Deck 15: Research Methods in the Real World

Question 1

On the continuum of basic to applied research,action research is very far on the applied end of the spectrum.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

When conducting action research,scholars collaborate with community stakeholders at all stages of the research process.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The federal government is considered to be one of the smallest employers for applied social science researchers.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The primary transferable skill an individual develops while learning how to conduct social scientific research is the ability to solve problems.

Question 5

Market researchers assess how best to sell,improve,or promote a product by gathering data about that product's consumers.

Question 6

One of the most unique and rewarding aspects of engaging in action research is that it is often interdisciplinary.

Question 7

Critical thinking is a skill that needs no practice to develop.

Question 8

Related to the ability to communicate effectively is the ability to effectively frame an argument or presentation.

Question 9

Having a background in sociological research methods can help an individual read,make sense of,discuss,and share the research findings that he encounters.

Question 10

One of the consequences of the trend toward public sociology is that the discipline has become inaccessible to audiences than ever before.

Question 11

Action research is conducted by researchers who wish to eliminate any form of social change.

Question 12

Evaluation research is used to assess the extent to which intervention is necessary by attempting to define and diagnose social problems.

Question 13

The act of judging whether a desired goal has been achieved is called reproducibility.

Question 14

Thinking critically means that an individual sits back and criticizes every idea or person that comes his way.

Question 15

Transferable skills are the conglomeration of tasks that a person develops proficiency in from one realm that should be applied only in that realm.

Question 16

Action research was first developed in the 1960s and 1970s for the purpose of empowering individuals in underdeveloped nations

Question 17

Having a background in social science research methodology gives an individual the opportunity to gain greater insight into himself,his circumstances,and his world.

Question 18

Large businesses and nonprofits also use market research to better understand how best to meet the needs of their clientele or promote their services.

Question 19

The groups or individuals for whom research is of direct benefit or concern are known as stakeholders.

Question 20

Market research is the research that is conducted for the purpose of creating some form of social change.

Question 21

Why was action research developed?

A)To empower the governments of developed nations
B)To empower the individuals in underdeveloped nations
C)To empower the organizations in developing nations
D)To empower the individuals in developed nations
E)To empower the organizations in underdeveloped nations

Question 22

Where is action research placed on the continuum of basic to applied research?

A)It is placed on the basic research end of the spectrum.
B)It is placed close to the applied end of the spectrum.
C)It is placed very far on the applied end of the spectrum.
D)It is not placed anywhere on the spectrum.
E)It is placed between the applied and basic ends of the spectrum.

Question 23

_____ is the research that is conducted for the purpose of guiding businesses and other organizations as they make decisions about how best to sell,improve,or promote a product or service.

A)Social scientific research
B)Experimental research
C)Basic research
D)Market research
E)Educational research

Question 24

For which of the following scenarios does evaluation research apply?

A)A research designed to help strengthen families and their communities
B)A research designed to promote a new soap in the market
C)A research designed to improve the marketing strategies of a skin care product
D)A survey to assess the customer's satisfaction with respect to a brand of car
E)A survey designed to assess children's preference for junk food

Question 25

_____ are the conglomeration of tasks that a person develops proficiency in from one realm that can be applied in another realm.

A)Causal relationships
B)Outcomes assessments
C)Fence-sitters
D)Transferable skills
E)Floaters

Question 26

How does having a background in sociological research methods help an individual?

A)It can help the individual criticize every idea or person that comes his way.
B)It can help the individual ignore such situations.
C)It can help the individual read,make sense of,discuss,and share the research findings he encounters.
D)It can forbid researchers of different backgrounds from interacting and discussing the situation.
E)It can help the individual disassociate himself from the problem.

Question 27

When conducting _____,scholars collaborate with community stakeholders at all stages of the research process with the aim of producing results that will be usable in the community and by the scientists.

A)focus groups
B)historical comparative research
C)formal presentations
D)action research
E)interviews

Question 28

In which instance is evaluation research used?

A)It is used when some form of social intervention is planned,such as welfare reform or school curriculum change.
B)It is used in cases where an individual needs to assess how best to sell,improve,or promote a product by gathering data about that product's consumers.
C)It is used in cases where interdisciplinary teamwork is forbidden.
D)It is used in cases where the individual is allowed to criticize any person or idea that comes his way.
E)It is used in instances where the community needs no social interventions as such.

