Soc 275 Social Research Methods, Section 001

Soc 275 Social Research Methods, Section 001

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Soc 275 Social Research Methods, Section 002

Jeremiah Coldsmith

Summer, 09: Test 3

Name: ______

Part I:

The following are ten matching questions. There is a definition or description to the left and a series of terms to the right. Match the correct term to its definition or description by writing the letter of the term in the blank by the number of the definition or description. Note that a term can only be used once, but you will not need to use all the terms. Each question is worth one point.

Part II:

The following are fifteen multiple choice problems. Choose the best answer for each question by writing the letter of the answer in the blank next to the number of the question. Each question is worth one point. If it is unclear which answer you have chosen, you will not get credit for the answer.

_____ 1)A social psychologist wants to study the pure relationship between an individual’s structural position in a social network and their amount of power over the other actors in that network. She wants to find out if this relationship exists outside of the normal context of social interactions. She is primarily concerned about if the relationship predicted by her theory exists independent of all other potential relationships. In other words, she wants to generalize to a theory and not to a population.

What type of data collection method is best suited to this researcher’s interests?

A) An Experiment

B) A Survey

C) Field Research

_____ 2) A social movements scholar is interested in why individuals decide to join a radical social movement (one that does extreme things like blowup buildings and such). She wants to deeply understand the members’ motivations for initially joining the movement and the process that pulls them deeper into the movement and keeps them there. She is really only interested in understanding this one case. While some insights about other social movements may be gained from this experience, such insights are not her primary goal.

What type of data collection method is best suited to this researcher’s interests?

A) An Experiment

B) A Survey

C) Field Research

_____ 3) A demographer wants to study the changing population of Arizona. He wants a representative sample of all adult Arizonans, but he does not have a sampling frame from which to take a probability sample of the population directly. So he decides to first sample the census tracts (fairly small geographical units) in Arizona using systematic sampling. Once he has a sample of census tracts, he puts together a list of all residences in each census tract in his sample. He then samples the residences in the census tracts in proportion to the number of people living in each residence using simple random sampling.

What sampling technique is this researcher using?

A) Random Assignment

B) Simple Random Sampling

C) Systematic Sampling

D) Cluster Sampling

E) Convenience Sampling

F) Purposive Sampling

G) Snowball Sampling

H) Quota Sampling

_____ 4) A graduate student needs to pre-test some questionnaire questions for a survey. Because it’s just a pre-test, he runs over to the Student Union and offers to buy a slice of pizza for anyone willing to try out the questionnaire. He takes the first twenty-five students who take him up on the offer back to his office and gives them the questionnaire. When they are done, he takes them all to No Anchovies for a slice of pizza.

What sampling technique is this grad student using?

A) Random Assignment

B) Simple Random Sampling

C) Systematic Sampling

D) Cluster Sampling

E) Convenience Sampling

F) Purposive Sampling

G) Snowball Sampling

H) Quota Sampling

_____ 5) Your employer wants you to do a study of job satisfaction. The company you work for has 50,000 employees, and your boss provides you with enough funds to survey 1,000 employees. You ask for and receive the master list of all 50,000 employees. In order to get a representative sample of 1,000 workers you choose every 50th employee on the list, after making sure the way the list is organized doesn’t have anything to do with the number 50.

What sampling technique have you decided to use?

A) Random Assignment

B) Simple Random Sampling

C) Systematic Sampling

D) Cluster Sampling

E) Convenience Sampling

F) Purposive Sampling

G) Snowball Sampling

H) Quota Sampling

_____ 6) A sociology of religion scholar wants to understand why individuals convert from one religion to another. In order to find members of this population she gets lists of adults who have recently joined local religious communities (churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc.). She visits everyone on the lists and first asks why they joined the organization. If they joined because they converted to a new religion, she asks them if they would be willing to set up a time to do a longer interview about their decision to convert. Anyone who joined for other reasons she thanks for their time and leaves their house.

What sampling technique is this researcher using?

