Deck 2: Asking And Answering Sociological Questions

Question 1

for her research project in her sociology class,Joan has decided to do research on gender wage differences between men and women.What should be her next step?

A) develop a hypothesis
B) interpret the results
C) report the findings
D) review the literature
E) select an appropriate research design

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Alice Goffman spent six years hanging out with and observing the everyday life of a group of black men who were on the run from the criminal justice system in a poor neighborhood in Philadelphia.Her research methods most closely resemble the work of:

A) Robert Park
B) William Ogburn
C) Emile Durkheim
D) Karl Marx
E) Theda Skocpol

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The interpretation of the results of sociological research projects:

A) almost always leads to results that are fully conclusive
B) always leads to a clear answer to the initial questions
C) is rarely easy
D) is usually easy
E) is the least complicated part of the research process

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is a great puzzle-solving research question?

A) What proportion of the population holds strong religious beliefs?
B) What accounts for the recent decline in the proportion of the population voting in presidential elections?
C) How much has the divorce rate declined since the early 1980s?
D) How far do the earnings of professional women lag behind those of men?
E) Are people today disaffected with "big government"?

Question 5

A good hypothesis will be formulated in such a way that the:

A) existing literature will have already answered the question
B) factual material gathered will always disprove it
C) factual material gathered will always support it
D) factual material gathered will not provide evidence either to support it or disprove it
E) factual material gathered will provide evidence either supporting or disproving it

Question 6

A researcher will survey college students concerning their attitudes toward lowering the legal drinking age to 18.Which of the following is a good research hypothesis?

A) Students under age 21 will be more supportive of lowering the drinking age than students 21 and older.
B) Opinions toward lowering the drinking age will not affect legislation.
C) Most college students will be in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18.
D) A majority of college students have consumed alcohol before age 21.
E) Lowering the drinking age to 18 will lead to fewer arrests for underage drinking.

Question 7

The strongest sociological research begins with problems that:

A) answer socially pertinent questions
B) are puzzles, meaning a gap in our understanding
C) detail factual evidence
D) explore new social phenomenon
E) review the evidence

Question 8

Beginning in the 1920s in American sociology,largely at the University of Chicago,the discipline of sociology began to transform in what way?

A) There was a stronger attempt to make theoretical speculations more generalizable.
B) There was a stronger attempt to ground sociological concepts and theories in facts and data.
C) Sociological findings were increasingly applied to business and industry.
D) Sociology began to look more like an art than a science.
E) Sociology aligned itself with the Communist party.

Question 9

What is NOT an aspect of reporting the findings of sociological research?

A) The research report is usually published as a journal article or book.
B) Researchers attempt to relate the nature of the research.
C) Researchers seek to justify the conclusions.
D) Most researchers identify unanswered questions.
E) The individual investigation is rarely seen as part of the continuing process of research within the sociological community.

Question 10

Robert Park's vision of sociology included:

A) transforming the orientation of sociology to look a lot more like the natural sciences
B) heavy use of statistics
C) quantifying observations as much as possible
D) a strong focus on theory
E) a focus on careful firsthand observation

Question 11

Reviewing the evidence involves all of the following EXCEPT:

A) reviewing the research problems that previous researchers have left unanalyzed
B) searching only for research findings that support your hypothesis
C) learning about past research done on your topic
D) examining how previous researchers approached the problem under study
E) clarifying your research question and appropriate research methods

Question 12

for his research project in his sociology class,Jose is studying dating preferences among college students.He has already decided to conduct a survey of his classmates and has developed a hypothesis.What should be his next step?

A) carry out the research
B) define the research problem
C) interpret the results
D) report the findings
E) select an appropriate research design

Question 13

Which of the following statements is an example of a hypothesis?

A) Minority women are overrepresented in our sample.
B) Nonmarital births accounted for one-third of all U.S. births in 2000.
C) Most women, even unwed mothers, eventually marry.
D) Unwed mothers are expected to be more likely than single childless women to marry less well-educated men.
E) The birthrate in the U.S. has sharply decreased since 1900.

Question 14

Sasha,a student in a sociology class,received his graded research paper.He was deducted points for not citing a famous study done five years ago that was nearly identical to the research he conducted.What step in the research process should he have done more carefully?

A) define the research problem
B) carry out the research
C) interpret the results
D) select an appropriate research design
E) review the evidence / literature

Question 15

for his research project in his sociology class,Jamal is studying eating disorders among college students.He is currently interviewing several subjects.What stage of the research process is he in now?

