Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

A researcher examines the effect of playing organized sports on a child's grades in school. Since grades are affected by many things besides involvement in organized sports, the researcher will also take into account the educational level and the socioeconomic status of the parents. What is the dependent variable?

A) child's grades
B) involvement in organized sports
C) parents' educational level
D) parents' socioeconomic status

Answer 1

child's grades

Question 2

A critic charges that IQ tests are inconsistent. You take the test today and get one score but, if you retake the test tomorrow, you get a totally different score. This critic is claiming IQ tests lack

A) authenticity
B) parsimony
C) reliability
D) validity

Answer 2

reliability

Question 3

The variable "years of formal schooling successfully completed" (categories: 0, 1 to 7, 8, 9 to 11, 12, 13 to 15, 16, 17 or more) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Answer 3

ordinal

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a requirement for demonstrating causality?

A) covariation
B) necessity
C) nonspuriousness
D) temporal sequence
Multiple-Choice Questions from Student Quizzes

Question 5

The variable "number of children" uses the attributes 0, 1, 2, 3 ... (continuing as high as is needed). This variable is

A) a continuous interval/ratio variable
B) a continuous nominal variable
C) a discrete interval/ratio variable
D) a discrete nominal variable

Question 6

The categories of a variable have ONLY the following properties: the categories are different and the categories have rank order. What level of measurement does this variable have?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 7

For the following pair of variables, which is the more likely INDEPENDENT variable: current residence and place of birth?

A) current residence
B) place of birth

Question 8

In the statement "Watching violence on TV causes an increase in a person's tolerance for aggression," the independent variable is

A) parental attitude toward TV
B) person's age
C) tolerance of aggression
D) watching violence on TV

Question 9

You are examining a variable's attributes. They represent all the possibilities without overlapping one another; they have an inherent order; and they represent a numeric scale. Furthermore, the attributes are equally wide. What level of measurement does the variable have?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 10

A student complains that college tests don't really measure how much you know or how well you think. Teachers claim they do but the student says they really measure how fast you can work. The student is claiming college tests lack

A) authenticity
B) parsimony
C) reliability
D) validity

Question 11

The variable "cause of death" (categories: stroke, cancer, heart disease, accident, other) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 12

"Our data set consists of 32 cases. Each case represents a different municipal police department. These departments were randomly selected from all the municipal police departments in the state of Connecticut." The unit of analysis for this study is

A) the police department
B) the police officer
C) the random sample
D) the State of Connecticut

Question 13

Is the variable "number of times a person has been married" continuous or discrete?

A) continuous
B) discrete

Question 14

The variable "age at last birthday" (attributes: 0 to 19, 20 to 39, 40 to 59, 60 to 79, 80 to 99, 100 or older) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 15

Is the variable "percent of time a married person spends with his or her spouse" continuous or discrete?

A) continuous
B) discrete

Question 16

Is the variable "percent of a population that is female" continuous or discrete?

A) continuous
B) discrete

Question 17

The variable "frequency of late-arrival at class" (attributes: never, occasionally, usually, always) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 18

Is the variable "number of college courses passed" continuous or discrete?

A) continuous
B) discrete

Question 19

For the following pair of variables, which is the more likely DEPENDENT variable: occupation and race?

A) occupation
B) race

Question 20

A researcher hypothesizes that a person's political attitudes are influenced by his or her parents' political attitudes. What is the independent variable in this hypothesis?

A) the person's political attitudes
B) the parents' political attitudes
C) whether or not the person's attitudes and the parents' attitudes agree
D) whether or not the person's attitudes and the parents' attitudes disagree

Question 21

Who are the four groups we will be comparing in the chapter examples and practice problems?
* 2. In what roles will you be better because you understand data analysis?
* 3. What are some common units of analysis in social science research studies?

Question 22

For the following pair of variables, which is the more likely DEPENDENT variable: current residence and place of birth?

A) current residence
B) place of birth

Question 23

What are variables and attributes?

Question 24

The variable "amount of control a child has over what he or she watches on TV" (categories: no control, slight control, moderate control, complete control) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 25

A researcher wants to measure the variable "age at last birthday" at the interval/ratio level. Provide a complete set of attributes for the variable.

Question 26

You are interested in the effect of education on income. What are some other possible influences on income that you would want to control for?

Question 27

What are the three questions to ask about a variable's attributes in order to determine that variable's level of measurement?

Question 28

A critic charges that IQ tests don't really measure what they claim to measure. They say they measure natural intelligence but they really measure knowledge of the dominant culture of a society. This critic is claiming IQ tests lack

A) authenticity
B) parsimony
C) reliability
D) validity

Question 29

Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in the expression "the early bird catches the worm." Be clear which is which.

Question 30

A researcher wants to know how annual number of work days missed is affected by a worker's age. Of course, other things may also affect annual number of work days missed so the researcher will also take into account the worker's gender and number of children under the age of 18. What is the dependent variable here?

A) annual number of work days missed
B) worker's age
C) worker's gender
D) worker's number of children under age 18

Question 31

The variable "favorite color" (attributes: red, blue, yellow, other) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 32

What is the difference between reliability and validity?

Question 33

For the following pair of variables, which is the more likely INDEPENDENT variable: occupation and race?

A) occupation
B) race

Question 34

The variable "percent of a police department's officers who are female" (attributes: 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% … 99%, 100%) has what level of measurement?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval/ratio

Question 35

A researcher wants to measure the variable "favorite type of music" at the nominal level. Provide a set of attributes for the variable.

Question 36

What are the differences between independent, dependent, and control variables?

Question 37

What is the difference between a variable's theoretical definition and its operational definition?

Question 38

What are the three levels of measurement used in the text?

Question 39

Which of the following is a probability sampling technique?

A) purposive sampling
B) quota sampling
C) simple random sampling
D) snowball sampling
(Note: * indicates

Question 40

A researcher wants to measure the variable "frequency of seat belt use" at the ordinal level. Provide a set of attributes for the variable.

Question 41

What is the difference between a census and a sample?

Question 42

To show that a causal relationship exists, what three things are required?

Question 43

What are some types of non-probability sampling and some types of probability sampling? Clearly indicate which are which.