Deck 3: Sex Research

Question 1

William Masters began his research on the physiology of sexual response in 1964.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

No large-scale comprehensive Canadian sex survey has ever been done.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A dependent variable is the manipulating variable.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A sex researcher is interested in studying the sexual behaviour of all sexually-active 18-year-old Hispanic males living in the United States.He ultimately manages to study each one of these individuals.In this example,the researcher has gathered data from a:

A)sample.
B)population.
C)self-report.
D)probability sample.

Question 5

Eye-tracking is a behavioural measure in which a device measures the participant's pupil responses.

Question 6

A research method that allows researchers to determine the causes of various aspects of behaviour is the experiment.

Question 7

The NHSLS is one of the oldest sex surveys of the general population of the United States.

Question 8

A sex researcher is interested in conducting a study on the sexual behaviour of French-Canadian individuals in polyamorous relationships and manages to contact 60 such individuals to participate in the study.In research terms,this group of participants is defined as the researcher's:

A)cohort.
B)sample.
C)population.
D)control group.

Question 9

Alice stated,"I feels extra special when I am winked at." This is an example of thick description.

Question 10

The most common method for measuring sexuality is self-reports

Question 11

The term correlation is the percentage of people giving a particular response.

Question 12

Which of the following is a limitation of the use of fMRI in studying brain activity?

A)Participants must be lying very still to get good images.
B)Participants must not eat anything for 12 hours before they are tested.
C)The anatomy is measured but not the actual brain activity.
D)Repeated exposure may lead to brain damage.

Question 13

Masters and Johnson pioneering research included a sample of 5300 male and 5940 female interviews in the United States.

Question 14

Which of the following is the most common method for measuring sexuality?

A)Eye tracking
B)Implicit Association Test
C)Self-reports
D)Pupil dilation

Question 15

One of the major flaws of Masters and Johnson research was that were not careful to use informed consent.

Question 16

Causal inference takes place when a researcher manipulate variables.

Question 17

In a study,participants were made to wear optical devices that measured the point of their gazes.They were shown pictures in order to evaluate which parts of the pictures the participants stared at the most.Which of the following methods is described in this example?

A)fMRI
B)Genital measures
C)Content analysis
D)Eye-tracking

Question 18

The only Department of Sexology located in Canada operates in French at l'Université du Québec à Montréal.

Question 19

In research the mean is the most frequent score.

Question 20

Ethical problems are particularly easy to control in sex research.

Question 21

"Enlargement" and "concealment" are examples of:

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

Question 22

Which of the following is an accurate observation about convenience samples in sex research,such as that used in the Janus report?

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

Question 23

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

A)Volunteer bias
B)Cost-benefit approach
C)Test-retest reliability
D)Content analysis

Question 24

A sex researcher is interested in understanding the trends in contraceptive use among women living in the United States.For this purpose,he obtains a convenience sample of 70 sexually-active 21-year-old females across the country.However,upon closer investigation,it was discovered that all the participants had one characteristic in common-they all had engaged in intercourse before the age of 15.Based on this we may conclude that:

A)the sample is highly representative of the entire female population of the country.
B)the results obtained from the study may not be true of all 21-year-old females.
C)the results obtained from the study are free from volunteer bias.
D)the results obtained from the study may be extrapolated to the population.

Question 25

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 two 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 26

People who refuse to participate in sex research differ in some ways from those who do participate.This leads to the problem of _____.

A)enlargement
B)concealment
C)implicit association
D)volunteer bias

Question 27

In a study about sexuality,participants of a perfectly random sample were truthful and tried to give information that was as accurate as possible.Identify the factor that is most likely to make their self-reports inaccurate in this context.

A)Difficulties with estimates
B)Concealment
C)Volunteer bias
D)Enlargement

Question 28

A researcher is studying the incidence of child sexual abuse in public schools and she sends a questionnaire to 1,000 randomly selected students' homes in the month of January.The questions ask how frequently parents engage in certain behaviours like hitting,criticizing,and punishing their children.The same questionnaires are sent to the same participants in June of the same year.However,this time less than 500 questionnaires are returned.This survey faces the problem of:

A)refusal or nonresponse.
B)lack of probability sampling.
C)lack of test-retest reliability.
D)no volunteer bias and accurate memory.

