Deck 2: Theory and Social Research

Question 1

Describe how micro,meso,and macro levels of social reality differ.

Answer 1

Micro-level theory deals with small slices of time,space,or numbers of people.The concepts are usually not very abstract.
Meso-level theory links macro and micro levels and operates at an intermediate level.Theories of organizations,social movements,and communities are often at this level.
Macro-level theory concerns the operation of larger aggregates,such as social institutions,entire cultural systems,and whole societies.It uses more concepts that are abstract.

Question 2

Andrew Berkeley is a preeminent researcher in the field of political identification.Andrew surveys 10,000 Canadians between the ages of 20 and 29 years old and discovers that as 20-year-olds' level of education increases,they become increasingly liberal in their political views.What sort of relationship has Andrew observed between education level and liberal political views?

A)Negative relationship
B)Non-correlative relationship
C)Positive relationship
D)Spurious relationship
E)Partisan relationship

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Graduate student Midori Suzuki studied how rice farming fits into Japanese society.Before she began the study,she relied on her prior knowledge that rice is a basic part of the diet of Japanese people.This is called one of her

A)predictions.
B)assumptions.
C)classifications.
D)concepts.
E)paradigms.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which term do social scientists use to designate a collection of many individuals,cases,or other units?

A)Structure
B)Paradigm
C)Abstraction
D)Aggregate
E)Empirical generalization

Question 5

How do inductive and deductive approaches to social theory and research differ?

A)Inductive begins at the top of society and moves toward the bottom.Deductive begins at the bottom of society and moves toward the top.
B)Inductive begins with small things and moves toward big things.Deductive begins with big things and moves toward small things.
C)Inductive begins with concrete or observable things and moves toward abstract or theoretical ideas.Deductive begins with abstract or theoretical ideas and moves toward concrete or observable things.
D)Inductive begins with big things at the top of society and moves toward small things at the bottom of society.Deductive begins at the bottom with small things and moves toward big things at the top.
E)Inductive begins with the abstract or theoretical ideas and moves toward the concrete or observable.Deductive begins with concrete or observable things and moves toward abstract or theoretical ideas.

Question 6

Define the terms "structure" and "agency." What are the two central questions of the agency-structure debate?

Question 7

Why do researchers worry about alternative explanations when stating a causal relationship?

Question 8

Which statement about prediction and causal explanation is true?

A)Prediction and explanation are two words for the same thing.
B)Explanation is easier to show with the scientific method than prediction is.
C)If one has prediction,one has all the basics of a causal explanation.
D)If one has a good causal explanation,one should be able to make accurate predictions.
E)Predictions are to basic research as explanations are to applied research.

Question 9

Which of the following propositions has the greatest theoretical range/level?

A)Canadians who marry when they are older than 30 years old are less likely to divorce.
B)University students who study for more hours get higher grades on examinations.
C)Almost all of the people who rob other people in major Canadian cities are males.
D)During the past century,people in human societies moved toward using mass media on a more frequent basis.
E)Young children who attended day care performed better in high school than children who stayed at home.

Question 10

Why do we need more than association to demonstrate a causal relationship?

Question 11

Which of the following best defines "social theory"?

A)A set of value propositions,which orient scholarly attitudes towards social reality
B)Accumulated facts about the nature of the social world
C)A framework of basic assumptions and major questions to be answered by social research
D)A system of interconnected abstractions or ideas that condenses and organizes knowledge about the social world
E)A and C

Question 12

Questions about whether there is an objective social reality that exists "out there" or if social reality is constructed by individuals and is unique for everyone belong to which of the following domains?

A)Ethics
B)Empirical generalizations
C)Ontology
D)Mesosocial theory
E)Epistemology

Question 13

List three of the five major traditional theoretical frameworks identified in your textbook and identify at least two of the major concepts associated with each.

Question 14

How do positivist and interpretative approaches differ?

Question 15

Which of the following is the branch of philosophy which informs social theory's discussions about the relationship of the researcher to the social world and the techniques by which researchers study the social world?

A)Metaphysics
B)Ethics
C)Epistemology
D)Interpretivism
E)Ontology

Question 16

Which concept has the highest level of abstraction,i.e.,is the most abstract?

A)A murder
B)The size of a city’s population
C)Years of education attained
D)Racial injustice
E)An African-American child

Question 17

What are nomothetic and idiographic models of social science,and which of the three major approaches use each of them?

