Research Methods in Sociology Study Guide Questions

Course Introduction

Research Methods in Sociology introduces students to the fundamental techniques and ethical considerations involved in conducting sociological research. The course covers both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, interviews, ethnography, content analysis, and statistical analysis. Students learn how to formulate research questions, design studies, collect and analyze data, and interpret findings within a sociological framework. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, evaluating sources, and understanding the role of research in addressing social issues. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to undertake independent sociological investigations and critically assess research presented in academic and public contexts.

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Answering Questions With Statistics 1st Edition by Robert F. Szafran

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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Q1) For the following pair of variables, which is the more likely DEPENDENT variable: occupation and race?

A) occupation

B) race

Answer: A

Q2) The variable "number of children" uses the attributes 0, 1, 2, 3 ... (continuing as high as is needed). This variable is

A) a continuous interval/ratio variable

B) a continuous nominal variable

C) a discrete interval/ratio variable

D) a discrete nominal variable

Answer: C

Q3) The categories of a variable have ONLY the following properties: the categories are different and the categories have rank order. What level of measurement does this variable have?

A) nominal

B) ordinal

C) interval/ratio

Answer: B

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Page 3

Chapter 2: Data Sets

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Q1) You are given a new SPSS data file created by someone else. What should you do to gain familiarity with its contents?

Answer: You should run Display Data File Information, study the results, and quickly scroll through Data View to get a sense of the data.

Q2) Convert this number from normal notation into scientific notation: .000456

A) 4.56E 04

B) 4.56E+04

C) 4.56E 04

D) 4.56E+04

Answer: A

Q3) What are two ways to get location-specific help in SPSS?

Answer: Use the help button on a dialog or position the cursor over a feature in the dialog and click the right mouse button to see if there is quick information available for that feature.

Q4) What is the difference between variable labels and value labels?

Answer: Variable labels attach additional information to a variable name whereas value labels attach additional information to the codes for a variable's attributes

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Chapter 3: Frequency Tables and Univariate Charts

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Q1) "A statistic which summarizes the values on one or more variables for the cases in a data set and only the cases in the data set" is a definition of a(n)

A) descriptive statistic

B) inferential statistic

C) multivariate statistic

D) univariate statistic

Answer: A

Q2) "A statistic which draws a conclusion about a population based on data from a sample" is a definition of a(n)

A) descriptive statistic

B) inferential statistic

C) multivariate statistic

D) univariate statistic

Answer: B

Q3) What is the difference between univariate and multivariate statistics?

Answer: Univariate statistics summarize the values on single variables whereas multivariate statistics summarize relationships between two or more variables

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Chapter 4: Central Tendency and Dispersion

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Q1) Which of the following is correct?

A) Nominal measures of central tendency can be used on ordinal variables.

B) Ordinal measures of central tendency can be used on nominal variables.

C) Interval/ratio measures of central tendency can be used on nominal variables.

D) Interval/ratio measures of central tendency can be used on ordinal variables.

Q2) Scores on an exam had a mean of 75 and a standard deviation of 5. Which of the following statements is most likely to be true about the distribution of scores on the exam?

A) all the students scored within 5 points of the mean

B) all the students scored more than 5 points below or more than 5 points above the mean

C) all the students scored exactly 5 points below or above the mean

D) students scored an average of 5 points from the mean but some students were closer than that to the mean and some were further than that from the mean

Q3) What is the lowest level of measurement for which it is permissible to calculate a mean?

A) nominal

B) ordinal

C) interval/ratio

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Chapter 5: Creating New Variables

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Q1) A researcher uses the Compute procedure to create two new variables. The two new variables are called NEW1 and NEW2. The first case in the data set has a value of 10 on VARA and 2 on VARB. What values will that first case have on the two new variables?

A) if NEW1 = VARA 8 / VARB then for the 1st case NEW1 = _____

B) if NEW2 = VARA / 5 * VARB then for the 1st case NEW2 = _____

Q2) What are the two most common reasons for recoding a variable?

Q3) You are computing a new variable called CRIMEALL. It is the average of four variables already in your data set: CRIMESA, CRIMESB, CRIMESC, and CRIMESD. Write the numeric expression (formula) for a compute command that averages these four variables but only if at least three of the CRIME variables being averaged have valid values.

Q4) You want to Compute a new variable that adds 5 to the average of TEST1, TEST2, and TEST3. The new variable should be computed only if valid scores exist for all three tests. Write out the numeric expression that would accomplish this.

Q5) When would you use Recode and when would you use Compute?

Q6) Why would an analyst want to know the value of Cronbach's alpha?