A) define the research problem
B) carry out the research
C) interpret the results
D) select an appropriate research design
E) review the evidence

Question 16

William Ogburn's vision of sociology included:

A) transforming the orientation of sociology to look a lot more like the natural sciences
B) focusing on the emotional experiences of its subjects
C) getting involved in the lives of its subjects
D) focusing on theory more than data
E) focusing on biological explanations

Question 17

With respect to the steps to doing research outlined in the text,which of the following is NOT true?

A) The stages outlined in the text rarely succeed each other so neatly.
B) The sequence of steps outlined in the text is a simplified version of what happens in actual research projects.
C) The sequence of steps outlined in the text can be unduly restricting.
D) Much outstanding sociological research would not fit rigidly into this sequence.
E) few of the steps outlined in the text are followed in most sociological research.

Question 18

Usually sociological research projects:

A) provide the public with clear-cut and definitive answers to the research problem
B) end up influencing the behavior of subjects rather than observing it
C) create more research questions and problems
D) are uncomplicated
E) allow us to use anecdotal information to illuminate social processes

Question 19

Which statement best characterizes sociology in its early development?

A) It focused on biological and physical phenomena.
B) It focused on face-to-face interaction.
C) It focused on the relationship between humans and the physical environment.
D) It was a very empirical field.
E) It was a very theoretical field.

Question 20

for his research project in his sociology class,Joe is studying cheating among college students.He is currently developing a questionnaire.What stage of the research process is he in now?

A) define the research problem
B) carry out the research
C) interpret the results
D) working out a design
E) review the evidence

Question 21

A classic social science research study involved setting up a make-believe jail and randomly assigning male student volunteers to the roles of guards and prisoners.This research used what method?

A) survey
B) participant observation
C) historical analysis
D) experiment
E) comparative research

Question 22

for a sample to accurately reflect the characteristics of the study population,it must be:

A) democratic
B) large
C) public
D) representative
E) standardized

Question 23

Which research method would best address the following research question: How much does participation in one session of a SAT preparation course affect students' SAT scores?

A) survey
B) participant observation
C) historical analysis
D) experiment
E) comparative research

Question 24

Which of the following describes an advantage of survey research?

A) It allows us to see a situation from inside a particular group.
B) It provides richer detail about a population than other methods.
C) Researchers can control the influence of specific variables.
D) Response rates are usually high.
E) Results can be easily quantified and analyzed.

Question 25

Compared to other Western countries,divorce rates in the United States are _______________ although rates have been _______________ everywhere.

A) lower; increasing
B) lower; decreasing
C) higher; increasing
D) higher; decreasing
E) about the same; stagnant

Question 26

In an experiment on the effects of caffeine on the alertness of college students,student volunteers are randomly assigned to two groups.One group is given caffeinated coffee while the other group is given decaffeinated coffee.All participants then play a video game to assess their mental acuity,measured as their final score on the video game.In this study,the group that is given caffeinated coffee is called the:

A) control group
B) experimental group
C) focus group
D) population
E) sample

Question 27

Using participant observation in the sociological research process requires:

A) establishing a formal relationship with the leaders and members of the group
B) creating a formal boundary between the researcher and the group
C) using great skill and sensitivity in gaining the trust and confidence of numerous members of the group and/or community under study
D) having little interaction with the group members or leaders, just observation group
E) losing the perspective of an outside observer through the researcher's relationship with the group

Question 28

Kelly develops a questionnaire to test on a few subjects to find potential problems with it before conducting the full study.What is this trial run called?

A) population study
B) pilot study
C) empirical study
D) developmental study
E) control study

Question 29

Experiments are much less common in sociology than in the natural sciences.Why is this?

A) It is too difficult to find willing participants who meet the criteria of sociological studies.
B) Sociological researchers can control all of the conditions, making experiments more laborious for them.
C) Sociological researchers can bring only small groups into a laboratory setting, where people may behave unnaturally because they are being watched.
D) Sociological researchers exercise unconscious prejudices while choosing experiment subjects.
E) There is not enough statistical data to gather while conducting experiments.

Question 30

Which research method would be best to use if you wanted a large,representative sample of people's attitudes toward married women with children working outside the home?

A) survey
B) life history
C) experiment
D) ethnography
E) comparative historical analysis

Question 31

frank develops a questionnaire for his study on Internet dating.One of his questions asks,"How do you feel about Internet dating?" What type of question is this?

