Quantitative Methods in Social Science Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Quantitative Methods in Social Science introduces students to the foundational concepts and techniques used to collect, analyze, and interpret numerical data within the social sciences. The course covers key topics such as research design, survey methods, sampling, descriptive and inferential statistics, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression analysis. Emphasis is placed on understanding how quantitative methods contribute to developing evidence-based conclusions in fields like sociology, political science, psychology, and economics. Students gain practical experience using statistical software to analyze real-world data sets, fostering critical thinking and data literacy skills essential for academic and professional research.
Recommended Textbook
The Art and Science of Social Research 1st Edition by Deborah Carr
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Chapter 1: The Art and Science of Social Research: An Introduction
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order to successfully use the scientific method,a researcher must A)have a degree in a scientific field,or be pursuing one.
B)study living humans.
C)gather and analyze data.
D)construct a hypothesis that shows variables in relation to one another.
Answer: C
Q2) A sociology student wants to develop a mixed-method study,so he plans to
A)use methods from both sociology and one related discipline (psychology,anthropology,or history).
B)study the micro-level and macro-level dimensions of the topic.
C)use interviews and a survey.
D)use cultural relativism as a framework,instead of a problem-based framework.
Answer: C
Q3) Bella proposes a study about birdwatchers in national parks.In order to interpret her data,she chooses
A)among many sociological theories that she can apply to this topic.
B)one of two or three sociological theories that scholars use for this topic.
C)to avoid theory,so she can just learn from the data.
D)the theory that is the least abstract.
Answer: A
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Research Foundations: Linking Sociological
Theory to Research
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Q1) A hypothesis is a ________ statement of a(n)________ between two concepts.
A)quantitative;correlation
B)reasonable;empirical
C)testable;relationship
D)null;association
Answer: C
Q2) List and describe three characteristics of symbolic interactionism that make it distinct from the other major paradigms (structural functionalism,conflict,and rational choice).
Answer: 1)Of these paradigms,symbolic interactionism focuses most on the micro level,asking how social phenomena play out in face-to-face interaction.Other theories are more meso and macro.
2)Symbolic interactionism blends with psychology,and often is used in the domain of social psychology.The other macro and meso theories lean more toward politics,history,and economics.
3)Symbolic interactionism is often criticized for focusing too much on individual behaviors and interactions,to the exclusion of larger social structures and processes that shape our lives.The other theories receive opposing criticisms for neglecting individuality in their attention to macro social structures.
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Chapter 3: Ethical Issues in Social Science Research
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Q1) When the U.S.Census weighs risks and benefits of data release,statisticians sometimes determine that release of microdata risks harm to the individuals who could be identified.By not releasing certain data under these conditions,they practice
A)avoidance of deliberate harm.
B)suppression.
C)data swapping.
D)anonymizing.
Answer: B
Q2) Dr.Omani is planning a sociological study of environmental habits among homeowners.His university's IRB requires him to submit a ________,which includes research questions and methods,descriptions of the subjects,and steps he will take to minimize risk.
A)consent form
B)IRB application
C)research protocol
D)human subjects research form
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: From Concepts to Models: Hypotheses, Operationalization,
and Measurement
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Q1) 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.
Q2) Reliability and validity are both central to the goal of
A)matching the conceptual definition and the operational definition.
B)increasing the consistency of a study's measures and findings.
C)increasing the accuracy of a study's measures and findings.
D)matching the time span of the study to the time span of the research question.
Q3) In the quantitative social science research process,moving from a concrete definition of a concept to an actual measure of the defined concept involves
A)conceptualization.
B)aggregation.
C)hypotheses.
D)operationalization.
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Chapter 5: Evaluating Research: Reliability and Validity
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Q1) A pilot test involves administering some version of a measurement protocol (a survey,an experiment,an interview)to whom?
A)a small preliminary sample of subjects
B)some subjects who will be part of the eventual study sample
C)some of the researchers' colleagues and friends
D)a group of people who are very different from the eventual sample subjects
Q2) When researchers want to test robustness,or how well an operational protocol is working,they might use which of the following techniques?
A)the test-retest method
B)vetting
C)face validity
D)a normal distribution
Q3) Which term refers to how detailed and specific a measure is?
A)reliability
B)precision
C)robustness
D)pilot testing
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Chapter 6: Sampling Strategies
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Q1) Which best explains why the Literary Digest poll failed to predict the winner of the 1936 presidential election?
A)There were too many people in the sample.
B)There were too few people in the sample.
C)They needed computers to accurately calculate results.