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Chapter 6: Comparing Group Means

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Q1) Answer the questions that follow this SPSS output:  

A) What is the mean income of female social work majors? __________

B) Which subgroup has the greatest variability on income? (Specify the major and the gender of the subgroup.) _______________

C) Is there a main effect for gender? (yes/no)

D) State the numerical evidence that supports your conclusion about a main effect for gender.

Q2) Answer the questions that follow this SPSS output:  

A) What is the mean years of schooling (EDUC) of blacks in the Midwest? __________

B) In the West, is there more variability in the years of schooling (EDUC) among whites or among blacks? (whites/blacks) _______________

C) Is there an interaction effect of REGION and RACE on EDUC? (yes/no) _______

D) State numerical evidence that justifies your conclusion about an interaction effect of REGION and RACE on EDUC.

Q3) What does layering independent variables do?

Q4) What kinds of questions can you answer using the Means procedure?

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Chapter 7: Crosstab Tables

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Sample Questions

Q1) In the following Crosstabs, what percent of 2010 GSS young adults are conservative?  

A) 92

B) 23.8%

C) 27.9%

D) 7.5%

Q2) The following Crosstab supports which conclusion about the cases in the data set?   

A) Liberals made up the largest share of those who were not too happy.

B) The median response of moderates was not too happy.

C) The median response of moderates was very happy.

D) The median response of conservatives was pretty happy.

Q3) Answer the questions that follow this SPSS output:  

A) What percent of Hispanics are Catholic? __________

B) What is the total number of cases included in this crosstabs? __________

C) What is the modal religious affiliation of Blacks? _______________

D) What is the total number of Catholics in this crosstabs? __________

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Chapter 8: Nominal and Ordinal Measures of Association

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Q1) For describing a relationship between two variables, what information does a measure of association provide that an examination of percents, medians, or modes in a crosstab does not?

Q2) Which of the following is most appropriate for measuring the relationship between a nominal and an ordinal variable?

A) Cramer's V

B) Kendall's tau-b

C) gamma

D) Spearman's correlation

Q3) The number of years a person has been married and their level of happiness with their marriage have a Kendall's tau-b value of .75. Which of the following is true?

A) Persons married fewer years tend to be happier with their marriage.

B) Persons married fewer years tend to be just as happy with their marriage as persons married more years.

C) Persons married more years tend to be happier with their marriage.

D) Persons married more years tend to be less happy with their marriage.

Q4) Explain the difference between a positive association between two variables and a negative relationship between two variables.

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Chapter 9: Pearsons Correlation and Bivariate Regression

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Q1) What does a zero regression residual mean?

A) The two variables have a negative correlation.

B) That case's actual value on the dependent variable is exactly what was predicted by the regression equation.

C) That case's actual value on the dependent variable is more than what was predicted by the regression equation.

D) The slope of the best-fitting straight line is negative.

Q2) INCOME is regressed on years of schooling (EDUC). The regression equation indicates that each additional year of schooling increases income by $1,200 and persons with no schooling have an income of $300. Which of the following is the correct regression equation?

A) INCOME = 300 1200(EDUC)

B) INCOME = 300 + 1200(EDUC)

C) INCOME = 1200 + 300(EDUC)

D) INCOME = 1500(EDUC)

Q3) If R2 for a regression equation is .25, what is the value of the coefficient of determination? __________

Q4) If the value of the multiple correlation is .80, what is the value of the coefficient of determination? __________

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Chapter 10: Multiple Regression

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Sample Questions

Q1) In the context of regression analysis, each of the following has at least one other name. State at least one of those other names:

Q2) In multiple regression, the slopes are

A) coefficients of alienation

B) coefficients of determination

C) standardized regression coefficients

D) unstandardized regression coefficients

Q3) For each of the following types of variables, indicate if it can be used in regression as a dependent variable and if it can be used as an independent variable by stating yes or no.

Q4) If you want to see what the cases in your data set are like on a single continuous, interval/ratio variable, what is an appropriate statistical technique to use?

A) Bivariate Correlation

B) Compute

C) Explore

D) Linear Regression

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Chapter 11: Sampling Distributions and Normal Distributions

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Sample Questions

Q1) What are confidence intervals, confidence levels, and margins of error?

Q2) Which of the following statements is correct?

A) A probability sample will always give you a result within one standard error of the true value (census value) in the population.

B) Most variables are normally distributed in the population but very few sampling distributions are normal distributions.

C) Both "a" and "b" are correct.

D) None of the above is correct.

Q3) A variable is normally distributed with a mean of 50, a standard deviation of 5, and a variance of 25. What is the value of its median?

A) 5

B) 25

C) 50

D) 100

Q4) _____ are characteristics of populations; _____ are characteristics of samples.

