Deck 18: Understanding Sociological Research: Methods, Variables, and Theories

Question 1

Which of the following does NOT represent the concept of reliability?

A)The major funder of a study is not allowed to be part of the research process because it is considered a conflict of interest.
B)A study conducted in 2012 supports a similar study conducted by another researcher in 2005.
C)The hypothesis of one study is tested by two different researchers,and they reach the same conclusion.
D)A study is revisited every 10 years and has similar findings each time.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of quantitative research?

A)forty in-depth interviews with residents of a suburban neighborhood
B)field observations of people interacting and dancing in a nightclub
C)content analysis of meme images on a popular blogging website
D)two thousand survey questionnaires that measure respondents' drug usage habits

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT one of the sociological research methods?

A)fieldwork
B)experimentation
C)random sampling
D)survey

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When concepts and measurement are valid,they are considered ______.

A)consistent
B)accurate
C)biased
D)falsifiable

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT an example of quantitative variables used in sociological research?

A)crime rates
B)drug use frequency
C)years of education
D)gender

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT an example of how bias can be introduced into a study?

A)Respondents do not tell the truth because of stigma or embarrassment.
B)The researcher creates an operational definition that is incomplete.
C)The sample size is not representative of the population.
D)The researcher is studying marijuana legislation and supports decriminalization.

Question 7

Good theories are constructed in a way that makes it logically possible to prove them wrong.This idea is better known as ______.

A)a spurious relationship
B)a negative correlation
C)the principle of falsification
D)validity

Question 8

A concept must have which of the following to make it observable and measurable?

A)research methods
B)an operational definition
C)correlation
D)hypotheses

Question 9

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of qualitative research?

A)Data are quantified or converted into numbers.
B)Some methods include focus groups,interviews,and participant observation.
C)Rich,in-depth data that investigate closely some phenomena
D)Small sample sizes

Question 10

A variable is defined as

A)the description of a relationship
B)a phenomena that is constantly changing
C)a term used to summarize a set of phenomena
D)a concept that can take on two or more possible values

Question 11

When the relationship between two variables is explained by a third,unmeasured factor,it is referred to as ______.

A)causation
B)a statistical relationship
C)a spurious relationship
D)correlation

Question 12

Which of the following would NOT be considered a goal of quantitative research?

A)to measure patterns of social behavior
B)to measure social attitudes
C)to explain a relationship between two variables
D)to provide a rich,detailed description of some phenomena

Question 13

Researchers must be willing to accept that the data they collect might contradict their most passionate convictions.Which idea does this statement reflect?

A)reliability
B)validity
C)objectivity
D)falsifiability

Question 14

A researcher finds that as years spent driving increase,the number of accidents decreases.This is an example of ______.

A)negative causation
B)negative correlation
C)positive correlation
D)a decreasing relationship

Question 15

The process of gathering empirical (scientific and specific)data,creating theories,and rigorously testing theories is known as ______.

A)the sociological method
B)the scientific method
C)data collection
D)theoretical reasoning

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a good scientific theory?

A)It is logically consistent.
B)It can be disproven or falsified.
C)It is not testable.
D)There is possibility for revision.

Question 17

Which of the following would be considered a qualitative variable?

A)the respondent's religious affiliation
B)the number of times the respondent visits church per month
C)the amount of money the respondent donates to his or her church
D)the number of hours spent volunteering with a church

Question 18

A researcher finds that as income increases,square footage of a respondent's home also increases.This is an example of ______.

A)a positive correlation
B)positive causation
C)a negative correlation
D)an increasatory relationship

Question 19

The repetition of a previous study in a different setting to verify or refute the original findings is referred to as ______.

A)verification
B)replication
C)validation
D)reliability

Question 20

Which of the following would be considered a quantitative variable?

A)employment status
B)occupation
C)job title
D)yearly salary

Question 21

A researcher is studying gentrification and displacement in a majority African American neighborhood in Washington,DC.She wants to ensure the residents have a voice and agency throughout the research process.She joins a community organization to empower them to conduct their own research and support their efforts to develop political power.Which of the following would be the most appropriate research method?

A)interviews
B)participatory research
C)fieldwork
D)survey questionnaires

Question 22

Which of the following in NOT a common consideration when conducting good sociological research?

