Deck 14: Reading and Understanding Social Research

Question 1

Sociological research appears in many areas of our lives and sometimes in unexpected locations.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Another way that people might inadvertently come across sociology is when they encounter the ever-popular armchair sociologist.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Being a responsible consumer of research requires that the individual take his identity as a social scientist frivolously.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Researchers are ethically bound to protect the identities of their subjects.

Question 5

The use of tables is not limited to one form of data.

Question 6

When reading media reports of sociological research,it is not necessary to follow-up by checking the original scholarly source in which the research is reported.

Question 7

Tables are a useful way of succinctly reporting large amounts of data.

Question 8

Tables should provide information about the statistical significance of the relationships presented.

Question 9

The null hypothesis is simply the assumption that a relationship exists between the variables in question.

Question 10

When testing hypotheses,social scientists generally couch their findings in terms of rejecting the null hypothesis.

Question 11

Statistical significance tells us that the relationships we observe are caused by chance.

Question 12

Familiarizing with an author's acknowledgements will give additional contextual information within which to frame and understand what is about to be read.

Question 13

In a table presenting a causal relationship,dependent variable attributes are presented in columns.

Question 14

Understanding sociological research methods is an excellent preparation for questioning the everyday assumptions that others make.

Question 15

A p value is a statistical measure of the probability that there is no relationship between the variables under study.

Question 16

Most funders state that they do not want recipients to acknowledge them in any publications.

Question 17

In a scholarly journal article all the details provide important contextual information that can help assess the claims made by the researcher.

Question 18

In a table presenting a causal relationship,independent variable attributes are typically presented in the table's rows.

Question 19

Abstracts typically are long and include every small detail of the research.

Question 20

Media reports of sociological research,while important,may leave key questions about the research unanswered.

Question 21

A _____ is a statistical measure of the probability that there is no relationship between the variables under study.

A)correlation coefficient
B)test statistic
C)p value
D)regression coefficient
E)standard error

Question 22

The _____ is simply the assumption that no relationship exists between the variables in question.

A)normality
B)alternate hypothesis
C)non-normality
D)null hypothesis
E)constant variance

Question 23

The _____ provides readers with an excellent,easily digestible review of a study's major findings and of the framework the author is using to position her findings.

A)literature review
B)data collection
C)bibliography
D)abstract
E)acknowledgement

Question 24

Which of the following topics are covered under the author's acknowledgements?

A)The major findings of the study
B)The sample of the study
C)The data collection methods used
D)The organizations that provided resources
E)The literature review of the study

Question 25

A _____ is a tool used by researchers that provides a quick,condensed summary of the report's key findings.

A)code sheet
B)table
C)questionnaire
D)literature review
E)figure

Question 26

Which of the following is a question about data analysis that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)Is there enough information provided to check if the analytic procedures were employed accurately?
B)What are the sample’s major strengths and major weaknesses?
C)How does the author frame his or her research focus?
D)Who are this study’s major stakeholders?
E)Who provided support in the form of funding or other resources?

Question 27

Which of the following p values indicates a strong relationship between the variables under study?

A)390
B)39
C)3.9
D)0.39
E)0.039

Question 28

Which of the following is true of abstracts?

A)It provides a difficult and complicated review of the study's major findings.
B)It provides an excellent,easily digestible review of a study's framework
C)It contains a long detailed summary of every minute research finding.
D)Reading them is totally irrelevant with respect to trying to familiarize with the research.
E)Abstracts seldom help the author position her/his findings.

Question 29

The symbol "N" when present in a table presenting descriptive information about a researcher's sample is usually used to denote_____.

A)percentage
B)variance
C)occurrence
D)distribution
E)frequency

Question 30

The _____ provides guidance on whether or not the null hypothesis should be rejected.

A)correlation coefficient
B)p value
C)regression coefficient
D)standard error
E)sample mean

Question 31

Which of the following is a question about results that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)Does the review of literature appear appropriately extensive?
B)What are the sample’s major strengths and major weaknesses?
C)What do you know about the data collection strategy and instruments?
D)What are the study’s major findings?
E)What framework does the researcher employ?

Question 32

Which of the following is a question about sample that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)Who are this study’s major stakeholders?
B)What is the researcher’s population?
C)Does the review of literature appear appropriately extensive?
D)How were the data analyzed?
E)How were the data collected?

Question 33

Which of the following is a question about data collection that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)What do you know about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the method employed?
B)What are the sample’s major strengths and major weaknesses?
C)Who provided support in the form of funding or other resources?
D)Have limitations of the study been fully disclosed and adequately addressed?
E)Does the review of literature appear appropriately extensive?

Question 34

Which of the following is a question about literature review that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)Who provided support in the form of funding or other resources?
B)Are sufficient amounts of data provided in order to support conclusions drawn?
C)Are claims made supported by data provided in the results section?
D)Does the researcher provide a critical review?
E)What other methods of data collection might have been employed, and why was this particular method employed?

