Deck 3: Theory and Research

Question 1

Mikiso studied how rice farming fits into Japanese society. Before he began the study, he relied on his prior knowledge that rice is a basic part of the diet of Japanese people. This is called one of his

A) classifications.
B) ideal types.
C) assumptions.
D) predictions.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A theory that seeks to explain how the Newly Industrializing Countries NICs) of East Asia e.g., Hong Kong, Taiwan, S. Korea, Singapore) were able to rapidly industrialize and gain a major position in world markets between the 1960s and the 1990s is operating at which level?

A) mini
B) meso
C) macro
D) micro

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following explains processes and events at the societal level over long periods of time?

A) micro-level theory
B) meso-level theory
C) macro-level theory

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which concept has the HIGHEST level of abstraction; i.e., it is the most abstract?

A) racial injustice
B) years of education attained
C) the size of a city's population
D) a murder

Question 5

Heffrey Jaydu developed a theory of social movement development. The theory states that a movement develops like a child matures and goes through developmental stages. Each stage is like a step in a set of stairs, it must be passed before the movement is able to advance to the next stage in the sequence of development steps. He says this pattern of development explains how the women's movement and civil rights movement changed. He is using what type of structural explanation?

A) functional
B) sequential
C) network
D) interpretative

Question 6

Which of the following propositions has the greatest theoretical scope?

A) During the past century, people in human societies moved toward using mass media on a more frequent basis.
B) Almost all of the people who rob other people in major Canadian cities are males.
C) Americans who marry when they are older than 30 years of age are less likely to divorce.
D) College students who study more hours get higher grades on examinations.

Question 7

Compared to an ideology, which of the following is ONLY TRUE of social theory?

A) Social theory contains many contradictions and inconsistencies.
B) Social theory is connected to specific moral beliefs.
C) Social theory is fixed, closed, and finished.
D) Social theory welcomes tests and all evidence, both positive and negative.

Question 8

Persons who have grown up with one parent and a sibling who is at least 8 years older and of the opposite sex of the parent residing at home tend to treat the older sibling as a parent figure. What level of theorizing is this statement?

A) middle-range theory
B) theoretical framework
C) theory on a topic
D) empirical generalization

Question 9

Dr. Montgomery explains marital happiness with complex theory containing 91 concepts. Dr. Rowe has a less complex theory with 12 concepts that explains marital happiness just as well as Dr. Montgomery's explanation. What sociological concept does Dr. Montgomery lack?

A) inductive
B) ideal type
C) parsimony
D) serendipity

Question 10

Dalessha developed a pure model of the "street walker" prostitute to help her study a large city ghetto. She is using an)

A) typology.
B) classification.
C) parsimony.
D) ideal type.

Question 11

A structural explanation is when

A) a researcher describes a chain of cause and effect as being like a string of balls in a row such that hitting one causes it to hit another and so forth.
B) a researcher attempts to comprehend or mentally grasp the social world in terms of the subjective world view of other people.
C) a researcher explains something of interest by identifying its cause or causes.
D) a researcher uses an interconnected Web of concepts and relationships around a central idea or describes a sequence of phases in which one occurs before the next.

Question 12

A positive relationship is when

A) an increase in one variable leads to an increase in a second variable, or when a decrease in one variable leads to a decrease in a second variable.
B) an increase or decrease in one variable lead to no change in the second variable.
C) an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in a second variable, or when a decrease in one variable leads to a increase in a second variable.
D) no change in one variable leads to drastic change in a second variable.

Question 13

How do inductive and deductive approaches to social theory and research differ?

A) Inductive begins with concrete or observable things and moves towards abstract or theoretical ideas. Deductive begins with abstract or theoretical ideas and moves towards concrete or observable things.
B) Inductive begins with big things at the top of society and moves towards small things at the bottom of society. Deductive begins at the bottom with small things and moves towards big things at the top.
C) Inductive begins at the top of society and moves towards the bottom. Deductive begins at the bottom of society and moves towards the top.
D) Inductive begins with small things and moves towards big things. Deductive begins with big things and moves towards small things.

Question 14

On a first date, people tend to present themselves in a positive light, often by talking about subjects that they normally would not discuss. For example, Tracy will discuss gardening, because she knows that Chris really enjoys to garden. Tracy tries to create the perception that she also has a "green thumb." Which theoretical framework is being expressed in this analysis?

A) symbolic interactionism
B) exchange theory
C) structural functional
D) conflict theory

Question 15

Which of the following theoretical statements has the narrowest scope?

A) Professional baseball athletes in Japan who play first base and chew tobacco have more coordination and speed to tag runners out than those who do not chew tobacco.
B) People who experience unclear expectations will feel tension and stress.
C) College students who successfully complete a social research methods course develop critical reasoning skills that are superior to most other college students.
D) Canadian females under the age of 30 who exercise twice a week have a life expectancy 2-3 years longer than those who do not.