A) parameters statistics

B) pointers values

C) statistics parameters

D) values pointers

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Chapter 12: Hypothesis Testing and One-Sample T Tests

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Q1) Which of the following is a null hypothesis?

A) Average temperature is 72 degrees.

B) Average temperature is less than 72 degrees.

C) Average temperature is more than 72 degrees.

D) Average temperature is not 72 degrees.

Q2) Here is a research hypothesis: "In the population, the average age is greater than 30." Write the null hypothesis.

Q3) When is a one-sample t test used?

Q4) What is the difference between a two-tailed hypothesis test and a one-tailed hypothesis test?

Q5) You are testing a one-tailed hypothesis. The sample results are consistent with the research hypothesis. Based on the following results, the significance level is _____ and you _____ the null hypothesis.

A) .173 do not reject

B) .173 reject

C) .692 do not reject

D) .692 reject

Q6) What are the four steps in hypothesis testing?

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Chapter 13: Paired and Independent-Samples T Tests

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Q1) What kinds of questions can you answer using an independent-samples t test?

Q2) Answer the questions that follow this SPSS output:  

Your research hypothesis is "In the population, persons with 16 years of schooling average more children than persons with 20 years of schooling." ( )

A) State the null hypothesis being tested.

B) Is this a one-tailed or two-tailed hypothesis?

C) Are your sample results consistent with the null hypothesis or the research hypothesis? (null / research)

D) What is the significance level? (If this step in hypothesis testing can be skipped, write the word "SKIP".)

E) What is your conclusion? (In other words, do you "reject" or "not reject" the null hypothesis based on these results?)

F) Are your results statistically significant? (yes / no)

Q3) Why are independent samples called that?

Q4) Can two frequency distributions substantially overlap if their means are significantly different? Explain.

Q5) When does a researcher risk making a Type II error?

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Chapter 14: Analysis of Variance

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Sample Questions

Q1) Your research hypothesis is "In the population, there is a difference in the average number of work days per year lost due to injury among the following groups: secretaries, professors, police officers, and ministers." What type of hypothesis test should be used?

A) one-sample t test

B) paired-samples t test

C) independent-samples t test

D) one-way ANOVA

E) two-way ANOVA

Q2) You want to know if two variables significantly interact in their effect on some variable. Which would be an appropriate procedure to use?

A) Frequencies

B) One-Way ANOVA

C) Paired-Samples T Test

D) Univariate General Linear Model (Two-Way ANOVA)

Q3) What is an interaction effect?

Q4) What kinds of questions can you answer using a one-way analysis of variance?

Q5) What are the three rounds for analyzing a two-way ANOVA?

Q6) What kinds of questions can you answer using a two-way analysis of variance?

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Chapter 15: Chi-Square

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Questions

Q1) Your research hypothesis is "In the population, the average SAT score of persons the second time they take the test is higher than the average of those same persons the first time they took the test." What type of hypothesis test should be used?

A) one-sample t test

B) paired-samples t test

C) independent samples t test

D) two-way ANOVA

E) chi-square

Q2) You are doing a chi-square problem. Your row variable has two categories. Your column variable has seven categories. How many degrees of freedom will your chi-square have?

__________ degrees of freedom

Q3) What kinds of questions can you answer using a chi-square hypothesis test?

Q4) Chi-square indicates

A) the direction of an association

B) the strength of an association

C) both "a" and "b"

D) none of the above

Q5) What should you do next if chi-square is significant?

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Chapter 16: Hypothesis Testing With Measures of

Association and Regression

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Q1) Which of the following conclusions is supported by these regression results? \(\begin{array}{|l|l|r|r|r|r|r|}

\hline & \text { Unstandardized Coefficients }&&\text { Standardized Coefficients} \\

\hline \text { Model } & {\text { B }} & \text { Std. Error } & {\text { Beta }} &{t} & \text { Sig. } \\

\hline 1 & 1.873 & 2.512 & & .746 & .456 \\ & \text { (Constant) } & -.018 & .045 & -.021 & -388 & .698 \\

\text { AGE } & .030 & .088 & .018 & 337 & .737 \\

\text { CHILDREN } & .396 & .051 & .420 & 7.688 & .000 \\

\text { EDUC } & -294 & .112 & -139 & -2.623 & .009 \\ \hline

\end{array}\)

A) AGE has a significant positive net effect on SCIFACTS.

B) CHILDREN has a significant positive net effect on SCIFACTS.

C) EDUC has a significant positive net effect on SCIFACTS.

D) RELINTEN has a significant positive net effect on SCIFACTS.

Q2) What kinds of questions can you answer using tests of significance for measures of association?

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