Sociology 357 Sample Questions for Tests:
1. Professor Smith is interested in studying the effects of religiosity on attitudes towards suicide. In order to measure religiosity, she asks in a questionnaire how often the respondent goes to church. This is an example of ___________________.
a. Operationalization
b. Conceptualization
c. Definition
d. Compartmentalization
e. Nominal measurement
2. Which of the following is not a type of unit of analysis?
a. Organizations
b. Individuals
c. Social Artifacts
d. Groups
e. Dimensions
II. Give a concise answer for each of the following questions.
1. Briefly comment on some of the problems associated with making causal inferences in social science.
2. In analyzing statistical information, should we exclusively focus on overall averages (e.g., the average income of Americans)?
3. A study finds that, for a cohort of 1970 female graduates from the Law School of the University of Wisconsin, personal income in 1980 and GPA are negatively correlated. Can you think of any reason why this relationship might be spurious?