Question 35

Being a _____ means giving serious thought to and understanding what you do know,what you don't know,what you can know,and what you can't know.

A)participant observer
B)responsible consumer of research
C)covert researcher
D)key informant
E)conversation analysts

Question 36

Which of the following is a question about abstracts that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)What framework does the researcher employ?
B)What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of the data collection methods employed?
C)Are the findings linked back to previously described research questions,objectives,hypotheses,and literature?
D)Are sufficient amounts of data provided in order to support conclusions drawn?
E)How selective does the researcher appear to have been in identifying relevant literature to discuss?

Question 37

_____ tells the likelihood that the relationships observed could be caused by something other than chance.

A)Table
B)Statistical significance
C)Abstract
D)Introduction
E)Bibliography

Question 38

What does one need to do to be a responsible consumer of research?

A)The individual must ignore the contextual information provided in the research
B)The individual seldom has to bother himself about what he knows and what he doesn't know,based on the information provided by the research.
C)The individual seldom has to be aware about what he can know and what he can't know,based on the information provided by the research.
D)The individual must take his role as a social scientist seriously.
E)The individual must identify the participants in the study.

Question 39

Which of the following is a question about acknowledgements that needs to be asked while reading research reports?

A)What are the sample’s major strengths and major weaknesses?
B)What are the study’s major findings?
C)What do you know about the data collection strategy and instruments?
D)Who provided support in the form of funding or other resources?
E)How were the data analyzed?

Question 40

Which among the following is true of the p value?

A)It is a statistical measure of the probability that there is a relationship between the variables under study.
B)It provides guidance on whether or not we should reject the null hypothesis.
C)It provides a quick,condensed summary of the report's key findings.
D)It signifies the likelihood that the relationships observed could be caused by something other than chance.
E)It is a concise way to report large amounts of data.

Question 41

The _____ provides guidance on whether or not we should reject the null hypothesis.

Question 42

Identify the kinds of questions that should be asked when an individual comes across descriptions of sociological research in various media outlets.

Question 43

The _____ is a peer-reviewed publication of the American Sociological Association.

A)American Sociologist
B)American Review of Public Administration
C)American Journal of Political Science
D)American Sociological Review
E)American Politics Research

Question 44

Describe how having a background in sociological research methods is useful for our everyday encounters with sociology using an example.

Question 45

Describe how tables presenting causal relationships are typically presented.

Question 46

Which kind of information cannot be known to even the most responsible consumer of research?

A)The funding agency
B)The methods of data collection
C)The research findings
D)The sample of the study
E)The identities of the participants in the study

Question 47

_____ tend to wax poetic about how society "is" or how various groups of people "are" without having anything more than anecdotal evidence.

A)Ethnomethodologists
B)Conversation analysts
C)Participant observers
D)Armchair sociologists
E)Field researchers

Question 48

Explain what can be learned from an article simply from reading its abstract and its acknowledgments.

Question 49

Which of the following is true of scholarly journal articles?

A)They will presumably give very minute information about the researcher's method of data collection.
B)They will give no details about the sample.
C)They will provide information about how the participants were identified.
D)They will omit information about how research participants were recruited.
E)They will not provide contextual information that can help assess the claims made by the researcher.

Question 50

Identify what's involved in order to be a responsible consumer of research.

Question 51

Which of the following is true about media reports of sociological research?

A)They answer every key question about the research.
B)It requires that the individual follow-up by checking the original scholarly source in which the research is reported.
C)It provides the details of the research in a more thorough manner than scholarly journals.
D)They will require no follow-up with the original scholarly source.
E)They are long,detailed reports,which cover every area of the research in detail.

Question 52

Explain sociology and sociological research using examples.

Question 53

Identify several key questions worth asking about the literature review when reading research reports.

Question 54

A _____ provides a quick,condensed summary of the report's key findings.

Question 55

Cite the major differences between scholarly and media reports of sociological research.

Question 56

A _____ will presumably give lots of information about the researcher's method of data collection,her or his sample,and information about how she or he identified and recruited research participants.

A)popular magazine
B)newspaper
C)media report of sociological research
D)scholarly journal article
E)blog post

Question 57

Question 58

Identify several key questions worth asking about the data collection when reading research reports.

Question 59

Question 60

Describe a table.

Question 61

What kind of questions must an individual ask himself when he comes across descriptions of sociological research in various media outlets?

A)Why is it described?
B)How is it described?
C)Why is a part of it missing?
D)Is the missing part important?
E)Why is the missing part important?

Question 62

Understanding _____ research methods is an excellent preparation for questioning the everyday assumptions that others make.

A)sociological
B)operational
C)scientific
D)quantitative
E)correlational

Question 63

In a _____,the reader will presumably be given lots of information about the researcher's method of data collection,her or his sample,and information about how s/he identified and recruited research participants.

Question 64

Being a responsible consumer of research requires that you take seriously your identity as a _____.

Question 65

Understanding _____ methods is excellent preparation for questioning the everyday assumptions that others make.