Deck 3: Sex Research

Question 1

What kind of sampling problem is reflected in the fact that the subjects often differ on significant sexual behaviours and is the result of who will participate in sexual research?

A)sampling error
B)volunteer bias
C)using different methods
D)probability sampling

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of purposeful distortion?

A)a sex researcher asking embarrassing questions about sex
B)a 40-year-old female who tells a sex researcher she has never masturbated
C)an 18-year-old who exaggerates the number of times he masturbates per day
D)a sex researcher who lies about sample size

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Most sexual researchers

A)rely upon direct observation of the sexual behaviour of their participants.
B)depend upon the self-reports of the respondents' sexual behaviour
C)do not have to worry about 'concealment' and 'enlargement.'
D)do not have to worry about the problem of accuracy when self-reports are used because distortion of responses are rare

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A high level of test-retest reliability means

A)people are inconsistent in their responses to the same question from one time to the next
B)a value of around .50
C)people are consistent in their responses to the same questions from one time to the next
D)values above 1.0

Question 5

Which ONE of the following DOES NOT affect the validity of a research study?

A)non-random sampling
B)volunteer bias
C)a high rate of response
D)non-response

Question 6

When participants in sex research change their response to something they consider more normal or acceptable,there is a concept affecting them called

A)deletion syndrome
B)self-report distortion
C)memory editing
D)social desirability

Question 7

"A group of people a researcher wants to study and make inferences about." This is a definition of

A)sampling
B)population
C)stratified sampling
D)volunteer base

Question 8

When volunteers for sex research are compared to non-volunteers for sex research,one of the consistent findings is that volunteers are

A)more permissive in their sexual attitudes
B)less sexually experienced
C)more likely to be female rather than male
D)more likely to report lower rates of sexual behaviour,such as masturbation

Question 9

If your sex class has 60 students in it,and only 20 of you participate in a study,this creates a problem called

A)concealment
B)non-stratification sample
C)distortion
D)volunteer bias

Question 10

Instructions given to subjects impressing upon them the importance of accuracy and the guarantee of anonymity may be of some use in limiting

A)memory errors in responses
B)purposeful distortion of responses
C)sampling error
D)answer bias

Question 11

Volunteer bias in sex research would not be a problem in sampling if

A)those who refused to participate were identical in their sexual behaviour to those who did participate
B)very large samples were taken
C)those who refused to participate dropped out immediately allowing for others to be sampled in their place
D)the differences in the sexual behaviour between those who participated and those who did not were large

Question 12

When doing sex research even if respondents were very truthful and tried to give as accurate information as possible three factors might still cause their self-reports to be inaccurate.These are

A)memory,difficulties with estimates,and question interpretation
B)validity,reliability,and memory
C)volunteer bias,memory,and validity
D)memory,validity,and difficulties with estimates

Question 13

If a sex researcher is interested in studying the sexual behaviour of "all sexually active 18-year-olds across Canada" and ultimately manages to study a very large random sample,then the results are very likely:

A)the result of a convenience sample.
B)representative of Canadian 18 year-olds.
C)susceptible to volunteer bias.
D)based on qualitative research.

Question 14

Convenience samples,such as the Janus report,are flawed in that they

A)do not accurately reflect what is going on in the general population
B)show similar results to larger studies like the General Social Survey
C)are appropriate when only a limited area of behaviour is being researched
D)are appropriate only if data from recent experiences is being gathered

Question 15

Which of the following methodological problems often includes the phenomena of "enlargement" and "concealment"?

A)memory distortion
B)purposeful distortion
C)sampling error
D)errors of estimation

Question 16

In conducting a study of sexual research you collect your sample from walk-ins at a local M.D.'s office.Your type of sample is called

A)an experimental sample.
B)a random sample.
C)a convenience sample.
D)a systematic and representative sample of the local community.

