Deck 3: Researching the Social World

Question 1

___________________ was a philosopher of science who defined science as the existence of a general model or paradigm, which is accepted by most practitioners in the field.

A) Thomas Kuhn
B) C. Wright Mills
C) Émile Durkheim
D) Karl Marx

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Sociologists who gather information from such Internet sites as Facebook and Twitter are utilizing which research method?

A) Participant observation
B) Non-participant observation
C) Secondary analysis
D) Netnography

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Joe is going to study how prisoners behave in a counseling session, but they can't see him as he is behind a shaded window. Joe is using ________________________ as the basis for this study.

A) participant observation
B) surveys
C) content analysis
D) nonparticipant observation

Answer 3

D

Question 4

When conducting a research study, sociologists follow the ___________________, which refers to a structured way to find answers to questions about the world.

A) scientific method
B) social science method
C) ethnographic method
D) American method

Question 5

Kuhn suggests that some disciplines are better described in a single-paradigm approach while others are better seen as multiple-paradigm sciences. In which group does sociology belong?

A) Single-paradigm approach
B) Multiple-paradigm approach
C) Double-paradigm approach
D) Sociology is not a science with paradigms

Question 6

Where is most qualitative research conducted?

A) In a lab
B) By doing research in the library
C) In natural settings
D) Online or by mail

Question 7

Joe, a researcher, believes that as one's educational level rises, so does one's income. This is an example of a _______________________.

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) fact
D) concept

Question 8

An example of participant observation would be:

A) John, a researcher, who watches preschool students who are not aware he is there
B) Mary, a researcher, who visits with a first-grade classroom to conduct a study on teacher-student interactions, and plays an active role in the study.
C) Bill, a researcher, who sits on a park bench and observes behavior without people's knowledge.
D) Sue, a researcher, who observes medical students working on a patient without his or her knowledge that she is present.

Question 9

The sociologist who co-authored the first real textbook on sociology and studied city life in thorough detail was _____________________.

A) Émile Durkheim
B) Karl Marx
C) Herbert Spencer
D) Robert Park

Question 10

The last step in the scientific method according to the text is to _______________________________.

A) review the literature
B) select a research method
C) choose a hypothesis
D) analyze the data in relation to the hypothesis

Question 11

Mary is a researcher who is conducting research on the relationship between college grades and the amount of time spent studying. She is going to conduct open-ended interviews. This is an example of a _________________research method.

A) quantitative research
B) qualitative research
C) paradigm research
D) quantifiable research

Question 12

The first step in the scientific method is:

A) review the relevant literature
B) uncover questions in need of answers
C) develop a hypothesis
D) select a research method

Question 13

In order to test a hypothesis on the relationship between educational level and income in Chicago, John uses _______________________ statistics.

A) descriptive
B) prescriptive
C) inferential
D) predictable

Question 14

Joe is going to conduct a study about arrest rates in major cities. As part of his research study, he is going to use Census Bureau data. Joe's research methods are ____________________________.

A) quantitative
B) ethnomethodological
C) primary
D) qualitative

Question 15

Which of the following are research methods used by sociologists?

A) Observation
B) Surveys
C) Interviews
D) Experiments

Question 16

Gravity is a widely accepted explanation of the force that causes two particles to pull toward each other. Kuhn refers to this as a(n) _________________.

A) hypothesis
B) paradigm
C) natural experiment
D) ideal type

Question 17

A sociologist who spends an intensive amount of time for several years observing an immigrant community in order to understand their daily activities would be using which research method?

A) Netnography
B) Nonparticipation observation
C) Ethnography
D) Secondary analysis

Question 18

Surveys are an example of a(n) _______________________ that sociologists utilize to conduct a research study.

A) explorative tool
B) quantitative tool
C) analytical tool
D) qualitative tool

Question 19

Global ethnography is defined by:

A) studying people's lives locally in depth to understand globalization's effects
B) studying people in different parts of the world in a connected fashion
C) studying entire sections of the globe using ethnographic methods
D) mixing ethnographic methods with global statistics

Question 20

John is a sociologist who has a theory about homelessness in the United States. He has gathered information through both observation and interviews as the basis for his theory. John is practicing _________________________.

A) empiricism
B) hypothesizing
C) symbolic interactionism
D) quantitative social science

Question 21

Sociologist Devah Pager studied how the background of a job applicant can affect the likelihood of being called back for an interview. This is a good example of which research method?

A) Observation
B) Secondary analysis
C) Survey
D) Sociological experiment

Question 22

Organizations such as Gallup gather ____________ surveys in order to gather accurate information about members of a certain group or in a given geographic area.

A) detailed
B) stratified
C) descriptive
D) explanatory

Question 23

Which of the following is a benefit to unstructured interviews?

A) The questions are asked in exactly the same order
B) The responses can easily be analyzed using quantitative methods
C) Respondents can cover issues that are meaningful to them
D) The limits on the researchers' reactions to answers yield less biased answers

Question 24

Max Weber discussed the concept of the ideal type, which is:

A) used as a measuring rod to help us understand social reality
B) meant to be a careful representation of reality
C) is mostly used by historians now, but dismissed by sociologists
D) a description of the best possible data collection outcome using any research method

Question 25

When a researcher conducts an open-ended interview and begins only with a general idea of the topics to be covered, this is referred to as a(n):

A) prestructured interview
B) unstructured interview
C) preconceived interview
D) subconscious interview

Question 26

Which research method involves conducting interviews and administering questionnaires to a representative portion of the population?

