Test 1

Question 1

1. Kara interviews five drug users and discovers that four regularly carry weapons. Based on this information, she argues that all drug users carry weapons. This is an example of:

Answer 1

Overgeneralization

Question 2

2. Examining the effect of a drug court program on offenders’ drug use in order to make a recommendation as to whether more states should establish drug courts is an example of:

Answer 2

Evaluation research

Question 3

3. A researcher wants to examine the role that girls have in the social structure of a gang. She wants to observe the gang and hear how girls talk about the experience of being a gang member. When collecting data, she is most likely to use what type of method?

Answer 3

Qualitative

Question 4

4. The process of social research can create valid answers because it:

Answer 4

Reduces the likelihood of making everyday errors in reasoning

Question 5

5. Studying the effect that abusing animals as a teenager has on a person’s likelihood of being a perpetrator of domestic violence as an adult is an example of:

Answer 5

Explanatory Research

Question 6

6. Research shows that most criminals are poor. Many people think, therefore, that most poor people are criminals. This is an example of:

Answer 6

Illogical reasoning

Question 7

7. Which of the following best describes an example of descriptive research about youth gang members?

Answer 7

A Study examining who gang members are and what their activities are

Question 8

10. In explaining her position on the death penalty, Sally states, “I support the death penalty because my parents do and I trust their opinions.” She is committing which type of reasoning error?

Answer 8

Error to authority

Question 9

True experiments must have:

Answer 9

True experiments must have all of the following elements: independent and dependent variables, a pre-test and post-test and experimental and control groups.

Question 10

Our emotions can influence us even before we begin to reason about what we have observed.

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Personal motivations are valid motives for criminological research.

Answer 11

True

Question 12

Quantitative research is more scientific than qualitative research

Answer 12

False

Question 13

. Peer review is part of the scientific process

Answer 13

TRUE

Question 14

Social science is the study of individuals, societies, and social processes.

Answer 14

TRUE

Question 15

A researcher argues that individuals with low self-control are more likely to commit crimes than individuals with high self-control. The independent variable in this proposition can be stated most clearly as

Answer 15

intensity of self control

Question 16

According to deterrence theory, punishment for a deviant act reduces the likelihood that a person will repeat the act. A researcher decides that it must therefore be likely that tougher gun control laws would reduce the gun crimes of repeat offenders. This is an example of

Answer 16

deductive reasoning

Question 17

If there is a negative relationship between income and crime, crime might be reduced by

Answer 17

increasing income

Question 18

A positive relationship implies that

Answer 18

both variables move ins game direction

Question 19

An observer of street corner groups finds that more acts of vandalism are committed by same-sex groups than by mixed-sex groups. She speculates that the propensity to commit publicly deviant acts is a product of competition for recognition among peers of equal status. This speculation is an example of:

Answer 19

inductive reasoning

Question 20

The Sherman and Berk domestic violence study in Minneapolis and its replications suggested that arrest reduces recidivism in domestic cases only for employed persons. This conclusion was the result of

Answer 20

inductive reasoning based on identifying patterns

Question 21

Replication of research findings

Answer 21

makes important contributions to a larger body of social science knowledge

Question 22

Inductive reasoning

Answer 22

uses data to develop general ideas

Question 23

A researcher finds that drug laws increase drug abuse. Her study

Answer 23

positive correlation between drug laws and drug abuse

Question 24

It is not necessary to an experiment that the theory be falsifiable

Answer 24

false

Question 25

A characteristic or property that can take on different values or attributes is a variable

Answer 25

true

Question 26

The dependent variable is hypothesized to influence the independent variable.