Question 18

Positivists hold that researchers must be able to repeat scientific findings in multiple studies to have a high level of confidence that the findings are true.If a researcher replicates a study and does not get similar findings,one or more of five possibilities must be occurring.Identify at least four of these five reasons why replication might yield different results.

Question 19

What is the difference between inductive and deductive approaches to research?

Question 20

How do prediction and theoretical explanation differ?

Question 21

Professor Zheng Zhao wanted to study the cause for thousands of people leaving Hong Kong to move to Toronto,Ontario.In order to establish temporal order in his causal argument,he must show which of the following?

A)There is a correlation between events in Hong Kong and a decision to move.
B)Events occurred in Hong Kong before people moved to Toronto.
C)The type of people who left Hong Kong are more educated and have more money than those who stayed.
D)A fear for the future of Hong Kong and no other reason caused the move to Toronto.
E)Hong Kong media reports about a high quality of life in Toronto and relatives in Canada were not major factors in the decision for people to move.

Question 22

A theory that seeks to explain why white employees of a law firm are promoted more frequently and at a faster rate than non-white employees is operating at which level?

A)Micro
B)Meso
C)Macro
D)Organizational
E)Nomothetic

Question 23

You pick up an article in the Montreal Gazette and read the following: Canadian divorce rates have increased by 7% over the past 5 years.The author of the article goes on to explain the increase in the divorce rate by arguing increased female participation in the labour market has made women less economically dependent upon men,making it easier for women to leave unhappy marriages.Which theoretical framework is the author using?

A)Structural functionalism
B)Conflict theory
C)Symbolic interactionism
D)Critical race theory
E)None of the above

Question 24

Verstehen is a term associated with which major paradigm of social science?

A)Positivist
B)Interpretative
C)Conflict
D)Structural functionalist
E)Feminist

Question 25

To make a causal statement,a researcher needs all of the following,EXCEPT

A)temporal order.
B)association.
C)elimination of alternative explanation.
D)mathematical proof.
E)All the above are necessary.

Question 26

Graduate student Morton Millwork created a microsocial theory about working in a factory.Which of the following would he be most likely to study?

A)How an increased division of labour with industrialization gave rise to factories as the places where many people work.
B)How urbanization increased the growth of the factory as a form of social organization over the past 100 years.
C)How greater conflict between the managerial and non-managerial levels in a corporation increased the pace of factory work.
D)How the development of robots and new computer-related production technology has produced a corresponding increase in the surveillance of employee behaviour in factories.
E)How face-to-face interactions among workers in small work teams in a factory informally enforce certain company rules.

Question 27

Which of the following statements about social reality prioritizes agency over structure?

A)Advertising discourses about lifestyles shape the ways consumers relate to themselves.
B)Whether one lives in the Global North or Global South is the best predictor of one’s quality of life.
C)A working class revolution will bring about a more egalitarian economic system.
D)Prevailing assumptions about the intellectual capacities of women lead male students to be more suspicious of what they are taught by female professors than by male professors.
E)None of the above.

Question 28

The following theoretical proposition is an expression of which of the following? The more frequently and intensely a family engages in loving,close leisure activities together as a family unit,the less likely the children will develop distant,alienated feelings toward their parents.

A)A negative causal relationship
B)A positive causal relationship
C)A functional theory
D)A scientific paradigm
E)None of the above

Question 29

Which of the two major paradigms of social science holds that human life is based less on objective reality than on the ideas,beliefs,and perceptions people hold about reality?

A)Positivism
B)Interpretative social science
C)Critical social science
D)All of the above
E)None of the above

Question 30

A theory that seeks to explain how the Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs)of East Asia (e.g.,Hong Kong,Taiwan,South Korea,Singapore)were able to rapidly industrialize and gain a major position in world markets between the 1960s and the 1990s is operating at which level?

A)Micro
B)Meso
C)Macro
D)Mini
E)Maxi

Question 31

In which situations would a researcher be most likely to use grounded theory?

A)Qualitative,inductive field research that builds on empirical generalizations
B)Quantitative experimental research that is explanatory and tests theory
C)A quantitative and deductive study that is nomothetic
D)An existing statistics study that works from an abstract theory down to testable hypotheses
E)None of the above

Question 32

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between empirical generalizations and middle-range theory?

