Deck 11: Unobtrusive Research

Question 1

If we wanted to determine whether states that pass clean air legislation (no smoking in public areas)are more likely to enact laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets than are states that had not passed clean air legislation,the unit of analysis would be:

A)the individual states.
B)the individual act of legislation.
C)passage or nonpassage of the clean air legislation.
D)the clean air legislation.
E)states that passed clean air legislation.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following are not illustrative of unobtrusive observations?

A)Examining the floor tiles at a museum to determine which exhibits are the most popular
B)Examining the number of beer cans in the university garbage collections to determine beer consumption patterns
C)Examining the wear on the tires of squad cars to determine the extent of police patrols
D)Examining the radio dial settings of cars brought in for oil changes to determine the popularity of radio stations
E)Examining domestic violence by conducting interviews

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which of the following modes of observation does NOT require the researcher to intrude to some degree on whatever he or she is studying?

A)Interviews
B)Focus groups
C)Complete participant observation
D)Content analysis
E)All of these choices require the researcher to intrude

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In comparison to coding the manifest content of communication,coding the latent content:

A)has a disadvantage in terms of validity.
B)has an advantage in terms of reliability.
C)is better designed for tapping the underlying meaning of communication.
D)has an advantage in terms of specificity.
E)is easier to complete.

Question 5

A famous example of applying unobtrusive measures to great success is:

A)Emile Durkheim's study of suicide
B)Laud Humphries "tearoom" study
C)Stanley Milgram's human obedience research
D)The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment
E)Khayatt's "compulsory heterosexuality" study

Question 6

After examining the FBI Crime Reports for a 30-year period,Professor Hall claimed that the incidence of rape has increased.After examining the same reports,Professor Shine claimed that the reporting of rape,not the incidence of rape,has increased.This illustrates:

A)the problem of reliability in using existing statistics.
B)the problem of validity in using existing statistics.
C)the need to replicate existing statistics.
D)the ecological fallacy.
E)pretesting.

Question 7

Professor Jenner was interested in using Census Bureau data to examine the trend in unemployment rates in the United States.However,Jenner's definition of unemployment did not match the one used by the Census Bureau.Jenner was dealing with the issue of .

A)reliability
B)validity
C)the ecological fallacy
D)ideal types
E)verstehen

Question 8

An example of unobtrusive data collection is(are):

A)an interview with college freshmen to determine why they selected a particular school.
B)a laboratory experiment designed to learn whether people really prefer Pepsi or Coke.
C)a mailed survey designed to discern students' attitudes toward a planned change in the school's calendar.
D)a researcher who joins a fraternity to understand its rituals.
E)examining the wear on the tires of squad cars to determine the extent of police patrols.

Question 9

Coding in content analysis involves:

A)conceptualization and operationalization.
B)inductive methods.
C)selecting a level of measurement.
D)deductive methods.
E)all of these choices are involved in coding in content analysis.

Question 10

In a study of two magazines,Marie found that the first magazine had 150 uses of male pronouns (he,him,etc),but only 75 uses of female pronouns (she,her,etc).The second magazine had 200 uses of male pronouns,and 205 uses of female ones.What can be concluded from her work?

A)Magazine 1 was twice as sexist as magazine 2.
B)Magazine 2 was not sexist.
C)Magazine 2 was half as sexist as magazine 1.
D)Magazine 2 had 130 more female pronouns.
E)Magazine 1 was sexist.

Question 11

The adage that you must walk a mile in another person's shoes before you can understand the views and feelings of that person is similar to the sociological concept(s)of:

A)verstehen.
B)historical/comparative analysis.
C)ideal types.
D)the ecological fallacy.
E)content analysis.

Question 12

In which of the following analyses is content analysis LEAST likely to be useful?

A)Themes in newspaper editorials
B)The wording of this exam
C)Topics covered in class lectures
D)The theme of love as discussed in song
E)Dating patterns among high school seniors

Question 13

You are interested in doing a content analysis on the characteristics people seek in a partner by examining the personals section of three newspapers.Your unit of analysis is:

A)the three newspapers.
B)the characteristics desired in a partner.
C)the individual ads.
D)the personals section of the paper.
E)the person who wrote the ad.

Question 14

Which of the following levels of measurement(s)may be employed in content analysis?

A)Nominal
B)Ratio
C)Interval
D)Ordinal
E)Nominal,ordinal,interval,and ratio

Question 15

Unobtrusive measures can reduce the problem(s)of"

A)the researcher's impact on the phenomenon being studied.
B)invalid operationalization of concepts.
C)unreliable measurements.
D)corroboration.
E)the ecological fallacy.

Question 16

Which of the following choices is NOT a benefit of content analysis?

