Quantitative Methods in Social Research
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
Quantitative Methods in Social Research introduces students to the fundamental principles and techniques of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting numerical data within the social sciences. The course covers foundational concepts such as research design, sampling, measurement, and the operationalization of variables, as well as core statistical methods including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, correlation, regression, and hypothesis testing. Through hands-on exercises and real-world case studies, students gain practical experience using statistical software to analyze quantitative data and draw meaningful conclusions about social phenomena. Emphasis is placed on developing the skills necessary to critically evaluate quantitative research and effectively communicate statistical findings in academic and professional contexts.
Recommended Textbook
The Art and Science of Social Research 1st Edition by Deborah Carr
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16 Chapters
891 Verified Questions
891 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Art and Science of Social Research: An Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) Jeremiah plans a study that asks,"Why are young people postponing marriage?" He applies the sociological imagination to this question by focusing on
A)the life histories of one older couple and one younger couple.
B)a national sample of thousands of young adults.
C)the influence of housing costs and diminishing stigma against premarital sex.
D)individual morals and values.
Answer: C
Q2) Danika exercises her sociological imagination when she thinks about
A)how her life connects with gender,race,and class dynamics in society.
B)the fact that social inequality is so persistent.
C)how to pass her sociology class.
D)the challenges faced by socially disadvantaged groups.
Answer: A
Q3) Which is a synonym for cohort design?
A)cross-sectional design
B)trend design
C)prospective design
D)causality design
Answer: C
3
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Chapter 2: Research Foundations: Linking Sociological
Theory to Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lisa looks for relations among concepts such as political engagement,region,and educational level.She expects to find
A)a new set of relations between concepts,because each study presents new possibilities for relations.
B)relations that fall within the five general sets of relations among concepts.
C)that political engagement is too complex,so it cannot be conceptualized.
D)mediation,because mediation is by far the most common relation among concepts.
Answer: B
Q2) A sociological theory must
A)link together a series of ideas that make an argument.
B)draw a conclusion that has predictive value.
C)show an earlier theory to be false.
D)elaborate upon unverified hunches or guesses.
Answer: A
Q3) Thomas Kuhn's ideas about paradigms and paradigm shifts show that
A)scientists are predisposed to prefer certain theories.
B)inductive approaches are superior to deductive approaches.
C)scientists must choose whether to be objective or biased.
D)science will eventually result in a single view of social reality.
Answer: A
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Ethical Issues in Social Science Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Dr.Holloway conducts a study of the parents of school shooting victims.She carefully conducts a risk versus benefit analysis,weighing the risk of ________ against the benefit of ________.
A)psychological harm to parents;greater understanding of school shootings
B)having her research rejected by the IRB;conducting the research
C)the study failing;the study succeeding
D)parents feeling upset by recalling events;parents feeling validated by sharing their stories
Answer: A
Q2) Omar studies Stanley Milgram's 1950s Yale University research.Though more than a half-century has passed,Omar can see similar important issues in his social world of the twenty-first century.Milgram influences Omar to ask what question?
A)Why are some people evil,despite society's attempt to socialize people toward goodness?
B)Why do people follow authority,even when they believe the authority is wrong?
C)Why do people want to hurt each other,even when they say they don't?
D)Why do people trust machines so much?
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: From Concepts to Models: Hypotheses,
Operationalization, and Measurement
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Sample Questions
Q1) There are different types of confusion that can emerge around a study's unit of analysis.If a researcher draws conclusions about individuals using group-level data,the mismatch is called ________.If he or she draws conclusions about a group based on individual-level data,the mismatch is called ________.
A)an ecological fallacy;reductionism
B)an ecological fallacy;an aggregation
C)reductionism;an aggregation
D)reductionism;an ecological fallacy
Q2) A researcher is carefully making decisions that will affect how much variation he or she needs to adequately measure a variable.This concern with variation will influence his or her decisions regarding
A)his or her choice between a quantitative survey and a qualitative ethnography.
B)whether the values should be mutually exclusive.
C)how he or she should conceptually define the variable.
D)whether to use precise measures or sort subjects into basic categories.
Q3) Write one paragraph describing a research project that includes the problem of an ecological fallacy,making sure to include a clear definition of the ecological fallacy and to clearly connect this definition to your example.
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Chapter 5: Evaluating Research: Reliability and Validity
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Sample Questions
Q1) A sociologist studying American neighborhoods identifies a causal effect of income on the availability of healthy and nutritious foods.Specifically,people with lower incomes tend to live in neighborhoods where there are more fast food restaurants and less access to fresh fruits and vegetables.Given this finding,the researcher can be confident in concluding that the study has
A)face validity.
B)a reliable measure.
C)internal validity.
D)external validity.
Q2) What is the purpose of a pilot test?
A)It is used after a study is conducted to check if the results are accurate.
