Deck 2: Sociological Methods

Question 1

Which of the following examples might be considered a text?

A) A newspaper article
B) A documentary
C) Popular music
D) A magazine advertisement
E) All of the above

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Infotainment refers to…

A) A genre of mass media that combines research results, information and knowledge with entertainment.
B) A type of mass media that sensationalizes and exploits celebrity lifestyles
C) A type of mass media that is produced solely by scholars and researchers.
D) A type of mass media that provides scientific, valid information to the public
E) None of the above

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to chapter 2, which of the following is a key difference between the mass media and the scientific community?

A) The media generates creative products, whereas the scientific community produces information products.
B) The journalist's investigation is subjective; the stories they tell are always colored by personal interest. The scientist's investigation is objective; they report factual results without bias or personal interest.
C) The scientific community has an established set of rules for procedures, and produces findings that are generally respected. The mass media constitute a newer institution that experiences conflicting demands to entertain and inform, with less clearly defined procedures to guarantee reliable knowledge.
D) The media is subject to time and financial pressures that the scientific community does not experience.
E) All of the above

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A researcher wants to study how religiosity varies by race in the United States. Based on the most recent United States Census data, she finds out what percentage of the population is reported as white, African American, Hispanic, or other. Her sample of 1,000 respondents mirrors these percentages. This is an example of a…

A) Representative Sample
B) Random Sample
C) Snowball Sample
D) Comprehensive Survey
E) None of the above

Question 5

A researcher wants to study how religiosity varies by race in the United States. She interviews five individuals, and asks each one of them for the names of five other individuals who might be willing to participate in her study. She then interviews the five individuals referred. This is an example of a…

A) Representative Sample
B) Random Sample
C) Snowball Sample
D) Comprehensive Survey
E) None of the above

Question 6

A researcher wants to study how religiosity varies by race in the United States. She stands on a busy street corner in New York City, and asks every 5^th person who passes her by to answer a series of questions. This is an example of a…

A) Representative Sample
B) Random Sample
C) Snowball Sample
D) Comprehensive Survey
E) None of the above

Question 7

Samples make it possible for social scientists to...

A) Comprehensively study a particular population
B) Arrive at generalizations about a particular population using relatively few respondents.
C) Discard data that falsifies their theory
D) both A and B, but not C
E) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the following is not a potential problem for researcher's using quantitative data from existing secondary sources, such as the US Census or the General Social Survey?

A) The questions used in the existing source might generate open-ended answers that could be incorrectly categorized and coded.
B) The existing source might not ask the specific question the researcher is interested in, making it difficult to interpret and draw conclusions.
C) While the results of quantitative research might show a correlation, it can be difficult to pinpoint a causal relationship and causal factors.
D) Descriptive statistics compiled from these sources may not be sufficiently detailed.
E) All of the above

Question 9

Which statement correctly describes the difference between Durkheim's and Jacobs's explanation of suicide?

A) Durkheim's research was qualitative; Jacobs's research was quantitative.
B) Durkheim used a theory of social integration to explain the differences in suicide rates by social group. Jacobs relied on individual motives and purposes to explain differences in suicide rates.
C) Durkheim was limited by the data on suicide available; Jacobs had access to more advanced and complete data.
D) Durkheim's sample is limited to Western religions; Jacobs's sample is more representative and includes Eastern religions.

Question 10

During the summer, there is an increase in forest fires and firefighter activity. From this information, a researcher hypothesizes that firefighters cause forest fires. What is the dependent variable in this researcher's study?

A) Forest fires
B) Firefighters
C) The researcher
D) Summer
E) None of the above

Question 11

What is the independent variable in the study proposed in question 10?

A) Forest fires
B) Firefighters
C) The researcher
D) Summer
E) None of the above

Question 12

The assumed correlation between forest fires and fire fighters is erroneous because.

A) The researcher has reversed the dependent and independent variable.
B) It ignores a third variable: the summer.
C) The example does not provide data that forest fires and fire fighting increase in the summer.
D) It is not erroneous.
E) None of the above

Question 13

Which of the following is a criticism against using the natural science form of explanation for sociological research?

