Exam #2

Question 1

Social Desirability Bias

Answer 1

the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others

Question 2

Nonresponse bias

Answer 2

when participants are unwilling or unable to respond to a survey question or an entire survey

Question 3

What’s the benefit of open-ended questions?

Answer 3

provide a deeper insight into the respondent;

Question 4

Whats the benefit of closed-ended questions?

Answer 4

“they provide a greater uniformity of responses”; more easily processed; can be transferred directly into computer format

Question 5

Double-barreled Questions

Answer 5

a question that has multiple parts and is looking for a single answer

Question 6

experimental and control groups

Answer 6

experimental: a group of subjects to whom an experimental stimulus is administered
control: a group of subjects to whom no experimental stimulus is administered; still represent the experimental group in all other aspects

Question 7

placebo

Answer 7

a drug with no relevant effect administered by medical researchers

Question 8

Likert scale

Answer 8

a scale attempting to address the relative intensity of levels

Question 9

secondary analysis

Answer 9

a form of research in which the data collected and processed by one researcher are reanalyzed by another

Question 10

content analysis

Answer 10

the study of recorded human communications

Question 11

Bogardus social distance scale

Answer 11

focuses on willingness of people to participate in social relations with a group; could be applied to any race group

Question 12

matrix questions

Answer 12

offer an efficient format for presenting closed-ended questionnaire items that have the same response categories

Question 13

index

Answer 13

an accumulation of scores from several variables

Question 14

scale

Answer 14

a type of composite measure with a logical empirical structure; assigns scores to patterns of responses from several variables

Question 15

contingency questions

Answer 15

a survey question intended for only some respondents, determined by their responses to some other question

Question 16

probe

Answer 16

how to get a respondent to provide more or complete info; a nondirective phrase or question

Question 17

unobtrusive research

Answer 17

methods of studying social behavior without affecting it; this includes content analysis, analysis of existing stats, and comparative and historical research

Question 18

participant observation

Answer 18

the researcher is immersed in the day-to-day activities of the participants

Question 19

face-to-face interview

Answer 19

asking questions directly in person

Question 20

ethnographic research

Answer 20

a qualitative method for collecting data

Question 21

latent content

Answer 21

in connection with content analysis, the underlying meaning of communications as distinguished from their manifest content

Question 22

manifest content

Answer 22

the concrete terms contained in a communication, as distinguished from latent content

Question 23

double-blind design

Answer 23

an experimental design in which neither the subjects nor the experimenters know which is the experimental group and which is the control

Question 24

evaluation research

Answer 24

refers to a research purpose rather than a specific research method; this purpose is to evaluate the impact of social interventions: new teaching methods, innovation in parole, etc

Question 25

quasi experiments

Answer 25

nonrigorous inquiries somewhat resembling controlled experiments but lacking key elements such as pre-and post-testing and/or control groups

Question 26

the Film “Obedience”

Answer 26

elements of unethical treatment of participants such as the psychological discomfort or trauma that may have occurred during the experiment

Question 27

random selection

Answer 27

each respondent has an equal chance of selection

Question 28

probability sampling

Answer 28

sample based on randomly selected respondents

Question 29

snowball sample

Answer 29

collect information from people you know and then request leads to other respondents

Question 30

purposive sample

Answer 30

purposely select a subset of the population to address specific questions

Question 31

quota sample

Answer 31

select respondents based on certain characteristics to resemble the broader population

Question 32

systematic sampling

Answer 32

choose every kth potential respondent; example: every 25th student in the college directory

Question 33

convenience sampling

Answer 33

relying on available subjects, such as stopping people at a street corner or some other location

Question 34

random sampling

Question 35

simple random sampling

Answer 35

assign number to each potential respondent and then use random numbers to select respondents

Question 36

stratified sampling

Answer 36

samples by strata to ensure each strata is represented; could stratify by groups, gender, or year

Question 37

benefit of experiments

Question 38

telephone survey

Answer 38

asking questions over the phone

Question 39

comparative and historical

Answer 39

the examination of societies over time and in comparison with one another

Question 40

coding

Answer 40

the process whereby raw data are transformed into stadardized form sutiable for machine processing and analysis

Question 41

informants and respondents

Answer 41

informant: someone who is well versed in the social phenomenon that you wish to study and who is willing to tell you what they know about it
respondent:a person who provides data for analysis by responding to a survey questionnaire

Question 42

response rate

Answer 42

participating/those selected for interview

Question 43

natural experiment

Answer 43

conducted outside of the lab and in more normal social events

Question 44

experimental design

Answer 44

process of carrying out research in an objective and controlled fashion