Research Methods in Sociology Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
Research Methods in Sociology introduces students to the foundational tools and approaches used in sociological inquiry. The course covers the design and implementation of qualitative and quantitative research, including techniques such as surveys, interviews, ethnography, participant observation, and content analysis. Students learn about the ethical considerations and challenges involved in conducting sociological research, as well as methods for data collection, sampling, and statistical analysis. Emphasis is placed on developing critical thinking skills, understanding the strengths and limitations of different research methods, and applying research findings to real-world social issues. By the end of the course, students are equipped to design and evaluate sociological research projects independently.
Recommended Textbook
An Invitation to Social Research How Its Done 5th Edition by Emily Stier Adler
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Chapter 1: The Uses of Social Research
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Q1) In applied research,investigators are interested in
A) knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
B) research having practical and useful outcomes.
C) knowing about fields where there is little previous research.
D) creating social theory.
E) none of these.
Answer: B
Q2) The view that knowledge is not based on irrefutable observable grounds,that it is always somewhat speculative,but that science can provide some solid ground for these speculations is known as
A) an empiricist view of science
B) an optimist view of science
C) a positivist view of science
D) a post-positivist view of science
E) both empiricist and positivist views of science
Answer: D
Q3) Researchers must subject their findings to the scrutiny of other researchers.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: Theory and Research
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Q1) "In our research,we are looking at how gender (male or female)affects the amount of money individuals leave for tips at restaurants." In this example,the independent variable isand the dependent variable is.
A) gender; amount of tip
B) amount of tip; gender
C) male; female
D) amount of tip; gender.
E)Amount of tip ; female.
Answer: A
Q2) The steps involved in inductive reasoning involve
A) making observations, generalizing, theorizing.
B) theorizing, generalizing, and testing with observations.
C) making observations, theorizing, and testing these.
D) making observations, measuring, and theorizing.
E) generalizing and theorizing.
Answer: A
Q3) Grounded theory refers to a theory developed from the data.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Ethics and Social Research
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Q1) When publishing results,what is one common ethical dilemma a researcher can face?
A) Participants may be able to be identified despite pseudonyms.
B) Published material may have a negative impact on study participants.
C) Results may not be as anticipated.
D) Participants may be able to be identified despite pseudonyms and published material may have a negative impact on study participants.
E) all of the these
Answer: D
Q2) If subjects can withdraw from research at any time,it will be impossible for a researcher to conduct good research.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Sometimes,a researcher is justified in using deception to conduct an investigation.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Planning a Research Project
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Q1) What are the purposes of conducting a literature review?
Q2) A researchable question must be feasible.Which of the following is not an element of feasibility?
A) It must be possible to get access to the information needed for the study.
B) There must be sufficient time to do the study.
C) There must be a grant to support the investigation.
D) There must be resources to do the research even if there are minimal costs associated with it.
E) all of these are elements of feasibility.
Q3) Which of the following is not a common source for finding academic materials for a literature review?
A) internet search
B) books
C) articles
D) government documents
E) all of these are common sources for finding materials for a literature review
Q4) An abstract is a summary of the research article that includes the major arguments and conclusions.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Sampling
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Q1) Which type of probability sampling procedure involves randomly selecting clusters from a population then randomly selecting elements from each of the clusters?
A) cluster sample
B) multi-stage sample
C) quota sample
D) simple random sample
E) snowball sample
Q2) Selecting an appropriate sampling technique involves balancingconcerns.
A) theoretical
B) methodological
C) practical
D) ethical
E) all of the above
Q3) Identify and describe the four types of nonprobability sampling.
Q4) Choosing a sampling technique requires making theoretical and methodological decisions,but not necessarily ethical decisions.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What lessons were learned in the presidential sampling examples?
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Chapter 6: Measurement
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Q1) If we use Catholic,Protestant,and Jewish to describe religious preference,we have developed exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Concepts can always be observed directly with direct measurements.
A)True
B)False
Q3) As discussed in the focal research by Joseph Ferrari,when respondents lie on surveys or falsely state information,this is a source of ________________.
A) validity
B) reliability
C) measurement error
D) interrater method
E) test-retest method
Q4) A higher level of measurement is not much advantage to a researcher since statistical analysis tools are equally available to all levels.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, and Case Study Designs
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Q1) In conducting longitudinal research,a panel design has several advantages.These include
A) an ability to do research at a low cost.
B) an ability to track individuals over the course of time.
C) an ability to collect data that reflects immediate experience rather than relying on individual memory.
D) both the ability to track individuals over the course of time and the ability to collect data that reflects immediate experience rather than relying on individual memory.
E) all of these.
Q2) What are some good reasons to conduct a case study?
Q3) What is one way to combat issues of internal validity?
A) Do not ask people about things that occurred in the past.
B) Conduct longitudinal studies versus cross-sectional studies.
C) Never conduct a cross-sectional design.
