Question 1

Which of the following was not mentioned in the text as a source of topic selection in social research?

Accepted Answer

Ethical principles are typically considered in the conduct of research rather than as a source for selecting research topics.

Question 2

To examine whether the unemployment rate is related to rates of welfare and imprisonment, Mark Colvin gathered data from a random sample of 184 urban, industrial counties in the United States. Colvin's unit of analysis is

Accepted Answer

The unit of analysis refers to the main entity being analyzed in a study. In this case, Colvin gathered data from counties, making counties the unit of analysis.

Question 3

Consider the following hypothesis: Members of the Congress who belong to the same political party as the president are more likely to vote for legislation supported by the president than congressional members who belong to a different party. The unit of analysis implied by this hypothesis is

Accepted Answer

The hypothesis focuses on the behavior of individual members of Congress and their likelihood to vote for legislation based on their party affiliation relative to the president's party.

Question 4

Suppose you develop the following hypothesis: The more cohesive the group, the greater its productivity. To test the hypothesis, you analyze fifteen secretarial pools of six secretaries each in one large insurance company. The unit of analysis in this study would be

Accepted Answer

The unit of analysis is the secretarial pools because the hypothesis is about the relationship between group cohesion and productivity, and the groups being analyzed are the secretarial pools.

Question 5

To study whether women are stereotyped on television, Stephen Craig analyzed over 2,000 television commercials. Among the information he coded for each commercial was the gender mix of the characters, the role of the primary visual character, and the type of product advertised. Craig's unit of analysis is

Accepted Answer

Craig's unit of analysis is television commercials, as he analyzed and coded information from each commercial to study gender stereotypes.

Question 6

The ecological fallacy warns researchers to be cautious when drawing conclusions about

Accepted Answer

The ecological fallacy occurs when conclusions about individual behavior are drawn from group-level data, which may not accurately represent individual-level relationships.

Question 7

In a sample of corporations, the level of charitable giving increases as the average salary of the corporation increases. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Accepted Answer

An ecological fallacy occurs when conclusions about individual behavior are drawn from group-level data. The data shows a correlation between corporate salary levels and charitable giving, but it does not provide information about individual employee behavior, such as whether higher-paid employees give more to charities.

Question 8

Suppose you found that the incidence of social protest was higher in cities with large union memberships. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Accepted Answer

An ecological fallacy occurs when conclusions about individual behavior are drawn from group-level data. Just because cities with large union memberships have higher incidences of social protest does not mean that individual union members are more likely to engage in social protest.

Question 9

Which of the following research studies would be susceptible to the ecological fallacy?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following research studies would...

Question 10

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

Accepted Answer

The terms in list B (race, class rank, age) are all variables because they can take on different values.

Question 11

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

Accepted Answer

Variables are characteristics or attributes that can vary among individuals. In option D, religious affiliation, gender, and years of schooling are all characteristics that can differ from person to person.

Question 12

Suppose you hypothesize that among college students women consume alcoholic beverages less often than men. The independent variable is

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the one that is manipulated or categorized to observe its effect on the dependent variable. In this case, "gender" is the independent variable as it is used to compare the frequency of alcohol consumption between men and women.

Question 13

It is hypothesized that among first-year students, women attend class more frequently than men. Class attendance is a(n) __________ variable, and class standing (first-year, second-year, etc.) is a(n) __________variable.

Accepted Answer

The answer of It is hypothesized that among first-year students,...

Question 14

A study of gender differences in the values of U.S. adolescents found that females were more likely than males to express concern for the well-being of others. This difference was the same across all social class groupings. In this study, the dependent variable is __________, and a control variable is __________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A study of gender differences in the...

Question 15

In a study of the relationship between level of education and support for immigration reform, a person's race or ethnicity is an __________ variable and their occupational status is an __________ variable.

Accepted Answer

Race or ethnicity can influence both education level and support for immigration reform, making it an antecedent variable. Occupational status can be influenced by education level and can also affect support for immigration reform, making it an intervening variable.

Question 16

In Broh's study of the relationship between participation in interscholastic sports and academic achievement, social capital was an __________ variable and parent's income was an __________ variable.

Accepted Answer

In Broh's study, social capital was considered an intervening variable because it mediates the relationship between sports participation and academic achievement. Parent's income was an antecedent variable as it influences both social capital and academic outcomes.

Question 17

Which of the following statistical properties would not apply to the relationship between the two "qualitative" variables race and political party affiliation?

Accepted Answer

Qualitative variables like race and political party affiliation do not have a natural order, so the concept of direction (positive or negative) does not apply.

Question 18

In a recent campus survey, men reported that they watched an average of 104 minutes of television per day, and women reported an average of 79 minutes. This indicates that there is ______ between gender and the number of minutes of TV watched per day.

Accepted Answer

The difference in average TV watching time between men and women suggests an association between gender and the number of minutes of TV watched per day.

Question 19

If older people are less likely to attend church than younger people, the relationship between age and church attendance is

Accepted Answer

A negative relationship means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. In this case, as age increases, church attendance decreases.

Question 20

Suppose you found a negative correlation between how often respondents report that they attend church and how much money they claimed in charitable contributions on their most recent income tax return. This would indicate that

Accepted Answer

A negative correlation indicates that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease. Therefore, as church attendance increases, the dollar amount of charitable contributions decreases.

Quiz 4: Elements of Research Design

Which of the following was not mentioned in the text as a source of topic selection in social research?

To examine whether the unemployment rate is related to rates of welfare and imprisonment, Mark Colvin gathered data from a random sample of 184 urban, industrial counties in the United States. Colvin's unit of analysis is

Consider the following hypothesis: Members of the Congress who belong to the same political party as the president are more likely to vote for legislation supported by the president than congressional members who belong to a different party. The unit of analysis implied by this hypothesis is

Suppose you develop the following hypothesis: The more cohesive the group, the greater its productivity. To test the hypothesis, you analyze fifteen secretarial pools of six secretaries each in one large insurance company. The unit of analysis in this study would be

The ecological fallacy warns researchers to be cautious when drawing conclusions about

In a sample of corporations, the level of charitable giving increases as the average salary of the corporation increases. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Suppose you found that the incidence of social protest was higher in cities with large union memberships. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Which of the following research studies would be susceptible to the ecological fallacy?

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

Suppose you hypothesize that among college students women consume alcoholic beverages less often than men. The independent variable is

It is hypothesized that among first-year students, women attend class more frequently than men. Class attendance is a(n) variable, and class standing (first-year, second-year, etc.) is a(n) variable.

A study of gender differences in the values of U.S. adolescents found that females were more likely than males to express concern for the well-being of others. This difference was the same across all social class groupings. In this study, the dependent variable is , and a control variable is .

In a study of the relationship between level of education and support for immigration reform, a person's race or ethnicity is an variable and their occupational status is an variable.

In Broh's study of the relationship between participation in interscholastic sports and academic achievement, social capital was an variable and parent's income was an variable.

Which of the following statistical properties would not apply to the relationship between the two "qualitative" variables race and political party affiliation?

In a recent campus survey, men reported that they watched an average of 104 minutes of television per day, and women reported an average of 79 minutes. This indicates that there is ______ between gender and the number of minutes of TV watched per day.

If older people are less likely to attend church than younger people, the relationship between age and church attendance is

Suppose you found a negative correlation between how often respondents report that they attend church and how much money they claimed in charitable contributions on their most recent income tax return. This would indicate that