A)Middle-range theories reflect assumptions of macrosocial theoretical frameworks while empirical generalizations do not.
B)Empirical generalizations are by necessity tentative,while middle-range theories are not.
C)Empirical generalizations are most often used by interpretivists while middle-range theories are most often used by positivists.
D)Middle-range theories are slightly more abstract than empirical generalizations.
E)Middle-range theories are made up of groups of empirical generalizations.

Question 33

The interpretative social science approach is described as idiographic in its theory and method.What does this mean?

A)It strives for empathetic understanding of another person or group’s worldview.
B)It begins with abstract ideas,laws,or propositions,which are used to deduce logically or infer specific hypotheses that researchers test against the facts of observable empirical reality.
C)It focuses on generating detailed descriptions of specific events in particular periods and settings.
D)It holds to the principle that researchers must be able to repeat scientific findings in multiple studies to have a high level of confidence that the findings are true.
E)Its primary concern is to generate theory.

Question 34

Positivism seeks universal laws,and positivist researchers attempt to create law-like generalizations to explain events in the social world.This focus on laws in explanation is called

A)nomothetic.
B)idiographic.
C)inductive.
D)deductive.
E)dialectic.

Question 35

Two phenomena are __________ if they occur together in a patterned way or appear to act together,while __________ is a technical term pertaining to statistical measurement of relationships.

A)correlation;prediction
B)prediction;correlation
C)association;correlation
D)correlation;association
E)association;prediction

Question 36

Which of the following research questions fits best within the microsocial level?

A)How do one-on-one interactions between teachers and students in undergraduate sociology courses affect students’interest levels in sociology?
B)How does one’s class position affect their likeliness to vote in federal elections?
C)Do male parents of female children score higher on tests of emotional intelligence than male parents of male children?
D)Do men and women receive equal quality treatment from physicians at Canadian public hospitals when they express concerns about heart disease?
E)What effect do primetime crime dramas have on Canadians’perceptions of crime rates and the nature of crime in urban centres?

Question 37

Which of the following major theoretical frameworks is most likely to give explanatory priority to agency over structure?

A)Structural functionalism
B)Conflict theory
C)Critical feminism
D)Critical race theory
E)Symbolic interactionism

Question 38

Which general theoretical framework in sociology is most likely to state the following: In selecting a marriage partner,a man is likely to seriously consider potential mates who allow him to maintain power and control in the relationship.He will seek to maintain authority over a woman's wealth,earnings,sexual favours,and social status,especially in a society where patriarchy prevails as an ideology and justifies his actions in the larger society.

A)Exchange theory
B)Symbolic interactionism
C)Structural functional theory
D)Conflict theory
E)None of the above

Question 39

Which is the range of the following statement? Canadians who have grown up with one parent and a much older sibling of the opposite sex of the parent residing at home tend to treat the older sibling as a parent figure.

A)Meso-level theory
B)Macrosocial theory
C)Middle-range theory
D)Empirical generalization
E)Microsocial theory

Question 40

Professor Candice Candlestick teaches her students that the best sociological research presents objective facts independently of the values of the researcher and is characterized by precise measurement.Which approach does Professor Candlestick subscribe to?

A)Positivism
B)Interpretativism
C)Structural functionalism
D)Verstehenism
E)Objectivism

Question 41

Define the following:empirical generalization

Question 42

Define the following:aggregate

Question 43

Which of the following is the ultimate test of knowledge,according to positivists?

A)Verstehen
B)Deduction
C)Prediction
D)Replication
E)Interpretation

Question 44

Define the following:epistemology

Question 45

Define the following:nomothetic

Question 46

Define the following:interpretivism

Question 47

Define the following:inductive approach

Question 48

Define the following:micro-level theory

Question 49

Define the following:agency

Question 50

Define the following:grounded theory

Question 51

Define the following:deductive approach

Question 52

Define the following:macrosocial theory

Question 53

Define the following:assumption

Question 54

Define the following:concept

Question 55

Define the following:association

Question 56

Define the following:idiographic

Question 57

Define the following:mesosocial theory

Question 58

Define the following:negative relationship

Question 59

Define the following:causal explanation

Question 60

Define the following:middle-range theory

Question 61

Define the following:ontology

Question 62

Define the following:paradigm

Question 63

Define the following:replication

Question 64

Define the following:prediction

Question 65

Define the following:temporal order

Question 66

Define the following:structure

Question 67

Define the following:positivism

Question 68

Define the following:positive relationship

Question 69

Define the following:verstehen

Question 70

Define the following:social theory