Question 17

Rosie volunteers to complete a sex survey for Ivan Masterful,a doctoral student working on his dissertation.One of the questions refers to the number of times the respondent has had unprotected sexual intercourse.Rosie marks "less than 2 times" even though she knows the number is higher.This is an example of

A)volunteer bias
B)enlargement
C)concealment
D)problems with estimating

Question 18

Self-reports of one's sexual behaviour

A)are based on directly observed behaviour
B)contain a number of inaccuracies
C)are more accurate for wives than for husbands
D)are more accurate for husbands than for wives

Question 19

The first part of the process of sampling is

A)choosing a population to study
B)interviewing the subjects chosen
C)distributing a questionnaire
D)choosing a method of study

Question 20

Generally,the most difficult part of the sampling procedure in sex research is

A)contacting the people in the sample.
B)getting the people identified in the sample to participate
C)adopting a method for obtaining a sample
D)identifying the population

Question 21

Kinsey asked,"How long,on the average,do you spend in precoital foreplay?" Which of the following problems is most likely to reduce the accuracy of responses to this question?

A)inaccurate memory
B)purposeful distortion
C)experimenter bias
D)inability to estimate

Question 22

When sponsoring agencies and researchers of sexuality weigh the stress to participants against the possible benefits of a particular study,they are

A)preserving the anonymity of the researcher
B)maximizing the potential danger to participants by justifying the importance of the findings
C)using the principle of non-anonymous responses
D)using a harms-benefit analysis

Question 23

Which of the following is a method for assessing whether self-reports are accurate?

A)accuracy accounting
B)reality check
C)test-retest reliability
D)validity

Question 24

Which of the following is an advantage of questionnaires over personal interviews in gathering information about sexuality?

A)sensitive information is easier for the participant to answer
B)questionnaires provide more valid responses
C)questionnaires allow more flexibility
D)greater rapport is established

Question 25

Sex research is considered ethical if:

A)participants agree that an issue is important.
B)no participants are shocked or stressed.
C)there are no costs associated with the research.
D)the benefits associated with the research outweigh the harms.

Question 26

Which of the following studies would be LEAST ethical?

A)A study comparing therapies for premature ejaculation in which all participants are given some form of treatment.
B)A direct observation of premature ejaculation of participants who have given informed consent.
C)A study of the physical components of premature ejaculation that includes only male participants.
D)A study of premature ejaculation in which the full names of the participants are kept with the data so that experimenters can keep track of who has participated in the study.

Question 27

The kind of wording that encourages accuracy of response in a sexual survey is known as

A)standard wording
B)super-standard wording
C)supportive wording
D)honest wording

Question 28

Which of the following are ALL advantages of using web-based surveys?

A)increased access to some specially targeted populations;less self-report bias than mail-out questionnaires
B)less self-report bias than mail-out questionnaires;more control over who is able to fill out the questionnaire
C)increased numbers of people can be recruited than in traditional surveys;increased access to some specially targeted populations
D)increased numbers of people can be recruited than in traditional surveys;more control over who is able to fill out the questionnaire

Question 29

The right of a participant to quit a study at any time

A)is part of free and informed consent
B)is only ethically required in studies where the participants are directly observed
C)is only ethically required in studies where participants are not being paid
D)was established by Kinsey

Question 30

In Kinsey's research,the fact that correlations greater than .95 between the first and second interview were obtained for reports of incidence of masturbation and homosexual activity indicates:

A)low validity
B)high validity
C)low test-retest reliability
D)high test-retest reliability

Question 31

When Kinsey retested 162 men,18 months after their first sex research interview,he got a correlation of .95 between data collected the first and second time.What conclusion could he make?

A)his sample was valid
B)his information was highly reliable
C)the test-retest reliability correlation was low
D)the correlation was almost significant

Question 32

Which of the following allows the researcher to develop rapport with the participants?

A)questionnaires
B)phone interviews
C)face-to-face interviews
D)surveys

Question 33

Which of the following is TRUE regarding performing sex research through direct observations?