A) The methods required for natural science forms of explanation violate human subject ethics requirements.
B) Human actions are not determined by laws in the sense of natural science laws.
C) Natural science tries to establish laws and theories about causal relationships that are predictable and replicable; sociological theories are not conducive to this level of precision.
D) both B and C but not A
E) None of the above

Question 14

Which of the following methods would be most desirable to a researcher interested in the natural science model of explanation?

A) Interviews
B) Ethnography
C) Statistical data
D) Participant observation
E) None of the above

Question 15

Which of the following methods would be most desirable to a researcher interested in the interpretive approach?

A) Interviews
B) Ethnography
C) Participant observation
D) None of the above
E) All of the above

Question 16

What is the difference between structured and unstructured interviews?

A) Structured interviews dictate specific questions. Unstructured interviews are more conversational and open ended.
B) Structured interviews have to take place in a particular time and place. Unstructured interviews can take place anywhere.
C) Structured interviews have answer choices that the respondent selects from.
In an unstructured interview, the respondent gives answers which the interviewer later codes into categories.
D) Structured interviews draw from a standard database of questions. Unstructured interviews are innovative, and ask new questions.
E) All of the above

Question 17

According to Chapter 2, open-ended questions on questionnaire surveys avoid some of the criticisms of surveys by allowing respondents to speak for themselves, in their own terms. Which of the following, however, is an example of the disadvantage of open-ended questions?

A) They are difficult to code
B) They are difficult to analyze statistically
C) They make it difficult to compare answers among respondents because of their varied answers
D) They are difficult for the researcher to interpret and categorize
E) All of the above

Question 18

Which of the following studies cited in chapter 2 is an example of field research?

A) Emile Durkheim's study of Suicide rates
B) William Foote Whyte's study of a Chicago Italian-American street gang
C) W.I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki's study of Polish immigrants
D) Ron Lembo's study of television use
E) All of the above

Question 19

Ethnography's disadvantages include...

A) It is time consuming for the researcher
B) It is often limited to only one or a few groups, and therefore does not lend itself to generalization.
C) Reliability is dependent upon the researcher's accuracy in both observing actions and recording data.
D) Each observer will have a unique focus and interpretation in recording data, and therefore ethnographic studies are impossible to replicate.
E) All of the above

Question 20

Stories that are accounts of individual lives and events told from the perspective of a narrator are called:

A) Participant Observation
B) Ethnography
C) Semi-Structured Interviews
D) Personal Narratives
E) None of the above

Question 21

One of the advantages of personal narratives is:

A) They allow the sociologist to try and understand the emotions and intentions of the author as well as the social context of the narrative.
B) Because they are fictional accounts, sociologists do not have to obtain approval from an ethics committee.
C) Use of personal narratives has helped to mend an existing rift between sociologists and historians.
D) Personal narratives are easy sources to obtain and interpret.
E) None of the above

Question 22

__________ is an approach to research that follows the example of the natural sciences. It relies on research methods, often quantitative, developed to discover laws of social behavior.

A) Relativism
B) Functionalism
C) Positivism
D) Determinism
E) None of the above

Question 23

Research methods such as ethnography, oral histories, and life histories are similar in that they:

A) Are examples of the relativist approach to sociological research
B) Are interpretive research methods
C) Share an appreciation for the perspective of the actors studied
D) Strive to develop an understanding of the culture that inspired particular social actions.
E) All of the above

Question 24

Some feminist sociologists have criticized positivist methods and supported postmodern relativism because:

A) Quantitative methods give preference to a male perspective, and are inadequate to study women's actions and experiences.
B) Women's standpoints are unique and fundamentally different, and as such, require their own research approach.
C) Postmodern relativism is a scientifically neutral approach to research that will promote women's equality.
D) Both a and b, but not c
E) All of the above

Question 25

Other feminist sociologists have supported positivist methods because:

A) Quantitative methods are not dominated by men; many women have made important contributions to survey research.
B) Statistics are a useful and succinct way of illustrating gender inequality in society.
C) Categorizing quantitative and qualitative research as either male or female does not help eliminate gender discrimination, but instead perpetuates discrimination.
D) If feminist sociologists accept that men and women inherently think differently, it is not a far leap to essentializing the nature of men and women.
E) All of the above

Question 26

According to Chapter 2, what does R.W. Connell mean when he calls for sociological research to be "reconstituted as a democratic science"?

