Deck 2: Studying the Social World

Question 1

Choosing the right research method to study motivation and behavior is complicated even though people act in ways that are entirely consistent with their stated ideas and opinions.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Many of the most unresearchable questions imply a kind of causality that cannot be substantiated with accessible data.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Qualitative research relies on statistical analysis of data,whereas quantitative research relies on observations,words,or pictures as data.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Persons participating in a research survey or poll,who can be asked large numbers of questions,are called correspondents.

Question 5

Historical research has always been part of the sociological tradition.

Question 6

Income and education are very obvious examples of two social phenomena that "co-vary" with each other.

Question 7

All sociologists,regardless of preferred research method,tend to pay a great deal of attention to reliability and validity when collecting data.

Question 8

Sociology is unique within the social sciences in that it encompasses a wide range of acceptable research methods.

Question 9

Ethnographers enter the everyday lives of those they study in the hopes of understanding how the systematic study of ethnic identity can be an end in itself.

Question 10

As sociologists are social scientists,careful adherence to the scientific method is critical in all sociological research.

Question 11

What people say in an interview about what they do in a relationship may have nothing to do with how they really act.

Question 12

Sometimes sociologists decide that the best way to answer a research question is through a combination of different research methods.

Question 13

Some sociologists have theorized that,if incarcerated women are able to raise their children in prison,the end effect will be positive for mothers and for their offspring.

Question 14

Different types of researchers have different types of accessibility-to-data problems.

Question 15

According to the code of ethics of the American Sociological Association,sociologists have an obligation to ensure that confidential information obtained in research is protected.

Question 16

For a research question to have merit,it must be connected to existing social science literature.

Question 17

Narrowing and focusing research questions often simultaneously narrows them of their significance.

Question 18

If two sociological research projects study similar subjects but produce different findings,each study invalidates the other.

Question 19

Prisoners are not valid subjects for sociological research.

Question 20

Sociologists should never study subjects that they care about.

Question 21

The goal of social research is to __________.

A)confirm what researchers already know
B)shore up support for positions researchers already have
C)ask new and interesting questions about the world
D)find evidence that matches researchers' beliefs

Question 22

A positive correlation means that,as one variable increases (or decreases),the other variable does the opposite.

Question 23

How long have sociologists been studying the familial effects of maternal imprisonment?

A)Sociologists have only recently begun to research these effects.
B)Sociologists have been studying these effects for the last two decades.
C)Sociologists have been studying these effects for the past 50 years.
D)Sociologists have been studying these effects since the inception of the discipline.

Question 24

Sociologists who claim to be skeptical about the ability of researchers to discern cause and effect in our complex world are expressing a(n)__________ difference with sociologists who insist that they can indeed figure out what causes our world to work as it does.

A)professional
B)epistemological
C)socio-political
D)theoretical

Question 25

Which of the following definitions best defines ethnography?

A)Ethnography is the study of everyday lives in hopes of understanding how those being studied navigate and give meaning to their social worlds.
B)Ethnography is the systematic study of ethnicity and racial heritage for the purpose of understanding social identities.
C)Ethnography is the statistical study of a person's day-to-day activity.
D)Ethnography is the study of a culture dramatically different from one's own in order better to understand one's own culture.

Question 26

24 The amount of work involved in data analysis is very consistent across research methods and projects.

Question 27

A __________ is a sociologist who believes that the only true way to gain knowledge about the world is to use the logic of natural science.

A)positivist
B)interpretivist
C)functionalist
D)structuralist

Question 28

Research memos,for those who think verbally,can serve a very similar purpose to data displays.

Question 29

There are 50 welfare states in the United States,with each state determining the form and focus of its specific welfare program.

Question 30

Which of the following questions is one of the six questions that sociologists should ask to determine the merit and feasibility of a research question?

A)Is the question clear?
B)Is the question interesting?
C)Is the question applicable to interdisciplinary analysis?
D)Is the question revealing of true values?

