Deck 12: Research Using Available Data

Question 1

Which of the following would not be considered a source of available data?

A) observations of male-female interactions in the campus cafeteria
B) students' class notes from a research methods course
C) criminal court records of the county court
D) graffiti in the bathrooms of the campus library
E) letters to the editor of the campus newspaper

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Public documents and official records include all but which one of the following?

A) The World Almanac
B) state laws
C) New York Times Index
D) baseball players' contracts
E) county court records

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Vital statistics refer to data on

A) births, deaths, and marriages.
B) economic indicators such as the GNP and GDP.
C) sex and race of U.S. residents counted in the census.
D) individual physical attributes such as height and weight.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is not a form in which census data are made available to the public?

A) aggregate data on states and counties
B) aggregate data on cities and towns
C) individual census records, ten years after the census
D) a sample of individual-level data with names and other identifying information removed

Question 5

Suppose you wanted to obtain 1930 census information on your family. Where could you obtain this information?

A) the manuscript census
B) the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS)
C) the online census of population and housing
D) the American Community Survey

Question 6

Private documents as data sources would include all but which one of the following?

A) hospital patient records
B) business tax reports
C) personal letters
D) college transcripts
E) city directories

Question 7

To study the deterrent effect of capital punishment, Bailey examined homicides rates

A) before and after the passage of state laws mandating capital punishment.
B) in states with and in states without capital punishment.
C) in nations with and in nations without capital punishment.
D) in relation to newspaper and television publicity of executions.

Question 8

Which of the following is true of "big data" as a source of available data?

A) It is the result of a shift in data collection toward digital records.
B) Its meaning has changed over time as computer technology has enabled researchers to manage increasingly larger data sets.
C) It rarely concerns activities and relationships in everyday life.
D) It is the result of a long period of data collection.

Question 9

Social science data archives are based on data from __________ or __________.

A) social surveys; ethnographic reports
B) social surveys; experimental replications
C) official health statistics; the public use microdata sample
D) the census; other government agencies

Question 10

Secondary analysis refers to the analysis of

A) the mass media.
B) survey data collected by another investigator.
C) historical materials such as public documents and official records.
D) statistics on births, deaths, marriages, and the like.

Question 11

According to the text, Stephen Sales tested the hypothesis that threat increases authoritarianism by using all but which of the following data sources?

A) New York and Pittsburgh municipal budget items
B) questions from the

Question 12

Compared with experimenters, users of available data tend to give more attention to

A) formulating an hypothesis.
B) research design.
C) pretesting.
D) data evaluation and analysis.

Question 13

Warden's analysis of Boston tax assessments in 1687 and 1771 showed how conclusions about changes in the level of inequality must take into account

A) incomplete records in 1687.
B) changes in how property was assessed.
C) the background of the assessors in both years.
D) differences in the size of the population.

Question 14

Users of available data are well advised to

A) let the availability of data dictate the research question or hypothesis to be addressed.
B) carefully attempt to reconstruct the process by which the data were originally assembled.
C) so far as possible, restrict themselves to official data sources where the accuracy and consistency of the data can be assumed.
D) search for the best single indicator rather than rely on multiple indicators of a concept.

Question 15

"Analytical history" refers to

A) the use of historical events and evidence to develop and test social theories.
B) the careful reconstruction of past events.
C) the set of methods that historians use to describe past events.
D) quantitative historical analysis.

Question 16

Which of the following studies is not an example of analytical history?

A) Kai Erikson's study of deviance in Puritan New England
B) Paul David's analysis of the establishment of the QWERTY keyboard layout
C) John Sutton's analysis of the growth of asylums in the United States between 1880 and 1920
D) Erving Goffman's study of gender displays in newspaper and magazine advertisements

Question 17

Testimony is to __________ as social bookkeeping is to __________.

A) court records; bank books
B) depositions; private letters
C) birth certificates; marriage certificates
D) autobiographies; tax rolls

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Historians limit themselves to primary resources.
B) Secondary sources are used to corroborate primary sources.
C) Historians tend to be suspicious of historical works based on secondary sources.
D) The difficulty of evaluating primary sources makes secondary sources the preferred form of evidence.

Question 19

According to the text, the best conclusion to draw from the reported analyses of the Salem witch hysteria is that

A) Chambliss's "conflict" interpretation best accounts for the known facts.
B) historians Boyer and Nissenbaum's analysis seems to be the most valid interpretation.
C) we still do not have a reasonable explanation of the events.
D) there may be more than one "valid" interpretation of the events.

Question 20

Which of the following statements is true of content analysis?