Question 29

Which of the following is a consequence of the trend towards public sociology?

A)The audiences have begun ignoring public sociology lately.
B)The discipline has become more visible to the audiences than in the past.
C)The discipline has become barely accessible to the audiences.
D)Only the researchers have access to public sociology.
E)The audiences are under the impression that having a basic understanding of how sociologists conduct research is unnecessary.

Question 30

Which of the following is true of action research?

A)Their aim is to produce results to benefit individuals and not the community.
B)On the continuum of basic to applied research,action research is very far on the applied end of the spectrum.
C)It is the research conducted on the study of talk,including how talk progresses,how it is facilitated,and how it may be impeded.
D)Sociologists who engage in this form of research seldom collaborate with the people who are affected by the research.
E)It ensures that research contributes to knowledge and not to changes in people's lives.

Question 31

How can an individual interested in social change,benefit from understanding social scientific research methods?

A)An individual with this background will find it easier to criticize every person or idea that comes his way.
B)The individual will be able to disassociate himself from the problems of the community.
C)The individual can use his understanding of the methods to solve his own,personal problems irrespective of whether the community deals with the same problem.
D)The individual can use his understanding to criticize every social intervention of the community.
E)The individual might someday find the opportunity to engage in action research in his community,and then his understanding of the methods will assist him in his efforts.

Question 32

Which research is conducted to assess the effects of specific programs or policies?

A)Descriptive research
B)Action research
C)Experimental research
D)Evaluation research
E)Exploratory research

Question 33

Which among the following is the focus of action research?

A)Arriving at useful outcomes for the communities upon which and with whom research is conducted
B)Forbidding researchers from different disciplines to interact
C)Creating knowledge which is irrelevant to any scientific purposes
D)Arriving at outcomes which are useful only to the researcher
E)Creating knowledge that has no practical application to any field

Question 34

The act of judging whether a desired goal has been achieved is known as ______.

A)conversation analysis
B)content analysis
C)outcomes assessment
D)dissemination
E)external validity

Question 35

_____ are the groups or individuals for whom research is of direct benefit or concern.

A)Covert researchers
B)Floaters
C)Fence-sitters
D)Key informants
E)Stakeholders

Question 36

In which of the following scenarios is market research used?

A)A research that assesses the public health of a certain region
B)A research designed to help strengthen families and their communities
C)A research that focuses on areas of criminal justice,health,and human services
D)A research that focuses on highway safety and transportation
E)A research that focuses on promoting a particular product by gathering data about the product's consumers

Question 37

The research that is conducted for the purpose of creating some form of social change is referred to as _____.

A)exploratory research
B)action research
C)market research
D)experimental research
E)descriptive research

Question 38

Which of the following refers to action research?

A)The research that is conducted for the purpose of creating some form of social change
B)The research conducted for the purpose of guiding businesses and other organizations about how best to sell,improve,or promote a product or service
C)The research conducted to understand whether the applied interventions have had their intended consequences
D)The research conducted on how people construct and sustain their realities through conversation and gestures
E)The research conducted on the study of talk,including how talk progresses,how it is facilitated,and how it may be impeded

Question 39

Which of the following refers to evaluation research?

A)It is the research conducted to understand whether the applied interventions have had their intended consequences.
B)It is the research conducted for the purpose of guiding businesses and other organizations as they make decisions about how best to sell,or improve a product or service.
C)It is the research conducted to guide businesses on how to promote a product or service.
D)It is the research conducted to test hypotheses under controlled conditions.
E)It is the research conducted to test the effect of a stimulus by comparing an experimental group to a control group.

Question 40

Which of the following refers to market research?

A)Research which is used when some form of social intervention is planned,such as welfare reform or school curriculum change
B)Research used to assess the effects of specific social programs or policies
C)Research used to understand whether the applied social interventions have had their intended consequences
D)Research used to assess the extent to which intervention is necessary by attempting to define and diagnose social problems
E)Research conducted for the purpose of guiding businesses and other organizations about how best to sell,improve,or promote a product or service

Question 41

Define and provide at least one example of action research.

Question 42

Describe the work of a market researcher.

Question 43

Define evaluation research and provide an example of it.

Question 44

What is the consequence of understanding social scientific research methods?