Question 16

Professor Tun-jen Cheng wanted to study why thousands of people leaving Hong Kong moved to Vancouver, British Columbia. In order to establish temporal order in his causal argument, he must show which of the following?

A) Events in Hong Kong occurred before people moved to Vancouver.
B) There is a correlation between events in Hong Kong and a decision to move.
C) A fear for the future of Hong Kong and no other reason caused the move to Vancouver.
D) People who left Hong Kong are more educated with higher incomes than those who stayed in Hong Kong.

Question 17

Professor Turkle cross-classifies the degree of conflict in a divorce bitter, unpleasant, neutral, friendly) by whether the divorce involved the custody of children. He ends up with eight types of divorce and uses them to study divorce. Professor Turkle developed a

A) typology.
B) serendipity.
C) causal theory.
D) parsimony.

Question 18

You pick up an article and read the following: "In a dating relationship, each person attempts to gain social approval and acceptance. If one person makes an elaborate entry and presents an expensive gift to obtain more approval, the other person feels a need to maintain balance in the relationship. A repayment through an offer of something of value e.g., expressions of affection, sexual relations, etc.) is expected. Failure to repay the social debt may create embarrassment or place the receiver of the gift in a position of dependence." Which theoretical framework is the author using?

A) structural functional
B) symbolic interactionism
C) exchange theory
D) conflict theory

Question 19

The set of ideas that include the legal system, punishment, violent crime, income/race inequality, belief in deterrence, and human rights, would be considered a concept cluster for which of the following concepts?

A) death penalty
B) marriage customs
C) art gallery
D) immigration

Question 20

A researcher needs all of the following to make a casual statement, EXCEPT

A) temporal order.
B) elimination of alternative explanation.
C) association.
D) mathematical proof.

Question 21

Provide an ideal type of a concept and explain how it might be used in social research.

Question 22

What are the three criteria for causality? Why do all three criteria need to be addressed for causality to be considered?

Question 23

If we can establish that variable X comes before variable Q in time, then we can definitely say:

A) variable X is a cause of variable Q.
B) variable Q is not a cause of variable X.
C) variable Q is a cause of variable X.
D) variable X is not a cause of variable Q.

Question 24

Which general theoretical framework in sociology is most likely to state the following: In selecting a marriage partner, a man is likely to seriously consider potential mates who allow him to maintain power and control in the relationship. He will seek to maintain authority over a woman's wealth, earnings, sexual favors, and social status, especially in a society where patriarchy prevails as an ideology and justifies his actions in the larger society.

A) conflict theory
B) symbolic interactionism
C) structural functional theory
D) exchange theory

Question 25

In the news media, ideologies and social theory surrounding diverse social issues, from the state of the political school system to Medicare benefits to the elderly, are often given equal air time. How do ideologies and social theory differ? How are they similar? Why is it difficult for social theory to confront ideological statements?

Question 26

Describe how concrete and abstract concepts differ. Give an example of an abstract ideal type and a concrete classification.

Question 27

Professor Jones uses a micro-level theory to explain working in a factory. Which of the following statements would most likely come from Dr. Jones?

A) An increased division of labor of society with industrialization gave rise to factories as the place where many people work.
B) The face-to-face interaction among workers in small work teams in a factory informally enforces certain company rules.
C) Urbanization increased the growth of the factory as a form of social organization over the past hundred years.
D) Greater conflict between the managerial and non-managerial levels in a corporation increased the pace of factory work.

Question 28

Which of the following statements represents a constructionist orientation toward social reality?

A) The high degree of nurturing behavior among women is an inherent characteristic of all females.
B) What you see is what you get; reality is what you can see and touch.
C) The formal organizations and social roles we observe flow from the natural order of the world.
D) Divisions among people by race, gender, and similar categories are not real; they are social inventions.

Question 29

Why do researchers use diagrams to show causal relationships?

Question 30

Social reality exists on many different levels and so sociologists often study social phenomena at these different levels. Describe how micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of social reality differ for social researchers.

Question 31

Discuss the difference between formal and substantive theory in terms of focus. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each theoretical focus? Is there any relationship between the research audience basic vs. applied) and research focus formal vs. substantive theory)?

Question 32

What is the difference between inductive and deductive approaches to research?

Question 33

What is parsimony and why is it important?

Question 34

How are major theoretical frameworks used in research, if at all?

Question 35

Researchers approach the building and testing of theory through deduction or induction. How do these approaches generally relate to quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques?

Question 36

How do prediction and theoretical explanations differ? Can you have one without the other?