Deck 2: Sociological Investigation

Question 1

The sociological perspective reveals that

A) "common sense" is usually pretty close to the truth.
B) much of what passes for "common sense" in Canada turns out to be at least partly wrong.
C) most people in Canada readily see how society shapes our lives.
D) "common sense" is not very popular in Canada.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The ability to neutralize the effect of one variable in order to assess the relationship between two other variables is called

A) making the correlation spurious.
B) making the correlation reliable.
C) control.
D) causing the correlation.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The sociologist who called on his colleagues to be value-free was

A) Karl Marx.
B) Emile Durkheim.
C) Herbert Spencer.
D) Max Weber.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In the process of measurement, reliability refers to

A) whether you are really measuring what you want to measure.
B) how dependable the researcher is.
C) whether or not everyone agrees with the study's results.
D) whether repeating the measurement yields consistent results.

Question 5

An apparent, although false, association between two variables that is caused by some third variable is called

A) a spurious correlation.
B) an unproven correlation.
C) an unreliable correlation.
D) an invalid correlation.

Question 6

What process involves deciding exactly what is to be measured when assigning value to a variable?

A) operationalization
B) reliability
C) conceptualization
D) validity

Question 7

Sociologists use the term "empirical evidence" to refer to

A) information that is based on a society's traditions.
B) information that squares with common sense.
C) information we can verify with our senses.
D) information that most people agree is true.

Question 8

Which of the following terms is defined in the text as "a mental construct that represents some part of the world in a somewhat simplified form"?

A) variable
B) operationalization
C) measurement
D) concept

Question 9

The ideal of objectivity means that a researcher

A) must not care personally about the topic being studied.
B) must try to adopt a stance of personal neutrality toward the outcome of the research.
C) must study issues that have no value to society as a whole.
D) must carry out research that will encourage desirable social change.

Question 10

If you were trying to measure the "social class" of various people, you would have to keep in mind that

A) it is necessary to specify exactly what you are measuring.
B) you must measure this in every way possible.
C) there is no way to measure "social class."
D) everyone agrees on what "social class" means.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is NOT part of the definition of a cause-and-effect relationship?

A) Both variables must be shown to be independent.
B) The independent variable must come before the dependent variable in time.
C) The two variables must display correlation.
D) There must be no evidence that the correlation is spurious.

Question 12

Exposing a correlation as spurious is assisted by a technique called

A) reliability.
B) variability.
C) correlation.
D) control.

Question 13

What concept below refers to measuring exactly what one intends to measure?

A) congruence
B) validity
C) repeatability
D) reliability

Question 14

Imagine that you were going to measure the age of a number of respondents taking part in a survey. As you record the data, you are using the concept "age" as

A) a theory.
B) a hypothesis.
C) a variable.
D) an axiom.

Question 15

Which of the following is true about cause-and-effect relationships in the social world?

A) Most patterns of behaviour have a single cause.
B) Most patterns of behaviour have no cause at all.
C) Most patterns of behaviour are caused by many factors.
D) It is impossible to determine the cause, if any, of any behaviour pattern.

Question 16

Fundamental to sociological investigation are two requirements-applying the sociological perspective and ________________.

A) a global perspective
B) be curious and ask questions
C) truth
D) biases of the researcher

Question 17

A theory states that increasing a person's formal education results in increased earnings over a lifetime. In this theory, "higher education" is the

A) independent variable.
B) dependent variable.
C) correlation.
D) effect.

Question 18

With regard to the process of measurement, which of the following statements is true?

A) For measurement to be reliable, it must be valid.
B) For measurement to be valid, it must be reliable.
C) All measurement is both reliable and valid.
D) Consistency does not guarantee validity.

Question 19

Science can be defined as

A) a logical system that bases knowledge on direct, systematic observation.
B) belief based on faith in ultimate truth.
C) belief based on a society's traditions.
D) a logical system that bases truth on political goals.

Question 20

Two variables are said to display correlation if

A) they are caused by the same factor.
B) one occurs before the other.
C) both measure the same thing.
D) they vary together.

Question 21

What term refers to any change in a subject's behaviour caused by the awareness of being studied?

A) invalid response
B) unreliable response
C) the Stanford effect
D) the Hawthorne effect

Question 22

Critical sociology can best be described as a(n) ________ approach.

A) activist
B) scientific
C) qualitative
D) value-free

Question 23

Who of the following notes the ways in which relations between men and women depend on economic conditions?