D) Conduct longitudinal studies versus cross-sectional studies AND do not ask people about things that occurred in the past.
E) Issues of internal validity cannot be avoided.
Q4) What must be established to prove that variables are causally related?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Experimental Research
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Q1) An experimental design is appropriate if it is________to do so.
A) practical and ethical
B) ethical and inexpensive
C) inexpensive and timely
D) timely and practical
E) none of these
Q2) Which of the following is missing in a quasi-experimental design?
A) The researcher has no control over timing.
B) The researcher has no control over selection of subjects.
C) The researcher has no ability to randomize treatment and control groups.
D) All of these are missing from quasi-experimental designs.
E) None of these are missing from quasi-experimental designs.
Q3) Internal validity is not an issue with quasi-experiments because there are experimental and control groups.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In a classic experimental design,the independent variable can be manipulated,controlled,introduced,or it can occur naturally.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Questionnaires and Structured Interviews
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Q1) A group administered questionnaire has the advantage that A) the researcher can explain the survey and answer any questions that may arise.
B) the conditions under which the questionnaire is administered are the same for all respondents.
C) it is less expensive to conduct than mail surveys.
D) all of these
Q2) Response rates among cell phone surveys are higher than among landline surveys.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Question wording is important to the success of a questionnaire.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Open ended questions allow for respondents to answer
A) in their own words.
B) according to pre-determined categories.
C) as often as they wish.
D) skip-contingency questions.
E) none of these.
Q5) List two advantages and two disadvantages of an in-person interview.
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Chapter 10: Qualitative Interviewing
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Q1) A focus group is organized to bring together as diverse a population as possible.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe the issues of validity for qualitative interviews.
Q3) Typically,the analysis of interviews is
A) intuitive.
B) inductive.
C) hypothetical.
D) deductive.
E) none of these
Q4) In most interviewing protocols,it is usually better to establish rapport before proceeding with difficult or sensitive topics.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A joint interview is when several individuals complete a questionnaire in the presence of a researcher.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Compare and contrast any two types of qualitative interviews.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Observational Techniques
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Q1) Observational techniques don't usually require the time and energy preparing for data gathering that is usually associated with surveys or experiments.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When the observed take on different attributes simply as a result of being observed,this is called
A) observational methods.
B) demand characteristics.
C) performance anxiety.
D) presentation of self.
E) both observational methods and performance anxiety.
Q3) Complete participant and complete observation do not permit A) generalizability.
B) ethical considerations.
C) probing.
D) theoretical basis.
E) analysis.
Q4) Give two advantages and two disadvantages of using observational methods.
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Chapter 12: Using Available Data
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Q1) There are few sources of available data that allow researchers to examine changes over time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Letters,emails,Twitter feeds,and autobiographies are included in
A) library records.
B) tertiary data.
C) personal records.
D) archives.
E) units of analysis.
Q3) What has been the dominant mode of social science research in the twentieth century?
A) surveys and questionnaires
B) using secondary data
C) observations
D) qualitative interviews
E) all of these
Q4) Define and provide an example of physical traces,erosion measures,and accretion measures.
Q5) Describe the ecological fallacy and how you might avoid it.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Content Analysis
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Q1) Content analysis is an unobtrusive,inexpensive,relatively easy,and flexible method of data collection.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In content analysis,you can choose any conventional sampling technique.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the difference between units of analysis and units of observation? Under what situation would the units of analysis and units of observation be the same?
Q4) Content analysis allows researchers to study
A) surveys.
B) census data.
C) experiments.
D) available recorded data.
E) secondary data.
Q5) There are more guidelines for doing qualitative content analysis than quantitative content analysis.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Applied Social Research
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Q1) Ethical concerns in applied research
A) are probably less important than in basic research.
B) are equally important as in basic research.
C) are only significant to the community members.
D) are only significant to the researchers.
E) none of these.
Q2) Basic research is intended to be immediately useful to program managers and policy makers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What was the program used for evaluation in the focal research by Harrison and Norton-Hawk?
A) a women's shelter in Ecuador
B) a children's shelter in Ecuador
C) a men's prison in Ecuador
D) a women's prison in Ecuador
E) none of these.
Q4) Most social research is exclusively applied or basic research.
A)True
B)False
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis
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Q1) In_______,a researcher is summarizing the data that has been collected into more manageable categories.
A) data reduction
B) analytical coding
C) data displays
D) qualitative analysis
E) memoing
Q2) The process where researchers examine data with the purpose of discovering what is in the data is called analytic coding.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Social anthropological approaches to qualitative research aim to
A) analyze relationships between discrete variables.
B) discover regular patterns in social interaction.
C) apply their own interpretive frameworks and accounts.
D) strike a balance between deductive and inductive theorizing.
E) balance qualitative and quantitative methods.
Q4) In describing a population,why is it advantageous to not only know the measures of central tendency,but also to calculate measures of dispersion?
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