Deck 6: Existing Statistics Research

Question 1

What differentiates existing statistics research from secondary data analysis?

A) In existing statistics research, you don't get the raw data.
B) In existing statistics research, you can't generalize to your population.
C) In existing statistics research, you don't have to analyze the data.
D) In existing statistics research, the unit of analysis is the individual.

Answer 1

In existing statistics research, you don't get the raw data.

Question 2

In order to investigate the relationship between race and financial aid, which research method would you most likely use?

A) a survey
B) secondary data analysis
C) existing statistics
D) interviews

Answer 2

existing statistics

Question 3

When working with existing statistics, you will need to ______.

A) collect updated data from some of the participants
B) make sure to get approval from a gatekeeper
C) simply report the statistics you find
D) create hypotheses and compute new statistics to test them

Answer 3

create hypotheses and compute new statistics to test them

Question 4

The unit of analysis in existing research will never be the individual because ______.

A) the data are raw data
B) you only have to do the math to change the unit of analysis to smaller levels like the individual
C) the survey was conducted by someone else
D) the data have already been aggregated

Question 5

Using positivist methodology in existing statistics research means you will ______.

A) deductively generalize your findings from geographic region to the individual
B) inductively build theory
C) guard your procedures carefully so no one replicates your analysis
D) follow highly controlled steps to minimize bias

Question 6

Existing statistics is a powerful tool for testing ______.

A) more focused theories such as how friendships are made
B) larger theoretical frameworks such as conflict theory
C) qualitative data
D) the validity of other quantitative measures

Question 7

Theorists like feminist theorists and conflict theorists sometimes use existing statistics because they can ______.

A) bring legitimacy to claims that seem politically motivated
B) Document the trauma that oppressed people suffer
C) easily be manipulated to support their claims
D) trace patterns of discrimination from the individual level all the way up to the national level

Question 8

The fact that existing statistics comes from daily record keeping of government and other offices helps to eliminate ______.

A) sampling bias
B) objectivity
C) collapsing of variables
D) validity issues

Question 9

Which of the following is the most appropriate research question for existing statistics research?

A) How likely are voters to vote for a member of the same political party in the next election as they did in the previous one?
B) What is the relationship between political party affiliation and attitudes about defense spending?
C) How do voters' political beliefs change over the course of their lives?
D) How have changes in voter demographics affected campaign spending?

Question 10

Which of the following is the best research question for existing statistics?

A) What is the relationship between a personch question forInternet purchases and their spending at local stores?
B) How does spending on Internet and in-app purchases affect the creation of new jobs?
C) How has Internet shopping expanded to new markets?
D) How does purchase price affect the amount of time people spend choosing items to purchase online?

Question 11

How do home prices affect victim's decisions about whether to rebuild or move after a natural disaster? Why is this a poor question for existing statistics research?

A) The unit of analysis is the individual.
B) The question is descriptive rather than explanatory.
C) Rates of migration after a natural disaster are not likely to be available as an existing statistic.
D) The question is not based on theory.

Question 12

For which of the following research methods will you have to file for IRB approval?

A) secondary data analysis
B) existing statistics
C) both secondary data analysis and existing statistics
D) none of these

Question 13

In existing statistics research, you don't have to file for IRB approval because ______

A) respondents are kept anonymous
B) you don't have access to the raw data
C) you aren't conducting any analysis
D) existing statistics is not a true form of research

Question 14

When conducting existing statistics research, which of the following would you be most likely to use as a source for your data?

A) the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
B) GSS
C) the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
D) ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States

Question 15

You want to understand the relationship between spending on education, spending on welfare programs, and rates of employment. You find statistics on educational spending by school district, but you find spending on welfare programs by county and rates of employment by city. What is the problem in using these statistics?

A) Your units of analysis are mismatched.
B) Your variables aren't correctly operationalized for your hypotheses.
C) You can't generalize from the sample.
D) You cannot research three different variables.

Question 16

You want to understand the relationship between consumption of fossil fuels, income per household, and economic health of the region. You find statistics on consumption of fossil fuels by state, but you find income per household by city and economic health by county. What is the problem in using these statistics?

A) Your units of analysis are mismatched.
B) Your variables aren't correctly operationalized for your hypotheses.
C) You can't generalize from the sample.
D) You cannot compare three different variables.

Question 17

You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. Your unit of analysis is ______

A) the individual
B) the divorce rates
C) the nation
D) the county

Question 18

What is the relationship between standardized test scores and state spending on education? The unit of analysis for this research question is the ______.

A) test scores
B) amount spent on education
C) state
D) school district

Question 19

In operationalizing variables for existing statistics research, it is important to ______.

A) understand any changes in how the variable was measured over time
B) aggregate variables when needed
C) collapse all your variables
D) use probability sampling to ensure validity of your measurement

Question 20

You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. The best way to draw a sample for this research is using ______

A) probability sampling
B) convenience sampling
C) theoretical sampling
D) cluster sampling

Question 21

If you are drawing a census for your research, you will ______.

A) use probability sampling to generalize to a larger population
B) choose either simple random sampling or systematic random sampling
C) not sample at all
D) choose cluster sampling if there is no other feasible option

Question 22

To calculate new statistics using existing statistics, you ______

A) rerun the statistical analyses to make sure they are valid
B) add county- and city-level statistics together to come up with national-level statistics
C) sum up all of your findings into one number to represent all of your variables
D) treat each statistic as a variable

Question 23

You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. The conclusions you draw can be generalized to ______

A) individuals
B) counties
C) the nation
D) the world

Question 24

Existing statistics are usually collected at the ______ level.

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval
D) median

Question 25

If using a crosstab that includes poverty level as the dependent variable, depending on your number of cases, you would want to collapse the variable so that ______.

A) there are only two columns for poverty
B) there are three to five columns for poverty
C) there are at least six columns for poverty
D) it's better not to collapse this variable

Question 26

Validity for existing statistics research means ______.

A) you are using measures that were understood by all respondents in the same way
B) you have remained completely objective and unbiased
C) you are using statistics that are a good match with the variables in your hypotheses
D) you only used one trustworthy source of information

Question 27

Measuring prejudice against immigrants by using a statistic about number of immigrant visas denied is a(n) ______ measurement.

A) reliable
B) unreliable
C) valid
D) invalid

Question 28

Explain how and why you create a spreadsheet when using existing statistics.

Question 29

Compare and contrast the types of research questions appropriate for research using secondary data with those appropriate for research using existing statistics.

Question 30

Portland, OR has a relatively few number of African American and Latino residents compared to other parts of the west coast. You are interested in learning whether people of color who do reside in Portland are concentrated in specific neighborhoods, or whether they are integrated into neighborhoods throughout the city. Explain the most feasible way to find an answer to this question.

Question 31

Describe the general steps usually taken to collect data for a research project using existing statistics as the research method.

Question 32

Write a research question appropriate for existing statistics research related to teen pregnancy.

Question 33

Which source(s) of existing statistics would you likely use to get your data for this research question? Explain.

Question 34

What does it mean to collapse a variable?

Question 35

Explain why you would need to do this for existing statistics.

Question 36

Give an example of how you would collapse a variable.