Deck 4: Planning a Research Project

Question 1

Before the 1970s,

A) few studies focused on women.
B) gender was a primary focus in social sciences.
C) sexuality was a major research concern.
D) age segregation was fully studied.
E) all of these.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is a researchable question?

A) Is the death penalty moral?
B) Is high academic achievement in high school related to academic success in college?
C) Is ketchup or mustard better on hamburgers?
D) all of these are researchable questions.
E) none of these are researchable questions.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Although researchers may be pleased to receive funding for their research,this may prove troublesome because

A) funders may not impose controls on researchers.
B) funders may impose limitations on the topics under investigation and the release of research findings.
C) funders may only support research that interests them in pursuit of social and political ends.
D) funders may impose limitations on the topics under investigation and the release of research findngs as well as only support research that interests them in pursuit of social and political ends.
E) none of these

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Researchers

A) always complete the literature review before collecting data.
B) examine existing literature to develop their own research questions and hypotheses.
C) write their literature reviews after they collect data.
D) find that a review of literature is essential at some point in the research process.
E) none of these.

Question 5

Research questions can be about

A) local or global governments.
B) individuals or organizations.
C) entire society.
D) local or global governments as well as entire society.
E) all of these.

Question 6

We can expect that the interest in certain topics will change over time.This is due to

A) different sources of funding.
B) changing political, social, and economic elements.
C) changing personal factors.
D) all of these.
E) none of these.

Question 7

Research questions are questions about topics that can be answered through

A) research.
B) access to funding.
C) social change.
D) significant cost.
E) observation

Question 8

Martha is a researcher who grew up in poverty and has struggled to be upwardly mobile in her career.Her research questions now center on the experiences and struggles of those currently in poverty.Because of her background,
Martha should be make sure her research is

A) feasible
B) funded
C) publishable
D) value free
E) centered on personal factors

Question 9

Scott believes that the higher a student's GPA in the freshmen year,the more likely he or she will be to graduate
From college in four years.This is an example of a

A) research question.
B) hypothesis.
C) feasibility study.
D) sociological concept.
E) literature review.

Question 10

What influences the amount of research on a particular topic?

A) the individual interest of researchers
B) change in society
C) funding sources
D) current event
E) all of these influence the amount of research on a particular topic

Question 11

Professor Kent is very interested in investigating whether the parenting styles of single fathers and single mothers differ with respect to modeling of sex roles for children.Professor Kent has recently become a single father of two young children.Is this a researchable and feasible question?

A) This is not researchable because Professor Kent is not likely to be value-free.
B) This is a researchable question because it is answerable through research and feasible if Kent can gain access to the population and find time and money to support the study.
C) This is not a researchable question because it is not possible to design a way to study this in the real world and it is not feasible because it is unlikely that parents would let researchers have access to this data.
D) This is a researchable question because many people have already investigated this topic and it is feasible because single parents are usually eager to participate in research.
E) This is a researchable question because a sampling frame does exist of single parent mothers and fathers in the United States.

Question 12

How has research responded to social and environmental crises,such as unemployment and hurricanes?

A) research has not responded to these issues
B) there is no definitive conclusion to how research has been affected by these issues
C) research on these specific issues is increasing
D) sociologists have no specific interests in environmental crises
E) none of these are true

Question 13

A research article has all of the following except

A) a literature review.
B) an abstract.
C) conclusions.
D) references.
E) a list of funding sources.

Question 14

A researchable question must be feasible.Which of the following is not an element of feasibility?

A) It must be possible to get access to the information needed for the study.
B) There must be sufficient time to do the study.
C) There must be a grant to support the investigation.
D) There must be resources to do the research even if there are minimal costs associated with it.
E) all of these are elements of feasibility.

Question 15

The reason that Michele Hoffnung undertook her research was because

A) she felt alienated from her job and wanted to understand whether dual career families experienced high levels of stress.
B) she was a working mother and was interested in learning how young women balanced work and family demands.
C) there was an opportunity to apply for a large research grant to support the investigation.
D) although she had no personal interest in the topic, she thought that the topic of working mothers was a very important social issue.
E) none of these.

Question 16

In searching for literature that is relevant to your topic,it is useful to

A) use keywords.
B) rely on academic indexes.
C) confine your interest to a well-researched topic as early as possible in the study design.
D) use keywords and rely on academic indexes.
E) all of these.

Question 17

Values,,and personal factors are three sources of research topics.