D)The sample didn't represent the American population.
Q2) ________ research refers to research in which social scientists study a large number of cases,but only have a modest amount of information about each case.
A)Case-oriented
B)Deviant case
C)Typical case
D)Variable-oriented
Q3) A sports website has a poll on its web page asking who readers think is the best NBA player in history: Michael Jordan or LeBron James.This poll will yield results that are biased by ________ error.
A)random
B)sampling
C)systematic
D)unbiased
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Page 8
Chapter 8: Experimental Research
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Q1) What is the defining feature of an experiment?
A)observation of natural variation of the independent variable
B)observation of natural variation of the dependent variable
C)intentional manipulation of the independent variable
D)intentional control for other factors that might affect the relationship between the independent and dependent variables
Q2) What is a characteristic of field experiments?
A)not well suited for evaluating applied questions
B)well suited for exploring abstract social processes
C)can be confident the findings apply to the real world
D)high control over all features of the setting
Q3) Where do laboratory experiments take place?
A)in a setting that gives researchers little control over the environment
B)in a setting where factors unintentionally interfere with the results
C)in a setting where the experimenter ensures that participants notice the manipulation of the independent variable
D)in a setting where clear manipulation of the independent variable is difficult to achieve
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Chapter 9: Evaluation Research
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Q1) A poverty organization in Los Angeles is testing the intervention of cash handouts to women on welfare.Though they may produce robust sociological data,randomized field experiments such as this one carry serious ethical concerns.What is one likely ethical concern of such a project?
A)The intervention may not work.
B)If cash handouts for one group of women will increase,cash handouts for another group will decrease from their previous levels.
C)The study participants may spend their money too quickly.
D)Researchers may be arbitrarily denying some people of a known benefit.
Q2) At what school level was the 1996 Abstinence Education Program implemented?
A)public high schools and universities
B)private high schools and the higher grades of middle schools
C)public high schools,middle schools,and the higher grades of elementary schools
D)public preschools and elementary schools,with parental permission
Q3) Explain the concept of a cost-benefit analysis,and compare and contrast how at least two constituents might respond to a cost-benefit analysis of the Results-Only Work Environment intervention.Possible constituents may include,but need not be limited to,the company (Best Buy)or its employees.
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Chapter 10: Ethnography
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Q1) You are conducting an ethnographic study of human rights abuses in Afghanistan.Would you choose to write a mainstream/classical ethnography,a confessional/postmodern ethnography,or an advocacy/critical ethnography? Why?
Q2) Reliability refers to consistency or "repeatability" of measures in research.Participant observation has
A)high reliability because ethnographers often rely on grounded theory.
B)low reliability because it relies heavily on researchers' perceptions and interpretations.
C)reliability that varies greatly depending on the ethnographer's role in the setting.
D)such low reliability that it is better classified as an art than a science.
Q3) Matthew Desmond's Evicted is based in Milwaukee,WI,but makes claims about poverty and housing throughout the United States.Ethnographic research often draws conclusions that reach beyond the field setting,which assumes
A)reliability.
B)an absence of bias.
C)external validity.
D)inconvenience samples.
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Chapter 11: In-Depth Interviewing
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Q1) What is one element that makes a focus group different than an in-depth interview? Focus groups are ________;in-depth interviews are ________.
A)facilitated by several interviewers;facilitated by one interviewer
B)intended to capture interaction as well as content;intended to capture responses to questions
C)conducted in controlled settings;conducted in real-world settings
D)about more controversial subjects;about more personal subjects
Q2) Jaime is a graduate student conducting a study of high-school marching band leaders.His adviser tells Jaime to look at his sample not as a group of 50 leaders but as a set of 50 individual instances to be analyzed.This way of thinking is called
A)qualitative research.
B)case study logic.
C)oral history orientation.
D)sampling for range.
Q3) If you were conducting a study of how college students select seats in the dining hall,how would you organize the participants into effective focus groups? First,define the principle of homogeneity.Then,describe your focus group and how it would follow this principle.
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Chapter 12: Materials-Based Methods
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Q1) Mishon's sociological study of W.E.B.DuBois's work with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)follows the typical steps in the historical-comparative research process.Which question represents Mishon's first step?
A)Who is a particularly influential person in African American history?
B)How might the sociological concept of "organizational leadership" help shed light on this period of history?
C)Should this research ultimately be published as an article or a book?
D)Where are the archives that store material related to NAACP history?
Q2) Dr.Harper seeks primary information for her study about the lives of Sudanese refugees in the Midwest,so she turns to ________ for ________.