A)they are inexpensive.
B)the results obtained might not be generalizable to the rest of the population.
C)obtaining a representative sample is easier than in survey research.
D)they are quick and easy to conduct.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT likely to affect participants' self-reports?

A)gender of the interviewer
B)the manner in which the question is worded
C)how the information is collected (e.g.questionnaire vs.interview)
D)all of these factors may affect self-reports

Question 35

As you read the results of a sex survey reporting nose biting as the most popular form of foreplay of Canadian university students,you wonder about the accuracy of this report.You note the methods used in this study: it was a web-based survey,conducted on Canadian university campuses,using over-sampling techniques,and it received 77% participation from participants who were randomly invited to participate.What concern might you have regarding this survey?

A)The sample is non-representative of the target population.
B)Most "normal" students were likely too shy to participate.
C)Web-based surveys,like other types of surveys,are subject to self-report errors.
D)More than 50% of the university population is of European descent: over-sampling likely biased the results in favour of their practices.

Question 36

All research conducted by Canadian universities must conform to policy set by

A)non-profit organizations
B)government agencies
C)the University of Toronto
D)medical doctors

Question 37

Regarding the principles of informed consent which of the following is FALSE?

A)people may not be coerced into participation.
B)parents may not give informed consent for children.
C)people must be told the purpose of the research before they agree to participate.
D)the researcher must make sure that the people understand exactly what they are agreeing to.

Question 38

Informed consent and protection from harm in sexual research (and other research involving human subjects)are

A)ways to ensure that your study is valid.
B)ways to ensure that your study will be reliable.
C)ethical standards that must be followed by all public institutions,including universities and law-enforcement agencies.
D)ethical standards that must be followed by scientific organizations.

Question 39

Why should sex researchers ensure that responses of participants remain anonymous?

A)informed consent
B)harms-benefit
C)protection from harm
D)participant observation

Question 40

Which of the following studies would be MOST ethical?

A)A study of date-rape in which very few females participate.
B)A study of date-rape in which many females participate.
C)A study of date-rape in which many males and females participate.
D)A study of date-rape in which very few males participate.

Question 41

Which of the following methods was NOT used in the large-scale sex surveys?

A)the face-to-face interview
B)the questionnaire
C)direct observation in the laboratory
D)phone interview

Question 42

In the 1950s,the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University and Kinsey were under attack by Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin.The result of this attack was

A)Kinsey finally admitted some very personal facts about his life and resigned from the Institute
B)funding was stopped by the Rockefeller Foundation
C)students organized protests at Indiana State
D)that politicians have little influence on how and what we research

Question 43

Which of the following set of sex studies represents a relatively large random survey from which it is possible to generalize to the total population?

A)The Kinsey studies
B)The NHSLS (National Health and Social Life Survey)studies
C)Masters and Johnson's study of the sexual response
D)The Ontario First Nations AIDS and Healthy Lifestyle survey (Meyers et al,1993)

Question 44

Kinsey's specialty prior to his study of sexual behaviour involved

A)wolves
B)beavers
C)gall wasps
D)butterflies

Question 45

A problem experienced by researchers in the Canada Youth,Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS study was that of potential volunteer bias.Volunteer bias was introduced when

A)many parents refused to allow their children to participate.
B)ethnicity was not assessed.
C)5 percent of students refused to participate.
D)many parents refused to allow their children to participate and 5 percent of students refused to participate.

Question 46

Which group was underrepresented in Kinsey's sample?

A)Protestants
B)young people
C)well-educated people
D)racial minorities

Question 47

Kinsey's interviewing techniques were probably successful in minimizing

A)problems of memory.
B)purposeful distortion.
C)inability to estimate.
D)reliability.

Question 48

Kinsey was trained as _______ prior to his entrance into the world of sexual research on humans.

A)a sociobiologist
B)a biologist
C)a physicist
D)a minister

Question 49

Kinsey performed about what percent of the interviews in his studies?

