Deck 10: Existing Data Analysis: Using Data from Secondhand Sources

Question 1

Which of the following studies is an example of demography?

A) Rathjie's Garbage Project
B) Kmec's study of the role of race and social networks in job turnover
C) Logan and Stults' study of changes in US residential segregation
D) Kearney and Levine's study of the impact of 16 and Pregnant on teen childbearing

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following research questions was addressed by Kearney and Levine in their study of the impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant?

A) Was the show popular among pregnant women?
B) Was the show popular among 16-year old viewers?
C) Were women more likely to watch the show than men?
D) Was there substantial exposure to the show?

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following sequences most accurately describes the process of analyzing existing statistics?

A) Obtain data $\rightarrow$ measure variables $\rightarrow$ evaluate and adjust the data $\rightarrow$ analyze the data
B) Measure variables $\rightarrow$ obtain data $\rightarrow$ analyze data $\rightarrow$ evaluate and adjust the data
C) Obtain data $\rightarrow$ evaluate and adjust the data $\rightarrow$ analyze the data $\rightarrow$ measure variables
D) Measure variables $\rightarrow$ obtain data $\rightarrow$ evaluate and adjust the data $\rightarrow$ analyze the data

Answer 3

Obtain data $\rightarrow$ measure variables $\rightarrow$ evaluate and adjust the data $\rightarrow$ analyze the data

Question 4

Users of existing statistics are well advised to

A) let the availability of data dictate the research question or hypothesis to be addressed.
B) carefully 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 5

According to Box 10.1, which of the following studies is the best example of the use of big data?

A) Logan and Stults' use of U.S. census data to study changes in racial segregation
B) Kearney and Levine's use of Twitter to trace teen interest in birth control and abortion
C) Lindner's content analysis of news articles by journalists covering the Iraq War
D) Campbell and Schoenfeld's comparative historical analysis of mass imprisonment

Question 6

According to Box 10.1, in addition to consisting of unusually large datasets, big data

A) are collected digitally.
B) take a long time to process.
C) take years to accumulate.
D) describe social units such as cities, states, and nations.

Question 7

According to Box 10.1, the analysis of big data has emerged primarily as a result of

A) the accumulation of large datasets over time.
B) the enhanced capacity of computers to handle large datasets.
C) the rapid growth of quantitative analysis in the social sciences.
D) the digitization of social life.

Question 8

Which of the following is not an issue with respect to Kearney and Levine's measurement of teen use of birth control and abortion?

A) Use of only one data source to measure the use of birth control and abortion
B) Lack of information about the age of those searching or tweeting about birth control and abortion
C) The assumption that interest in birth control and abortion reflects actual use
D) Aggregate data for geographical areas may not correspond to individual actions of teens within those areas

Question 9

Lindner's content analysis of journalistic accounts of the Iraq War examined

A) how a journalist's vantage point affected coverage of the war.
B) the difference between U.S. and foreign news correspondents' coverage of the war.
C) how coverage of the Iraq War differed from coverage of the Vietnam War.
D) whether journalists' support for the war affected their coverage.

Question 10

Which of the following was coded as part of the independent variable in Lindner's content analysis of journalistic accounts of the Iraq War?

A) Journalist's nationality
B) Civilian casualties
C) Property damage
D) Whether a journalist was embedded with the troops

Question 11

In Lindner's content analysis of journalistic accounts of the Iraq War, his sampling unit was _______ and his recording unit was _______.

A) print articles; article headlines
B) journalists; print articles
C) print articles; print articles
D) journalists; article headlines

Question 12

In a content analysis of magazine advertisements, one researcher analyzed the presence of female stereotypes in selected issues of Time and Vogue. What would be the recording unit in this study?

A) Selected issues of Time and Vogue
B) Magazine advertisements featuring women
C) Presence or absence of stereotypic images of women
D) Stereotypic images of women

Question 13

How did Lindner code variables in his study of journalistic accounts of the Iraq War?

A) In terms of the amount of space or words devoted to a topic
B) By whether specific content appeared in a news article
C) In terms of how frequently a topic appeared in a news article
D) By whether coverage was positive, neutral, or negative

Question 14

Dictionaries for computer text analysis are analogous to _______ in manual content analysis.

A) communication sources
B) recording units
C) a codebook
D) a quantitative summary

Question 15

In what way is comparative historical research most like quantitative social research?

A) It emphasizes causal explanation.
B) It studies a sample of cases.
C) It analyzes numerical data.
D) Interviewing is one possible source of data.

Question 16

Campbell and Schoenfeld's comparative historical analysis showed that mass incarceration

A) is a worldwide phenomenon.
B) occurs mostly in third-world nations.
C) began to occur in the United States in the last quarter of the 20th century
D) is the product of high crime rates.

Question 17

Campbell and Schoenfeld used process analysis to show that

A) national politics influenced state politics which influenced crime policy.
B) national politics accounted directly for mass incarceration.
C) there were multiple determinants of mass incarceration.
D) mass incarceration occurred over an extended period of time.

Question 18

Which of the following accurately describes a truth table?

A) Variable codes are added together
B) All variables are coded as present or absent
C) Rows of the table represent different outcomes on the dependent variable
D) Columns represent cases

Question 19

The narratives in the method of narrative comparison refer to

A) personal stories or accounts.
B) alternative explanations of the same historical event.
C) historical sequences of events.
D) hypothesized historical outcomes.

Question 20

Demographers rely mainly on private documents as sources of data.

Question 21

According to Box 10.1, the decennial census of the U.S. population is a good example of big data.

Question 22

According to Box 10.1, the varied and complex structure of big data make them a challenge to analyze.

Question 23

One advantage of the analysis of existing statistics is that it often provides direct, easily validated measures of concepts.

Question 24

In content analysis, the recording unit is always the same as the sampling unit.

Question 25

Checking the reliability of a coding scheme in manual content analysis requires two or more coders.

Question 26

Comparative historical research usually involves the analysis of a large number of cases.

Question 27

Case selection in comparative historical research is usually random.

Question 28

Comparative historical research involves both within-case and cross-case analyses.

Question 29

Comparative historical researchers often analyze existing historical narratives rather than conduct their own case studies.

Question 30

Comparative historical research emphasizes the deductive logic of inquiry.

Question 31

Boolean algebra and truth tables are used to identify which combinations of causes produces a particular outcome.

Question 32

Compare the three types of existing data analysis described in this chapter: analysis of existing statistics, content analysis, and comparative historical analysis. (a) What kinds of research questions does each tend to address? (b) What are the sources and kinds of data that each approach uses?

Question 33

Using the research on 16 and Pregnant and mass incarceration as examples, explain how the analysis of existing statistics uses a different mode of inquiry-deductive or inductive-than comparative historical analysis.

Question 34

Communications involve a sender, a message, and an audience. Which of these three elements were the focus of Lindner's study of news reports on the Iraq War? Which of these elements did his research ignore? Explain.

Question 35

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