A)The Congressional Record;immigration bills considered by Congress
B)U.S.Department of State Human Rights Reports;stories of conditions in Sudan
C)interviews;stories of Sudanese refugees' lives
D)New York Times articles;accounts of immigration in recent years
Q3) In one sentence,briefly describe a historical-comparative research project that you might conduct.Explain why it is best classified as a historical-comparative sociology project,as opposed to a history project.
Q4) What are three main reasons that researchers use materials-based methods?
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Page 13
Chapter 13: Social Network Analysis
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Q1) List one position generator.List one resource generator.What is the difference between them?
Q2) Researchers are more often interested in sociocentric network design than in egocentric network design because they
A)need to complete their study in a limited amount of time.
B)want to learn about the overarching social structure that exists in a given setting.
C)are interested in the network from the perspective of individual actors.
D)prefer quantitative research methods.
Q3) Marie and Sarah are happy newlyweds,married one month ago.What would Georg Simmel predict about tie valence in this marriage,over time? It will become more
A)multiplex,involving both positively and negatively valenced relations.
B)negatively valenced.
C)positively valenced.
D)positively valenced,but only if Marie and Sarah maintain shared ties in their social networks.
Q4) What is one measure of the level of cohesion in a social network? Define and explain the measure.
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Chapter 14: Univariate and Bivariate Analysis of Quantitative Data
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Q1) Population trends are bivariate patterns in which one of the variables is A)gender.
B)race.
C)social class.
D)time.
Q2) Rene compares the income distributions of male and female dentists.She finds that,among dentists,men's average income is higher than women's,but that the standard deviation of women's income is larger than the standard deviation of men's income.These results tell us that
A)there is more variation in women's income than men's income.
B)women's income is skewed,so average comparisons are inaccurate.
C)men's income is skewed,so women and men make about the same income.
D)the range of men's income is larger than the range of women's income.
Q3) Jerome has surveyed his friends to see the number of meals they've eaten at McDonald's in the past month.He received the following responses: 2,3,1,2,4,2,and 12.Twelve is an example of a/an
A)error.
B)outlier.
C)median.
D)mode.
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Chapter 15: Multivariate and Advanced Quantitative Methods
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Q1) A body of research shows that people who have been divorced have a higher risk of divorce in any future marriage with another spouse.However,rather than divorce causing additional divorces,this seems to be more about other factors,such as how tolerant people are of divorce behavior.In this case,divorce attitudes would be a confounding factor because
A)more tolerant divorce attitudes are related both to first divorces and to later divorces. B)people are almost never remarried to their ex-spouse,so the link is unlikely to be causal.
C)people's attitudes toward divorce may change after they've actually experienced it. D)attitudes toward divorce may be related to first divorces,but not additional divorces.
Q2) If a researcher tests for whether chronic stress is a mediator of the association between socioeconomic resources and health,she is hypothesizing that
A)resources only affect health at certain levels of stress.
B)stress causes both resources and health.
C)resources predict health indirectly through stress.
D)resources interact with stress in their influence on health.
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Chapter 16: Analysis of Qualitative Data
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Q1) Sociologists Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss promoted a systemic,inductive approach to qualitative research that advocates the extrapolation of conceptual relationships from data,rather than the formulation of hypotheses from existing theory.Their approach is called
A)qualitative comparative analysis.
B)grounded theory.
C)purposive sampling.
D)abductive research.
Q2) You are designing a qualitative comparative analysis that compares corporations employing numerous female leaders with corporations employing no female leaders.How would you use a truth table to support your analysis?
Q3) Researchers often apply attribute codes before they apply analytic codes in order to
A)identify "aha" moments and key quotations,so they can be included in the write-up.
B)isolate data that don't fit the study,so there will be fewer data to analyze.
C)organize the data by descriptive qualities,rather than more complex analytic qualities.
D)identify key concepts and themes that fit with the literature.
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Chapter 17: Communicating Social Science Research
Findings
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Q1) 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
Q2) Thomas writes a research report about his fieldwork with foster-care families.His research was about the families themselves,but he develops views and opinions about how policy in this area could improve.He
A)keeps these views out of the research report,because they are too subjective for a scientific research report.
B)rewrites his research question to be about policy and reinterprets data in that light.
C)includes policy recommendations in the discussion section of the research report.
D)searches for scholarly literature that supports his point of view and adds it to the literature review.
Q3) What are two general rules for avoiding plagiarism?
Q4) How is an editorial different than a research report?
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