B)It is used to see how well the measure works and whether it presents any problems that need to be fixed before the study is carried out.
C)It is used to test only controversial questions on a survey.
D)It is used to make sure the researcher is up to the task of carrying out the full project.
Q3) Write a paragraph in which you discuss two difficulties sociologists face in ensuring their research is valid and reliable.Use clear examples from the text to support your answer.
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Chapter 6: Sampling Strategies
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Sample Questions
Q1) A researcher is interested in investigating the impact parental leave policies have on parental health and well-being.He decides to focus on one industry and interviews public elementary school teachers who live in Sweden and the United States.What is the key difference in the researcher's study?
A)health of the participants
B)well-being of the participants
C)location of the participants
D)job of the participants
Q2) You are interested in studying students' political participation on your campus.Propose how you could collect data using a probability sample and a nonprobability sample.Then,evaluate which sampling design will better mirror your population.Justify your choice.
Q3) How could you create a snowball sample?
A)randomly select respondents from a list
B)ask the first 10 people you see to participate in your study
C)stratify respondents into groups and randomly select from each strata
D)ask a respondent to recommend another person to contact
Q4) Use an example to illustrate the difference between a typical case and a deviant case.
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Chapter 8: Experimental Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ________ condition is a condition in an experiment where the independent variable is manipulated.
A)control
B)experimental
C)random assignment
D)within-subject design
Q2) What may be a consequence of suspicion?
A)Suspicion reduces social desirability bias.
B)Suspicion causes participants to behave in artificial ways.
C)Participants will be more alert and follow instructions more carefully.
D)Participants will be more engaged and focused.
Q3) Which type of experiment is the purest form of an experiment because it allows the Researcher to easily manipulate the independent variables,randomize participants Into conditions,and control features of the experimental setting?
A)laboratory
B)field
C)population-based survey
D)natural
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9
Chapter 9: Evaluation Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) List and briefly describe the three major challenges of evaluation research.Choose one type of challenge and hypothesize in 1-2 sentences how that challenge might manifest itself in a study of an intervention reducing class sizes in an elementary school.
Q2) In medical studies,what is the term meaning the treatment the participants would normally receive outside of the study and not some lesser treatment?
A)standard treatment
B)control group
C)treatment group
D)randomized sample
Q3) In the ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment)intervention,researchers conducted qualitative fieldwork to get a sense of major work-life issues facing Best Buy employees.This information was then used to write relevant survey questions.This strategy of using qualitative information to inform quantitative research is called
A)time-series design.
B)formative research.
C)reflexive controls.
D)matching procedure.
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10
Chapter 10: Ethnography
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Sample Questions
Q1) Michael conducts a fieldwork study of the kitchen workers at a restaurant.He informed the workers that he was doing the study and that he would be fitting in as much as possible by working as a dishwasher.Michael follows informed consent standards for ethical fieldwork,so he
A)reminds the workers each day that he is conducting a study.
B)reminds the workers weekly that he is conducting a study.
C)makes their written informed consents visible in some way at the field site.
D)assumes ongoing consent by their acceptance of his presence.
Q2) Why is Randol Contreras's ethnography The Stickup Kids considered so important?
A)His study is a replication of an earlier ethnography,probing the reliability of ethnography as a research method.
B)The external validity of his study is particularly strong,addressing social inequality issues more broadly.
C)Contreras is an insider-ethnographer,returning to the social location of his upbringing to do ethnography.
D)The research explored the ethics of covert research and deception.
Q3) List and describe two ways in which globalization has affected fieldwork and ethnography.
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11
Chapter 11: In-Depth Interviewing
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Sample Questions
Q1) A good interview feels a lot like a
A)clinical interaction between a doctor and a patient.
B)formal scientific transaction between clinical researcher and research subject.
C)conversation between interviewer and interviewee.
D)family dinner.
Q2) In a study of the U.S.Census,informants would be ________,whereas respondents would be ________.
A)noncitizens;U.S.citizens
B)U.S.Census statisticians;any U.S.citizens
C)participants in structured interviews;participants in focus groups
D)those who have opinions but not direct experience;those with both opinions and direct experience
Q3) Life history interviews are designed for ________,whereas oral histories are for ________.
A)research;preserving the past
B)journalism;science
C)individuals;groups
D)unstructured formats;structured formats
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Chapter 12: Materials-Based Methods
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Sample Questions
Q1) Quantitative content analysis by Janice McCabe and her colleagues,which systematically reviewed 101 years of children's books,supported which hypothesis about the presence of girls in children's literature?
A)When the economy was growing,more girls appeared.
B)When the economy was struggling,more girls appeared.
C)When feminist mobilization weakened,fewer girls appeared.
D)When feminist mobilization weakened,more girls appeared.
Q2) Sociologists categorize birth certificates as records because records
A)are documentation of human life and activity.
