobtrusive measures.
E) definitions.

Question 14

In a sample, everyone in the population has the same chance of being included in the study.

A) snowball
B) convenience
C) random
D) stratified
E) cluster

Question 15

Max is a graduate student in sociology. He has decided to research and find out if unemployment contributes to the problem of spousal abuse. After deciding on his topic and defining the problem, the next step in his research should be to:

A) choose a research method.
B) review the literature.
C) analyze the results.
D) select a topic.
E) collect the data.

Question 16

A[n] predicts a relationship between or among variables.

A) correlation coefficient
B) hypothesis
C) topical statement
D) assertion
E) operational definition

Question 17

Data are considered to be when the operational definitions measure what they are intended to measure.

A) hypothetical
B) reliable
C) valid
D) consistent
E) replicated

Question 18

If Frannie, a sociologist, wanted to know how many families decorated the outside of their homes at Christmas time in her town, she would most likely use which type of research method?

A) A survey
B) An experiment
C) Documents
D) Secondary analysis
E) Participant observation

Question 19

The term refers to the extent to which different studies come up with similar results.

A) duplication
B) validity
C) operationalizing
D) reliability
E) probability

Question 20

Max wants to test his hypothesis that unemployed men are more likely to commit spousal abuse than men who are employed. He is most likely to use a analysis to test his hypothesis.

A) descriptive
B) qualitative
C) variable
D) quantitative
E) discriminant

Question 21

Mark is conducting a study to determine if people will be receptive to a change in the widget that the Allerton Corporation is selling. His research is an example of:

A) evaluation research.
B) action research.
C) basic research.
D) clinical research.
E) marketing research.

Question 22

Fred has been hired to conduct consumer research for the Chrysler Corporation. They are interested in finding out if the population in Windsor prefers Chryslers or Toyotas. Fred has drawn his sample from the union membership lists of the Chrysler Corporation and has concluded that people in Windsor overwhelmingly prefer Chryslers to Toyotas. His research is an example of misrepresentation because Fred:

A) asked biased questions.
B) did not triangulate his methods.
C) listed biased choices.
D) discarded undesirable results.
E) chose a biased sample.

Question 23

Rik Scarce was put in jail for contempt of court because he refused to answer questions:

A) that would violate his agreement of confidentiality.
B) about himself and his work.
C) about topics related to the raid of research facilities.
D) about his personal involvement in ALF.
E) that were embarrassing to himself and his colleagues.

Question 24

Mattie has volunteered at the local crisis center. While she was participating as a volunteer, she was given permission to gather data on the number of women who report being abused and who later participated in counselling. Mattie is using as a method of gathering data.

A) participant observation
B) secondary analysis
C) structured interviews
D) archival research
E) content analysis

Question 25

Mario Brajuha refused to turn over his research notes to the authorities because:

A) it would reveal he had made up some of his data.
B) as an undocumented worker, he would be deported.
C) of the fear of being imprisoned.
D) he would be accused of plagiarism.
E) he wanted to protect his respondents.

Question 26

If a researcher finds that one variable always precedes the other variable, the preceding variable would be the variable and the variable that changes would be the variable.

A) experimental; control
B) primary; secondary
C) control; experiment
D) dependent; independent
E) independent; dependent

Question 27

Mark has been asked to conduct research on the number of military bases that exist in the United States. He needs the answer in a very short time and has little monetary resources to use to conduct the research. Which research method is he most likely to use?

A) Survey
B) Unobtrusive measures
C) Secondary analysis
D) Participant observation
E) Content analysis

Question 28

Steve and Naomi are counting the empty whiskey bottles in trash cans to measure the level of whiskey consumption in a town. These researchers are using the _ method of conducting research.

A) unobtrusive measures
B) survey research
C) participant observation
D) documents research
E) secondary analysis

Question 29

A number of sociologists thought that Laud Humphrey's research on tearooms was unethical because:

A) his study could not be replicated.
B) he did not identify himself to his subjects as a researcher.
C) his results were falsified.
D) he made up his data concerning tea consumption.
E) some of his writing had been plagiarized.

Question 30

If a researcher is using diaries to collect information about the attitudes of rape victims, he or she is using to collect data.

A) unstructured interviews
B) unobtrusive measures
C) documents
D) participant observation
E) secondary analysis

Question 31

"It is estimated that alcohol is the leading cause of car accidents. In contrast, marijuana accounts for less than 2 percent of the car accidents in Canada. Knowing this, in your opinion, should marijuana be legalized just like alcohol is legalized?" This is an example of a biased:

A) choice.
B) response.
C) sample.
D) question.
E) result.

Question 32

Although participant observation can provide detailed answers to some questions, one major problem with this research method in collecting data is with:

A) reliability.
B) validity.
C) spurious correlations.
D) generalizability.
E) alpha bias.

Question 33

If a researcher were to steal someone else's work, they would be guilty of:

A) false replication.
B) plagiarism.
C) betraying confidentiality.
D) nepotism.
E) falsifying the results.

Question 34

There are two advantages to using structured interviews. One advantage is that they are faster to administer; the other is that it is:

A) easier to code the answers.
B) easier to capture unanticipated variables.
C) a way for respondents to answer in their own words.
D) used to ask sensitive questions.
E) helpful in establishing rapport.

Question 35

If a researcher wishes to make certain that each question is asked in precisely the same way, they would use as the method of obtaining information.

A) experiments
B) interviews
C) unstructured conversation
D) participant observation
E) secondary analysis

Question 36

After reviewing the literature, Max has developed the hypothesis that the stress felt by unemployed men increased the probability of spousal abuse. Stress would be considered the variable and spousal abuse would be considered the variable.

