Question 1

A sociologist studying minor children,pregnant women,or inmates must get approval,as these groups are known as:

Accepted Answer

A)   panel populations.
B)   census populations.
C)   protected populations.
D)   total populations. C

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of a negative relationship between individual behavior and health?

Accepted Answer

A)   A diet high in fat greatly increases an individual's risk for obesity and other chronic diseases.
B)   The less fat an individual consumes, the lower his or her risk of heart disease.
C)   As nicotine consumption increases, the risk for cancer increases.
D)   As nicotine consumption decreases, life expectancy increases. D

Question 3

LeeAnn is a graduate student in sociology who is studying media depictions of gun violence in popular films such as Rambo and Scarface.Her choice of methods is known as:

Accepted Answer

A)   an audit study.
B)   a panel study.
C)   content analysis.
D)   surveys. C

Question 4

Jill wants to know more about how democratic a society is.When she begins her study,she defines the level of democracy as the number of people who are able to participate in popular elections.With this definition,Jill has ____________ the variable "level of democracy":

Accepted Answer

A)   constructed
B)   hypothesized
C)   causally connected
D)   operationalized

Question 5

Georgia has volunteered at the local crisis center.While she is volunteering,she is given permission to "gather data" and ask the women about the circumstances surrounding their abuse.What method will Georgia most likely use?

Accepted Answer

A)   experiment
B)   survey
C)   interviews
D)   content analysis

Question 6

The general approach to comparative research is to:

Accepted Answer

A)   study a total population or census.
B)   find cases that match on every variable.
C)   use a panel study approach only.
D)   find cases that match on many potentially relevant dimensions yet vary on just one.

Question 7

If a sociologist studies one high school in a study of the effectiveness of its Parent-Teacher Association,he or she is using which of the following research methods?

Accepted Answer

A)   an experiment
B)   a case study
C)   a panel study
D)   content analysis

Question 8

The more consistent the results given by repeated measurements,the higher the ____________ of the measurement procedure (and vice versa).

Accepted Answer

A)   reliability
B)   validity
C)   efficiency
D)   responsiveness

Question 9

If Juanita practices ____________ in her research,she carefully considers how her role as researcher may affect those whom she studies (the researched).

Accepted Answer

A)   reflexivity
B)   selective attention
C)   empathy
D)   common sense

Question 10

Sandra is doing research on cheating among students at Duke University.The student body at Duke will serve as her:

Accepted Answer

A)   sample.
B)   population.
C)   random sample.
D)   fieldwork.

Question 11

Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research methods and give an example of each from the many examples discussed in Chapter 2.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative research methods...

Question 12

The extent to which a researcher can claim that his or her findings explain a larger population than was studied is known as:

Accepted Answer

A)   validity.
B)   reliability.
C)   responsiveness.
D)   generalizability.

Question 13

Which of the following is the best example of a correlation?

Accepted Answer

A)   People who work harder have higher income.
B)   People with better health work harder.
C)   The more income a person makes, the easier it is to retire.
D)   People with higher levels of income tend to enjoy better overall health.

Question 14

In her study,Darby is using church membership as an indicator of how religious a person is.She discovers that some "very religious" people rarely attend church.Darby may conclude that:

Accepted Answer

A)   religiosity is a dependent variable.
B)   her measure of religiosity lacks validity.
C)   church attendance is a reliable indicator.
D)   there is reverse causality between church attendance and religion.

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative research method?

Accepted Answer

A)   conducting a survey about how often people attend church
B)   interviewing people about the role of religion in their lives
C)   observing how people behave and interact with each other in a church setting
D)   participating in a weekly Bible study meeting for 12 months to understand its importance in people's lives

Question 16

A sociologist's subject matter presents some difficult research problems of a kind that natural scientists rarely have to deal with.Which of the following does NOT describe such a problem?

Accepted Answer

A)   A sociologist is part of the very subject he or she is studying.
B)   For ethical reasons, it is not permissible to do particular kinds of studies on people.
C)   It is possible to have completely controlled experiments to delineate cause-and-effect relationships.
D)   The causes of social behavior are usually multiple, complex, and intricate.

Question 17

Perhaps the most difficult method(s)to apply to the social sciences,as compared with laboratory-based natural sciences,is/are:

Accepted Answer

A)   surveys.
B)   experimental methods.
C)   historical methods.
D)   content analysis.

Question 18

If Kate begins her research with a theory,then forms hypotheses and makes some observations,what method is she using?

Accepted Answer

A)   independent
B)   dependent
C)   inductive
D)   deductive

Question 19

Which of the following methods involves collecting data from written reports or other artifacts in order to discover patterns in behavior/attitudes dating to an earlier time period?

Accepted Answer

A)   experiments
B)   audit studies
C)   panel surveys
D)   historical methods

Question 20

Elizabeth would like to conduct a study to determine how women define spousal abuse and the meanings they attach to their abuse.What research method will Elizabeth most likely use?

Accepted Answer

A)   quantitative
B)   inductive
C)   qualitative
D)   deductive

Exam 2: Methods