Question 29

A _____ sample is chosen in a haphazard manner relative to the population of interest.

A)systematic
B)convenience
C)probability
D)random

Question 30

What is the most difficult part of the sampling procedure in sex research?

A)Contacting the people identified in the sample.
B)Getting the people in the sample to participate.
C)Adopting a method for obtaining the sample.
D)Identifying the population to be sampled.

Question 31

In sampling,volunteer bias in sex research would not be a problem if:

A)those who refuse to participate are identical in their sexual behaviour to those who do participate.
B)a very small sample size is taken.
C)those who refuse to participate drop out immediately,allowing for others to be sampled in their place.
D)the differences in the sexual behaviour of those who participated are significantly large.

Question 32

Which among the following is an example of enlargement in sex research?

A)A 44-year-old man who claims he has never had an extramarital affair.
B)A 27-year-old woman who claims to have had 4 sexual partners in the last year.
C)A 30-year-old woman who claims that she always experiences multiple orgasms during sex.
D)A 16-year-old female student who claims that she is rarely attracted to her male classmates.

Question 33

Which of the following problems is best minimized by assuring participants of response anonymity and convincing them that the research will be used for scientific purposes?

A)Influence of extraneous factors
B)Memory distortion
C)Volunteer bias
D)Purposeful distortion

Question 34

When people respond to questions about sexuality,sometimes they exaggerate and other times they tend to minimize or hide certain facts.In which of the following methods of measuring sexuality would this problem arise?

A)Eye-tracking
B)Implicit Association Test
C)Self-reports
D)Direct observations

Question 35

Margaret is having an affair with her neighbour,Tom.However,when an interviewer in a sex study asks her whether she has ever had any sexual relations with anyone outside of her marriage,her answer is,"No,never." This is an example of _____.

A)enlargement
B)concealment
C)causal inference
D)volunteer bias

Question 36

_____ is defined as the problem that occurs when sex researchers can study only those people who have agreed to participate in the study.

A)Concealment
B)Enlargement
C)Conformity bias
D)Volunteer bias

Question 37

In conducting a study of sexual research,you collect your sample from walk-ins at a local doctor's office.This type of sample is a:

A)product of probability sampling.
B)random sample.
C)convenience sample.
D)systematic and representative sample of the local community.

Question 38

A 30-year-old man frequents book stores that sell erotic literature.However,when asked about this in a research study,he denies ever having been to one.In sex research,this tendency is defined as:

A)enlargement.
B)volunteer bias.
C)concealment.
D)causal inference.

Question 39

In a study of sexuality,500 possible participants were considered for a sample.These people were contacted and asked to participate in the study.Half of them agreed to participate.However,a majority of the participants were male.Which of the following problems is this study most likely to have due to high male participation?

A)Observer bias
B)Probability sampling
C)Volunteer bias
D)Concealment

Question 40

A questionnaire for a sex study asks the respondents the total number of sexual partners they have had in their lives.Although John has only had sex with a single partner,John lists the total as ten.This is an example of _____.

A)enlargement
B)concealment
C)causal inference
D)implicit association

Question 41

Anonymity of responses in sex research stems from the ethical principle of _____.

A)informed consent
B)justice in research ethics
C)protection from harm
D)participant observation

Question 42

What were Kinsey's interviewing techniques most likely successful in minimizing?

A)Problems of memory.
B)Purposeful distortion.
C)Inability to estimate.
D)Volunteer bias.

Question 43

Which of the following statements is true of the computer-assisted self-interview (CASI)method?

A)It results in a higher number of fudged responses.
B)It is not suitable for individuals with poor reading skills.
C)It can be combined with an audio component.
D)It offers little privacy to respondents.

Question 44

Which of the following is true of a participant's right to quit a study on sexuality at any time?

A)Quitting a sexuality study forms a part of informed consent.
B)This right of the participant prevents shrinking of the sample.
C)Quitting is part of the cost-benefit approach.
D)This right was established by Kinsey.

Question 45

How many federal agencies were involved in the creation of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans?