A) dependent; control
B) primary; secondary
C) independent; dependent
D) independent; control
E) dependent; independent

Question 37

The refers to the change in behaviour that can occur when subjects know they are being studied.

A) Thomas theorem
B) Hawthorne effect
C) Peter principle
D) Humphrey's hypothesis
E) Henslin probability

Question 38

If an experiment were conducted to examine whether viewing pornography increased the likelihood of committing rape, the number of pornographic films viewed would be considered the variable.

A) influence
B) independent
C) dependent
D) control
E) experimental

Question 39

Toronto Homelessness Action Task Force, created by Mayor Mel Lastman, chose a to first count the homeless and second to suggest remedies.

A) random sample
B) snowball sample
C) statistical survey method
D) binomial population sample
E) multi-method approach

Question 40

Sociologists are interested in the broad features of society and social behaviour, or in the actual workings of a specific group in a natural setting. For this reason, they often use to collect their information.

A) experiments
B) obtrusive measures
C) participant observation
D) documents
E) surveys

Question 41

The practices and rituals around tattooing, piercing, and body painting would be of interest to sociologists.

Question 42

Sociological behaviour is based on common sense.

Question 43

A random sample is one in which:

A) everyone has a 50% chance of being selected.
B) only those who have a certain opinion are selected.
C) there is an even distribution of men and women.
D) selection is based on random categories.
E) everyone has an equal opportunity of being selected.

Question 44

A hypothesis is a statement of the expected relationship between variables according to predictions based on a theory.

Question 45

C. Wright Mills believed that:

A) research is of little value.
B) research without theory is of little value.
C) theory is of little value.
D) research should be atheoretical.
E) neither theory nor research is of any value because the social world can never be properly understood.

Question 46

usually occurs first in the research model.

A) Creating operational definitions
B) Reviewing the literature
C) Selecting a topic
D) Defining the problem
E) Formulating a hypothesis

Question 47

Any sociological study which uses mathematical formulas and statistics is likely to be:

A) an experiment.
B) ethnographic.
C) quantitative.
D) valid.
E) qualitative.

Question 48

Sociologists study human behaviour at both the macro and micro level.

Question 49

Reviewing the literature can help us to narrow down the problem by pinpointing particular areas to study.

Question 50

Validity is the extent to which different studies come up with similar results.

Question 51

Research ethics strictly forbid:

A) studying controversial topics.
B) using more than one method per study.
C) utilizing and citing only one source in a paper.
D) bringing harm to research subjects.
E) using more than one sample.

Question 52

would be a good example of a research variable.

A) Hockey
B) France
C) World War I
D) Age
E) The Great Depression

Question 53

Sociological research on violence confirms that strangers are responsible for most violence against women and children.

Question 54

A researcher who uses participant observation to study a group of people would most likely be employing:

A) secondary analysis.
B) quantitative research methods.
C) multiple regression analysis.
D) causal logic.
E) qualitative research methods.

Question 55

The first step in research is to conduct a literature review.

Question 56

In their research on convicted rapists, Diana Scully and Joseph Marolla discovered that:

A) most rapists would never rape again.
B) rapists are not sick or overwhelmed by uncontrollable urges.
C) rapists are emotionally different from other men.
D) most rapists are sick.
E) rapists are motivated by passion.

Question 57

Which of the following would be a good example of a valid sociological topic?

A) The study of brain waves in depressed people
B) The study of factors relating to divorce in Canada
C) A comparison of brain structures between men and women
D) The composition of a meteorite
E) The impact of steroids on athletic performance

Question 58

Operational definitions serve the purpose of:

A) choosing a research method.
B) controlling the dependent variable.
C) creating an appropriate research design.
D) establishing correlation.
E) measuring variables.

Question 59

If the funder of a research project is influencing the results of findings of that research, this would be a(n) problem.

A) methodological
B) reliability
C) ethical
D) correlation
E) logical

Question 60

Researchers who study people without their knowledge that they are being observed use which of the following methods?

A) Unobtrusive measures
B) Participant observation
C) Unstructured interviews
D) Secondary analysis
E) Obtrusive measures

Question 61

A random sample means that everyone in the population has the same chance of being included in the study.

Question 62

The marketing researcher uses quantitative research exclusively.

Question 63

Sociological research usually just verifies common notions about the way in which our world works.

Question 64

The goal of qualitative analysis is to observe, describe, and interpret people's behaviour.

Question 65

Early Canadian community studies utilized participant observation methods and focused on rural Quebec.

Question 66

An ethical sociological researcher will protect the anonymity of people who provide them with information.

Question 67

Sociologists do research on just about every area of human behaviour.

Question 68

When research is published it "belongs" to the scientific community and the findings are available for replication.

Question 69

Reliability is the extent to which operational definitions measure what they are intended to measure.

Question 70

One of the biggest problems with research using the participant observation method is that it is difficult to generalize the findings.

Question 71

Closed-ended questions may not include all the respondents' opinions and are, therefore, another source of potential research bias.

Question 72

Sociologists strive to ask questions that reduce bias.

Question 73

If research is conducted without theory, it is of little value and is simply a collection of unrelated facts.

Question 74

It is unimportant for researchers to worry about rapport with their respondents; it makes no difference to research results.

Question 75

In a table, the headnote will explain the topic of the table.

Question 76

Quantitative analysis involves crunching numbers.

Question 77

When we repeat a study to test the results, we are involved in duplication.

Question 78

Survey research is thought to be unreliable because it only involves samples of the population being studied.

Question 79

Secondary analysis is when the researcher conducts a second survey of the same population.

Question 80

Scully and Marolla found that most rapists were motivated to commit rape as a crime of passion.