Question 1

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using ethnography as a method of social research?

Accepted Answer

A)   It is very difficult to understand the meaning participants give to their own actions.
B)   Participants are self-selected.
C)   Participants are usually not completely candid when asked to describe their attitudes and behaviors.
D)   It is very difficult for another researcher to repeat or replicate any particular ethnography.
E)   Ethnographies tend to have ethical problems that are of central concern to most sociologists.

Question 2

Codes of ethics in the social sciences provide very strict, step-by-step guidelines for researchers to follow.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 3

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all his participants, it means that:

Accepted Answer

A)   they have all agreed to participate in the study for monetary compensation.
B)   they all belong to the target population identified by the researcher.
C)   they all understand the nature of the study and what will be asked of them.
D)   their confidentiality has been guaranteed.
E)   they have all read the prior literature on the subject area.

Question 4

If you observe a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings, then what kind of research are you doing?

Accepted Answer

A)   normative research
B)   quantitative research
C)   qualitative research
D)   natural science research
E)   geophysical research

Question 5

In physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that to measure something is also to change it. Sociologists have observed a similar phenomenon-reactivity. Describe the classic example of reactivity, observed and explained by Elton Mayo at the Western Electric Hawthorne Plant between 1927 and 1932.

Accepted Answer

Mayo sought to examine the effect of var...

Question 6

Which method of social research might involve shifting between participating in a social situation and being an observer?

Accepted Answer

A)   interviews
B)   surveys
C)   access negotiation
D)   comparative-historical research
E)   ethnography

Question 7

Ethnographers sometimes write down key words or quotations while they're interacting with people. Given that they will write much more detailed fieldnotes later, what is the advantage of these brief, sketchy notes?

Accepted Answer

A)   They are not as difficult to compile as comprehensive fieldnotes.
B)   They are more ethical.
C)   They are an aid to memory when writing more detailed fieldnotes.
D)   They involve reflexivity.
E)   They allow the ethnographer to achieve thick description.

Question 8

The analysis of documents-such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics-uses which of the following types of data?

Accepted Answer

A)   ethnographic fieldnotes
B)   interview transcripts
C)   existing sources
D)   experimental data
E)   statistical analysis

Question 9

Any time a social researcher is going to use sampling, they must first identify their target population. What is this target population?

Accepted Answer

A)   the group of people whose behavior they wish to change
B)   the group of people from whom they will gather data
C)   the group of people least often studied in the past
D)   the larger group of people they wish to generalize about
E)   the group of people who wish to be studied

Question 10

Every four years when it's time to elect a new president, we pay much attention to surveys, which we usually call "polls." Even though there are more than three hundred million people in the United States, most political pollsters ask about a thousand people who it is they plan to vote for and use that information to predict how the election will turn out. Who is the sample for a presidential poll?

Accepted Answer

A)   every person who is planning on voting
B)   every American
C)   all those people who have strong political opinions
D)   voters
E)   the one thousand people who are asked whom they will vote for

Question 11

Karl Marx was influenced by the philosopher Georg Hegel but argued that in some fundamental ways Hegel's theories were mistaken about how the world worked. Marx said he needed to "stand Hegel on his head" because Marx believed that "it is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness." For many who came afterward, Marx's argument represented a:

Accepted Answer

A)   problem with validity and reliability.
B)   classic demonstration of reactivity.
C)   participant observation.
D)   paradigm shift.
E)   justification of qualitative research.

Question 12

A social research methods class wants to study smoking. First the professor asks how many people in the class are smokers. Two people say yes. Then she asks how many people have smoked a cigarette in the past week, and ten people say yes. From this the class decides that, for the purposes of its survey, a smoker will be anyone who has had a cigarette in the past week and currently owns a pack of cigarettes. This is a(n) :

Accepted Answer

A)   operational definition.
B)   ethnography.
C)   hypothesis.
D)   spurious correlation.
E)   ethical challenge.

Question 13

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that:

Accepted Answer

A)   it is easy to transmit to the public.
B)   it includes observations and informal interviews.
C)   it allows the researcher to review the literature.
D)   it affords easy access to the norms, values, and meanings held by members of a group.
E)   it is the only kind of data that is useful.

Question 14

Why do social scientists who use interviews rarely speak with large numbers of people for a project?

Accepted Answer

A)   It is hard to find people willing to be interviewed.
B)   The transcription process takes a long time.
C)   There are usually very few people who are interesting enough to be interviewed.
D)   Face-to-face interviewing is a very time-consuming process.
E)   The data is so rich that few interviews are typically needed.

Question 15

If you were to conduct a research project investigating the relationship between the brands and shapes of gummy candy available in American convenience stores, what methodology would you use?

