Deck 2: Studying White Collar Crime and Assessing Its Cost

Question 1

The methodology that provides a concrete, rich understanding of the dynamics and realities of a particular white collar crime case is the:

A) experiment
B) survey
C) case study
D) analysis of official data

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The pattern of media coverage of antitrust cases at different points in time calls for what type of research method?

A) Secondary data analysis
B) Archival data analysis
C) Content analysis
D) Journalistic analysis

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The positivistic approach to the study of white collar crime is associated with:

A) the use of the scientific method
B) a perspective drawn broadly from the humanities
C) an optimistic view that the white collar crime problem can be solved
D) postmodernist deconstruction

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is not an example of secondary data?

A) Regulatory agency records of actions taken against corporations.
B) Federal court records on sentencing of white collar offenders.
C) Transcript records of a researcher's interviews with convicted white collar offenders.
D) FBI records of arrests for embezzlement.

Question 5

Tracy and Fox's study of fraudulent claims to insurance companies submitted by auto-body repair shops is an example of:

A) a laboratory experiment
B) a field experiment
C) a natural experiment
D) a dependent experiment

Question 6

Which of the following is not a problem when relying upon regulatory agency data?

A) The agencies have a good deal of discretionary leeway in defining and responding to offenses
B) The offenses dealt with by the agencies are more typically conventional rather than white collar.
C) Corporations and organizations rather than individuals tend to be the primary focus of regulatory agencies
D) The agencies are not organized to track offenders over time

Question 7

Archival data is often obtained through:

A) break-ins
B) employees stealing documents
C) the Freedom of Information Act
D) piecing shredded documents back together

Question 8

Which of the following is not a limitation of "journalistic" research on white collar crime?

A) Biases towards sensational cases
B) The inability of journalists to collect and analyze data
C) Lack of representativeness
D) Pressure to meet deadlines

Question 9

The methodology that has been least readily applied to the study of white collar crime is the:

A) experiment
B) survey
C) case study
D) analysis of official data

Question 10

Surveys would be least helpful in the study of:

A) attitudes toward the punishment of white collar offenders
B) personal patterns of involvement with white collar offenses
C) characteristics of corporations convicted of white collar offenses
D) rationales for justice system responses to white collar offenders

Question 11

Problems of _____ may be intensified in the study of white collar crime if researchers are drawn to the field by moral outrage.

A) validity
B) subjectivity
C) objectivity
D) originality

Question 12

The factor least likely to be involved in interviewing powerful people is:

A) accommodating time constraints
B) resolving confidentiality concerns
C) establishing empathy and credibility
D) regional identity

Question 13

The type of crime regarded as least serious by the general public is:

A) manufacturing unsafe products
B) selling contaminated food
C) antitrust violations
D) illegal price fixing

Question 14

Since the 1970s, the unit of analysis in white collar crime studies has increasingly shifted from the:

A) organization to the individual
B) individual to the organization
C) state to the individual
D) individual to the state

Question 15

A principal value of the experimental method is its:

A) representativeness
B) external validity
C) control
D) longitudinal dimensions

Question 16

The results of Milgram's experiment on authority suggested that:

A) people dislike being given orders
B) middle class people are less likely to obey authority than lower class people
C) ordinary people will do something harmful or unethical if ordered to do so by legitimate authority
D) most people will disobey orders to do something harmful or unethical

Question 17

To obtain the cooperation of an organization such as a corporation in a research project on corporate crime, the research proposal must generally:

A) be presented in a non-threatening way
B) incorporate a framework and terminology familiar to the organization
C) be seen as having some potential benefit or "payoff" for the organization
D) all of the above

Question 18

The Uniform Crime Report is least useful as a source of information on which of the following?

A) Burglary
B) Low-level fraud
C) Assault
D) Corporate securities fraud

Question 19

Methodological problems with seriousness of crime studies include all but which of the following?

A) Use of different measures of wrongdoing
B) Use of different types of seriousness scales
C) Over-reporting of fraud
D) Use of different sampling techniques

Question 20

The existence of extensive archival data is probably least likely to be present in:

A) state crime cases
B) governmental corruption cases
C) corporate crime cases
D) organized crime cases

Question 21

Which of the following is not one of the physical costs of white collar crime?

