Deck 3: Using Research Methods

Question 1

______ is best described as the systematic process of data collection in order to produce knowledge.

A) Observation
B) Sampling
C) Research
D) Causation

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Jamal is conducting research on a topic that has not been researched before, hoping to discover new knowledge about the topic. In this role, Jamal is a ______ of knowledge.

A) producer
B) consumer
C) critic
D) beneficiary

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Statements that could hypothetically be proven true or false are considered ______.

A) normative
B) empirical
C) theories
D) ideas

Answer 3

B

Question 4

"I believe that abortion should be legal in all cases," is an example of a(n) ______ statement.

A) empirical
B) normative
C) research
D) basic

Question 5

A(n) ______ statement may include an opinion about how you feel things should be.

A) empirical
B) normative
C) research
D) basic

Question 6

When investigating using library sources, you are being a ______ of knowledge.

A) producer
B) consumer
C) critic
D) benefactor

Question 7

What research element is the most essential to sociologists?

A) objective materials
B) data collection
C) qualitative methods
D) prior sources

Question 8

A social scientist says that society would improve if all households made the same income. This is an example of a(n) ______ statement.

A) normative
B) empirical
C) basic
D) applied

Question 9

What makes sociological research different from other kinds of research?

A) It involves people, organizations, or social systems.
B) It is primarily qualitative in nature.
C) It is primarily quantitative in nature.
D) It is mainly about what goes on inside people's heads.

Question 10

How would a researcher define empirical statements?

A) They provide evidence for studies.
B) They prove a hypothesis.
C) They are statements of possible facts.
D) They express an opinion.

Question 11

Goldrick-Rab's research with college students gave us information on ______.

A) real-life experiences of college students
B) opinions of students about college life
C) a laboratory controlled experiment
D) career decisions made by college students

Question 12

How are research skills useful outside of the workplace?

A) They can help people gain better employment.
B) They allow people to express their opinions.
C) They decrease disagreements between individuals.
D) They help us make better choices.

Question 13

Research skills can benefit a person who is listening to the news by enabling the person to ______.

A) recount the information correctly to another person
B) recall the information at a later date
C) think critically about the information
D) determine the credentials of the person presenting the information

Question 14

How might a researcher study substance abuse using basic research?

A) by developing new methods of group treatment
B) by reading articles about potential genetic components
C) by testing alternative medications
D) by studying the best counselor/client ratio

Question 15

______ research seeks to solve a specific, real-world problem.

A) Data
B) Applied
C) Basic
D) Theoretical

Question 16

Lorna is conducting research to find out if there is a relationship between violent acts and playing video games. Lorna is conducting ______ research.

A) normative
B) applied
C) basic
D) historical

Question 17

Clive is conducting research to find a way to reduce pollution in a local stream. Clive is conducting ______ research.

A) normative
B) applied
C) basic
D) historical

Question 18

Which statement about basic research is TRUE?

A) It takes the place of applied research.
B) It is rarely profitable.
C) It is designed to produce immediate results.
D) It helps us solve specific problems.

Question 19

Pieces of information such as statistics, facts, and images are considered types of ______.

A) data
B) subjective context
C) conjectures
D) variables

Question 20

What is the most common form of data collection among sociologists?

A) surveys and interviews
B) ethnographic study
C) historical
D) observation

Question 21

Surveys and interviews are a form of data collection that uses ______.

A) literature review
B) observing and interacting
C) an experiment
D) questions

Question 22

Open-ended questions can help a sociologist understand a participant's views about family by ______.

A) helping the sociologist develop a hypothesis immediately
B) providing the sociologist with more in-depth answers
C) observing participants in their most natural state
D) allowing participants to select from specific answer choices

Question 23

Which method is least likely to be used to collect survey data?

A) over the phone
B) on paper
C) on a website
D) in an interview

Question 24

Who has been collecting data on social and political opinion since 1972 and makes it available to researchers at no charge?

A) the General Social Survey
B) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
C) the American Sociological Association
D) the Political and Social Research Council

Question 25

Before conducting an interview, the researcher develops questions to ask or topics to cover. This is called a(n) ______.