Accepted Answer

A)   quantitative
B)   content analysis
C)   existing sources
D)   comparative or historical research
E)   interviews

Question 16

What is a pilot study?

Accepted Answer

A)   a study that guides other studies
B)   a smaller study used to investigate the feasibility of a larger one
C)   a study designed to improve the validity of a larger study
D)   a study that concerns itself with media use and popular culture
E)   a study that definitively answers a question that has been bothering sociologists

Question 17

A simple random sample is defined as:

Accepted Answer

A)   a sample with only one variable.
B)   a sample in which other demographic variables are taken into account.
C)   a sample in which one variable is weighted more than another.
D)   a sample in which every member of the population has a chance of being included.
E)   a sample that uses probability to determine who will be selected.

Question 18

After researchers conduct a series of interviews, they usually transcribe the responses. The transcription process is fairly time consuming, but it is valuable in part because it allows researchers to:

Accepted Answer

A)   look for patterns in their data.
B)   check for bias in how they asked questions.
C)   think up new questions they didn't ask.
D)   determine the average age of their interviewees.
E)   determine if their sample was representative of the larger population.

Question 19

Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher of science, argues that truth is relative, in that it is dependent on the paradigm through which one understands the world.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using existing sources of data for research?

Accepted Answer

A)   Researchers often seek answers to questions the data doesn't directly address.
B)   Researchers have to spend a great deal of time and money to get the data.
C)   Researchers do not always understand how the data was interpreted or what it meant in its original context.
D)   Researchers do not have access to existing sources.
E)   Existing sources of date are never relevant to the contemporary world because they emerged from a different time and place.

Exam 2: Studying Social Life: Sociological Research Methods

Ethnographers sometimes write down key words or quotations while they're interacting with people. Given that they will write much more detailed fieldnotes later, what is the advantage of these brief, sketchy notes?

Correct Answer
verified

A simple random sample is defined as:

Correct Answer
verified

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using existing sources of data for research?

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Codes of ethics in the social sciences provide very strict, step-by-step guidelines for researchers to follow.

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher of science, argues that truth is relative, in that it is dependent on the paradigm through which one understands the world.

Correct Answer
verified

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all his participants, it means that:

Correct Answer
verified

If you observe a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings, then what kind of research are you doing?

Correct Answer
verified

What is a pilot study?

Correct Answer
verified

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using ethnography as a method of social research?

Correct Answer
verified

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that:

Correct Answer
verified

The analysis of documents-such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics-uses which of the following types of data?

Correct Answer
verified

Which method of social research might involve shifting between participating in a social situation and being an observer?

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified

After researchers conduct a series of interviews, they usually transcribe the responses. The transcription process is fairly time consuming, but it is valuable in part because it allows researchers to:

Correct Answer
verified

Why do social scientists who use interviews rarely speak with large numbers of people for a project?

Correct Answer
verified

Any time a social researcher is going to use sampling, they must first identify their target population. What is this target population?

Correct Answer
verified

Correct Answer
verified
Mayo sought to examine the effect of var...
View Answer

If you were to conduct a research project investigating the relationship between the brands and shapes of gummy candy available in American convenience stores, what methodology would you use?

Correct Answer
verified

Exam 2: Studying Social Life: Sociological Research Methods

Ethnographers sometimes write down key words or quotations while they're interacting with people. Given that they will write much more detailed fieldnotes later, what is the advantage of these brief, sketchy notes?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

A simple random sample is defined as:

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using existing sources of data for research?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Codes of ethics in the social sciences provide very strict, step-by-step guidelines for researchers to follow.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Thomas Kuhn, a philosopher of science, argues that truth is relative, in that it is dependent on the paradigm through which one understands the world.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all his participants, it means that:

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

If you observe a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings, then what kind of research are you doing?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

What is a pilot study?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using ethnography as a method of social research?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that:

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

The analysis of documents-such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics-uses which of the following types of data?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which method of social research might involve shifting between participating in a social situation and being an observer?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

After researchers conduct a series of interviews, they usually transcribe the responses. The transcription process is fairly time consuming, but it is valuable in part because it allows researchers to:

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Why do social scientists who use interviews rarely speak with large numbers of people for a project?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Any time a social researcher is going to use sampling, they must first identify their target population. What is this target population?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct AnswerverifiedMayo sought to examine the effect of var...View AnswerShow Answer

If you were to conduct a research project investigating the relationship between the brands and shapes of gummy candy available in American convenience stores, what methodology would you use?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Correct Answer
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Correct Answer
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Mayo sought to examine the effect of var...
View Answer

Correct Answer
verified