Question 31

What percentage of incarcerated American women have children under the age of 18?

A)15 percent
B)50 percent
C)70 percent
D)90 percent

Question 32

According to Haney's account of her time in a women's prison that also housed the children of its inmates,how did incarceration impact those children?

A)The children were undernourished and miserable.
B)The children were well fed,well cared for,and well educated,and they had plenty of playmates.
C)The children suffered psychologically from the loss of privacy and from the lack of father figures.
D)The children were eventually separated from their mothers,because the mommy/baby prison program was terminated at the order of the governor of California.

Question 33

Sociologists decide what to research and what questions to ask once they are familiar with __________.

A)what other sociologists have already discovered
B)what sources of funding are available
C)what mainstream Americans believe about sociologists
D)what expenses they are likely to incur

Question 34

Qualitative research relies on __________.

A)interviews or surveys
B)words,observations,or pictures
C)statistical analysis of data
D)extended cases

Question 35

What is epistemology?

A)Epistemology refers to the set of research methods used by a researcher.
B)Epistemology refers to a researcher's outlook on what can and cannot be known about the world.
C)Epistemology is a subdivision of sociology that focuses on social inequality.
D)Epistemology refers to the ethical code that all sociologists must abide by,

Question 36

After a statistical study of the rearrest records of women who had served their sentences in mommy/baby prisons,what did researchers find?

A)Mommy/baby prisons proved completely ineffective.
B)Inmates of mommy/baby prisons had slightly lower repeat arrest rates than conventionally imprisoned women.
C)Inmates of mommy/baby prisons had slightly higher repeat arrest rates than conventionally imprisoned women.
D)Over 90 percent of inmates of mommy/baby prisons had not been rearrested.

Question 37

Like anthropologists,sociologists are most likely to conduct their fieldwork among foreign cultures.

Question 38

Quantitative research relies on __________.

A)interviews or surveys
B)words,observations,or pictures
C)statistical analysis of data
D)extended cases

Question 39

Sociologists make a distinction between __________ epistemologies.

A)realist and surrealist
B)modernist and postmodernist
C)Neolithic and Cretaceous
D)positivist and interpretivist

Question 40

Good research questions are both __________ and __________.

A)feasible;broad
B)feasible;cross-sectional
C)feasible;uncharted
D)feasible;sociologically relevant

Question 41

Like epistemological orientations,sociologists use __________ as conceptual frameworks to imagine and make sense of the world.

A)frames of reference
B)research methods
C)theoretical traditions
D)codes of ethics

Question 42

According to the code of ethics of the American Sociological Association,sociologists have a duty to be __________.

A)competent and confidential
B)competent and competitive
C)confidential and caring
D)confidential and cost-conscious

Question 43

What role do values play in sociological research?

A)Values have no part in shaping the research interests of sociologists.
B)Values influence sociologists' research questions,but they do not determine findings.
C)Values determine findings almost exclusively in sociological research.
D)Values have very little influence on sociologists' research questions,but they impact findings in significant,albeit hidden,ways.

Question 44

__________ formed the research team responsible for the __________.

A)Craig Haney and Phillip Zimbardo;Stanford Prison Experiment
B)Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti;Stanford Prison Experiment
C)Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles;Milgram Electro-Shock Study
D)Michael Foucault and Liam Gallagher;Milgram Electro-Shock Study

Question 45

Which of the following statements about values and sociological research is true?

A)Sociologists' values may influence their research questions,but do not determine their findings.
B)Sociologists must not let their values determine any aspect of their research.
C)It is the duty of the sociologist to remember her values in determining findings.
D)Values are irrelevant in all aspects of sociological research.

Question 46

How do sociological researchers define the term dependent variable?

A)A dependent variable is the aspect of the hypothesis that researchers expect will have a positive correlation to other variables under study.
B)A dependent variable is the aspect of the hypothesis that researchers expect to fluctuate in relation to other variables under study.
C)A dependent variable is a variable that is artificially created by researchers to simulate real-life situations.
D)A dependent variable is a variable that does not exist in real life.

