In comparison to coding the manifest content of communication, coding the latent content
A. has a disadvantage in terms of validity
B. has an advantage in terms of reliability
C. is better designed for tapping the underlying meaning of communication
D. has an advantage in terms of specificity
E. all of these choices are true
Which of the following levels of measurement(s) may be employed in content analysis?
A. nominal
B. ratio
C. interval
D. ordinal
E. all of these choices are correct
You are interested in doing a content analysis on the characteristics people seek in a partner by examining the personals section of three newspapers. Your unit of analysis is:
A. the three newspapers
B. the characteristics desired in a partner
C. the individual ads
D. the personals section of the paper
E. the person who wrote the ad
The categories used in content analysis should be
A. mutually exclusive
B. exhaustive
C. nominal
D. mutually exclusive and exhaustive
E. mutually exclusive and nominal
After examining the FBI Crime Reports for a 30-year period, Professor Hall claimed that the incidence of rape has increased. After examining the same reports, Professor Shine claimed that the reporting of rape, not the incidence of rape, has increased. This illustrates
A. the problem of reliability in using existing statistics
B. the problem of validity in using existing statistics
C. the need to replicate existing statistics
D. the ecological fallacy
E. pretesting
An example of unobtrusive data collection is(are)
A. an interview with college freshmen to determine why they selected a particular school
B. a laboratory experiment designed to learn whether people really prefer Pepsi or Coke
C. a mailed survey designed to discern students' attitudes toward a planned change in the school's calendar
D. a researcher who joins a fraternity to understand its rituals
E. none of these choices are unobtrusive
The adage that you must walk a mile in another person's shoes before you can understand the views and feelings of that person is similar to the sociological concept(s) of
A. verstehen
B. historical/comparative analysis
C. ideal types
D. the ecological fallacy
E. content analysis
In which of the following analyses is content analysis LEAST likely to be useful?
A. themes in newspaper editorials
B. the wording of this exam
C. topics covered in class lectures
D. the theme of love as discussed in song
E. dating patterns among high school seniors
Professor Jenner was interested in using Census Bureau data to examine the trend in unemployment rates in the United States. However, Jenner's definition of unemployment did not match the one used by the Census Bureau. Jenner was dealing with the issue of
A. reliability
B. validity
C. the ecological fallacy
D. ideal types
E. verstehen
Using existing statistics, Professor Ford finds that areas with low median incomes tend to have higher crime rates than areas with high median incomes. Ford concludes that poor people are more likely to commit crimes than high income people. Ford is
A. Committing the ecological fallacy
B. Using verstehen
C. Doing content analysis
D. Developing ideal types
E. Doing replication
Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding comparative and historical research?
A. Comparative and historical research is often regarded as a qualitative technique
B. Comparative and historical research can use quantitative methods
C. Historical researchers assume that the documented history coincides with what actually happened
D. Historical analysts sometimes use time-series data to monitor changing conditions over time
E. All of these statements are TRUE
Thomas is concerned that in his content analysis he is misclassifying observations to support his emerging hypothesis. He turns to you for help. Which of the following suggestions would be POOR advice?
A. If there are a sufficient number of cases, select some at random from each category to avoid picking those that best support the hypothesis
B. Give at least three examples in support of every claim that you make about the data
C. Ask others who are not involved in your research to review your analytic interpretations to see if they agree
D. Realize that few social patterns are 100 percent consistent and so don't worry about reporting inconsistencies
E. All of these choices are good advice
According to Berg, which of the following statements is FALSE regarding negative case testing?
A. It can be used as a technique for qualitative hypothesis testing
B. It begins with an examination of the data to find a general hypothesis
C. It requires you to search your data to find all the cases that contradict your initial hypothesis
D. It requires you to reexamine all the cases that led you to form the initial hypothesis
E. All of these choices are TRUE
Which of the following is(are) FALSE regarding time-series designs?