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)50 percent
D)75 percent

Question 50

Which of the following interfered with the Canada Youth,Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS researchers plans for having a representative sample?

A)the researchers forgot to sample from Manitoba
B)some parents protested the survey
C)some schools refused to participate
D)only girls participated in the research

Question 51

Probably the greatest difficulty to developing a clear picture of the sexual behaviour of adult Canadians is

A)a lack of knowledge of adult female sexual behaviour.
B)a lack of knowledge of adult male sexual behaviour.
C)a lack of large-scale Canadian surveys of sexuality.
D)a lack of knowledge of university students' sexual behaviour.

Question 52

According to the researchers who conducted the Canada Youth,Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS study,what percentage of grade 9 boys had engaged in sexual intercourse at least once?

A)46%
B)16%
C)23%
D)86%

Question 53

Which of the following statements is FALSE about sex research in Canada?

A)Most sex researchers are in academic departments at Canadian universities.
B)Sex research is conducted from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines (e.g.,psychology,medicine,family studies,sociology).
C)Sex research is conducted only in Quebec where attitudes about sexuality are more liberal.
D)Canadian sex researchers communicate their findings by publishing in national and international journals.

Question 54

Kinsey's associates felt that the most questionable statistic from the Kinsey studies was the high incidence of

A)male homosexual behaviour
B)animal contact by males
C)animal contact by females
D)extramarital sexual contact

Question 55

The most controversial aspect of the NHSLS sex survey was

A)that the proportion of participants reporting homosexual behaviour was too low.
B)that most of the interviews were conducted in the presence of a third person.
C)that the findings could not be generalized to the U.S.population.
D)the use of a questionnaire rather than personal interview.

Question 56

Which of the following survey studies likely gave the most accurate account of sexuality?

A)Kinsey's report on human male sexuality
B)Kinsey's report on human female sexuality
C)Laumann's National Health and Social Life Survey
D)Cosmopolitan's Thousands of Guys Reveal What Sends Them Over the Edge

Question 57

'The most frequent score' is the definition of a:

A)correlation
B)mean
C)median
D)mode

Question 58

In the Canada Youth and AIDS study,it was noted that many youth first had sex by age

A)20
B)18
C)14
D)16

Question 59

Kinsey chose not to use probability sampling methods because of the problems associated with

A)non-response
B)informed consent
C)purposeful distortion
D)ability to estimate

Question 60

80% of males masturbate by the age of 15.The 80% is an example of

A)correlation
B)mode
C)purposeful distortion
D)cumulative incidence

Question 61

Masters and Johnson's report Human Sexual Behavior differs from surveys of sexual behaviour because

A)they directly observed sexual behaviour
B)they used 100% sampling
C)of the high test-retest reliability
D)they used participant-observation

Question 62

The generalizability of magazine surveys such as Cosmopolitan's,are limited because of

A)obscenity laws
B)lack of informed consent
C)sampling bias and volunteer bias
D)sampling bias only

Question 63

Which of the following is TRUE regarding content analysis?

A)It is a research method in which the scientist becomes part of the community to be studied and makes observations.
B)Researchers using content analysis prefer not to use intercoder reliability.
C)It is a weak scientific technique.
D)It is a related topic to critical discourse analysis.

Question 64

Masters and Johnson wanted to avoid the distortion of self-reports so their research relied on

A)participant observation
B)direct observation
C)surveys
D)interviews

Question 65

In content analysis,who or what is the population being studied?

A)two people talking
B)the type of "text" the researcher wants to study
C)there is no population or sample
D)content in magazines

Question 66

In the Maticka-Tyndale study on exotic dancers,what did the research term "snowballing" refer to?

A)a participant in the study refers another participant to researchers
B)a sexual technique
C)a dancing technique
D)the relationship of dancer to customer

Question 67

Sampling as done in magazine surveys

A)is full of problems
B)has become highly refined over the last decade
C)is based on probability statistics
D)is reported quite accurately

Question 68

When researchers try to make sense of the meaning that people give their experiences they are conducting which type of research?