A)The ability to gain a better understanding of oneself,his circumstances,and his world
B)The ability of an individual to criticize every idea or person that comes his way
C)The ability of an individual to disassociate himself from interdisciplinary teams
D)The ability of an individual to ignore the interventions applied to community problems
E)The ability of an individual to ignore the social problems related to the community

Question 45

Which of the following is the primary transferable skill that an individual develops when he learns how to conduct social scientific research?

A)The ability to dismiss problems
B)The ability to solve problems
C)The ability to ignore oral and written communication skills
D)The ability to criticize every idea or person
E)The ability to eliminate critical thinking

Question 46

The careful evaluation of assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular decision or way of being or doing is referred to as _____.

A)outcomes assessment
B)statistical significance
C)transferrable skills
D)conversation analysis
E)critical thinking

Question 47

Define critical thinking.

Question 48

Describe what sociologists working in policy and other government research do.

Question 49

Identify the transferable skills that an individual gains from his understanding of sociological research methods.

Question 50

Specify some areas outside of academia where sociologists are most commonly employed.

Question 51

Which of the following is true of critical thinking?

A)It means that an individual sits back and criticizes every idea or person that comes his way.
B)It is a skill that does not require practice to develop.
C)It requires the person to ignore both weaknesses and strengths in taken-for-granted ways of doing things.
D)It requires the person to demonstrate some level of understanding of the varying positions one might take on any given issue,even if he doesn't agree with those positions.
E)Assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular way of being or doing,are ignored totally.

Question 52

Which of the following is a disadvantage of critical thinking?

A)The individual is supposed to criticize every idea or person that comes his way.
B)It is a skill that takes practice to develop.
C)The individual is required to ignore the strengths and weaknesses in taken-for-granted ways of doing things.
D)The individual is not required to demonstrate any level of understanding of the varying positions on an issue.
E)The individual is allowed to be careless during the evaluation of assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular way of being or doing.

Question 53

Define stakeholders.

Question 54

Which of the following is the reason why transferable skills are important?

A)They are important as they are developed in one realm and can be applied only to that realm.
B)They are important as they are a collection of similar tasks that can be applied to only the realm in which they were developed.
C)They are important as they are a collection of different tasks developed in one realm and applied in other realms.
D)They are important as they are tasks that have no significant applications in any realms.
E)They are important as they are general tasks that are neither developed nor applied in any realm.

Question 55

Which of the following refers to transferable skills?

A)They are the conglomeration of tasks that a person develops proficiency in from one realm that can be applied in another realm.
B)They are the careful evaluations of assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular decision or way of being or doing.
C)They are the skills involved in judging whether a desired goal has been achieved.
D)They are the skills involved in assessing the effects of specific programs or policies.
E)They are the skills involved in the careful planning,thought,and consideration of target audiences followed by communication with those audiences.

Question 56

Why is critical thinking important?

A)It allows the individual to criticize every idea that comes his way.
B)It allows the individual to criticize every person who comes his way.
C)It involves the careful evaluation of assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular way of being or doing things.
D)It allows the individual to ignore both weaknesses and strengths in taken-for-granted ways of doing things.
E)It forbids interaction between researchers from different disciplines.

Question 57

Which of the following is a requirement of critical thinking?

A)It requires the individual to ignore assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular way of being or doing things.
B)It requires the individual to criticize every idea that comes his way.
C)It requires the individual to criticize every person who comes his way.
D)It requires researchers to interact within the same discipline,and not different disciplines.
E)It requires the individual to identify both weaknesses and strengths in taken-for-granted ways of doing things.

Question 58

Identify and describe at least two examples of public sociology.

Question 59

Which of the following is a transferable skill that an individual gains as a result of learning how to conduct social scientific research?

A)Ignoring situations where social scientific research is needed
B)Using investigative skills and techniques to solve problems
C)Criticizing every person who comes in the individual's way
D)Criticizing every idea that is provided to the individual
E)Avoiding interdisciplinary teams

Question 60

Define transferable skills.

Question 61

One of the most unique and rewarding aspects of engaging in action research is that it is often _____.

Question 62

Question 63

The act of judging whether a desired goal has been achieved is called a(n)_____.

Question 64

_____ skills are the conglomeration of tasks that a person develops proficiency in from one realm that can be applied in another realm.

Question 65

The groups or individuals for whom research is of direct benefit or concern are known as _____.

Question 66

_____ is the careful evaluation of assumptions,actions,values,and other factors that influence a particular decision or way of being or doing.