Quantitative Research Methods
Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Quantitative Research Methods introduces students to the principles and techniques used to collect, analyze, and interpret numerical data in social and behavioral science research. The course covers topics such as research design, hypothesis formulation, sampling strategies, data collection instruments, and statistical analysis, emphasizing the use of software tools for data processing. Through practical applications and case studies, students will develop the skills necessary to design robust quantitative studies, critically evaluate published research, and effectively communicate findings using appropriate statistical terminology.
Recommended Textbook
The Practice of Social Research 14th Edition by Earl R. Babbie
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17 Chapters
1597 Verified Questions
1597 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The study of social science is interested in ______ patterns,and not ______ ones.
A)individual; social
B)social; individual
C)aggregate: social
D)social: aggregate
E)individual; aggregate
Answer: B
Q2) Deductive reasoning refers to movement from a set of specific observations to the discovery of a pattern.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a reason we conduct social science research?
A)moral judgment
B)exploration
C)description
D)explanation
E)understanding
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Paradigms,theory,and Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Symbolic interactionists tend to focus on macrotheoretical issues.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The first step in conducting research is to:
A)pick a topic that interests you.
B)develop a hypothesis.
C)develop measures for your concepts.
D)construct your concepts.
E)analyze data.
Answer: A
Q3) Who first coined the term "sociology"?
A)Durkheim
B)Marx
C)Comte
D)Mead
E)Weber
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: The Ethics and Politics of Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) The controversial study that proposed that lower IQ scores by African Americans were the result of biological differences was performed by
A)James Coleman.
B)Arthur Jensen.
C)Alfred Kinsey.
D)Edward O. Laumann.
E)Jesse Helms.
Answer: B
Q2) Confidentiality is when a researcher can identify who a participant is,but no one else can.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) How can anonymity be ensured in paper-based mail surveys?
A)using pseudonyms
B)assigning random identification numbers
C)only using last names
D)only using first names
E)you can not have anonymous mail surveys
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Research Design
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Sample Questions
Q1) If a researcher wanted to know why there was a noticeable increase in the number of burglaries in the town of Southpaw during 2005,the researcher should design a(n)
A)descriptive study.
B)explanatory study.
C)panel study.
D)study of characteristics.
E)exploratory study.
Q2) Descriptive research answers the question "What's so?" and explanatory research answers the question "Why?"
A)True
B)False
Q3) Why is the time element important in research designs? Describe designs that make different use of the time element.Give examples of research studies employing the different designs.
Q4) Researchers ignore previous work on a topic so that their research can be original. A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the steps involved in the research process.
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Chapter 5: Conceptualization, operationalization, and Measurement
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Sample Questions
Q1) When we fall into the trap of believing that terms have real meanings,we are guilty of A)reification.
B)measurements that lack reliability.
C)measurements that lack validity.
D)confusing reliability with validity.
E)confusing conceptions with conceptualization.
Q2) Maurice is developing a new measure of psychopathy that he hopes to use in his research.His measure includes a series of psychiatric diagnoses and a well-thought out questionnaire.However,when compared to results of other proven measures of psychopathy,his results are incorrect.What kind of validity is lacking?
A)split-half validity.
B)construct validity.
C)face validity.
D)criterion-related validity.
E)content validity.
Q3) Precise measurement is more important than accurate measurement.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Indexes, scales, and Typologies
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Sample Questions
Q1) If several indicators are measures of the same variable,then they should be empirically correlated with one another.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Edgar decides to validate his index of marital happiness by determining which people subsequently divorced.Edgar is using
A)internal reliability.
B)external reliability.
C)internal validation.
D)external validation.
E)external generalizability
Q3) Which of the following statements about typologies is FALSE?
A)They are nominal composite measures.
B)It is easy to analyze a typology as an independent variable.
C)It is easy to analyze a typology as a dependent variable.
D)They are often used when researchers wish to summarize the intersection of two or more variables.
E)Typologies are developed using statistical procedures and scientific methods.
Q4) Compare scales,indexes,and typologies.Give examples of each.
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Chapter 7: The Logic of Sampling
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Sample Questions
Q1) When selecting a sample for a telephone survey,which method is usually used to select respondents with?
A) telephone books.
B) random digit dialing.
C) records provided by wireless phone companies.
D) opt-in lists.
E) it is illegal to select samples via telephone.
Q2) Two standard deviations from a parameter covers 95% of a sample.
A)True
B)False
Q3) You are doing research on hospital personnel including orderlies,technicians,nurses,and doctors.You want to be sure you draw a sample that has cases in each of the personnel categories.You want to use nonprobability sampling.An appropriate strategy would be
A)simple random sampling.
B)quota sampling.
C)cluster sampling.
D)stratified sampling.
E)accidental sampling.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Experiments
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Sample Questions
Q1) Martin performed an experiment at the local university.Students were measured on their views towards stem cell research,then shown a documentary on the topic.After the film,the students were given a survey to measure their opinion.This survey after the movie is an example of a(n):
A)independent variable.
B)posttest.
C)pretest.
D)experimental group.
E)control variable
Q2) The effectiveness of randomization in experimentation is affected by the number of subjects involved.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which design addresses the problem of testing interaction with the stimulus?
A)Solomon four-group design
B)double-blind design
C)one-shot case study
D)static group comparison
E)classical design
Q4) Explain what is meant by internal and external validity.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Survey Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) When recording responses to open-ended questions,it is okay for the interviewer to rephrase the respondents' answers.