A) blueprint
B) interview guide
C) agenda
D) format guide

Question 26

Interviewing several people at a time is a(n) ______.

A) survey
B) group chat
C) focus group
D) multi-interview

Question 27

A sociologist is studying the behavior of children in a school. How would this sociologist engage in participant-observation effectively?

A) by observing the seating habits of school children in the cafeteria
B) by sitting with the children in the lunchroom and eating with various groups
C) by having the children report who they typically sit with at lunch
D) by reducing the number of seats in the school's cafeteria

Question 28

Trang was conducting research on group behavior. She sat in the bleachers and kept track in a notebook of the kinds of interactions that occurred between the members of the cheerleading squad. Trang's method of research was ______.

A) participant observation
B) ethnographic
C) observation
D) experiment

Question 29

Researchers not only watch interactions occurring in a study they are conducting, but also interact in the social context. These researchers are engaging in ______.

A) a survey
B) participant-observation
C) an ethnographic study
D) operationalization

Question 30

In order to get data on how gender affects student interactions during recess, Maude volunteered to teach the children playground games. Maude's research is ______.

A) participant observation
B) ethnographic
C) observation
D) experiment

Question 31

How would a researcher conduct an ethnographic study about people from a different culture?

A) by traveling to that culture and learning about how they live
B) by studying previous research about this culture
C) by looking at relationships between this culture and another culture
D) by creating a series of questions to ask members of that culture

Question 32

A researcher wants to set up a study to test the effects of a new energy drink on student alertness. In this case, the control group would ______.

A) be assigned to drink the new energy drink
B) be assigned to drink nothing
C) alternate between the new energy drink and plain water
D) be assigned to drink coffee

Question 33

When researchers conduct a study outside a clinical setting and manipulate conditions to observe the result, they are conducting a(n) ______.

A) controlled group study
B) ethnographic study
C) forensic study
D) field experiment

Question 34

Abe's assignment was to watch television commercials and make a note of which ones demonstrated racial or gender discrimination. Abe was engaging in ______.

A) ethnographic research
B) content analysis
C) data examination
D) ethics research

Question 35

When sociologists are collecting data, what must all researchers do?

A) pay careful attention to their ethical responsibilities
B) have their findings published in sociology journals
C) include their own opinions in their conclusions
D) adjust their data to compensate for anomalies

Question 36

A professor conducts a study using students as participants. Some of the students wanted to drop out of the study, but the professor told them they needed to stay in the study in order to provide valid results. What was violated in this study?

A) informed consent
B) empirical research
C) content analysis
D) observational method

Question 37

When a researcher tells his participants about the study being conducted, what they will be asked to do, and any potential harms, he is demonstrating ______.

A) a binding contract
B) a code of ethics
C) contamination of eventual findings
D) informed consent

Question 38

It was determined that the research being conducted using college students did not ensure their rights or properly protect them. Who makes this determination?

A) an institutional review board
B) a faculty research committee
C) the college board of directors
D) the students themselves

Question 39

Qualitative methods rely on ______, while quantitative methods rely primarily on ______.

A) numbers; words and images
B) observation; surveys
C) words and images; numbers
D) surveys; interviews

Question 40

The distillation of raw data into useful information is known as ______.

A) data analysis
B) data content
C) extrapolation
D) generalization

Question 41

When researchers use a qualitative approach for research, some of their material may involve ______.

A) percentages
B) a generalization
C) statistical sampling
D) a visual representation

Question 42

A researcher would like to study intelligence. Which of these would result in qualitative data?

A) Determining the IQ scores for a given population
B) Comparing the IQ scores from one population to another
C) Plotting how many IQ scores fall within the normal range for a given population
D) Recording opinions about IQ scores from members of a given population

Question 43

A researcher conducted a survey of political opinions and tabulated the responses of each question in order to determine patterns and draw conclusions. What research activity is the researcher engaged in?

A) data analysis
B) informed consent
C) qualitative research
D) literature review

Question 44

A researcher conducts a study about student experiences in online classes. The researcher provides a label for the different responses so that they can be classified into categories. What is the researcher doing?