A) Content analysis
B) Secondary analysis
C) Observations
D) Survey research

Question 27

When a researcher has greater control over the selection of participants and the independent variables, this is referred to as a(n) ___________________ experiment, and when the researcher has less control over the independent variables, this is referred to as a _________________ experiment.

A) natural; laboratory
B) field; controlled
C) laboratory; natural
D) independent; dependent

Question 28

A ________________ sample refers to the chance that everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected.

A) biased
B) predictable
C) random
D) pluralized

Question 29

The two variables in an experiment are the ____________________, which is manipulated by the researcher, and the ____________________, which is a characteristic or measurement that resulted from the manipulation.

A) independent variable; dependent variable
B) exponential variable; independent variable
C) dependent variable; independent variable
D) reliant variable; exploratory variable

Question 30

A ______________________ is a person sought out by the researcher using interview methods because he or she has intimate knowledge of the group being studied and will talk openly about it to the researcher.

A) key informant
B) alpha interviewee
C) convenience sample
D) primary reference

Question 31

An example of a(n) ____________________ would be when a researcher asks the same questions worded exactly the same way to numerous subjects in order to avoid any unanticipated reactions or responses.

A) predictive interview
B) prestructured interview
C) objective interview
D) unguided interview

Question 32

In experiments, there are independent and dependent variables. The first is called an independent variable because:

A) it never changes
B) it is not manipulated in the experiment
C) it is not used in statistical analyses
D) it is the characteristic that the individual being studied assigned to themselves

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a step in the interview process?

A) Establishing rapport with the respondents
B) Gaining access to the setting being studied
C) Gaining the trust of the respondents
D) Choosing who will be a part of the control and experimental group

Question 34

A researcher created an experiment to find out what effect gender had on the starting salary a person was offered across different occupations and seniority levels. In this experiment, ___________ is the independent variable and ____________ is the dependent variable.

A) gender; starting salary
B) starting salary; gender
C) gender; seniority level
D) starting salary; occupational type

Question 35

A disadvantage of secondary analysis is:

A) A researcher has to conduct face-to-face interviews
B) The data may not fit the researcher's needs
C) It is harder than collecting one's own data
D) One has to conduct extensive surveys which are time consuming

Question 36

If a researcher was to gather information regarding the divorce rate from the census and library documents, which research method is being utilized?

A) Observations
B) Experiments
C) Surveys
D) Secondary analysis

Question 37

Research based on convenience samples is usually ______________________.

A) definitive
B) quantitative
C) exploratory
D) descriptive

Question 38

Nonrandom samples used in survey research may:

A) Yield very truthful results
B) Create significant bias in the researchers' results
C) Create disagreements among researchers
D) Lead to reliability issues in future studies

Question 39

In order to discover the causes of changes in marijuana use among high school seniors, a researcher would have to use a(n) _______________ survey to obtain the type of data needed.

A) detailed
B) stratified
C) descriptive
D) explanatory

Question 40

Which of the following is NOT a problem associated with pre-structured interviews?

A) Interviewers often find it difficult to live up the guidelines for interviews
B) Respondents respond accurately and truthfully at all times
C) Closed-end questions limit the responses
D) Respondent can lie in his or her response

Question 41

Laud Humphreys's research on homosexual activities in men's restrooms became a famous case of ethical controversy in social science research. What about Humphreys's research was ethically questionable?

A) Secretive and private sexual behaviors are considered off limits to sociological research
B) Humphreys acted as a lookout for the men when they were engaged in sexual acts
C) Humphreys used license plate numbers to target their homes and interview the men without disclosing the real subject of his study
D) If the men had wives or girlfriends, Humphreys disclosed the men's sexual activities to these women

Question 42

Which of the following is a factor when conducting observations?

A) The degree to which those being observed are aware they are being observed
B) The degree to which those being observed aren't aware they are being observed
C) The degree to which the observer's presence affect's the actions of those being observed
D) The degree to which the process is structured

Question 43

For a long time, scientists claimed that brain size determined intelligence, but this was later debunked as false. This example illustrates that:

A) science is rarely biased by social norms
B) even widely accepted facts can be dismissed if research can show they are false
C) science requires an accumulation of evidence over time
D) scientific methods were not always based on empirical tests

Question 44

The sociologist who conducted in-depth content analysis of news on television and in news magazines is:

A) C. Wright Mills
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Karl Marx
D) Herbert Gans

Question 45

It is very important that institutional review boards require evidence of __________________ of those being studied.

A) informed consent
B) uniform consent
C) ethical codes
D) review rights

Question 46

The Milgram Experiment and the Zimbardo Experiment both raised severe ethical issues but also provided scientific evidence of:

A) the power of authority
B) the importance of social networks
C) the differences between good-natured and ill-natured people
D) the difficulty of controlling a mob once it forms

Question 47

The following are famous cases related to ethics violations in research that influenced the current rules on ethical research.