A. They enable detection of whether a process of maturation could be at work.
B. Regular fluctuations that occur apart from the experimental stimulus can be identified
C. They protect against the possible influence of some extraneous factor.
D. They involve multiple observations at different points in time.
E. All of these choices are false.
Pregnant women planning to deliver their baby in hospital A were given a poison control test. After the delivery of their baby, the new moms attended a two hour training session on poison control. One week later, at the baby's one-week check-up exam, the new moms retook the poison control test. Located in the same city, pregnant women planning to deliver their baby in hospital B were given a poison control test. One week later, at the baby's one-week check-up exam, these new moms retook the poison control test. What design is being used?
A. Pretest-posttest control group
B. Time-series
C. Nonequivalent control group
D. Cross-sectional design
E. Multiple time-series
Creating new measures for variables in evaluation research has the advantage of
A. greater possible relevance and validity to the study
B. known degrees of reliability and validity
C. greater possible reliability to the study
D. being less time-consuming than using an already devised measure
E. more precision
You examined the IQ scores of children at several high schools. You finally select two high schools where the children appear similar in terms of IQ scores, family income, family religion, and the like. You match two classes from each grade (9 to 12) from each high school. In one high school you plan to offer a course on study skills in the selected classes and in the other high school you plan to have students follow their "normal" curriculum. After obtaining permission from the principals, parents, and children to do your research, you arrive at the first school to begin the study skills class. You find that the classes you had selected are on field trips and that the principal assigned a different class at the same grade level to you. This illustrates the problem(s) of
A. logistics only
B. administrative control only
C. ethics only
D. logistics, administrative control, and ethics
E. logistics and administrative control only
Professor Simon was asked to evaluate the effectiveness of a parenting seminar. After accepting the job, Professor Simon's first question(s) was(were) probably
A. "What is the intended result of the parenting seminar?"
B. "What are the anticipated outcomes of the parenting seminar?"
C. "What are the unanticipated outcomes of the parenting seminar?"
D. All of these choices are good first questions
E. Only "What is the intended result of the parenting seminar?" and "What are the anticipated outcomes of the parenting seminar?" are good first questions
The national speed limit in the United States was reduced to 55 mph in 1974. Proponents and critics of this legislation have looked at the number of traffic fatalities on major U.S. highways (e.g., I-90, I-65, I-75) for the years preceding and following this legislation. Sonny examined the traffic fatalities on each of the major U.S. highways for every year from 1968 to 2005. Sonny used a:
A. pretest-posttest one-group design
B. time-series design
C. multiple time-series design
D. nonequivalent control group design
E. one-shot case study
Professor Henley is interested in comparing the use of the legal system in different countries. Henley examines the number of arrests per 1,000 population, the number of jury trials per 1,000 court cases, the number of lawyers per capita, and the number of people incarcerated per 1,000 population. Henley is doing
A. social indicator research
B. cost/benefit analysis
C. time-series designs
D. computer simulations
E. intervention analysis
In a study that examined whether the use of mediation in divorces resulted in "fairer" settlements, the intervention is
A. the use of mediation
B. the "fairer" settlement
C. the actual divorce
D. the judge's decision
E. the courtroom
Rebecca was hired to determine what types of recreational programs teenagers wanted and would use in the town of Methods, U.S.A. Rebecca was hired to conduct a
A. cost-benefit study
B. monitoring study
C. needs assessment study
D. time-series study
E. all of these choices are correct
For the last 15 years Jenny tracked the divorce and marriage rates in the United States. Jenny is doing a
A. monitoring study
B. a needs assessment
C. a cost-benefit analysis
D. a logistical study
E. none of these choices is correct
Which of the following statements about the Sabido methodology is FALSE?
A. the methodology has used television shows to promote literacy and family planning
B. the methodology pays attention to the kinds of characters portrayed in tv shows
C. the methodology can be used to evaluate social programs
D. the methodology is not used to construct or develop social programs
E. all of these statements are TRUE
Social indicators research combines
A. evaluation research with interviewing
B. evaluation research with the analysis of existing data
C. the analysis of existing data with questionnaires
D. the analysis of existing data with the comparative/historical approach
E. evaluation research with the comparative/historical approach