A) As we enter into an increasingly globalized world, with the United States as a dominant superpower, sociologists need to devote more time and theory to understanding democracy.
B) In the postmodern era, inequalities are gradually being protested, even decreased. As a discipline, sociology needs to support researchers who belong to previously marginalized groups.
C) Knowledge is power in a knowledge-based society. Sociology needs to form research partnerships in various spheres of society, and spread access to knowledge beyond the Western academic world.
D) Sociology ought to resist postmodern relativism. Positivist methods are the only universal, value neutral methods that will benefit societies.
E) None of the above

Question 27

Early sociologists suffered from having limited information to use in forming and testing their theories. What is one challenge that Chapter 2 identifies for contemporary sociology?

A) Insufficient funding to conduct research
B) Information overload from inadequate sources, such as the mass media.
C) Entertainment media tends to "out-scoop" the academic sphere.
D) People are no longer educated on how to interpret academic research, and thus have no basis to evaluate the facts they are presented with.
E) All of the above

Question 28

What is meant when postmodern culture is described as "mediatized"?

A) People watch too much television
B) People rely primarily on mass media to gather information and knowledge
C) Scholars are using mass media instead of traditional mediums to publish and present their work.
D) An increase in available mass media has created a society that demands immediate results and condensed information, instead of valid scientific research.
E) All of the above

Question 29

Which of the following statements might Ron Lembo agree with based on his research about television viewing cultures?

A) Watching television is a mindless activity that does little more than entertain the viewer.
B) There is a direct relationship between individuals who watch violent television programs and individuals who behave violently.
C) People engage with television viewing in multiple and diverse ways.
D) Because so many people have access to television, television programming is the best way to transmit information.
E) None of the above

Question 30

According to Chapter 2, methodology is useful because:

A) Many contemporary scams are conducted under the guise of "research." Understanding methodology makes individuals alert to this potential, and protects them from contemporary social problems such as identity theft.
B) A better understanding of methodology will improve the quality of mass media products.
C) It enables individuals to critically evaluate the data they encounter everyday.
D) It, in fact, is not useful except for those interested in conducting sociological (or social science) research.
E) None of the above

Question 31

According to Chapter 2, sociological research requires large surveys, extensive questionnaires, and a skilled team of researchers.

Question 32

Society itself is a text.

Question 33

Durkheim believed sociological explanation should try and interpret the motives and meanings that lie behind individual actions.

Question 34

Weber, unlike Durkheim, believed that sociological explanation should, mirroring the natural sciences, be based on observable factors rather than a person's intents and motives.

Question 35

On the one hand, the social survey method is advantageous because it allows information from a large sample to be collected quickly. On the other hand, it requires answers to be simplified, at the expense of the precise explanation of difficult and sensitive questions.

Question 36

Field research is a qualitative research method in which the researcher selects a field site and spends time observing and/or participating in the activities of this field site.

Question 37

Ethnography is naturalistic in that it studies individuals and groups in their natural settings, and with attention to how behavior and meanings are particular to interaction and context.

Question 38

Relativism is an approach to research that follows the example of the natural sciences, relying on quantitative methods to determine causal relate independent and dependent variables.

Question 39

Michael Apted's series "Marriage in America" would not meet the standards of professional sociology because it lacks a sociological theory of marriage, its sample is not representative, and its sample is too small.

Question 40

Unlike qualitative data, quantitative data require no theory or interpretation. It is factual and self-evident.