Chapter 3- Doing Sociological Research

Question 0

Controlled experiments

Answer 0

Method of collecting data that can determine whether something actually causes something else.

Question 1

Dependent variable

Answer 1

The variable that is a presumed effect

Question 2

Population

Answer 2

Relatively large collection of people that a researcher studies and about which generalizations are made.

Question 3

Indicators

Answer 3

Something that points to or reflects an abstract concept.

Question 4

Random sample

Answer 4

Sample that give everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected.

Question 5

Research design

Answer 5

The overall logic and strategy underlying a research project.

Question 6

Percentage

Answer 6

The number of parts per hundred.

Question 7

Overt participant observation

Answer 7

Form of participant observation wherein the observed individuals are not told they are being studied.

Question 8

Qualitative research

Answer 8

Research that isn’t number based

Question 9

Cross tabulation

Answer 9

Table that shows how the categories of two variables are related.

Question 10

Overt participant observation

Answer 10

Form of participant observation wherein the observed individuals are told that they are being studied.

Question 11

Informant

Answer 11

Inside man

Question 12

Data analysis

Answer 12

Process by which sociologists organize collected data to discover what patterns and uniformities are revealed.

Question 13

Quantitative research

Answer 13

Research that uses numerical analysis.

Question 14

Sample

Answer 14

Sample any subset of units from a population that a researcher studies.

Question 15

Generalization

Answer 15

Applying information obtained on a small sample of units to a larger population of the units.

Question 16

Mean

Answer 16

The sum of a set of values divided by the number of cases from which the values are obtained; an average.

Question 17

Correlation

Answer 17

The degree of positive (direct) or negative (inverse) association between two variables.

Question 18

Inductive reasoning

Answer 18

The process of arriving at general conclusions from specific observations.

Question 19

Serendipity

Answer 19

Unanticipated, yet informative, results of a research study.

Question 20

Concept

Answer 20

Any abstract characteristic or attribute that has the potential to be measured.

Question 21

Deductive reasoning

Answer 21

The process of creating a specific research question about a focused point, based on a more general or universal principle.

Question 22

Participant observation

Answer 22

A method of whereby the sociologist becomes both a participant I’m the group being studied and a scientific observer of the group.

Question 23

Rate

Answer 23

Parts per some numbers (for example, per 10000 or per 100,000

Question 24

Replication study

Answer 24

Research that is repeated exactly, but on a different group of peoples at a different point in time.

Question 25

Validity

Answer 25

The degree to which an indicator accurately measures or reflects a concept.

Question 26

Independent variable

Answer 26

A variable that is the presumed cause of a particular result.

Question 27

Debriefings

Answer 27

A process whereby a researcher explains the true purpose of a research study to a subject.

Question 28

Mode

Answer 28

The most frequently appearing score among a set of scores.

Question 29

Data

Answer 29

The systematic information that sociologists use to investigate research questions.

Question 30

Reliability

Answer 30

The likelihood that a particular measure would produce the same results if the measure were repeated.

Question 31

Scientific method

Answer 31

The steps in a research process, including observation, hypothesis testing, analysis of data, and generalization.

Question 32

Evaluation research

Answer 32

Research assessing the effect of policies and programs

Question 33

Content analysis

Answer 33

The analysis of meanings in cultural artifacts such as books, songs, and other forms of cultural communication.

Question 34

Hypothesis

Answer 34

A statement about what one expects to find in research.

Question 35

Median

Answer 35

The midpoint in a series of values that are arranged in numerical order.

Question 36

Spurious correlation

Answer 36

A false correlation between X and Y, produced by their relationship to some third variable Z rather than by a true casual relationship to each other.

Question 37

Informed consent

Answer 37

A formal acknowledgement by research subjects (respondents) that they understand the purpose of the research and agree to be studied.

Question 38

Variable

Answer 38

Something that can have more than one value or score.

Question 39

Hawthorne effect

Answer 39

The effect of the research process itself on the groups or individuals being studied; hence, the act of studying them often itself changes them.

Question 40

Controlled experiments

Answer 40

A method of collecting data that can determine whether something actually causes something else.

Question 41

Hypothesis

Answer 41

A statement about what one expects to find in research.

Question 42

Indicator

Answer 42

Something that points to or reflects an abstract concept.