Deck 2: Methods and History of Gender Research

Question 1

How does the scientific method used to study gender rest on empiricism?

Answer 1

Empiricism is the idea that data are gathered through one's senses. With the scientific method, data are collected and analyzed to make statements. These statements are used to develop theories and generate hypotheses

Question 2

Can correlation imply causation? Why or why not?

Answer 2

Correlation cannot imply causation. Correlation can only show a relationship between two variables, but cannot claim that one variable causes the other. Because both variables are assessed at the same time, it is not clear which variable is the cause and which variable is the effect. There also is the possibility of the presence of a third variable affecting the variables being measured.

Question 3

Why are the concepts of random selection and random assignment important?

Answer 3

Random selection ensures that every member of the population has an equal chance of being a participant in order to make the study generalizable to the population being studied. Random assignment gives each participant an equal chance of being assigned to each condition so that the groups within each condition are comparable to the others, except in terms of the independent variable.

Question 4

What is the difference between a subject variable and a target variable?

Question 5

How can an experimenter's beliefs lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy and how can this be avoided?

Question 6

How can participants affect the outcomes of a study?

Question 7

What is the difference between a mediator variable and a moderator variable? Give an example of each.

Question 8

What was innovative about the BSRI and the PAQ scales?

Question 9

What is the difference between someone who is sex-typed versus someone who is cross sex-typed?

Question 10

Explain the concepts of unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion.

Question 11

What is gender-role strain and what are the two theories of gender-role strain?

Question 12

What are the traits defining hegemonic masculinity?

Question 13

What is precarious masculinity?

Question 14

Do you believe that gender roles are more rigid for women or men in our society? Why?

Question 15

What were the conclusions of each historical period in gender studies?

Question 16

Which of the following is not an example of a scientific theory?

A) The social role theory
B) Intelligent design
C) The theory of relativity
D) The theory of evolution

Question 17

What is one way the experimenter can influence the results of a study?

A) The design of the study
B) Participant selection
C) Data collection
D) All of the above

Question 18

Which is a way to reduce demand characteristics?

A) Asking questions that encourage socially desirable answers
B) Keeping the experimenter's sex constant
C) Make participant responses private and confidential
D) All of the above

Question 19

One disadvantage of laboratory studies is:

A) Low internal validity
B) Low external validity
C) High internal validity
D) Presence of confounding variables

Question 20

What is the best way to describe the following study:
A scientist wants to better understand the relationship between gender-role strain and physical health. Participants are rated on gender-role strain using a reputable scale and then given a health questionnaire every other month for a year. It was found that an increase in gender-role strain is associated with a decrease in physical health.

A) Cross-sectional experimental
B) Longitudinal field experiment
C) Longitudinal correlational
D) Cross-sectional correlational

Question 21

What is the independent variable in the study in question 5?

A) Physical health
B) Gender-role strain
C) Sex
D) How closely the participant sex matches their gender role

Question 22

What is the dependent variable in the study in question 5?

A) Physical health
B) Gender-role strain
C) Sex
D) How closely the participant sex matches their gender role

Question 23

In a study comparing testosterone with aggression levels, it is later realized that some of the participants had been watching a wrestling match on the waiting room prior to measuring their baseline testosterone levels. This may have affected their baseline result. What is this called?

A) Conflicting condition
B) Control
C) Confounding variable
D) Cohort effects

Question 24

If increased levels of testosterone lead to increased levels of aggression, this a _________ correlation.

A) Perfect
B) Zero
C) Negative
D) Positive

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT part of female gender-role strain?

A) Fear of success
B) Fear of victimization
C) Fear of physical unattractiveness
D) Fear of not being nurturing

Question 26

Which of the following statements regarding random selection is true?

A) Random selection is not that important to external validity
B) Random selection is fairly easy to achieve
C) Participant pools at universities are a good way to achieve random selection
D) Random selection is difficult to achieve and rarely employed

Question 27

Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the strongest association between two variables?

A) +0.50
B) -0.02
C) -0.89
D) +0.74

Question 28

What is the best way to eliminate potential confounding variables?

A) Random assignment
B) Random selection
C) Assigning a subject variable
D) Designing a cross-sectional study

Question 29

Which of the following has the highest internal and external validity?

A) Correlational study
B) Experimental study
C) Field experiment
D) Longitudinal study

Question 30

What is the purpose of meta-analysis?

A) Change a study from correlational to experimental
B) Change a study from experimental to correlational
C) Eliminate experimenter and participant effects
D) Synthesize the findings of multiple studies

Question 31

Research is typically correlational when sex is a ___________ and experimental when sex is a ____________.

A) Target variable, subject variable
B) Subject variable, target variable
C) Independent variable, dependent variable
D) Dependent variable, independent variable

Question 32

Which is a good way to eliminate a self-fulfilling prophecy from occurring in an experiment?

A) Random assignment
B) Controlling for cohort effects vs. age effects
C) Using an experimenter who is blind to the purpose of the study
D) Decreasing sample size

Question 33

Which of the following was a weakness of the M/F scales:

A) Homosexual men were equated to feminine women
B) The tests did not distinguish between levels of masculinity or femininity
C) All scales were bipolar
D) All of the above

Question 34

Which scales are most commonly used to measure masculinity and femininity today?

A) The BSRI and PAQ
B) The MMPI and the BSRI
C) The MMPI and the PAQ
D) The M/F scale and the MMPI

Question 35

What is the Implicit Association Test based on?

A) Instrumental vs. expressive orientations
B) Androgyny
C) Gender roles
D) Reaction times

Question 36

Which of the following best matches someone classified as androgynous:

A) High number of masculine traits, low number of feminine traits
B) Low number of masculine traits, low number of feminine traits
C) High number of masculine traits, high number of feminine traits
D) Low number of masculine traits, high number of feminine traits

Question 37

How do social constructionists view gender?

A) Gender is on a bipolar plane, either masculine or feminine
B) Gender is made up of two independent dimensions, everyone has a measure of masculinity and femininity
C) Gender is the cause of an interaction
D) Gender is the effect of an interaction

Question 38

Which of the following is true about hegemonic masculinity:

A) The main goal is to legitimize male dominance
B) Most men display this form of masculinity
C) It is not commonly seen in the media
D) It is accepting of other forms of masculinity

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a health or relational outcome of male gender-role strain?

A) Increased sexual aggression
B) Less positive attitudes towards condoms
C) Greater emotionality
D) Less relationship satisfaction