A) Dorothy Smith
B) Irene Murdock
C) Susan Wendell
D) Meg Luxton

Question 24

What research method was used in Philip Zimbardo's study, the Stanford County Prison?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 25

Drawing conclusions about all of humanity based on research using only males as subjects is the problem called

A) androcentricity.
B) overgeneralization.
C) gender blindness.
D) using double standards.

Question 26

In making judgments about how society should be improved, the ________ approach in sociology rejects Max Weber's goal that researchers be value-free.

A) interpretive
B) critical
C) scientific
D) positivist

Question 27

Which of the following statements about critical sociology is true?

A) Critical sociology focuses on the meaning people attach to behaviour.
B) Critical sociology seeks to bring about desirable social change.
C) Critical sociology endorses the principle of being value-free.
D) Critical sociology opposes social change.

Question 28

Which of the following is one of the five ways that gender can shape research as identified by Eichler?

A) sapphocentricity
B) tunnel-vision
C) correlation
D) androcentricity

Question 29

Sociologists cannot precisely predict any person's behaviour because

A) everyone behaves in the same way, so there's no need to predict.
B) social patterns that are found in one time and place may not be found in others.
C) humans do not like being observed.
D) they can; that's the whole point of sociology.

Question 30

Which sociological research method is most likely to produce quantitative data that will identify cause-and-effect relationships?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 31

If you are conducting sociological research that very closely follows the logic of science, which research method are you most likely to be using?

A) interviews
B) the experiment
C) questionnaires
D) participant observation

Question 32

Which of the following is true about scientific sociology?

A) It focuses on the meaning people attach to behaviour.
B) It seeks to bring about desirable social change.
C) It favours qualitative data.
D) It favours quantitative data.

Question 33

Which German word meaning "understanding" was used by Max Weber in describing his approach to sociological research?

A) Gemeinschaft
B) Gesellschaft
C) Verstehen
D) Verboten

Question 34

You are doing research and you never stop to think about the possible importance of gender at all. Your work could be criticized for the problem called

A) androcentricity.
B) overgeneralization.
C) gender blindness.
D) employing double standards.

Question 35

Interpretive sociology is sociology that

A) focuses on action.
B) sees an objective reality "out there."
C) focuses on the meaning people attach to behaviour.
D) seeks to bring about change.

Question 36

Three researchers wish to test the effects of playing soft music during an exam on the test performance of their sociology students. They conduct an experiment in which one test-taking class hears music and another does not. In experimental terms, the class hearing the music is called

A) the placebo.
B) the control group.
C) the experimental group.
D) the dependent variable.

Question 37

If you have been criticized for "androcentricity" in your research, you are being criticized for

A) overgeneralizing your results.
B) ignoring gender entirely.
C) doing the research from a male perspective.
D) using double standards in your research.

Question 38

Which of the following statements about ethical research is included in the formal guidelines made by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the American Sociological Association?

A) Researchers must always perform their research several times in order to ensure its accuracy.
B) Researchers must disclose their sources of funding for the research.
C) Researchers must disregard the privacy of subjects taking part in a research project.
D) Researchers must ensure the research goals take precedence over the safety of subjects taking part in a research project.

Question 39

Imagine that you are repeating research done by someone else in order to assess its accuracy. You are doing which of the following?

A) replication
B) objectification
C) reliability
D) scientific control

Question 40

"A statement of a possible relationship between two or more variables" is the definition of which concept?

A) theory
B) correlation
C) spurious correlation
D) hypothesis

Question 41

In a questionnaire, asking respondents to identify their income level from a number of possible categories represents which of the following?

A) a closed-ended format
B) an open-ended format
C) a self-administered format
D) a qualitative survey.

Question 42

One disadvantage of conducting interviews is that this research method

A) does not permit follow-up questions.
B) does not allow subjects' answers to be detailed.
C) results in a very low response rate.
D) may easily allow the researcher to influence subjects' responses.

Question 43

Which sociological research method is likely to be most difficult to replicate?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 44

Which research method asks subjects to respond to a series of items in a questionnaire or an interview?

A) secondary research
B) participant observation
C) the experiment
D) the survey

Question 45

___________ is a form of secondary analysis that entails the counting or coding of the content of written, aural, or visual materials.

A) Cultural analysis
B) Content analysis
C) Historical analysis
D) Census data

Question 46

In a questionnaire, the question, "Please state your opinions about the likelihood of another major terrorist attack at home." is an example of which of the following?

A) closed-ended format
B) open-ended format
C) experimental design
D) dependent variable

Question 47

When you see a table in a journal article or book, the first thing you should read is the

A) column on the far left.
B) top row of information.
C) title of the table.
D) column on the far right.