B)are about individuals,whereas reports are about issues.
C)document events or characteristics at a particular moment in time.
D)provide government-generated data about populations.
Q3) Dr.Ling conducts a study of gender-based violence in all nations of the world.Her codebook includes
A)a list of relevant hypotheses that she may want to use in analysis.
B)organized information about the data set,such as countries and rates of violence.
C)pseudonyms of people and places involved in the study.
D)a reference list of other studies conducted on this subject.
Q4) What are three main reasons that researchers use materials-based methods?
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Chapter 13: Social Network Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) What determines node placement in a social network diagram?
A)the number of people symbolized by the node
B)Nodes that are linked are placed closer together.
C)the postal address of the person represented by the node
D)Placement is mathematically random,so it doesn't affect analysis.
Q2) A social network must include both ________ and ________.
A)social actors;relations between them
B)real-world interactions;online interactions
C)historical data about a group;contemporary data about the same group
D)well-connected social actors;loners
Q3) List and describe two significant drawbacks of collecting social network data via electronic networks.
Q4) Which of the following represents a dense network,and why?
A)the human species,because there are so many individuals in the species
B)a megacity,because population density is so high
C)a high school,because there are so many ties between social actors
D)a professional conference of teachers,because the social actors are so similar to one another
Q5) List one position generator.List one resource generator.What is the difference between them?
Page 14
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Chapter 14: Univariate and Bivariate Analysis of Quantitative Data
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ statistics often receive extended media exposure and are the most likely to grab the public's attention.
A)Accurate
B)Expected
C)Repeated
D)Surprising
Q2) Martin is creating a cross-tabulation of categorical variables,and he wants to compare groups to one another.He would like your advice on whether he should compare frequencies or percentages.You suggest that he compare A)frequencies because it allows for clearer comparison of groups of each size.
B)frequencies because it allows for clear understanding of the size of each group.
C)percentages because it allows for clearer comparison of groups of each size.
D)percentages because it allows for clear understanding of the size of each group.
Q3) Define the terms standard deviation and percentiles.Then,evaluate which measure you think best describes variation to the average American.Justify your choice.
Q4) Should researchers report means of ordinal variables? Why or why not?
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Page 15
Chapter 15: Multivariate and Advanced Quantitative Methods
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Sample Questions
Q1) Kai's data suggests that U.S.babies who were breastfed longer have higher standardized test scores and higher grades across childhood and adolescence.However,some of this association was explained by the higher average household income among mothers who breastfed longer and among children who had higher academic achievement on average.Yet again,some of the association between breastfeeding duration and academic achievement remained until immune system measures were included.Here,longer breastfeeding was associated with stronger average immune systems,which were,in turn,related to higher academic achievement (through fewer childhood illnesses that can affect grades and test scores).This hypothetical study demonstrates that
A)moderating variables can sometimes also be confounding variables.
B)confounds explain all of the association between the independent and dependent variables.
C)once a control variable is shown to be a confound,all other added variables will be confounds.
D)some variables in one model can be confounding while others can be mediators.
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Page 16
Chapter 16: Analysis of Qualitative Data
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Sample Questions
Q1) Jack works for a women's shelter and conducts a study of men and violence.When respondents answer the question,"Have you ever been violent toward a loved one?" he wonders whether interviewer effects are at play.Respondents
A)say "no," possibly because this is what they think Jack wants to hear.
B)say "yes," because they may not understand what Jack means by the word "violent."
C)refuse to answer,and say they don't have time to finish the interview.
D)ask about the definitions of words such as "loved one" and "violent."
Q2) As Dr.Stine analyzes data about nurses and burnout,she de-identifies the data in order to ensure
A)respondents' anonymity.
B)the iterative qualities of analysis.
C)validity.
D)that grounded theory can be used.
Q3) What is the relationship between a typology and a theory? A typology
A)is a way of organizing data,and it leads to theory.
B)and a theory are the same thing.
C)is derived from theory.
D)is used more frequently than a theory.
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Chapter 17: Communicating Social Science Research
Findings
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Q1) Dr.Machi writes an abstract as part of his research report.The purpose of the abstract is to
A)briefly summarize the research report.
B)identify whether the publication process was peer-reviewed.
C)condense the study into text that could be used on a poster.
D)list keywords that could be used to find the report with a search engine.
Q2) Which recommendation will help an author avoid plagiarism?
A)do not summarize another author's words without citing them
B)do not use direct quotes,with or without quotation marks
C)do not pay a journal to publish your article
D)only submit an article to one journal at a time
Q3) An outline may be more useful for the ________ section than the ________ section.
A)bibliography;introduction
B)literature review;results
C)results;literature
D)results;methodology
Q4) What is the difference between a policy brief and an amicus brief?
Page 18
Q5) What are predatory journals,and why are they a problem?
Q6) How is an editorial different than a research report?
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Page 19