Question 1

Among the reasons for the frequent use of composite measures is(are)that:

Accepted Answer

A) the researcher is seldom able to develop in advance single indicators of complex concepts. 
B) a single data item might not have enough categories to provide a range of variation. 
C) composite measures give a more comprehensive and accurate indication of a given variable. 
D) they are efficient data reduction devices. 
E) all of these choices. 
A) the researcher is seldom able to develop in advance single indicators of complex concepts. 
B) a single data item might not have enough categories to provide a range of variation. 
C) composite measures give a more comprehensive and accurate indication of a given variable. 
D) they are efficient data reduction devices. 
E) all of these choices. E

Question 2

Compare and contrast the various types of scales.How do they differ from an index?

Accepted Answer

A typical answer should include the following items:
Likert scale,Thurstone scale,Bogardus Social Distance scale,and Semantic differential scales.Student responses should focus on how they are all composite measures designed to elicit simplified and consistent responses on a variety of indicators.The second part of the question should include that scales and indexes are both composite measures intended to simplify explanation,but that one is a way to standardize indicators,while the other simplifies the actual variables.

Question 3

A bivariate relationship is between two or more variables.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 4

The only thing one can do when building an index with missing data is drop cases where data is missing.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

Which of the following statements is FALSE while determining the relative strengths of the items of bivariate relationships?

Accepted Answer

A) Be wary of including items in a composite measure that are not related to one another empirically. 
B) One should probably drop any item that is not related to several other items in the composite measure. 
C) variable very strong relationship between two items presents a problem. 
D) One must check the bivariate correlations between all items that one plans to include in the composite measure. 
E) You should strive for perfectly correlated (1.0)indicators within a composite measure. 
A) Be wary of including items in a composite measure that are not related to one another empirically. 
B) One should probably drop any item that is not related to several other items in the composite measure. 
C) variable very strong relationship between two items presents a problem. 
D) One must check the bivariate correlations between all items that one plans to include in the composite measure. 
E) You should strive for perfectly correlated (1.0)indicators within a composite measure.

Question 6

A(n)summarizes the intersection of two or more variables.

Accepted Answer

A) guttman scale 
B) likert scale 
C) semantic differential scale 
D) index 
E) typology 
A) guttman scale 
B) likert scale 
C) semantic differential scale 
D) index 
E) typology

Question 7

Perfectly correlated indicators are not useful in an index.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Typologies can only be constructed on the basis of a single variable.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

For an index or scale to be considered unidimensional,its component items should be indicators of only one dimension of a concept.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

Thurstone scales use judges in their construction.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

Professor Thames tried to use a Guttman scale on his data set that he had seen published in a major journal.Thames was upset because the items did not form a Guttman scale on his data.Confused,he asked for your help.You should tell him that:

Accepted Answer

A) the article that appeared in the journal was probably an error. 
B) he should recheck his scaling techniques because he probably made an error. 
C) items may form a Guttman scale in one sample but not in another. 
D) it was probably not a very good scale. 
E) none of these choices. 
A) the article that appeared in the journal was probably an error. 
B) he should recheck his scaling techniques because he probably made an error. 
C) items may form a Guttman scale in one sample but not in another. 
D) it was probably not a very good scale. 
E) none of these choices.

Question 12

According to Babbie,as a general guideline the coefficient of reproducibility for a Guttman scale should be:

Accepted Answer

A) 100 percent 
B) 90 or 95 percent 
C) 80 or 85 percent 
D) 70 percent 
E) It doesn't matter 
A) 100 percent 
B) 90 or 95 percent 
C) 80 or 85 percent 
D) 70 percent 
E) It doesn't matter

Question 13

Robert notices that several respondents did not answer the question of whether they took out loans to fund their education.However,later in his survey,Robert finds that respondents told him about the source(s)and the amount(s)of their college loans.In handling the missing data on the question of whether or not they had a college loan,Robert's best approach is to:

Accepted Answer

A) randomly assign values to the missing data. 
B) delete the cases with missing data from the analysis. 
C) assign the middle value to the cases with the missing data. 
D) use the latter information about amount and source of loans as grounds for assigning values to the cases which had missing values. 
E) all of these choices are equally appropriate. 
A) randomly assign values to the missing data. 
B) delete the cases with missing data from the analysis. 
C) assign the middle value to the cases with the missing data. 
D) use the latter information about amount and source of loans as grounds for assigning values to the cases which had missing values. 
E) all of these choices are equally appropriate.

Question 14

Both scales and indexes are interval measures.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

Indexes must be made up of:

Accepted Answer

A) nominal variables. 
B) ordinal variables. 
C) interval variables. 
D) ratio variables. 
E) any type or combination of variables. 
A) nominal variables. 
B) ordinal variables. 
C) interval variables. 
D) ratio variables. 
E) any type or combination of variables.

