Research Methods for Social Scientists
Practice Exam
Course Introduction
This course introduces students to the foundational principles and practices of research in the social sciences. Covering both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, students will learn how to formulate research questions, design studies, collect and analyze data, and interpret results within various social science contexts. Key topics include sampling techniques, survey design, interviews, case studies, and ethical considerations in conducting research. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the skills necessary to critically assess existing literature and conduct independent research projects in their area of interest.
Recommended Textbook
Essential Criminal Justice and Criminology Research Methods 1st Edition by Peter B. Kraska
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12 Chapters
395 Verified Questions
395 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Criminal Justice and Criminology Research:
Mapping the Terrain
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) _______________ is a method that divides people being studied into two or more groups,applying a treatment to one of the groups,and determining if there are any differences in the reactions of the groups over a set period of time.
A)experimental research
B)survey and interview research
C)nonreactive research
D)content analysis
Answer: D
Q2) _________________ is the systematic collection and analysis of legal-related documents in order to generate knowledge about a given crime and justice subject.
A)ethnographic field research
B)qualitative document analysis
C)historical research
D)academic legal research
Answer: D
Q3) Qualitative research as using numerically based data, A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: The Nature of Science and Research
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33 Verified Questions
33 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Like the quantitative researcher,a qualitative researcher will select a topic,design a study,collect data,analyze data,and interpret data.However,the qualitative researcher often collects,analyzes,and interprets data simultaneously,or goes back and forth between these steps.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) ___________________ occurs when we take special notice of people or events and generalize from them.
A)overgeneralization
B)selective observation
C)premature closure
D)halo effect
Answer: B
Q3) Scientists should accept new ideas or evidence in a carefree,uncritical manner. A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Philosophical and Theoretical Foundations
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33 Verified Questions
33 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ___________________ is an approach to research that emphasizes the systematic analysis and detailed study of people and text in order to arrive at understandings and interpretations of how people construct and maintain meaning within their social worlds.
A)the social construction of reality
B)human agency
C)verstehen
D)interpretive social science
Answer: D
Q2) The __________________ is a philosophical notion that science should be more concerned with contradictory evidence than supporting evidence.
A)epistemology
B)positivist social science
C)falsification doctrine
D)essentialist
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Ethics and Reviewing the Literature
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ______________ state proper and improper behavior and represent a consensus of professionals on ethics.
A)IRB
B)feminist/critical model of research ethics
C)codes of ethics
D)RIH
Q2) Dissertation are peer-reviewed books,usually published by academic presses,that present comprehensive research studies,or a series of studies.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The __________________ is based on three moral principles.
A)IRB
B)feminist/critical model of research ethics
C)codes of ethics
D)RIH
Q4) All graduate students who receive a PhD degree are required to complete a work of original research,which they write up as a scholarly book.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Design
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A researcher who has data on how individuals behave but makes statements about the dynamics of macrolevel units is committing the error of reductionism.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The variable that is the effect or is the result or outcome of another variable is the
A)intervening variable
B)independent variable
C)dependent variable.
D)attributes
Q3) What are the differences between quantitative and qualitative research?
Q4) In crime and justice research,opposing theories help people figure out which third factors are relevant for many topics.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Triangulation of method means mixing qualitative and quantitative styles of research and data.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Quantitative and Qualitative Measurement and Sampling
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discrete variables have a relatively fixed set of separate values or variable attributes.Instead of a smooth continuum of values,discrete variables contain distinct categories.They are measured at the ordinal and interval levels.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Scales are a measuring technique in which a researcher adds or combines numerous indicators of a construct into a single score (if you remember,a type of triangulation).
A)True
B)False
Q3) List and describe the types of measurement reliability and validity.
Q4) The easiest to achieve and the most basic kind of validity is ___________.It is a judgment by the scientific community that the indicator really measures the construct.
A)Stability reliability
B)Representative reliability
C)Equivalence reliability
D)Face validity
Q5) Explain the different types of probability sampling.