A) changing social and political climate
B) intellectual curiosity
C) the availability of funding
D) changing social and political climate as well as intellectual curiosity
E) intellectual curiosity as well as the availability of funding

Question 18

The value of a good literature search is that

A) it helps insure that you are not duplicating the work that has already been done by another researcher.
B) it is an easy way to do your bibliography.
C) it helps broaden your research question.
D) it provides an overview of the current state of research and narrows your inquiry.
E) it helps you see which research to duplicate.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a common source for finding academic materials for a literature review?

A) internet search
B) books
C) articles
D) government documents
E) all of these are common sources for finding materials for a literature review

Question 20

Real research is

A) well organized and methodical.
B) messy.
C) full of false starts.
D) formal.
E) messy and full of false starts.

Question 21

Which of the following would be difficult to access for the purposes of research?

A) homeless people
B) aggregate Census data
C) school teachers
D) vital records
E) past court case files

Question 22

Until recently,all research was considered to be value free.

Question 23

Exploratory research typically starts with research questions; explanatory research typically starts with hypotheses.

Question 24

If a researcher has access to the population and the time to do the study,but lacks funds to pursue the research question,

A) her study is not feasible.
B) she has not designed a researchable question.
C) she has most likely overlooked an important part of the literature search.
D) she must reconsider her hypothesis.
E) her research is feasible.

Question 25

The time it takes to complete all stages of a research project from the planning stages to the final report is referred to as

A) obtaining access
B) finishing report
C) publishing results
D) time expenditures
E) feasibility studies

Question 26

Research costs include

A) salaries
B) pre-testing data costs
C) equipment costs
D) data collection costs
E) all of these

Question 27

Some research is likely to be quite expensive while other research can be conducted with few costs.Of the following,which study design is likely to be the least costly?

A) using available data from a library
B) distributing a mail questionnaire once to a convenience sample
C) a multi-site investigation conducted over a period of several years
D) in person interviews
E) focus groups

Question 28

A complete literature review includes reviewing a sample of readily available research.

Question 29

Most current research is based primarily on personal interest alone.

Question 30

A researchable question is usually one that other researchers have already explored.

Question 31

It is essential that researchers be "value free" in order to conduct credible research.

Question 32

Personal interest in a topic is often a very good basis for investment of time and energy in research.

Question 33

Gaining access to data means

A) getting permission to use data from public records.
B) the ability to obtain information to conduct the study.
C) the various costs associated with the research.
D) the time it will take to complete the project.
E) none of the above.

Question 34

Peer-reviewed journals include articles that have been evaluated by content experts before publication.

Question 35

Some topics may be interesting and important,but gaining access to the population may be very difficult.Which of the following presents the greatest obstacles?

A) college students living in a dormitory
B) individuals who are members of a bowling league
C) children who are hospitalized for minor illness
D) individuals who are members of a secret cult
E) singles who go on a singles' cruise

Question 36

The selection of a research question is often the result of many factors.Which of the following is not one of these factors?

A) personal interests, experiences, values, and passions
B) the desire to satisfy scientific curiosity
C) lack of previous research on a specific topic
D) feasibility for the study
E) all of these factor into the selection of a research question

Question 37

Which of the following is not a feasible research question?

A) What kinds of jobs to college students with degrees in Sociology get after they graduate?
B) Does parental divorce have long-term effects on children?
C) Do students who take internships while in school get better jobs upon graduation compared to those who do not take internships?
D) What is the social and psychological impact of the use of the cell phone?
E) Does the death penalty have an impact on crime rate?

Question 38

"What impact do cell phones have on society?" This is an example of a researchable question.

Question 39

A student in Professor Smith's class is interested in which students in his class are likely to graduate from college.The student would like to identify students with high GPAs,average GPAs,and low GPAs and then track them through their undergraduate careers by sending them questionnaires to answer.Which is likely to be the biggest challenge to feasibility the student is likely to face?

A) lack of adequate theory to explain differences
B) lack of access
C) lack of funds to support the work
D) lack of time to complete the study
E) both lack of funds to support the work and lack of time to complete the study

Question 40

A hypothesis is a testable relationship between how two variables are related.

Question 41

A researcher is interested in whether that number of single fathers has increased over the past twenty years.What keywords might you use to search for sources? Where might you begin your search?

Question 42

Describe how funding sources may influence whether research is value free.

Question 43

Keywords are terms and concepts of interest; they are helpful when finding sources for a literature review.

Question 44

A datakeeper can help researchers either gain access or permission to do a study; they can also deny the researcher access or permission as well.

Question 45

A review of existing research helps to put current research into context.

Question 46

Research typically has higher research costs than time expenditures.

Question 47

Describe how the social,political,and economic world influences research.

Question 48

What conditions determine whether a study is feasible?

Question 49

An abstract is a summary of the research article that includes the major arguments and conclusions.

Question 50

What are the purposes of conducting a literature review?