Chapter 2 - Research Methods in Human Sexuality

Question 0

Inference

Answer 0

Conclusion or opinion

Question 1

Hypothesis

Answer 1

A precise prediction about behavior that is tested through research.

Question 2

Anthropomorphism

Answer 2

The attributing of human characteristics to an animal.

Question 3

Variables

Answer 3

Quantities or qualities that vary or may vary.

Question 4

Demographic

Answer 4

Concerning the viral statistics (race, gender, age, religion, etc.) of human populations.

Question 5

Population

Answer 5

A complete group of organisms or events.

Question 6

Sample

Answer 6

Part of a population.

Question 7

Generalize

Answer 7

To go from the particular to the general.

Question 8

Random Sample

Answer 8

A sample in which every member of a population has an equal chance of participating.

Question 9

Stratified Random Sample

Answer 9

A random sample in which known subgroups in a population are represented in proportion to their numbers in the population.

Question 11

Case Study

Answer 11

A carefully drawn, in-depth biography of an individual or a small group of individuals that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and historical records.

Question 12

Survey

Answer 12

A detailed study of a sample obtained by means such as interviews and questionnaires.

Question 13

Volunteer Basis

Answer 13

A slanting of research that is caused by the characteristics of individuals who volunteer to participate, such as willingness to discuss intimate behavior.

Question 14

Confidentiality

Answer 14

Ethics requires that sex researchers do not reveal the identities and behaviors of participants in research. Sometimes records are coded so that someone breaking into them would not be able to decipher the identity of participants. Records are also usually destroyed after all useful information has been gathered.

Question 15

Reliability

Answer 15

The consistency of accuracy of a measure.

Question 16

Validity

Answer 16

With respect to interviews, questionnaires, and tests, the degree to which an item measures what is supposed to measure.

Question 17

Incidence

Answer 17

A measure of the occurrence or the degree of occurrence of an event.

Question 18

Frequency

Answer 18

The number of times an action is repeated within a given period.

Question 19

Social Desirability

Answer 19

A response bias to a questionnaire or interview in which the person provides a socially acceptable response.

Question 20

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 20

A method i which organisms are observed in their natural environments.

Question 21

Ethnographic Observations

Answer 21

A method of research that deals descriptively with specific cultures, especially preliterate societies.

Question 22

Participant Observation

Answer 22

A method in which observers interact with the people the study as they collect data.

Question 23

Laboratory Observation

Answer 23

A method in which subjects are studied in a laboratory setting.

Question 24

Penile Strain Gauge

Answer 24

A device for measuring sexual arousal in men in terms of changes in the circumference of the penis.

Question 25

Vaginal Plethysmograph

Answer 25

A tampon-like probe that is inserted in the vagina and suggests the level of vasocongestion by measuring the light reflected from the vaginal walls.

Question 26

Vasocongestion

Answer 26

Congestion from the flow of blood.

Question 27

Myotonia

Answer 27

Muscle tension.

Question 28

Correlation

Answer 28

A statistical measure of the relationship between to variables.

Question 29

Correlation Coefficient

Answer 29

A statistic that expresses the strength and direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between two variables.

Question 30

Experiment

Answer 30

A scientific method that seeks to confirm cause-and-effect relationships by manipulating independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables.

Question 31

Treatment

Answer 31

In experiments, an intervention that is administered to participants (e.g., a test, a drug, or sex-education program) so that it’s effects may be observed.

Question 32

Independent Variable

Answer 32

A condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects may be observed.

Question 33

Dependent Variable

Answer 33

The measured result of an experiment, which is believed to be a function of the independent variable.

Question 34

Experimental Group

Answer 34

A group of study participants who receive a treatment.

Question 35

Control Group

Answer 35

A group of study participants who do not receive the experimental treatment. However, other conditions are held comparable to those of individuals in the experimental group.

Question 36

Selection Factor

Answer 36

A bias that may operate in research when people are allowed to determine whether of not they will receive a treatment.

Question 37

In a(n) _____ sample, every member of the target population has an equal chance in participating.

Answer 37

random

Question 38

The ______ reports interviewed 5,300 males and 5,940 females between 1938 and 1949.

Answer 38

Kinsey

Question 39

Government studies of the sexual experience of single teenagers in the United States have found that the self-reported incidence of sexual intercourse

Answer 39

decreased from 1988 through 2010.

Question 40

Experimenters randomly assign subjects to experimental or _____ groups.

Answer 40

control

Question 41

A scientific sample must be

Answer 41

representative

Question 42

Participants did not provide informed consent in the ______ Syphilis Study.

Answer 42

Tuskegee

Question 43

People who agree to participate in psychological research may not represent the general population because of

Answer 43

volunteer bias.

Question 44

Most researchers agree that the best means of learning about cause and effect is

Answer 44

the experiment.

Question 45

Katherine Frank engaged in

Answer 45

participant-observation.

Question 46

______ conducted a case study of Leonardo da Vinci.

Answer 46

Sigmund Freud