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Chapter 7: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Criminal Justice Research
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35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Statistical regression is a threat to internal validity that occurs when subjects in the control group modify their behavior to make up for not getting the treatment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 29,Research participants might react differently in an experiment from the way they would in real life because they know they are in a study;this is called external validity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ability of experimenters to strengthen the logical rigor of a causal explanation by eliminating potential alternative explanations for an association between the treatment and dependent variable through an experimental design is known as ________________.
A)selection bias
B)experimental mortality
C)treatment integrity
D)Internal validity
Q4) What are the steps in conducting an experiment?
Q5) List and describe the major threats to internal validity.
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Chapter 8: Survey and Interview Methods
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33 Verified Questions
33 Flashcards
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Sample
Questions
Q1) The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)is a massive ongoing crime survey program in which,as we've discussed before,a representative sample of people are asked a multitude of questions about their family's direct experiences with crime.
A)True
B)False
Q2) ________________ is a model of standardized survey research in which there are no communication problems and respondents' responses perfectly match their thoughts.
A)Knowledge.
B)Naïve assumption model
C)Self-classification.
D)Policies.
Q3) A _____________ is the letter that accompanies a mail-out survey and that provides the respondent all necessary information about the survey itself.
A)order effects
B)prestige bias
C)probe
D)cover letter
Q4) Explain the naïve assumption model of survey interviews.
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Chapter 9: Nonreactive Research: Content Analysis and Existing Documentsstatistics
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35 Verified Questions
35 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________________ is a general name for a communication medium from which symbolic meaning is measured in content analysis.
A)text
B)content analysis
C)Content analysis
D)unobtrusive observation
Q2) _______________is noting the direction of messages in the content along some continuum (e.g. ,positive or negative,supporting or opposed).
A)Direction
B)Intensity
C)Frequency
D)Space
Q3) ________________ simply means counting whether or not something occurs and,if it occurs,how often.
A)Direction
B)Intensity
C)Frequency
D)Space
Q4) What are the strengths of unobtrusive research?
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Chapter 10: Crime and Justice Ethnographic Field Research
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38 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________________is of interest not only to law enforcement officials but also to other field site members.The researcher faces a dilemma of building trust and rapport with the members,yet not becoming so involved as to violate his or her basic personal moral standards.
A)Ecological validity
B)Guilty Knowledge
C)Member validation
D)Natural history
Q2) Demonstrating the authenticity and trustworthiness of a study by showing that the researcher's descriptions of the field site match those of the members and that the Field researcher's presence was not a disturbance is referred to as:
A)Ecological validity
B)Guilty Knowledge
C)Member validation
D)Natural history
Q3) What are the characteristics of an ideal field informant?
Q4) People are aware of explicit knowledge and readily discuss it.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Historical, Qualitative, Document Analysis, Academic Legal, and Mixed Methods Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Those sources of legal authority that are derived from actual legal statutes,common law,case law,and administrative law are referred to as:
A)Legal authority
B)Stare decisis
C)Primary authority
D)Secondary authority
Q2) __________________ is the systematic collection and legal analysis of law related sources in order to generate knowledge about a given crime and justice subject.
A)Quantitative research
B)Academic legal research
C)Technical legal research
D)Qualitative document analysis
Q3) Once the document passes as being authentic ________________ is used as an examination of the document's contents to establish credibility
A)internal criticism
B)bowdlerization
C)external criticism
D)dialogical criticism
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Chapter 12: Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The easiest way to describe the numerical data of one variable is with a ___________________.It can be used with nominal-,ordinal-,interval-,or ratio-level data and takes many forms.
A)mode
B)frequency polygon
C)histogram
D)frequency distribution
Q2) For interval- or ratio-level data,a researcher often groups the information into categories.The grouped categories should be mutually exclusive.Interval- or Ratio-level data are often plotted in a___________________.
A)mode
B)frequency polygon
C)histogram
D)frequency distribution
Q3) ______________ tell the score at a specific place within the distribution.
A)Percentiles
B)Z-score
C)Standard deviation
D)Range
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