Question 1

You are working for a community development organization in a city with high rates of unemployment, poverty, high school attrition, and juvenile delinquency. Your organization wants to begin an afternoon computer training program for young people. Explain how descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, and evaluation research can all be used to help start and later maintain this program.

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are working for a community development...

Question 2

When determining how accurate research is in capturing social reality, social scientists refer to dimensions of:

Accepted Answer

Validity refers to the extent to which research accurately measures or reflects the concept it is supposed to represent. In the context of capturing social reality, social scientists are concerned with how well their research reflects the true nature of social phenomena, and thus they rely on measures of validity to assess its accuracy. Causality refers to the relationship between one variable and another, and is relevant to understanding how social phenomena operate, but it is not directly related to the accuracy of research in capturing social reality. Reliability refers to the consistency of research findings over time or across different researchers, and while it is important for ensuring the accuracy of research, it does not address the issue of whether the research accurately captures social reality. Evaluation and objectivity are not relevant dimensions for assessing the accuracy of research in capturing social reality.

Question 3

According to the text, what steps can social scientists make to combat the four different types of everyday error? Explain your answer by using an example of a hypothetical study on drug and alcohol use among teenagers.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the text, what steps can...

Question 4

Write a brief explanation of the concept of validity and its three dimensions. To illustrate your explanations, describe what they would refer to in a hypothetical study of drug abuse in U.S. suburbs.

Accepted Answer

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Question 5

An advertiser claims that "four out of five veterinarians feed their own dogs CANINE GOODIES" to conclude that CANINE GOODIES is a superior dog food. Use the dimensions of validity to discuss the potential flaws in this conclusion. Discuss how CANINE GOODIES might make their claims more scientific in future commercials.

Accepted Answer

The answer of An advertiser claims that "four out of...

Question 6

Consider the argument made by Putnam's Bowling Alone, as described in Chapter 1. Are Putnam's conclusions consistent with your own casual observations about how social ties have weakened in the United States? List three of your own observations that are either consistent with or contradict Putnam's conclusion. Describe how you might propose descriptive research to test whether your observations hold up to scientific criteria. In addition, be specific about the types of errors in everyday reasoning that might apply to your casual observations.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Consider the argument made by Putnam's Bowling...

Question 7

Explain what generalizability is and why it is important to consider when doing social research. Provide an example of a hypothetical study that shows sample generalizability as well as cross-population generalizability.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain what generalizability is and why it...

Question 8

In which circumstances are descriptive, exploratory, explanatory, and evaluation research appropriate? Give an example for each.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In which circumstances are descriptive, exploratory, explanatory,...

Question 9

A researcher believes girls are more preoccupied with the way they dress than boys. Due to this assumption, he focuses his observations only on girls and their interactions with their friends, neglecting how boys present themselves to others. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

This is an example of selective observation, because the researcher is only observing one group and ignoring another, which could lead to biased conclusions.

Question 10

Name four errors in everyday reasoning in the conclusion that people should not feel guilty about not letting their house cats out in the city, because when one observer moved into the country, she opened the door to her cats, and they chose not to go outside.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Name four errors in everyday reasoning in...

Question 11

According to Putnam's explanatory research, people "bowl alone" in the United States because which of the following has occurred in during the last few decades in the 20th century?

Accepted Answer

Putnam's research suggests that social ties have weakened in the United States in recent decades, which has led to people "bowling alone" and engaging in less social activities in general.

Question 12

The extent to which a researcher's sample is representative of the population that it was drawn from is called:

Accepted Answer

External validity refers to the degree to which the findings of a study can be generalized to the population it was drawn from. Therefore, C is the correct answer. Reliability refers to the consistency of measurements, overgeneralization is the tendency to make broad and unwarranted generalizations from a sample to the population, responsiveness refers to the sensitivity of a measure to detect changes, and measurement validity refers to the degree to which a measure assesses what it intends to measure. None of these concepts specifically address representativeness of the sample.

Question 13

Jason jumped to the conclusion that people who play video games all day are not athletic. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Jason's conclusion is illogical because playing video games does not necessarily mean that a person is not athletic. It is unfair to generalize and make assumptions without evidence.

Question 14

Which of the four "challenges" are the most difficult for social science to overcome? Review each of the four and evaluate the relative difficulties they create. Answer in terms of a specific research area, such as understanding homelessness, crime, or adaptations to communities or work organizations.

Accepted Answer

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Question 15

Which of the following is not an important goal of social research?

Accepted Answer

While causation is a key concept in social research, it is not necessarily a goal in and of itself. Instead, social researchers aim to explore, explain, evaluate, and describe social phenomena, using a range of methods and theoretical perspectives. Causation may emerge as a result of research findings, but it is not the primary goal.

Question 16

Crime has been decreasing in most U.S. cities for the last decade. However, crime remains a critical issue in politics, in the media, and in explanations for why middle-class people do not want to live in the cities. Explain this situation by referring to all four of the errors in everyday reasoning. Propose different sources of errors in everyday reasoning that might account for continued concern about crime even in the face of evidence of declining crime rates.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Crime has been decreasing in most U.S....

Question 17

Sally decides that she wants to observe interactions among individuals involved in a protest. She wants to understand their actions as well as the issues that concern them. She is performing what type of research?

Accepted Answer

Exploratory research is conducted to investigate a problem that is not clearly defined. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations for an action or phenomenon. In this case, Sally is trying to understand the actions and concerns of individuals in a protest, which fits the definition of exploratory research.

Question 18

Researchers want to look at the impact of school policy on physical education and health classes on childhood obesity. To do this, they would perform what type of research?

Accepted Answer

Evaluation research is the correct choice because it involves assessing the effectiveness of programs, policies, or interventions, such as those related to physical education and health classes, to determine their impact on outcomes like childhood obesity.

Question 19

A researcher asks five questions of a sample of community residents to find out how much they fear crime and whether their level of fear was influenced by a recent well-publicized murder in the community. Explain what the three dimensions of validity would refer to in this study and why they are important.

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The answer of A researcher asks five questions of a...

Quiz 1: Science, Society, and Social Research