A)True
B)False
Q2) During an interview survey,the interviewer should use every possible strategy to ensure the interviewee is not holding back any information
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following had little to no impact on response rates for online surveys?
A) postcard reminders.
B) setting deadlines for completion.
C) personalizing the survey.
D) sending e-mail reminders.
E) all of these choices had little to no impact.
Q4) It is generally a good idea to simply reproduce a mail survey exactly when adapting it for online use
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Qualitative Field Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) A researcher who volunteers full time at a soup kitchen to gain a deeper understanding of the volunteers,as well as the people who frequent the kitchen is likely creating a(n):
A)structured interview.
B)unstructured interview.
C)ethnography.
D)case study.
E)questionnaire.
Q2) In comparison to experiments and surveys,field research typically has
A)greater reliability and greater validity.
B)greater reliability and less validity.
C)less reliability and greater validity.
D)less reliability and less validity.
E)can't tell without more information.
Q3) Your field notes should record what you know happened,NOT what you think happened.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the stages a researcher must go through to conduct a qualitative field interview.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Unobtrusive Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Many existing statistics can be found on the World Wide Web.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The primary ethical concern with unobtrusive research is the issue of accuracy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which one of the following is not an advantage of content analysis?
A)economy in terms of time and money
B)safety
C)allows you to study processes occurring over a long time
D)no limitations in the quality of units of analysis
E)ease in revising data collection protocols as needed
Q4) _______________ is especially suited for topics that a researcher wants to study over a long time span because the data sets are relatively stable and the data is gathered over multiple time points.
A)Secondary data
B)Primary data
C)Manifest content
D)Nonreactive research
E)Physical trace analysis
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Chapter 12: Evaluation Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Intersocietal comparisons are facilitated by calculating per capita rates.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Evaluation research borrows heavily from the logical of classical experiment design.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What differentiates quasi-experimental designs from true experimental designs?
A)smaller samples
B)lack of random assignment of subjects to an experimental and a control group
C)shorter time periods
D)more rigorous definitions of the intervention
E)having a control group
Q4) The goal in evaluation research is to evaluate the impact of social interventions.The major problem in this venture is
A)developing an appropriate sample.
B)developing an appropriate theory.
C)avoiding ethical dilemmas.
D)developing adequate measures.
E)avoiding administrative control
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Chapter 13: Qualitative Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) Concept mapping is appropriate for both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Roderick is interested in studying the link between types of flowers and the meaning behind the different types of flowers (e.g.roses indicate love and affection).He is utilizing which of the following methods?
A)grounded theory
B)constant comparative
C)semiotics
D)floral analysis
E)variable analysis
Q3) Conversation analysis is most closely linked with which theoretical paradigm?
A)naturalism
B)conflict
C)ethnomethodology
D)structural functionalism
E)quantitative methods
Q4) Qualitative data processing is both a science and an art.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Quantitative Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) If you do ALL your own coding then you do not need to verify your reliability as a coder.
A)True B)False
Q2) Which of these measures of central tendency is the result of dividing the sum of the values by the total number of cases?
A)median
B)mode
C)mean
D)interquartile range
E)range
Q3) A measure of dispersion describes
A)where the data are clustered.
B)which data are the most important.
C)how the data are distributed.
D)which data are appropriate for analysis.
E)discrete data only.
Q4) Half the cases are above the median and half the cases are below the median. A)True B)False
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Chapter 15: The Logic of Multivariate Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose there is a relationship between variables A and B.You introduce variable C as a control variable,and the relationship between A and B disappears in the partials.Then
A)the relationship between A and B was clearly spurious.
B)this is clearly an example of explanation.
C)variable C is clearly an antecedent variable.
D)variable C is clearly a distorter variable.
E)None of these choices is correct.
Q2) The terms "test factor" and control variable are synonyms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Regardless of whether the test variable is antecedent or intervening,the independent variable must come before the dependent variable.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The term specification is used in the elaboration model regardless of whether the test variable is antecedent or intervening.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Statistical Analyses
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Sample Questions
Q1) Professor Stanton thought that verbal ability was a function of age.Stanton collected data on people aged 5 to 20.The analysis yielded the following equation: V = 20 + 3A where V = verbal ability and A = age.Stanton was asked to predict the verbal ability of a 30 year old.Stanton should respond
A) 110.
B) 90.
C)extrapolation is untrustworthy.
D)interpolation is untrustworthy.
E)53.
Q2) Chi square compares
A)percentages and ratios.
B)expected and observed frequencies.
C)percentages down with percentages across.
D)observed frequencies and population frequencies.
E)frequencies and ratios.
Q3) In factor analysis the researcher must specify the number of factors and which variables to load on the factor to allow the computer to generate factor loadings.
A)True
B)False
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Reading and Writing Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) The method used to select a sample from a population and how they were asked to participate in a research project should be addressed in the:
A) literature review.
B) methodology.
C) discussion.
D) conclusion.
E) abstract.
Q2) According to Babbie,tables indicating results should be included in the body of the research paper.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Doing well in reading and writing social research requires A)spirit.
B)luck.
C)purchasing a Babbie textbook.
D)practice.
E)physical fitness..
Q4) Why and how do researchers take their audience into account in writing a report?
Q5) What are search engines? Why and how do we use them in our research?
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