A)choosing participants that you know will confirm your hypothesis
B)training interviewers
C)selecting a representative sample
D)avoiding conclusions that are speculative or not warranted by the actual research results

Question 23

Which of the following is another term used to describe fieldwork,the in-depth study of a group or community?

A)ethnography
B)casework
C)quantitative research
D)community research

Question 24

A good way to ensure validity in a research study is to compare two or more sources of data.

Question 25

Which type of research method asks questions that allow respondents to answer in their own words?

A)interview
B)survey
C)experiment
D)observation

Question 26

A researcher is interested in acquiring a rich understanding of relationship building and team culture on professional football teams.Which of the following would be the most appropriate research method?

A)content analysis of previously aired NFL games
B)a survey of 1,500 NFL fans
C)fieldwork in which the researcher spends a few hours each day observing team interactions and participates in some team-building exercises
D)interviews with team coaches,trainers,and owners

Question 27

Creating an operational definition of a concept is an important part of the research process because it allows for the concept to be observed and measured.

Question 28

Random sampling is most important to which research method?

A)fieldwork
B)surveys
C)in-depth interviews
D)experimentation

Question 29

Dividing a population into a series of subgroups and taking random samples from within each group is known as what type of sampling?

A)simple random
B)snowball
C)stratified
D)nonrandom

Question 30

A major think tank wants to publish a report comparing the attitudes of people from all over the United States toward increasing the federal minimum wage.Which of the following would be the most appropriate research method?

A)large-scale survey of 2,500 men and women
B)in-depth interviews of 50 men and women
C)ethnographic study of minimum-wage workers
D)analysis of congressional debate on increasing the minimum wage

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of surveys?

A)can be conducted in person,over the phone,or via an electronic device
B)can consist of open-ended or closed-ended questions
C)must include every member of the population of interest to be accurate
D)can be conducted on a relatively large number of people

Question 32

Which of the following would NOT be suitable for document analysis?

A)campaign posters
B)tweets
C)court transcripts
D)sports car designs

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT typically included in the ethical-consideration portion of the research design process?

A)ensuring respondent anonymity
B)obtaining written consent
C)keeping the respondent safe from physical and emotional harm
D)ensuring the respondent answers truthfully

Question 34

Which of the following is an example of a leading question?

A)Do you oppose increasing state funding for health clinics that target low-income women?
B)Do you believe that harsher drunk-driving laws decrease the number of car accidents?
C)Wouldn't you agree that our president should be doing more to stop the deforestation of Brazil and subsequent displacement of thousands of people?
D)Do you support legislation that decriminalizes marijuana?

Question 35

Correlation is a synonym for causation.If two variables are associated with one another,then it means one variable causes the other.

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT a way in which you can share your findings with the sociological community?

A)publishing the results in academic journals
B)creating a video
C)presenting the results at a conference
D)giving a copy to your parents

Question 37

Looking at how exposure to an independent variable,such as violent video games,changes the behavior of a research subject is known as which type of research method?

A)in-depth interviews
B)document analysis
C)detached observation
D)experimentation

Question 38

A researcher stands on a street corner and surveys people who pass by about their opinion on contraception.Because the researcher interviewed an equal number of men and women,the researcher's study uses random sampling.

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons to learn to do sociological research?

A)Understanding how valid and reliable data are gathered,students can better question the veracity and reliability of claims.
B)An understanding of the research process allows students to have greater confidence in research that was conducted properly.
C)Realizing the value of theories that can be tested and proven true aids in developing one's own theories.
D)Research tools help students to be more critical consumers of information and enhances their understanding of the social world.

Question 40

A researcher is interested in how same-sex marriages have been represented on cable television.Which of the following would be the most appropriate research method?

A)content analysis of television shows that have featured LGBT characters
B)conducting interviews with gay or lesbian actors
C)a national survey of Americans who watch 30-plus hours of television each week
D)an experiment that measures respondent attitudes about same-sex marriage after they view images of married same-sex couples

Question 41

Imagine you are conducting a research study that is looking at the relationship between parental involvement and teenage alcohol abuse.How would you operationalize the concept of parental involvement?

Question 42

Sociologists have more freedom than ever before to conduct research studies without institutional oversight or ethical consideration.

Question 43

The use of inappropriate measurement instruments can introduce ______ into the results.

Question 44

A sample refers to a relatively small number of people selected to represent a ______,which is the entire group of interest.