A) contingency
B) experimental
C) fieldwork
D) open-ended
E) standardized

Question 32

Recently,social scientists using participant observation have written about how their race,class,gender,and sexual orientation:

A) affected their research due to power differences
B) allowed them to be completely objective about their work
C) caused many researchers to go native
D) did not affect the research process
E) forced their work to be subjective

Question 33

Tom develops a questionnaire for his study on facebook usage that allows subjects to indicate whether they strongly agree,agree,disagree,or strongly disagree with various statements.These types of questions are known as:

A) contingency questions
B) experimental questions
C) fieldwork questions
D) open-ended questions
E) standardized questions

Question 34

Kevin is interested in doing a study on student attitudes toward the general education requirements on his campus.He surveys 50 students.This small group of students he surveyed is known as the:

A) population
B) control group
C) experimental group
D) sample
E) standardized group

Question 35

Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment involved setting up a make-believe jail and randomly assigning male student volunteers to the roles of guards and prisoners.The researcher concluded that:

A) existing personal relationships interfered with students' ability to assume their assigned roles
B) behavior in prisons reflects individual personality characteristics of guards and prisoners
C) behavior in prisons is strongly influenced by the nature of the prison setting
D) because prisoners became violent toward the guards, the experiment had to be canceled early
E) because students could not imagine what it is like to be in a prison situation, they were unable to carry out their assigned duties

Question 36

The main purpose of sampling is to:

A) enhance the quality of your observations
B) select cases that will support your research hypotheses
C) select members of a population who are the most willing to participate in your study
D) select a set of people who are representative of the population
E) select a set of people with a wide range of characteristics

Question 37

In her research on everyday life in a poor neighborhood in Philadelphia,Alice Goffman concluded that all of the following places were dangerous for the black men in her study who were on the run from the criminal justice system in the sense that police used these places to locate and arrest them EXCEPT:

A) church
B) court
C) hospital
D) mother's house
E) workplaces

Question 38

Reilly,a sociology master's student,wants to do research on the homeless in her city.She would like to provide a rich,detailed,inside view of being homeless.What research method should she choose?

A) comparative research
B) ethnography
C) experiment
D) historical analysis
E) survey

Question 39

What kind of research method would be best suited if you were hired by a real estate company to learn how the residents in a gated community feel about racial desegregation?

A) surveys
B) participant observation
C) historical analysis
D) experiment
E) comparative research

Question 40

What is NOT a weakness of the ethnographic method?

A) In-depth information about the research topic is difficult to obtain.
B) findings may apply only to the particular group and/or setting.
C) Only fairly small groups or communities can be studied.
D) A researcher could identify so closely with the group that he loses the perspective of an outside observer.
E) Power differences between the researcher and the group may distort the dialogue between them.

Question 41

Only research projects that follow the sequence of steps outlined in the text result in accurate findings.

Question 42

Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions is an example of what type of research?

A) survey
B) participant observation
C) historical analysis
D) experiment
E) comparative-historical research

Question 43

In Jeff's sample,the number of siblings each person has is as follows: 1,2,3,4,and 10.What is the mean number of siblings in his sample?

A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
D) 6
E) 7

Question 44

Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions:

A) applied comparative research in a historical context that examined the social change of revolutions
B) drew on numerous documents, official and unofficial, over a short period of time
C) illustrated that enlisted men often ignored the commands of their officers
D) was an illuminating experiment that could not be conducted today under more stringent federal regulations
E) showed that social transformation is more common in a time of war than peace

Question 45

In Jeff's sample,the number of siblings each person has is as follows: 1,2,3,4,and 10.What is the median number of siblings in his sample?

A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
D) 6
E) 7

Question 46

In Waves of War,Andreas Wimmer takes a novel approach to the historical study of wars and revolutions in that:

A) he considers only European countries in his analysis
B) he includes countries that had only successful revolutions
C) he uses formal modeling and statistical techniques to analyze hundreds of cases at the same time
D) his main sources of information were newspaper accounts written as events unfolded
E) the analysis focuses only on wars and revolutions that have occurred in the era of modern warfare (post-1900)

Question 47

How is social science different from a natural science?

A) Social science studies objects that are self-aware (i.e., humans).
B) Social science studies objects (i.e., humans) whose behaviors cannot be influenced by being observed by researchers.
C) Social science cannot be systematic.
D) Social science cannot conduct empirical studies.
E) Social science cannot quantify human behavior.