A)Qualitative research
B)Quantitative research
C)Experimental research
D)Correlational research

Question 69

In the Maticka-Tyndale study on exotic dancers,which type of sampling was used?

A)stratified random sampling
B)non-probability purposive sampling
C)representative sampling
D)random sampling

Question 70

Which ONE of the following best describes Maticka-Tyndale's study of exotic dancers?

A)qualitative research with a small sample
B)quantitative American study
C)quantitative Canadian study
D)quantitative with large sample

Question 71

If you sample a number of advice columns found in Playboy and Playgirl magazines and compare the kinds of questions asked and the type of advice given,you are carrying out

A)observational analysis
B)qualitative research
C)an experiment
D)a content analysis

Question 72

In the Maticka-Tyndale study on exotic dancers,a college student who views dancing as a temporary job is called a

A)cross-sectional participant
B)goal-oriented type
C)career type
D)temporary type

Question 73

A researcher is interested in knowing if print magazines write about sexuality in the same way that Internet magazines do.What kind of research would help the researcher answer this question best?

A)Content analysis
B)Experiment
C)Correlational research
D)Survey study

Question 74

In Charles Moser study of S/M parties,he did not obtain informed consent from the people that he studies using participant observation.This lack of consent was okay in this particular situation because:

A)it was before ethics for research existed;Moser's study is an example of a breach of ethics in sex research.
B)the practices he observed were harmful to others;he was obligated to report it.
C)the participants were doing something illegal and researchers do not need to get consent to study illegal activities.
D)researchers are allowed to study behaviours that occur in the public domain with obtaining informed consent from people involveD.

Question 75

In the Maticka-Tyndale study on exotic dancers,which type of woman tends to get involved with drugs and alcohol?

A)participant
B)goal-oriented type
C)temporary type
D)career type

Question 76

raised which ONE of the following issues that must be kept in mind when doing research with different cultural groups?

A)Ethnicity plays little role in understanding sexual concepts.
B)Interviewers should be able to express sexual concepts and terms in scientific language rather than everyday terms.
C)Only participants who speak the language of the prominent culture need to be interviewed,as they form a representative sample.
D)Interviewers should be able to express sexual concepts and terms in everyday as well as scientific language depending on the understanding of the respondents.

Question 77

Which of the following did Masters and Johnson NOT use to maintain ethical standards in their laboratory studies of sexuality?

A)pre-screening interviews to remove distressed individuals
B)informed consent,ensuring the participants knew their right to leave the study at any point
C)those participants who engaged in intercourse remained anonymous from their partners through the use of false names
D)follow-up contact was made with participants to ensure they suffered no ill effects from their participation in the study

Question 78

Which of the following is NOT an example of a qualitative research method?

A)Interview data
B)Direct observation
C)Participant observation
D)Content analysis

Question 79

Two research assistants are coding episodes of How I Met Your Mother to compare how often sex is associated with love and commitment as opposed to pleasure and casual relationships.They are watching and listening for units of behaviours or conversations that fit within specific categories that the primary researcher gave them.When they are finished,they will compare their coding to see how similar their observations were.What part of this example of content analysis BEST represents creating a coding protocol?

A)the two research assistants comparing their codes for similarity
B)the research assistants watching and coding the episodes
C)the primary researcher creating list of categories for the research assistants to use
D)the specific units of behaviour and conversation that are being examineD.

Question 80

Which of the following is TRUE regarding Dr.William Fisher's research?

A)He found that men and women who responded to pornography with the most pronounced negative emotions also had the most children.
B)He found that men and women who viewed pornography and who were most revolted by it showed decreases in their sexual activity levels in the days following exposure.
C)He has conducted minimal research so far in the area of reproductive health.
D)None of the answers are true.