Question 48

Which sociological research method is best used to study what cannot be directly observed, such as attitudes and values, among large numbers of people?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 49

William Foote Whyte's study of Cornerville (Street Corner Society) showed that

A) Cornerville was a liberal community with many Harvard students.
B) Cornerville was a chaotic and very dangerous slum.
C) Cornerville was a complex community that did not fit simple stereotypes.
D) a Harvard sociologist was unable to work in a low-income community.

Question 50

Once you have identified a topic for your research, what should you do next?

A) choose a method of research
B) review the literature on the same topic
C) assess your financial needs
D) collect data

Question 51

Zimbardo's Stanford County Prison experiment found that

A) all post-secondary students have the innate ability to be cruel.
B) prison violence is rooted in the social character of jails themselves.
C) no reform is needed in our society's prisons.
D) harm to subjects is not possible in an experiment.

Question 52

Your text notes that one of the best-known early content analyses of the twentieth century is

A) Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
B) Thomas and Znaniecki's The Polish Peasant in Europe and America.
C) Zimbardo's Stanford County Prison.
D) Whyte's Street Corner Society.

Question 53

William Foote Whyte's study of Cornerville (Street Corner Society) used which sociological research method?

A) experiment
B) survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 54

Sniderman, in his attempt to answer questions about anti-Semitism in Canada, used which of the following research methods?

A) an experiment
B) surveys
C) participant observation
D) interviews

Question 55

Which sociological research method provides the best chance to understand social behaviour in a natural setting?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 56

Inductive logical thought involves

A) turning theories into hypotheses suitable for testing.
B) selecting a research method based on available resources.
C) doing research about the past.
D) transforming specific observations into general theory.

Question 57

In his research, Sniderman found thats

A) French-speaking Quebeckers are more anti-Semitic than English-speaking Canadians.
B) English-speaking Canadians are more anti-Semitic than French-speaking Quebeckers.
C) Western Canadians are more anti-Semitic than Eastern Canadians.
D) Northern Canadians are more anti-Semitic than Southern Canadians.

Question 58

Which sociological research method saves the time and expense of data gathering, but the researcher has no control over possible data bias?

A) the experiment
B) the survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 59

A smaller number of people used to represent an entire population is called a

A) target group.
B) sample.
C) closed-format group.
D) sampling frame.

Question 60

You wish to conduct an exploratory and descriptive study of people in a particular neighbourhood. You have plenty of time, but little money or other resources. What research method should you use?

A) an experiment
B) a survey
C) participant observation
D) secondary analysis

Question 61

Faith, accepted wisdom, and scientific knowledge are all equally valid forms of truth, sociologically speaking.

Question 62

Sociologists always achieve complete personal objectivity in their work

Question 63

Which of the following is a way in which people can mislead others with statistics?

A) The data presented is too confusing for anyone to understand, which is used to fool people into believing what is being said.
B) People interpret the data to lead their readers to a desired conclusion.
C) Graphs are often colourful and their images are distracting.
D) They can't. Statistics exist to prevent the use of data to mislead.

Question 64

A false correlation between two variables, caused by some third variable, is described as a "spurious" correlation.

Question 65

The sociologist recognizes that there are various kinds of "truth."

Question 66

Reliability refers to the quality of consistency in measurement.

Question 67

The logic and methodology of science guarantee that sociological research will result in objective, absolute truth.

Question 68

The variable that causes change in another variable is called the "dependent variable."

Question 69

Validity is the quality of measurement gained by actually measuring what you want to measure.

Question 70

Two simple requirements that underlie the process of sociological investigation are (1) looking at the world using the sociological perspective, and (2) becoming curious and asking questions.

Question 71

Replication is one way to assess the accuracy of existing research.

Question 72

Empirical evidence refers to what we can verify with our senses.

Question 73

A variable that is changed by another variable is called the "independent variable."

Question 74

Natural scientists often have an easier time than social scientists in identifying cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 75

Any time two variables are statistically related, a cause-and-effect relationship exists.

Question 76

Interpretive sociology focuses less on action itself and more on the meaning people attach to their actions.

Question 77

Correlation is causation.

Question 78

Science is a logical system based on intuition and insight.

Question 79

Deductive logical thought involves

A) turning theories into hypotheses suitable for testing.
B) selecting a research method based on available resources.
C) doing research about the past.
D) transforming specific observations into general theory.

Question 80

Max Weber urged sociologists to strive toward the goal of being value-free.