Question 45

A ______ relationship is one in which one variable is the cause of another variable.

Question 46

For scientific research to be objective,it has to be value neutral;personal beliefs and opinions should not influence the course of research.

Question 47

A study found that as amount of time spent exercising increased,smoking rates decreased.This is an example of a positive correlation.

Question 48

______ reasoning starts from broad theories but proceeds to break them down into more specific and testable hypotheses.

Question 49

Explain the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning.Provide an example of both types of theorizing.

Question 50

Imagine you are conducting a research study that is looking at the relationship between educational attainment and fertility rates.Explain which research method would be appropriate for the study.

Question 51

In order to make the broad theories of deductive reasoning more testable,sociologists need to come up with specific and testable ______.

Question 52

As long as the main idea gets across,question wording is largely unimportant and has little effect on the subject's response.

Question 53

Explain the differences between qualitative and quantitative variables,and provide an example of each.

Question 54

In an experiment,the ______ variable is one changed intentionally to produce an effect,whereas the dependent variable is one that is expected to change as a result.

Question 55

The Nuremberg Code was adopted to serve as guidelines for ethical research after the discovery of gruesome experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II.

Question 56

Sociologists who conduct ______ observation research should give extra consideration to ethics,as subjects may engage in illegal or dangerous activities.

Question 57

Quantitative variables include factors we can count,whereas ______ variables are variables that express a quality and do not have a numerical value.

Question 58

______ reasoning starts from specific data and tries to identify larger patterns from which to derive more general theories.

Question 59

For a study to be ______,other researchers need to conduct their studies exactly as the original study was performed.

Question 60

When researchers are trying to access a group that is insular or difficult to reach,such as sex workers or drug addicts,they often use a convenience sample.

Question 61

Discuss the difference between common or conventional wisdom and sociological research.Think of an example of common wisdom,and explain how you would use sociological research methods to test whether or not it is "true."

Question 62

Identify and discuss the six steps to doing sociological research.

Question 63

Almost anyone can theorize about social phenomena,but formulating a good theory can be more difficult.Outline the four components of a good theory,and explain why they are important.

Question 64

Provide three examples of variables that are correlated,whether negatively or positively.

Question 65

Discuss the importance of replication in sociological research.

Question 66

Define the term spurious relationship,and illustrate it with an example.

Question 67

Imagine you are interested in studying self-esteem among teenage boys.Compare and contrast how you might conduct a study using qualitative research methods versus quantitative research methods.Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Question 68

Explain the difference between statistical data analysis and content or document analysis.Propose a research question and study that would include both.

Question 69

Think of a research question that would best be answered by conducting an experiment.Identify the independent and dependent variables.Explain the difference between the control and experimental group.Discuss any challenges that might arise.

Question 70

Provide three reasons why a person may be untruthful when answering interview or survey questions.

Question 71

Choose a topic of contemporary relevance that interests you.Create a simple research question about the topic,choose an appropriate research method,and discuss any possible data collection and ethical issues that may arise.

Question 72

Explain Karl Popper's principle of falsification,or falsifiability.

Question 73

Explain what it means to be value neutral in order to maintain objectivity in a study.Present an argument for whether or not you think sociological research can be truly value neutral and/or objective.

Question 74

Provide at least one historical example of a research study or experiment that raised ethical concerns.Discuss how present-day ethical guidelines have been put into place and whether or not you agree with these standards and policies.

Question 75

Explain the differences between qualitative and quantitative research,and provide an example of each.

Question 76

Harriet,a 24-year-old White woman,is conducting a five-hour in-depth interview with Bereket,a 68-year-old Ethiopian man,about his experience moving to the United States 40 years ago.Identify and discuss five potential challenges or concerns.

Question 77

A researcher is conducting a study on illegal-drug abuse among returning citizens,or the formerly incarcerated.Discuss a few ways bias may be introduced into this study.

Question 78

Pose a research question for each of the following sociological issues: political campaign financing,gentrification,white-collar crime,and sexual assault on college campuses.Discuss any ethical challenges that might arise when studying these issues.

Question 79

Compare and contrast the following research methods: survey research,ethnography,experimentation,and participatory research.Discuss when it would be appropriate to use each.

Question 80

Explain the relationship between a concept and the operational definition of a concept.