A)Two
B)Three
C)Four
D)Five

Question 46

Factors other than the survey by itself can influence responses.For example,the gender or ethnicity of the interviewer may influence participants.These factors are known as:

A)reliability factors.
B)internal factors.
C)extraneous factors.
D)validity re-test factors.

Question 47

Kinsey's face-to-face interviewing techniques are:

A)criticized by researchers.
B)highly regarded in the field.
C)challenged by social scientists.
D)considered as unethical means of obtaining information

Question 48

The findings of a research study on the sexual habits of adolescents are printed in a medical journal along with the names of those who participated in the study.In ethical terms,this study has violated the:

A)principle of informed consent.
B)principle of protection from harm.
C)cost-benefit principle.
D)justice principle.

Question 49

In a perfect test-retest reliability:

A)people disagree from one time to the next.
B)a correlation of around.50 exists between the two sets of responses.
C)people's responses vary because of memory lapses.
D)a correlation of 1.0 exists between the two sets of responses.

Question 50

Informed consent and protection from harm in sexual research are best described as:

A)ways to ensure that your study is valid.
B)ways to ensure that your study will be reliable and accurate.
C)unwarranted principles in a cost-benefit approach.
D)ethical standards for conducting research on sexuality.

Question 51

Sex research is considered justifiable if:

A)the costs to society outweigh the benefits to participants.
B)the costs associated with research outweigh the benefits.
C)there are considerable human costs associated with the research.
D)the benefits associated with the research outweigh the costs.

Question 52

Informed consent in research means that participants:

A)sign a confidentiality form.
B)do not have the right to be told the purpose of the research.
C)are entitled to anonymity of their response.
D)have the right to know what they will be asked to do.

Question 53

A new drug for the treatment of syphilis is tested only on patients of low socioeconomic status (SES).Only patients whom the researchers felt would benefit from the drug are chosen and given the choice to participate in the study.The participants are given information about how the drug will affect their bodies and warned about a list of possible side-effects.However,patients from high SES neighborhoods are not contacted.Which of the following can be inferred from this study?

A)It undermines the justice principle.
B)It lacks informed consent.
C)It lacks any protection from harm.
D)It incurs less cost but has more benefits.

Question 54

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

A)nonresponse.
B)informed consent.
C)purposeful distortion.
D)the ability to estimate

Question 55

Which of the following statements is true of the direct observation methods of studying sexuality?

A)They have a high level of inaccuracy.
B)They are expensive and time-consuming.
C)They often result in purposeful distortion.
D)They generally have a very large sample size.

Question 56

Which of the following is a major advantage of direct observation over self-reports?

A)It is accurate.
B)It takes less time to complete.
C)It costs very little.
D)It is easy to obtain a probability sample.

Question 57

Sponsoring agencies and sex researchers attempt to minimize the stress to participants in a study while still gaining valuable knowledge.This is done by:

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

Question 58

Which group was underrepresented in Kinsey's sample?

A)Protestants
B)Youngsters
C)Females
D)Racial minorities

Question 59

The computer-assisted self-interview:

A)accommodates poor readers through audio components.
B)lacks the privacy that written questionnaires provide.
C)uses biological measures to test the response of participants.
D)relies on direct observation methods of collecting data

Question 60

Researchers have an obligation to ensure that research risks and benefits are distributed fairly across all groups in society.This is known as the principle of:

A)equality in research.
B)justice in research ethics.
C)informed consent.
D)legality of research.

Question 61

Which of the following is an advantage of Web-based surveys?

A)Respondents can be interviewed in a carefully controlled environment.
B)Large samples can be recruited for surveys.
C)There is no risk of repeat responders.
D)There is little chance of responders deliberately sabotaging the results.

Question 62

Identify a major drawback of conducting Web-based surveys.

A)The risk of repeat responders
B)Very small sample sizes
C)Lack of anonymity
D)Lack of access to sexual minorities

Question 63

Alfred Kinsey pulled together a long term research team that included all of the following EXCEPT which person?

A)Martin
B)McMillen
C)Gebhard
D)Pomeroy

Question 64

Which of the following statements describes the Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR)?

A)It found that the age of first intercourse had declined over the last several decades.
B)Its sample comprised men and women aged between 18 and 65 across the country.
C)It used the face-to-face interviewing method.
D)It had a very low response rate of only 37 per cent.