A) Death and injury from environmental pollution
B) Injuries to employers assaulted by disgruntled employees
C) Health problems developed by workers due to unsafe working conditions
D) Injuries to consumers due to purchase of unsafe produces

Question 22

Which of the following would be an indirect victim of white collar crime?
A) An employer whose employees have embezzled significant sums from the company

A) An employee who suffers serious health problems after her employer illegally fails to implement safety measures
B) The patient of a physician who performed an unnecessary operation on him
C) A welfare client whose services are cut after the state welfare department is defrauded by a private corporation

Question 23

More than _____ Americans die each year as a result of work-related diseases and accidents.

A) 3,000,000
B) 3,000
C) 300,000
D) 30,000

Question 24

Losses to ordinary workers and investors as a consequence of the collapse of Enron alone were estimated at up to:

A) $100 million
B) $1 billion
C) $10 billion
D) $50 billion

Question 25

Which of the following is not an indirect cost of one form of employee crime?

A) Surveillance of employees
B) Higher prices
C) Inventory shrinkage
D) More insurance

Question 26

The economic cost of white collar crime is roughly _____ times greater than that of conventional crime.

A) 2 to 5
B) 5 to 10
C) 10 to 50
D) 50 to 100

Question 27

The economic loss from a white collar crime is least likely to be based upon an assessment of:

A) original cost
B) current market value
C) replacement cost
D) future value

Question 28

The concept of "crime victim" has been most readily applied to victims of:

A) racism
B) white collar crime
C) conventional predatory crime
D) organized crime

Question 29

In which of the following roles is the average person least likely to be the victim of a crime?

A) Employee
B) Co-worker
C) Consumer
D) Taxpayer

Question 30

Government sources estimated that criminal activity was involved in approximately _____ of the 1980s savings and loan insolvencies.

A) 10-20%
B) 40-50%
C) 70-80%
D) 100%

Question 31

Police departments report conventional crimes to the FBI, but do not
systematically tabulate or report white collar crimes.

Question 32

It is impossible to compel powerful people and institutions to cooperate with a
white collar crime research project.

Question 33

Which of the following is not a way in which white collar crime typically differs from conventional crime?

A) A more gradual realization of victimization
B) A reduced likelihood of direct physical confrontation
C) A greater likelihood of cynicism as a response
D) Less substantial losses

Question 34

Which of the following data sources indicates the highest level of individual involvement with any type of criminal behavior, including white collar offenses?

A) The Uniform Crime Report
B) The National Crime Survey
C) Self-report surveys
D) Regulatory agency offense statistics

Question 35

The lowest level of total economic loss in a given year is most likely to be associated with:

A) fraud
B) burglary and robbery
C) identity theft
D) workplace theft

Question 36

According to the victimization survey conducted by the National White Collar Crime Center in 2005, how many of the individuals surveyed reported having been victims of some form of white collar crime in the previous year?

A) Half
B) Three quarters
C) One third
D) One fifth

Question 37

The humanistic approach to studying white collar crime assumes that the subject
can be studied "scientifically."

Question 38

Laws and regulations prohibiting a wide range of corporate activities have been blamed for all but which of the following?

A) Putting American corporations at a competitive disadvantage relative to foreign corporations
B) Costing American taxpayers money
C) Putting the lives of American workers in greater jeopardy
D) Deterring qualified people from serving in public office

Question 39

White collar crime is a sociological phenomenon, and accordingly other
disciplines have little to contribute to our understanding of it.

Question 40

In more recent years the unit of analysis in the study of white collar crime has
increasingly shifted from the organization to the individual.

Question 41

The records of official agencies provide the best type of information on white
collar offenders because they are completely objective and unbiased.

Question 42

Due to the complexity of the subject matter, college students cannot be expected
to play any role in carrying out research on white collar crime.

Question 43

Many studies indicate that the perception of white collar crime as serious has
recently increased.

Question 44

Objectivity is rarely an issue in white collar crime research because researchers
are not white collar criminals.

