Soc 311 exam 2

The distinction between experimental and non-experimental methods is based on whether or not

The researcher has control over the independent variable 

Earlier in the semester, we discussed an experiment that was designed to test whether arrest for domestic violence (compared to separation of the involved persons with no arrest) deterred repeat offenses. According tXXo the logic of deterrence theory, arrest should in fact deter repeat offenses. But according to an alternative theory called labeling, arrest could have the opposite effect by prompting people to act in ways consistent with their “offender” label. To carry out the study, cases that were called in to the police were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and police responded accordingly. 

The people who were not arrested were known as which of the following? 

Control group 

Earlier in the semester, we discussed an experiment that was designed to test whether arrest for domestic violence (compared to separation of the involved persons with no arrest) deterred repeat offenses. According tXXo the logic of deterrence theory, arrest should in fact deter repeat offenses. But according to an alternative theory called labeling, arrest could have the opposite effect by prompting people to act in ways consistent with their “offender” label. To carry out the study, cases that were called in to the police were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and police responded accordingly. 

 Which feature of the classical experimental design was not applicable to this study?

Pre-test 

the researchers had been unable to randomly assign cases to the two groups, that would have threatened:

The internal validity of the experiment 

The comparability of the experimental and control groups 

The ability to isolate the effect of the treatment 

Typically speaking, field experiments are: 

Stronger on external validity than on internal validity (External is applied to real world experiments)

Which of the following is TRUE about survey research?

is useful for studying attitudes or behaviors prevalent in a large population.

 Which of the following is an advantage of survey interviews over self-administered questionnaires?

Typically higher response rates (human to human connection)

 Currently, the key challenge with using web surveys to study the general population relates to:

 The ability to obtain a sampling frame that would enable the researcher to contact selected respondents electronically

Cassandra is developing a somewhat lengthy survey on a topic that is not personally sensitive. She has sufficient research funds and wants to maximize participation in her study. Which mode would she likely consider first?

 in person interviews

Which of the following is an advantage of closed-ended questions, compared to open-ended ones?

They call for responses that are more efficiently analyzed.

The primary source of reliability problems in survey research is:

 Questions that are not relevant to respondents and/or are poorly written

Identify two specific actions that a researcher can take to improve response rates to mail questionnaires, other than keeping it short and writing good, relevant questions (1 pt each).

• Incentives

• Reminders

Given that it breaks down constantly, do you think that WVU should close the PRT?

Leans people to say yes, you have to find the issues within the problem

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your overall grade point average at WVU and the quality of the learning experience?

(Double barrel question, asking two different questions)

Have you not attended any summer sessions at WVU?

Take out not, can confuse people

 Which of the following is TRUE regarding qualitative research?

is distinguished by its emphasis on the context of social life and social interaction.

 example of the “complete participant” role is:

Enlisting in the military to study the re-socialization process as a “recruit”

The mixed participant/observer role involves:

Studying social situations with interacting with people in those situations

Compared to the survey interview, the qualitative research interview is typically:

Less concerned with standardized question wording and order

 Complete neutrality on the part of a qualitative research interviewer may be difficult because:

The interview is like a conversation, with interviewees expecting a sharing of opinions

One strategy to encourage neutrality is to use “third party” opinions. Provide an example below

You put an opinion out there but not attaching it to yourself

You are planning a study to investigate differences in friendship patterns (i.e., the number and quality of friendships) in residence halls that group students by shared interests/major and those that do not

Identify one dependent variable in this study

Number of friends

You are planning a study to investigate differences in friendship patterns (i.e., the number and quality of friendships) in residence halls that group students by shared interests/major and those that do not.

Identify the independent variable in this study

Type of residence halls

Unobtrusive methods of data collection:

Remove the researcher from the events and behavior under study (not involved directly, evidence in behavior and statistics)

All of the following are advantages of secondary data analysis, compared to primary data collection, EXCEPT which one?

Typically avoids problems of measurement validity

Using existing statistics, Professor Ford finds that cities with low median incomes tend to have higher crime rates than cities with high median incomes. Ford concludes that low-income people are more likely than high-income people to commit crimes. Ford is:

Committing the ecological fallacy

 Ben analyzed data from every state in the U.S. to determine whether there is a relationship between the number of guns sold and a state’s murder rate. The unit of analysis is:

States

For which of the following situations would content analysis be appropriate?

 Studying the speeches of Presidents to see how often they refer to the issue of inflation

Francesca did a content analysis of letters to the editor. She counted the number of times that the words “disagree” and “agree” appeared. Francesca was doing:

 Manifest content coding

comparison to coding the latent content of communication, coding the manifest content:

Has an advantage in terms of reliability (Reliability ensures consistency, producing similar results over time)