A) It generates rich written descriptions of historical documents.
B) It may be applied to both verbal and nonverbal materials.
C) Its most common units of analysis are individual people.
D) It seldom involves quantification.

Question 21

In a content analysis, recording units are to context units as __________ is (are) to __________.

A) commercials; sponsors
B) words; sentences
C) writing; speech
D) newspapers; editorials

Question 22

According to Bruner and Kelso's analysis of restroom graffiti, one problem with frequency measures of content analysis is that they

A) are imprecise.
B) tend to be unreliable due to difficulties in coding.
C) fail to assume that the "message is the meaning."
D) disregard the context of the recording units, which may illuminate the meaning of frequencies.

Question 23

Content analysis would be least useful for a study of

A) movies or films.
B) television commercials.
C) dating patterns on campus.
D) popular songs.
E) the wording of this exam.

Question 24

When computer coding is used in content analysis, which of the following steps may be skipped?

A) define unit of analysis
B) develop coding scheme
C) sample units
D) train coders and pilot-test reliability

Question 25

The analysis of available data generally is superior to other approaches for all but which one of the following research objectives?

A) studying the past
B) understanding social change
C) studying properties of social structure
D) studying individual attitudes and behavior

Question 26

Which of the following data sources is most likely to be reactive?

A) physical materials
B) mass media
C) birth records
D) autobiographies

Question 27

Compared with experiments, surveys, and field research, research using available data

A) generally is more expensive.
B) requires less evaluation and refinement of data.
C) does not involve the firsthand collection of data.
D) is less amenable to cross-cultural research.

Question 28

Which of the following is the best example of a nonreactive measure of interpersonal attraction (liking)?

A) the amount of eye contact a person maintains with another
B) how much someone says he or she likes another
C) friends' estimates of how much someone likes another
D) how long someone says he or she has known another

Question 29

Which of the following is generally not a problem with using physical evidence as a basis for testing hypotheses?

A) sampling
B) reactive measurement
C) selective survival
D) selective deposit

Question 30

One limitation of census data is that they are available only in the aggregate; individual-level data are never released to the public.

Question 31

Emile Durkheim's study Suicide was based on an analysis of statistics from death records.

Question 32

For Logan, Stults, and Farley's analysis of changes in U.S. residential segregation, the main data source was the manuscript census.

Question 33

Hospital patient records are an example of private documents.

Question 34

Sources of available data may include tombstones and bathroom graffiti.

Question 35

"Data archives" refers to library holdings, including books, periodicals, and government documents.

Question 36

The recommended approach to analyzing available data is to search through records or other data sources until you find something interesting to study.

Question 37

The evaluation and refinement of data are especially important in the analysis of available data.

Question 38

Ethnographic data archives contain probability samples of nonindustrial societies.

Question 39

That members of Congress may edit proofs of the Congressional Record produces selective deposit.

Question 40

Kai Erikson's study of deviance in Puritan New England is an example of descriptive history.

Question 41

Testimony is more likely than social bookkeeping to focus the analysis on individuals, especially major actors in history.

Question 42

"Primary sources" refers to oral history and secondary sources to recorded history.

Question 43

One problem with historical analysis is that the same data may be subject to a variety of interpretations.

Question 44

Content analysis is a descriptive, qualitative method of historical interpretation.

Question 45

Content analysis may be applied to both verbal and nonverbal materials.

Question 46

The most common unit of analysis in a content analysis is individual people.

Question 47

In content analysis, the best measure of verbal content is time/space measures.

Question 48

According to Bruner and Kelso, restroom graffiti are best understood as men communicating with men and women communicating with women.

Question 49

Analyzing available data is the best approach to studies of social and cultural change.

Question 50

Many sources of available data permit nonreactive measurement.

Question 51

The cost per case tends to be higher in available data analysis than in surveys.

Question 52

One problem with available data analysis is finding data that adequately measure variables relevant to the research question.

Question 53

What are the major methodological issues involved in using data generated by others for research?

Question 54

In what forms does the Census Bureau release information from the decennial census?

Question 55

Briefly describe the five types of historical analysis outlined in this chapter. Which of these types involves an explicit interplay between theory and data?

Question 56

Compare and contrast testimony and social bookkeeping with respect to (a) the populations and social processes about which they provide evidence and (b) the relevant issues for evaluating data sources.

Question 57

Communications involve a sender, a message, and an audience. (a) Which of these three elements were the focus of Griswold's content analysis of American novels? (b) Which of these elements were included in Bruner and Kelso's analysis of bathroom graffiti (Box 12.2)? Explain.

Question 58

How does the analysis of available data differ from experiments and surveys in terms of (a) units of analysis and (b) reactive measurement?