Question 45

Mark Dowie's "Pinto Madness," originally published in Mother Jones in 1977,
was a journalistic report that exposed a significant example of corporate
misconduct.

Question 46

No survey has yet been conducted to study the reasoning of federal judges during
the sentencing process for white collar offenders.

Question 47

It is generally easier to obtain research funding for studies of elite deviance than
for studies of juvenile delinquency.

Question 48

Journalistic reports of white collar crime can generate hypotheses for further,
more systematic study.

Question 49

Statistics about criminal activity are generally identical to statistics on criminal
justice system responses to criminal activity.

Question 50

A natural experiment takes advantage of a situation in the real world which the
researcher does not manipulate, but which allows her to study the impact of some
relevant independent variable.

Question 51

Laboratory experiments are the most widely used type of experiment in the study
of white collar crime.

Question 52

Because of the difficulties associated with researching the Revco Medicaid fraud
case, Diane Vaughan decided not to investigate the explosion of the Challenger.

Question 53

Conventional offenders have tended to be more accessible to researchers than
white collar offenders.

Question 54

Archival data in white collar crime cases is likely to be much more extensive than
in conventional crime cases.

Question 55

A direct relationship can be established between people's perceptions of the
seriousness of white collar crimes and their relative willingness to convict
offenders and support harsh laws.

Question 56

The traditional view among researchers has been that white collar crime is
perceived as less serious than conventional crime.

Question 57

It is rare for studies of white collar crime to use a mixture of different methods.

Question 58

The FBI's Uniform Crime Report is a good source for information on all forms of
criminal fraud, including corporate fraud.

Question 59

Contemporary studies of perceptions of the seriousness of crime indicate that the
consensus on the seriousness of white collar crime is lower than for conventional
crime.

Question 60

Recent surveys have indicated that the crimes people fear most tend to be
violent crimes involving direct physical injury or death.

Question 61

A drop in investor confidence following exposure of insider trading would be an
example of a residual cost of white collar crime.

Question 62

Many legitimate businesses and professionals profit from white collar crimes
which they did not cause to occur.

Question 63

The fact that our government has been able to levy and collect very high fines
greatly offsets the economic cost of white collar crime.

Question 64

It has been calculated that the risk of injury in the workplace is greater than the
risk of injury from conventional violent crime.

Question 65

What is the difference between the positivistic and humanistic approaches to the study of white collar crime? Why does the study of white collar crime ultimately call for a cross-disciplinary or interdisciplinary approach? What are some of the specific challenges in studying white collar crime, relative to the study of conventional crime? Explain your responses to each part of this question using specific examples.

Question 66

Victims of major frauds by organizations may endure significant financial losses,
but are unlikely to suffer emotional or psychological trauma.

Question 67

Victimology and the victim's rights movement have been almost exclusively
directed toward victims of conventional predatory crime.

Question 68

There is no truly reliable way to measure the incidence of many forms of white
collar crime.

Question 69

It is possible for consumer fraud to be overreported as well as underreported.

Question 70

Women may be more vulnerable to victimization for some forms of corporate crime.

Question 71

Annual losses in the U.S.for identity theft are almost ten times as high as the
losses from burglary and robbery.

Question 72

While victims of conventional predatory crimes are sometimes blamed for their
victimization, this blaming generally does not occur with white collar crime
victims.

Question 73

Some types of white collar crime involve large numbers of victims, each of whom
suffers relatively minor losses.

Question 74

Federal crime statistics data suggest that fraud charges have increased in recent
years.

Question 75

The economic cost of white collar crime has been far more accurately measured
than that of conventional crime.

Question 76

The physical costs of white collar crime, by any measure, are far more limited
than such costs associated with conventional crime.

Question 77

Federal crime statistics provide us the percentage of the whole class of white
collar offenders arrested relative to the percentage of conventional property
offenders arrested.

Question 78

It is possible for stockholders to benefit economically from corporate or
securities-related crimes which they know nothing about.

Question 79

Prosecuted white collar crime cases are more likely to involve organizational
victims rather than individual victims.

Question 80

Victimization surveys are regarded as less useful for white collar crime than for
conventional crime.