Question 65

Identify the advantage of conducting Web-based surveys.

A)Minimizing enlargement and concealment of information by the respondents.
B)Observing behavioural cues of the participants.
C)Studying special populations that are defined by their sexuality.
D)Ensuring the collection of highly accurate and reliable data free from purposeful distortion.

Question 66

A research study focuses on the sexuality of gays and lesbians in a population.Problems in sampling arise as many gays and lesbians are closeted and some may even be in heterosexual marriages.Which of the following methods of data collection would be most suitable for this study?

A)Face-to-face interviews
B)Web-based surveys
C)Direct observations
D)Magazine surveys

Question 67

Debra wants to conduct a sex study on individuals who enjoy sadomasochism.She contacts a few of her friends who engage in sadomasochistic behaviour.In turn,they contact others whom they know are sadomasochists or attend S/M parties.Eventually,a sample of 200 participants is obtained.Identify the type of sampling method used in this survey.

A)Stratified sampling
B)Probability sampling
C)Random sampling
D)Snowball sampling

Question 68

Which of the following is a limitation of the NHSLS?

A)Included people living in institutions (e.g.)prisons,universities,and dormitories.
B)Participants were adults between the ages of 18 and 59.
C)It did not include enough people from ethnic minority groups-particularly Asian Americans.
D)Interviewers were of the same cultural background as research participants.

Question 69

The _____ was led by Anne Johnson and yielded data from men and women living in England,Wales,and Scotland.

A)National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB)
B)National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL)
C)National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS)
D)Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR)

Question 70

Which of the following is a standard technique used to understand the impact of mass media on sexuality?

A)Content analysis
B)Web-based survey
C)Magazine survey
D)Direct observation

Question 71

Which of the following best characterizes the sampling done in magazine surveys?

A)Sampling is usually extremely biased.
B)Sampling techniques have highly refined over the last decade,resulting in a great deal of valuable data)
C)Sampling is based on probability statistics.
D)Sampling techniques are reported quite accurately along with the articles,so the reader knows what the researchers did.

Question 72

Who did the NHSLS exclude?

A)Gays and lesbians.
B)Fewer than 3 percent of Americans.
C)Adults older than 21 years of age.
D)Those who worked for the U.S.government.

Question 73

A study aims to research the sexuality of closeted homosexuals.Obtaining a sample is problematic because participants would require a high degree of anonymity.Identify the type of data collection that would be most suitable for this study.

A)Direct observation
B)Web-based survey
C)Implicit Association Test
D)Face-to-face interview

Question 74

Which of the following is a disadvantage of Web-based surveys?

A)Respondents lack a controlled environment in which they take surveys.
B)Lack of access to a large number of respondents leads to smaller samples.
C)Stigmatized sexual behaviour cannot be studied.
D)Extraneous influences often lead to skewed results.

Question 75

According to Ford and Norris,having respondents interviewed by an interviewer of the same gender and ethnic background as themselves does what?

A)Violates the principles of ethical research.
B)Diverts the focus of the research.
C)Results in biased responses.
D)Helps in building rapport and trust.

Question 76

According to the text,compared to other methods of administering surveys,Web-based surveys offer what advantage?

A)Smaller,more manageable sample sizes.
B)Ability to study taboo sexual behaviour.
C)Do not rely on self-reports.
D)A sample free from bias.

Question 77

Howard lives in Australia.He wants to study the sexual behaviour of students in private colleges in the United States.Which of the following would be the best and most convenient method of data collection for Howard?

A)Direct observation
B)Magazine survey
C)Web-based survey
D)Face-to-face interview

Question 78

Who was the NHSLS (National Health and Social Life Survey)headed by?

A)Alfred Kinsey
B)Masters and Johnson
C)Edward Laumann
D)Bronislaw Malinowski

Question 79

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

A)male homosexuality.
B)animal contact by males.
C)premarital sex.
D)extramarital sexual contact.

Question 80

You want to measure the impact of the media in some way.You sample several advice columns found in "Playboy" and "Playgirl" and compare the various types of questions asked and the types of advice given.You are carrying out a(n):

A)observational analysis.
B)random probabilistic survey.
C)cost-benefit analysis.
D)content analysis.