A) data representation
B) establishing a conclusion
C) coding
D) using a mixed method

Question 45

When the surveys were completed, Harod took all the results, assigned a numerical code to each answer, and entered the answers into a spreadsheet. This is the procedure for ______ data analysis.

A) scientific
B) technical
C) qualitative
D) quantitative

Question 46

The scientific method is best described as ______.

A) an explanation made on the basis of limited evidence and information
B) a statement or theory that is proven through argumentation
C) steps researchers take, including developing a question, and collecting, analyzing, and reporting data
D) reliance on traditional authority and previous research

Question 47

Researchers form predictions about what they will discover through their research. They are forming ______.

A) a deduction
B) a hypothesis
C) an opinion
D) bias

Question 48

A researcher is starting a study and wants to read what others have documented about similar studies. What is this researcher engaging in?

A) naturalistic observation
B) qualitative research
C) data analysis
D) literature review

Question 49

Once a researcher has determined the design and parameters of a study, the next step is to decide ______.

A) what form of research they will use
B) how they will measure their results
C) whether they will publish the results
D) who and what they are collecting data about

Question 50

A researcher is conducting a study about the work nurses do on a daily basis. The researcher enters the names of all nurses working at a hospital into a computer program that automatically chooses 25 for interviews. This demonstrates ______.

A) random sampling
B) non-random sampling
C) qualitative research
D) quantitative research

Question 51

In order for research to be generalizable, ______ sampling must occur.

A) random
B) applied
C) biased
D) operational

Question 52

______ refers to whether research results are consistent.

A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Ethics
D) Credibility

Question 53

Amanda was diligent in making sure her research results were trustworthy, so she double checked her research methods to make sure they consistently measured responses accurately. Amanda was concerned with ______.

A) validity
B) reliability
C) ethics
D) credibility

Question 54

When a change in one variable brings about a change in another variable, this is an example of ______.

A) causation
B) generalizability
C) a dependent variable
D) correlation

Question 55

Under which circumstance can a researcher demonstrate causation?

A) after collecting sampling data
B) when traditional authority in the discipline claims that it's true
C) when researchers work on the project at different times
D) in a controlled laboratory experiment

Question 56

Research is the systematic process of data collection for the purpose of supporting an opinion.

Question 57

Normative statements express an opinion.

Question 58

Ethnographic research often involves participant observation.

Question 59

In an experiment, the control group experiences the treatment or manipulation.

Question 60

Quantitative data analysis involves coding in order to classify non-numeric data.

Question 61

Thick description is a qualitative analysis approach in which the researcher creates a detailed narrative so that readers can see for themselves what a social context is really like and assess whether the data supports the researcher's conclusions.

Question 62

If you use an Excel spreadsheet to enter and analyze data, you are most likely to conduct quantitative research.

Question 63

Data science is essentially the same as data analysis except that it is done in the biological and physical sciences.

Question 64

After a researcher completes the research and analyzes and interprets the data, all that is left to do is finalize and publish the research.

Question 65

Theories help sociologists to notice and understand social patterns in society.

Question 66

Once a theory has been tested and supported with data, it is no longer a theory.

Question 67

The population is every single person who meets the criteria for selection in a research study.

Question 68

Danita is surveying freshman students at her school to study prevalence of alcohol usage. Her population is all freshman students at colleges in the United States.

Question 69

In order for a research study to be generalizable, participants must be selected carefully based on agreement with the hypothesis.

Question 70

Research that can be replicated producing the same results is said to be reliable.

Question 71

Define the term research and explain how sociological research is different from other kinds of research.

Question 72

Discuss the focus of participant-observation and explain how it differs from simple observation.

Question 73

Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative methods.

Question 74

What are the steps in the scientific method?

Question 75

Discuss how generalizability impacts research.

Question 76

Compare and contrast empirical statements and normative statements. Give one example of each.

Question 77

Explain surveys by creating a research study that would implement one. Discuss why a survey would be the best choice.

Question 78

What is data science? What kind of training is required to do this?

Question 79

What is random sampling? Think of a research topic and demonstrate how you would ensure that your sample was random.

Question 80

What do reliability and validity mean in a research study? Is it possible to have a valid study without reliability? Or a reliable study without validity?