Soc 275 Social Research Methods, Section 001



Soc 275 Social Research Methods, Section 001

Jeremiah Coldsmith

Spring, 09: Test 1

Name: _____________________________

Part I:

The following are ten matching questions. There is a definition or description to the left and a series of terms to the right. Match the correct term to its definition or description by writing the letter of the term in the blank by the number of the definition or description. Note that a term can only be used once, but you will not need to use all the terms. Each question is worth one point.

Part II:

The following are ten multiple choice problems. Choose the best answer for each question by writing the letter of the answer in the blank next to the number of the question. Each question is worth one point. If it is unclear which answer you have chosen, you will not get credit for the answer.

_____ 1) A researcher is interested in the connection between social class and stress. Specifically she believes that someone’s class background establishes how well they deal with stress. In other words, she thinks social class causes stress coping strategies.

In this causal argument, social class is called what?

A) A Dependent Variable

B) An Independent Variable

C) An Attribute

_____ 2) If the researcher in question 1 believes there are four social classes: 1) the professional class, 2) the business class, 3) the working class, and 4) the agrarian (farming) class, the four social classes are examples of what?

A) Dependent Variables

B) Independent Variables

C) Attributes

_____ 3) A social movements researcher believes that a social movement organization has to have resources in order to protest.

In this study, resources are called what?

A) A Dependent Variable

B) An Independent Variable

C) An Attribute

_____ 4) The researcher in question 3 studies several social movement organizations and finds that all social movement organizations with resources do protest, but that not all organizations that protest have resources. In other words, having resources always leads to protests, but sometimes protests happen without resources.

What type of relationship between resources and protests has this researcher discovered?

A) A Necessary Relationship

B) A Sufficient Relationship

C) A Necessary and Sufficient Relationship

D) A Correlation

_____ 5) A criminologist is interested in the relationship between the economy and the number of robberies that occur each year. She finds that as economic conditions deteriorate (go down) the number of robberies increases and that as economic conditions improve (go up) the number of robberies goes down.

What type of relationship between economic conditions and number of robberies per year has this researcher discovered?

A) A Necessary Relationship

B) A Sufficient Relationship

C) A Necessary and Sufficient Relationship

D) A Correlation

_____ 6) If a second researcher discovers that the number of robberies each year increases before economic conditions deteriorate, what concern with causal logic has the second researcher found that the criminologist in question 5 overlooked?

A) A Correlative Relationship

B) A Set-theoretic Relationship

C) Time Order

D) Spuriousness

_____ 7) A researcher interested in prejudice is conducting an experiment. If the subjects knew the experiment was really about prejudice, their awareness of this would likely change their responses making the data useless. In order to get around this, the researcher tells her subjects that the experiment is actually about occupational prestige. After the experiment is over, she explains to the subjects what the experiment was really about and interviews them about the experience to make sure they were not harmed in any way.

What is this process of informing the subjects of the true purpose of the study and interviewing them about their experience called?

A) Anonymity

B) Confidentiality

C) Informed Consent

D) Debriefing

_____ 8) After the researcher is done with the interview, she gives the subjects the option of keeping their data out of the study now that they know what the study was really about and that the researcher deceived them.

What ethical norm is the researcher trying to satisfy by doing this?

A) Anonymity

B) Confidentiality

C) Informed Consent

D) Debriefing

_____ 9) The 2010 US Census is coming up. The purpose of the Census is to describe the American population. What type of research is the Census?

A) Explanatory Research

B) Exploratory Research

C) Descriptive Research

_____ 10) I would like to explain what causes income inequality at the county level in the US. However, there are not very well constructed sociological theories in this area of research. So, I begin my study by collecting and analyzing the data. After I’ve done the analysis, I consider the findings and attempt to explain them by creating a theory.

What type of connection between theory and data is reflected in this study?

A) Deduction

B) Induction

C) Reduction

Part III:

The following are seven short answer questions. You only need to answer five of them. This means you must not answer two of them. If you answer more than five, I’ll only grade the first five that you answered. So, answer the five that you know the best. Answer as fully and concisely as possible. Please answer in complete sentences. Each question is worth one point.

1) Describe three of the major problems with experiential knowledge we discussed in class.

2) Why is it important to explain the difference between anonymity and confidentiality to subjects and to tell them which one is being used in a study before they agree to participate in the research?

3) Explain why it is important to treat subjects ethically in social science research.

4) Define Ideographic and Nomothetic explanation.

5) Explain what spuriousness is and explain why social science researchers are concerned with it.

6) What is a problem with science that the other forms of knowledge do better? Why does science have this problem?

7) What is the purpose of an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?

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A. Traditional/Common

B. Authority/Expert

C. Experiential

D. Scientific

E. Overgeneralization

F. Selective Observation

G. Replication

H. Deduction

I. Induction

J. Correlation

K. Spuriousness

L. Time Order

M. Sufficiency

N. Necessity

O. Deception

P. Informed Consent

Q. Confidentiality

R. Anonymity

S. Debriefing

T. Attribute

U. Variable

V. Explanatory Research

W. Descriptive Research

X. Exploratory Research

Y. Ideographic

Z. Nomothetic

____ 1. What is the error in observation that occurs when we assume the pattern found in a few similar events or cases is evidence for a broader and more general pattern?

____ 2. What type of knowledge comes from our personal experiences?

____ 3. When dealing with correlational causality, what is the criterion that requires the independent variable (the cause) to occur before the dependent variable (the effect) called?

____ 4. Which ethical norm requires subjects/respondents to base their participation in a study on a full understanding of the possible risks involved?

____ 5. Which type of connection between theory and data starts with theory and moves to observations?

____ 6. Which type of research typically occurs when a researcher examines a new area of interest or when there is little known about the area of study?

____ 7. In research what is a characteristic or quality of a person or thing called?

____ 8. Which approach to explanation seeks to identify only a few causal factors that account for or impact the event, cases, or variables of interest?

____ 9. Which form of subject identity protection requires not even the researcher or research team to be able to match a subject/respondent to their data/responses?

____ 10. What is the causal relationship called when the cause is a subset of the outcome? In other words, the cause always leads to the outcome, even though the outcome may occur without this cause being present.

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