A) The Tuskegee Institute research on syphilis
B) The use of cells taken from Henrietta Lacks without consent
C) The Milgram experiments on obedience
D) Michael Burawoy's participant observation to research global workplaces

Question 48

Which of the following are qualitative methods?

A) Observation
B) Experiments
C) Open-ended interviews
D) Statistics

Question 49

John, a sociologist, decides to conduct a research study examining the violence contained within television shows in the past five years. This is an example of _______________________.

A) observational studies
B) experiments
C) content analysis
D) surveys

Question 50

When a researcher reports his or her research findings in such a way that any reader can understand how the research was conducted, the researcher is utilizing ____________.

A) value-free objectivity
B) personal subjectivity
C) procedural objectivity
D) formal subjectivity

Question 51

____________________ refers to the degree to which a given question produces the same results time after time.

A) Reliability
B) Validity
C) Authenticity
D) Reality

Question 52

Which of the following was ethically controversial in the case of the Milgram Experiment?

A) The people were recruited as a part of the study without their knowledge
B) The people in the study were deceived into thinking they were hurting someone
C) The people in the study were paid an excessive amount of money to participate, skewing the results
D) The people in the study were not allowed to leave the study even after multiple requests to end their participation

Question 53

The World Values Survey (WVS):

A) is an interview study of people in the globalizing world
B) cannot be used for secondary data analysis
C) collects cross-cultural data on how globalization influences peoples' values
D) could be used for research questions that are framed differently than the ones that motivated the original research

Question 54

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. Interviews can be structured in different ways, including:

A) prestructured
B) unstructured
C) descriptive
D) self-administered

Question 55

Which of these qualities differentiates interviews from questionnaires?

A) Questionnaires are self-administered; interviews are not
B) Questionnaires can be completed online; interviews cannot
C) Questionnaires are presented to the respondent in written form; interviews are not
D) Questionnaires are meant to be a representative portion of the population; interviews are not always representative

Question 56

___________________ is important when conducting a study because it ensures a question being asked is measuring what it is intended to measure.

A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Reality
D) Authenticity

Question 57

Ethics in research became a central concern at what point in history?

A) It has been a concern since the French Revolution in 1789
B) In 1848, after Marx released The Communist Manifesto
C) Following World War II in response to atrocities committed by the Nazis
D) In the late 1960s, when civil rights movements raised awareness on all rights issues

Question 58

Which of the following concerns is included when considering the ethics of research as they are now instituted in sociology?

A) Physical harm to the participant
B) Traumatizing the participant psychologically
C) Pressuring the participant to complete an experiment they wish to discontinue
D) Exploiting the participant through deception

Question 59

Which of the statements below explain the differences between history and historical-comparative sociology?

A) Historical-comparative sociology involves much more detail than historical research
B) Sociologists are more interested in generalizing about society than historians
C) Historical data is more accurate than sociological data
D) Historical researchers collect far more original historical data than sociologists

Question 60

____________________ strongly believed that one might be guided by values in their choice of research topics, but it was imperative to be value free when teaching.

A) Herbert Gans
B) Émile Durkheim
C) Auguste Comte
D) Max Weber

Question 61

Quantitative research does not require statistical methods for collecting and reporting data.

Question 62

Most research questions in sociology only have one methodological approach that would provide answers.

Question 63

Max Weber discussed the concept of the ideal type, which is meant to be the most accurate depiction of social reality.

Question 64

The scientific method is never used in sociological research as it has been shown to be rather biased.

Question 65

When a researcher gathers information from the census, police reports, or library documents, they are engaging in ethnographic data analysis.

Question 66

Interviews are not very often used in sociology as a research method.

Question 67

Wendy, a sociologist, studies the use of sexuality in television shows in order to understand changing gender norms. Her research method is known as content analysis.

Question 68

To test validity of a hypothesis, the researcher would utilize inferential statistics in order to make a connection between a small group and a larger group.

Question 69

All experiments take place within a laboratory setting with a controlled environment.

Question 70

Reliability and predictability are two important dimensions of trustworthiness.

Question 71

The scientific method is used only when studying institutions in sociology, but is not suitable for studying human beings as individuals.

Question 72

When observations are conducted in a natural setting, they include participant observation and nonparticipant observation.

Question 73

A paradigm is only accepted by a minute amount of practitioners in the field.

Question 74

Sociologists gather information utilizing their senses, a practice called systematizing.

Question 75

Experiments are not used as often in sociology as they are in neighboring fields such as economics and psychology, but their use is growing due to the potential of Internet research.

Question 76

Observations are a type of qualitative research.

Question 77

To conduct a research study using the scientific method in sociology, the theory must be new. Testing existing theories in new situations is called secondary data analysis.

Question 78

A researcher who observes fourth graders on a playground, takes notes, and announces his presence, is utilizing the ethnographic research method.

Question 79

Random samples should be used in order to avoid bias while conducting a survey.

Question 80

Scientific knowledge accumulates gradually and requires many studies.