A)Relatively inexpensive
B)Easy to adjust measurement strategies once the research has begun
C)Can explain almost any social phenomenon
D)Can be performed by the researcher alone
E)Flexible units of analysis

Question 17

Using existing statistics,Professor Ford finds that areas with low median incomes tend to have higher crime rates than areas with high median incomes.Ford concludes that poor people are more likely to commit crimes than high-income people.Ford is:

A)committing the ecological fallacy.
B)using verstehen.
C)doing content analysis.
D)developing ideal types.
E)doing replication.

Question 18

A friend of yours was interested in determining whether the news media noticed campus events.Your friend decided to do a content analysis of the local paper.Your friend counted each story that mentioned his university's name.At the end of two months,136 events had been counted.Your friend asked for your comments on his research.You told your friend:

A)he did manifest coding.
B)he did latent coding.
C)he should have recorded the base.
D)he did manifest coding and he should have recorded the base.
E)he did latent coding and he should have recorded the base.

Question 19

A friend of yours is doing a term paper to compare the infant mortality rates in the United States,Japan,Bolivia,and Pakistan.You tell your friend that a good source to check is:

A)Common Cause.
B)the Demographic Yearbook.
C)the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
D)the Gallup poll.
E)the Almanac.

Question 20

Professor Perlman was interested in comparing two textbooks to determine whether one used more sexist language than the other.Perlman counted the number of times a gender reference (ex: "he," "she," "chairman," etc. )appeared in each book.Perlman was doing:

A)latent content coding.
B)manifest content coding.
C)quota sampling.
D)the ecological fallacy.
E)base counting.

Question 21

Unobtrusive measures reduce the impact of the researcher on the phenomena being studied.

Question 22

When performing a content analysis,looking at what is suggested or insinuated is performing:

A)manifest coding.
B)latent coding.
C)concrete coding.
D)subversive coding.
E)technical coding.

Question 23

In content analysis,the units of observation must be the same as the unit of analysis.

Question 24

Thomas is concerned that in his content analysis he is misclassifying observations to support his emerging hypothesis.He turns to you for help.Which of the following suggestions would be POOR advice?

A)If there are a sufficient number of cases,select some at random from each category to avoid picking those that best support the hypothesis.
B)Give at least three examples in support of every claim that you make about the data.
C)Ask others who are not involved in your research to review your analytic interpretations to see if they agree.
D)Realize that few social patterns are 100 percent consistent and so don't worry about reporting inconsistencies.
E)All of these choices are good advice.

Question 25

In data collection and analysis,the determination of the unit of analysis occurs after sampling.

Question 26

All content analysis results in counting.

Question 27

Many existing statistics can be found on the Internet.

Question 28

Content analysis and relational analysis are synonymous with one another.

Question 29

Max Weber's concept of "verstehen" means that the researcher should fully understand the people he or she is studying.

Question 30

As a mode of observation,content analysis is essentially a coding operation.

Question 31

An ideal type is a conceptual model composed of the essential characteristics of social phenomena.

Question 32

A researcher using official government documents need not be concerned about the reliability of those records.

Question 33

According to Berg,which of the following statements is FALSE regarding negative case testing?

A)It can be used as a technique for qualitative hypothesis testing.
B)It begins with an examination of the data to find a general hypothesis.
C)It requires you to search your data to find all the cases that contradict your initial hypothesis.
D)It requires you to reexamine all the cases that led you to form the initial hypothesis.
E)All of these choices are TRUE.

Question 34

Which of the following would NOT be a potential unit of analysis in unobtrusive research?

A)Police departments
B)Internet forum posts
C)Magazines
D)Historical correspondence
E)Textbooks

Question 35

Only official government documents should be used in historical analyses.

Question 36

Standard probability sampling techniques should NOT be used in content analysis.

Question 37

Logical reasoning and replication are used to handle the problem of validity in the analysis of existing statistics.

Question 38

Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding comparative and historical research?

A)Comparative and historical research is often regarded as a qualitative technique.
B)Comparative and historical research can use quantitative methods.
C)Historical researchers assume that the documented history coincides with what actually happened.
D)Historical analysts sometimes use time-series data to monitor changing conditions over time.
E)All of these statements are TRUE.

Question 39

Understanding the sometimes ambiguous relations between concepts linked together in secondary analysis is known as _.

A)content analysis
B)comparative research
C)existing statistics
D)relational analysis
E)historical research

Question 40

Content analysis can be used on any product of human communication.

Question 41

In the case of historical research corroboration is analogous to replication.

Question 42

Existing statistics can be used appropriately to prove or disprove theory.

Question 43

What are the strengths and weaknesses of content analysis?

Question 44

How can the use of existing data and statistics help researchers? What are the benefits to using them? If they are used,what are potential shortcomings and caveats that need to be acknowledged in the research?

Question 45

What is the difference between manifest and latent coding in content analysis.Give an example of when you might choose one coding technique over the other.