Question 16

Jeremy includes items that measure sexism in his index of gender roles.He does this because he believes the two variables are empirically related.As a methodology student,you should tell Jeremy that:

Accepted Answer

A) it's a great idea,and he should do it. 
B) if he includes both the variables in his index he is violating concerns about the general or specific dimensions of an index. 
C) if he includes both the variables in his index he needs to examine the bivariate correlations between them to be sure they are empirically correlated. 
D) if he includes both the variables in his index he is violating the criteria specifying the need for unidimensionality in index construction. 
E) great idea as long as the bivariate correlations among the variables exceed 0.9 
A) it's a great idea,and he should do it. 
B) if he includes both the variables in his index he is violating concerns about the general or specific dimensions of an index. 
C) if he includes both the variables in his index he needs to examine the bivariate correlations between them to be sure they are empirically correlated. 
D) if he includes both the variables in his index he is violating the criteria specifying the need for unidimensionality in index construction. 
E) great idea as long as the bivariate correlations among the variables exceed 0.9

Question 17

Professor Swanson developed an index of marital happiness.Several items in Swanson's questionnaire were not a part of the index (i.e. ,"How many serious quarrels or arguments have you had with your spouse in the past year?")Swanson compared the index scores of marital happiness with these questions.Swanson was doing:

Accepted Answer

A) index validation. 
B) item analysis. 
C) external validation. 
D) index validation and item analysis. 
E) index validation and external validation. 
A) index validation. 
B) item analysis. 
C) external validation. 
D) index validation and item analysis. 
E) index validation and external validation.

Question 18

Calculating a correlation will allow you to determine how closely related indicators are.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Using Likert-type scale items,Professor Wong developed an index to assess job morale.Wong administered the index to 2,000 workers and found that 1 to 4 responses were missing on each of the items.Wong could:

Accepted Answer

A) Exclude the cases that contained the missing data from the analysis. 
B) Assign the middle value to cases with missing data. 
C) Analyze the cases that had missing data to interpret their meaning. 
D) Assign values at random. 
E) All of these choices. 
A) Exclude the cases that contained the missing data from the analysis. 
B) Assign the middle value to cases with missing data. 
C) Analyze the cases that had missing data to interpret their meaning. 
D) Assign values at random. 
E) All of these choices.

Question 20

An index is constructed by assigning scores to patterns of responses.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Among the reasons for the frequent use of composite measures is(are)that:

Compare and contrast the various types of scales.How do they differ from an index?

A bivariate relationship is between two or more variables.

The only thing one can do when building an index with missing data is drop cases where data is missing.

Which of the following statements is FALSE while determining the relative strengths of the items of bivariate relationships?

A(n)summarizes the intersection of two or more variables.

Perfectly correlated indicators are not useful in an index.

Typologies can only be constructed on the basis of a single variable.

For an index or scale to be considered unidimensional,its component items should be indicators of only one dimension of a concept.

Thurstone scales use judges in their construction.

Professor Thames tried to use a Guttman scale on his data set that he had seen published in a major journal.Thames was upset because the items did not form a Guttman scale on his data.Confused,he asked for your help.You should tell him that:

According to Babbie,as a general guideline the coefficient of reproducibility for a Guttman scale should be:

Both scales and indexes are interval measures.

Indexes must be made up of:

Jeremy includes items that measure sexism in his index of gender roles.He does this because he believes the two variables are empirically related.As a methodology student,you should tell Jeremy that:

Calculating a correlation will allow you to determine how closely related indicators are.

Using Likert-type scale items,Professor Wong developed an index to assess job morale.Wong administered the index to 2,000 workers and found that 1 to 4 responses were missing on each of the items.Wong could:

An index is constructed by assigning scores to patterns of responses.

Human Inquiry and Science

Paradigms Theory and Research

The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Research Design

Conceptualization Operationalization and Measurement

The Logic of Sampling

Experiments

Survey Research

Qualitative Field Research

Unobtrusive Research

Evaluation Research

Qualitative Data Analysis

Quantitative Data Analysis

Reading and Writing Social Research

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Exam 6: Indexes Scales and Typologies

Among the reasons for the frequent use of composite measures is(are)that:

Compare and contrast the various types of scales.How do they differ from an index?

A bivariate relationship is between two or more variables.

The only thing one can do when building an index with missing data is drop cases where data is missing.

Which of the following statements is FALSE while determining the relative strengths of the items of bivariate relationships?

A(n)summarizes the intersection of two or more variables.

Perfectly correlated indicators are not useful in an index.

Typologies can only be constructed on the basis of a single variable.

For an index or scale to be considered unidimensional,its component items should be indicators of only one dimension of a concept.

Thurstone scales use judges in their construction.

Professor Thames tried to use a Guttman scale on his data set that he had seen published in a major journal.Thames was upset because the items did not form a Guttman scale on his data.Confused,he asked for your help.You should tell him that:

According to Babbie,as a general guideline the coefficient of reproducibility for a Guttman scale should be:

Both scales and indexes are interval measures.

Indexes must be made up of:

Jeremy includes items that measure sexism in his index of gender roles.He does this because he believes the two variables are empirically related.As a methodology student,you should tell Jeremy that:

Calculating a correlation will allow you to determine how closely related indicators are.

Using Likert-type scale items,Professor Wong developed an index to assess job morale.Wong administered the index to 2,000 workers and found that 1 to 4 responses were missing on each of the items.Wong could:

An index is constructed by assigning scores to patterns of responses.

Human Inquiry and Science

Paradigms Theory and Research

The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Research Design

Conceptualization Operationalization and Measurement

The Logic of Sampling

Experiments

Survey Research

Qualitative Field Research

Unobtrusive Research

Evaluation Research

Qualitative Data Analysis

Quantitative Data Analysis

Reading and Writing Social Research

Filters