Question 48

All sociological research on human subjects imposes some sort of:

A) ethical dilemma that could possibly have a negative effect on the subjects involved
B) historical analysis of present-day culture
C) need for social transformation
D) need to use survey methods
E) risk to the sociologist because someone could accuse the researcher of being biased

Question 49

According to the text,many scholars are less confident in the ability of social science to attain which of the following goals?

A) ensuring the safety of study participants
B) identifying causes and effects
C) protecting the identify of study participants
D) selecting a representative sample
E) using statistical analysis to obtain meaningful results

Question 50

If two variables were completely correlated,their correlation coefficient would be:

A) 0
B) 1
C) 10
D) 100
E) nonexistent

Question 51

Scientific activity combines the creation of boldly new modes of thought with the careful testing of hypotheses and ideas.

Question 52

What should be your fIRST step when reading a table?

A) Scan all of the information on the page to try and summarize the data provided.
B) Read the headings on the table; they'll provide information about the content.
C) Read the full title; it is the researcher's attempt to describe the data in the table.
D) Read the footnotes; they contain the most important information.
E) Create a hypothesis about the subject so it can be tested against the data provided.

Question 53

Sociologists engage in historical analysis because:

A) a good sociologist must also be a good historian
B) societies were more complex in the nineteenth century
C) sociology is ill equipped to study the modern world
D) survey research and fieldwork are inadequate research methods
E) a time perspective is frequently needed to make sense of a research problem

Question 54

What is the most frequent figure in a series of numbers called?

A) mean
B) median
C) mode
D) standard deviation
E) correlation coefficient

Question 55

One major feature that helps distinguish science from other idea systems (such as religion)is the assumption that all scientific ideas are open to criticism and revision.

Question 56

Given what you learned in high school about scientific research,in what way does the sociological research process differ from that of the natural and physical sciences,such as physics?

A) Physicists use a scientific process that, unlike sociological research, doesn't rely on theory.
B) There is little difference in the processes that are employed by physicists or sociologists.
C) Sociologists study mental states whereas physicists study particles.
D) Physicists are usually employed by private corporations, and sociologists work only at universities.
E) The differences between the research processes of physicists and sociologists are far too vast to list.

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of scientific research?

A) systematic methods
B) stated level of uncertainty about conclusions
C) dissemination of procedures to allow replication
D) theoretical thinking
E) narrow range of appropriate topics

Question 58

Drawing on other researchers' ideas helps the sociologist clarify relevant issues and appropriate research methods.

Question 59

What calculation gives a researcher a good idea of how spread out a series of numbers is?

A) mean
B) median
C) mode
D) standard deviation
E) correlation coefficient

Question 60

In Waves of War,Andreas Wimmer reported the finding that since 1800,wars around the world have increasingly resulted from:

A) class differences between workers and capitalists
B) concerns over human rights violations
C) disputes over land
D) ethnic and nationalist concerns
E) ideological differences between ruling parties

Question 61

Researchers cannot claim that variables are correlated unless the correlation coefficient is 1 or -1.

Question 62

A disadvantage of survey research is that only small groups or communities can be studied this way.

Question 63

The three main methods used in sociological research are ethnography,survey,and experiment.

Question 64

List the SEVEN steps in the scientific research process and discuss what happens in each step.

Question 65

Social context may be causally linked to human behavior.

Question 66

A sociologist wishes to gain insight into street-vendor activities in a major American city.What research method would probably be best to use in such a study? Why? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this method in regard to this topic?

Question 67

The only valid way to study a large population is to include every member of the population in the study group.

Question 68

The mode and the mean are both measures of central tendency.

Question 69

To study the homeless,you must actually live among them.

Question 70

The median is a better measure of central tendency of skewed data than the mean.

Question 71

If the value of one variable goes up when the value of another variable goes down,a negative correlation exists.

Question 72

Experiments are usually much easier for other researchers to replicate than surveys or ethnographies.

Question 73

Experiments must be conducted in a laboratory setting to yield meaningful results.

Question 74

What are the characteristics of good puzzle-solving questions?

Question 75

Compare Robert Park's vision of sociology with William Ogburn's.

Question 76

By employing the method of ethnography,sociologists are able to study large,complex groups and/or societies.

Question 77

The median is the midpoint of a range of values.

Question 78

The correlation coefficient gives a researcher a good idea of the range of a series of figures.

Question 79

Sociological research often involves some sort of ethical dilemma that could possibly have a negative effect on the subjects involved.

Question 80

Alice Goffman found that the men in her study with warrants out for their arrest were able to avoid being arrested by behaving like law-abiding citizens,by going to work,living with their family,and showing up for court dates.