Question 47

In a hypothesis about crime that makes a causal claim that an increase in the level of inequality in society will result in an increase in the crime rate in that society,__________ is the independent variable.

A)the crime rate
B)the level of equality
C)the level of inequality
D)the ratio of crime to inequality

Question 48

Along with informed consent,what other ethical obligation do sociologists have regarding their professional responsibilities and conduct?

A)They must disclose their epistemological orientations.
B)They must disclose their identity as researchers.
C)They must disclose their theoretical traditions.
D)They must disclose the true identities of their subjects.

Question 49

In a hypothesis about crime that makes a causal claim that an increase in the level of inequality in society will result in an increase in the crime rate in that society,__________ is the dependent variable.

A)the crime rate
B)the level of equality
C)the level of inequality
D)the ratio of crime to inequality

Question 50

What does it mean to operationalize a research question?

A)Operationalizing is finding out how research subjects will behave under test conditions.
B)Operationalizing is testing the research question to find out if it will work.
C)Operationalizing is determining the operations and techniques to be used to assess a research question's key concepts.
D)Operationalizing is making agreements with publishers to produce copies of research study results.

Question 51

For which of the following reasons do sociologists and other social scientists abide by codes of ethics?

A)Government regulations require all sociologists to abide by these standards.
B)Given the nature of their research,social scientists must commit to do no harm to those they study.
C)Codes of ethics are formalities and not actually in use among practicing sociologists.
D)Scientists,as a group,tend to be highly competitive and have always readily endorsed the usefulness of such codes in keeping other scientists in check.

Question 52

__________ see themselves as the interpreters of other people's own interpretations.

A)Positivists
B)Conflict theorists
C)Modernists
D)Interpretivists

Question 53

Informed consent has two components.Research participants must understand that their participation is __________ and based on a full understanding of possible risks and benefits involved.

A)compensated
B)not compensated
C)voluntary
D)involuntary

Question 54

Which of the following men is NOT considered a prominent social science theorist?

A)Max Weber
B)George Orwell
C)Karl Marx
D)Michel Foucault

Question 55

Artificial situations that allow sociologists to watch how people respond to them are known as __________.

A)social experiments
B)social surveys
C)ethnographies
D)social interactions

Question 56

Which statement is true regarding sociologists' epistemological tendencies?

A)Most sociologists make their epistemological orientations obvious.
B)Most sociologists do not often discuss their epistemological orientations.
C)It is considered uncouth to talk about one's epistemological orientation.
D)Sociologists cannot be said to have epistemological orientations.

Question 57

In hindsight,what was the primary flaw of the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted in the 1970s?

A)Confidentiality of the participants was violated.
B)The experiment inflicted harm on its participants.
C)The researchers lacked professional competence.
D)The study did not draw on a proper sample.

Question 58

An independent variable is predicted to__________.

A)exist separate from other variables
B)correlate positively with other variables
C)fluctuate in relation to other variables
D)invalidate the research question

Question 59

What is an institutional review board?

A)a body that reviews colleges to assure that institutions sustain viable research
B)a body that reviews researchers' proposals before work begins in order to assess potential harm and possible benefits to participants
C)a body that certifies participants for research study inclusion
D)a body of sociologists that decides which research questions should be officially endorsed by the American Sociological Association

Question 60

Conflicts of interest arise when sociologists' __________ interests prevent them from performing their professional work in an unbiased manner.

A)personal or confidential
B)financial or philosophical
C)epistemological or theoretical
D)personal or financial

Question 61

In terms of survey research,what is a respondent?

A)an individual who fills out a survey
B)an individual who conducts a survey
C)an individual who is being studied in a survey
D)an individual who is excluded from a survey

Question 62

Why is studying motivation difficult?