A) Random Assignment

B) Simple Random Sampling

C) Systematic Sampling

D) Cluster Sampling

E) Convenience Sampling

F) Purposive Sampling

G) Snowball Sampling

H) Quota Sampling

_____ 7) In order to sample members of a social movement, a researcher first interviews a member she knows personally. At the end of the interview, she asks, “who else in the group should I be talking to?” After collecting as many names as she can, she tracks these members down and interviews them. Again, at the end of each interview she asks the respondent who else she should be talking to. She continues this process until she is only getting names of people she has already interviewed. Then, she starts to ask if there is anyone who would have a different perspective than the respondent she is currently interviewing. She does this until she stops finding out new information.

What sampling technique is this researcher using?

A) Random Assignment

B) Simple Random Sampling

C) Systematic Sampling

D) Cluster Sampling

E) Convenience Sampling

F) Purposive Sampling

G) Snowball Sampling

H) Quota Sampling

_____ 8) What is wrong with the following question? (Choose only one answer.)

“Question 14: Using the abbreviations in parentheses state whether you Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Have No Opinion (NO), Disagree (D), or Strongly Disagree (SD) with the following statement: The service and decor of this hotel is excellent. ______”

A) It is double-barreled.

B) It contains a negative item.

C) It is a biased question.

D) It is not relevant to the respondents.

E) Respondents would not be willing to answer it.

F) Respondents would not be competent to answer it.

_____ 9) What is wrong with the following question? (Choose only one answer.)

“Question 38: Using the abbreviations in parentheses state whether you Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Have No Opinion (NO), Disagree (D), or Strongly Disagree (SD) with the following statement: Individuals convicted of a violent crime should be prohibited from owning a firearm for the rest of their lives. ______”

A) It is double-barreled.

B) It contains a negative item.

C) It is a biased question.

D) It is not relevant to the respondents.

E) Respondents would not be willing to answer it.

F) Respondents would not be competent to answer it.

_____ 10) What is wrong with the following question? (Choose only one answer.)

“Question 1: How many same-sex sexual partners have you had in the past three months? ______”

A) It is double-barreled.

B) It contains a negative item.

C) It is a biased question.

D) It is not relevant to the respondents.

E) Respondents would not be willing to answer it.

F) Respondents would not be competent to answer it.

_____ 11) What is wrong with the following question? (Choose only one answer.)

“Question 67: How many times have you used marijuana in the last month?

[] 0 times [] 1-15 times [] 16-30 times [] 31-45 times [] 46-60 times

[] 61-75 times [] 76-90 times [] 91-105 times [] 106-120 times [] 121 times or more”

A) It is double-barreled.

B) It contains a negative item.

C) It is a biased question.

D) It is not relevant to the respondents.

E) Respondents would not be willing to answer it.

F) Respondents would not be competent to answer it.

_____ 12) A researcher is interested in understanding the connection between religion and the culture surrounding business. Fearing that knowledge of existing theory may bias his initial observations, he avoids learning any theories concerning a relationship between religion and business culture. He then travels to several countries, each with different religions and business cultures. He uses the data to generate a theory which incorporates the patterns he sees in the data. He continually evaluates and reevaluates both the data and the theory he is constructing, particularly in light of the different countries he has visited and how his understandings have changed over time.

What approach to field research is this researcher taking?

A) Naturalism

B) Ethnomethodology

C) Grounded Theory

D) Extended Case Method

_____ 13) While reading the literature on social movements, a social movements researcher realizes the theories have only been applied to national and international movements. He sees this as a potential shortcoming in the theory. In order to fill this gap in knowledge, the researcher sets out to extend the theories by applying them to local social movements.

What approach to field research is this researcher taking?

A) Naturalism

B) Ethnomethodology

C) Grounded Theory

D) Extended Case Method

_____ 14) A researcher is interested in the cultural rules that govern language. Whenever someone asks him a question, he asks them to clarify certain parts of the question. He notes which types of clarifications frustrate or anger the person asking the question. He is also careful to ask the clarifying questions in different orders so that time isn’t the thing leading to frustration. After several heated exchanges with numerous types of people, the researcher is confident he has discovered the rules, which govern appropriate clarifications to questions being asked.

What approach to field research is this researcher taking?

A) Naturalism

B) Ethnomethodology

C) Grounded Theory

D) Extended Case Method

_____ 15) If I believe high levels of class attendance generate higher test grades, “test grades” is what?

A) An Independent Variable

B) A Dependent Variable

C) An Attribute