A)Simply looking at behavior doesn't allow researchers to say much about motivation.
B)People act in largely consistent ways,making distinguishing among possible motivators difficult to discern.
C)Reading motivations from actions takes years of practice.
D)Rapport building,necessary to motivational studies,is expensive and time consuming.

Question 63

When research questions have more to do with how people interact and less with how they say they interact,what research method is usually best?

A)a survey
B)in-depth interviews
C)ethnographic observation
D)a social experiment

Question 64

When research questions center on patterns of behavior among large groups,what research method is usually best?

A)a survey
B)in-depth interviews
C)ethnographic observation
D)a social experiment

Question 65

What is the first step in the scientific method?

A)seek outside opinions
B)collect data
C)formulate a hypothesis
D)operationalize variables

Question 66

Researchers whose research questions entail important time dimensions are likely to use which research method?

A)demographic analysis
B)comparative-historical perspective
C)survey
D)ethnography

Question 67

54 When is longitudinal data desirable?

A)when studying a group of people who are hard to contact
B)when studying a sample via survey over a prolonged period of time
C)when studying a population that is spread out geographically
D)when studying a group that historically provides unreliable data

Question 68

In the classic comparative-historical study The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,Max Weber found that __________.

A)Protestant ideology encouraged the suppression of workers for the benefit of early capitalists
B)capitalism was unknown in Europe until after the advent of Protestantism
C)Protestants,who tended to be better educated,were also more financially responsible than members of other faiths
D)certain Protestant ideologies embraced capitalism and contributed to an individual's financial success

Question 69

What is a spurious relationship?

A)an apparent relationship among three or more variables having causal relationships with each other
B)an apparent relationship between two factors that has the appearance of linkage but,in reality,does not
C)an apparent relationship between two factors with an established causal relationship
D)an apparent relationship between two variables for which a causal link has yet to be established

Question 70

Which of the following is NOT a type of data sampling used by sociologists?

A)probability sampling
B)gambit sampling
C)random sampling
D)representative sampling

Question 71

Which of the following is NOT a widely used sociological research method?

A)interviews
B)surveys
C)historical research
D)social manipulation

Question 72

When research questions are about the thought processes that lead people to have certain opinions,what research method is usually best?

A)a survey
B)in-depth interviews
C)ethnographic observation
D)a social experiment

Question 73

In order to be deemed reliable,the results of a scientific study must be able to be __________.

A)replicated
B)rescinded
C)recycled
D)replaced

Question 74

What are cross-national comparisons?

A)a type of historical analysis that focuses on explaining differences between countries
B)a type of survey that compares people from one part of a country with people who lived there at earlier points in history
C)a type of demographic study that compares ethnic or racial groups in a single neighborhood
D)a research methodology that combines features of different research methods into one

Question 75

Data from which research method arguably takes the longest to acquire?

A)comparative-historical data
B)ethnographic data
C)survey data
D)experimental data

Question 76

How is historical research best conducted?

A)by surveying large numbers of people and comparing the responses of different groups
B)by talking directly to a subsample of people
C)by observing historical reenactments
D)by looking at records and documents about different groups of people from other times and places

Question 77

Information on size,structure,or distribution of a population is called __________ data

A)demographic
B)democratic
C)demonstrative
D)dependable

Question 78

In Theda Skocpol's study of revolutionary France,Russia,and China,which of the following factors did she identify as a condition necessary for revolution to occur?

A)stability in governing institutions,but widespread unrest among peasants
B)availability of revolutionary literature
C)international pressure,either from failed wars or financial problems
D)stability among the peasant class,but crisis in governing institutions

Question 79

Why do researchers use representative sampling versus random sampling?

A)Representative sampling is considered more scientific than random sampling.
B)Representative sampling is faster and easier than random sampling.
C)Random sampling requires lists of entire populations,which researchers may not have access to.
D)Random sampling,it is universally acknowledged,is reliable only 50 percent of the time.

Question 80

What type of research method uses standardized sets of questions asked of large groups of people?

A)interviews
B)quantitative data analyses
C)surveys
D)experiments