Answer 26

false

Question 27

In a hypothesis, if one variable decreases and the other variables also decrease, the direction of association is negative

Answer 27

false

Question 28

Researchers must set aside all personal biases and prejudices if research is to be approached

Answer 28

objectively

Question 29

Most universities require researchers to have all research involving human subjects authorized by the:

Answer 29

institutional review board

Question 30

Of the following violations to general ethical rules, which is the most common and most acceptable, if properly addressed

Answer 30

deceiving subjects

Question 31

Understanding the meanings people give reality instead of how reality works is the goal of

Answer 31

interprevictisim

Question 32

The ethics of Zimbardo’s prison study have been debated because researchers:

Answer 32

permitted several prisoners to experience severe psychological negative reactions

Question 33

The institutional review board (IRB) reviews all research carried out with federal funding even if it does not involve human subjects

Answer 33

false

Question 34

One way to maintain openness and honesty in research is to describe research procedures in published studies

Answer 34

true

Question 35

Tom wrote a proposal to study the impact of birth order on aggressiveness. One of his first steps was to review definitions of aggressiveness in other research studies. This illustrates the first step in the process of:

Answer 35

conceptualization

Question 36

A researcher decides to measure the concept of parental supervision by the curfew times parents impose. illustrates process of…

Answer 36

operationalization

Question 37

Operationalization is the process of:

Answer 37

specifying the operations that will be used to indicate the value of a variable

Question 38

If a probation officer checks self-reports of drug use with urine tests, she is using

Answer 38

criterion validation

Question 39

If every case can have only one attribute, a variable is

Answer 39

mutually exclusive

Question 40

High school seniors in a small town are asked a series of questions to measure the frequency of their drinking and driving. The students give consistent answers to the series of questions, but police records indicate that drinking and driving is much more common than indicated by the students’ responses. This suggests that the measure of frequency of drinking and driving is

Answer 40

reliable but not valid

Question 41

An evaluation of a prevention program includes the statement that “the average delinquency of adolescents was reduced by 33% during the time of the study.” If this statement is literally true, the level of measurement of delinquency in the study was at least:

Answer 41

dichotomous

Question 42

In a national survey of drug abuse, the variable region includes West, Southwest, South, Southeast, East, Northeast, Midwest, and Northwest. The level of measurement is:

Answer 42

nominal

Question 43

In a national survey of drug abuse, the variable frequency of use is measured by asking respondents to rate their levels of drug use. The ratings are made on a scale from 1 (low levels) to 5 (high levels). The level of measurement is

Answer 43

ordinal

Question 44

In a national survey of drug abuse, the variable parental alcoholism is measured as the number of times that respondents observed their parents drunk. The level of measurement is

Answer 44

ratio

Question 45

What type of measures is used to study groups or individuals without their knowledge?

Answer 45

unobtrusive

Question 46

If research is appropriate when carefully scrutinized, it has

Answer 46

face validity

Question 47

A researcher conducts a study and then conducts the study a second time and achieves very similar results. This study has:

Answer 47

test retest reliability

Question 48

Variables are created when concepts are operationalized

Answer 48

true

Question 49

If an instrument is valid and reliable in one setting, then it will be reliable and valid in all settings.

Answer 49

false

Question 50

Most surveys of a large sample involve primarily open-ended questions

Answer 50

true

Question 51

Survey research involves:

Answer 51

collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions.

Question 52

The popularity of survey research is due to the

Answer 52

Versatility, efficiency, and generalizability of results

Question 53

Which of the following questions would be preferable for asking about food shopping habits?

Answer 53

How many days did you shop for food in the last week?

Question 54

Which of the following actions help to maximize the rate of response to a mailed questionnaire?

Answer 54

Attractive
Avoid skip patterns and contingent questions
Clear and understandable questions
Only a few open-ended questions
Personalized and professional cover letter
Credible research sponsor
Identifying number on the questionnaire to determine nonrespondents
Small incentive
Include a stamped, self-addressed return envelope 
Follow-up mailing for nonrespondents

Question 55

A special concern in planning for a group-administered survey is the:

Answer 55

Appeance of coercion

Question 56

In order to save time, money, and effort, a group of criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and political scientists combine their survey questions into one large questionnaire to be distributed to a group of students. This survey is known as a(n):

Answer 56

ominous

Question 57

What is the problem with the following survey question? “I support the new university policies regarding smoking and drinking on campus.”

Answer 57

double barreled

Question 58

What is the problem with the following survey question? “Using the responses provided, please state your level of agreement with the following question: I disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision not to overturn the ruling.”

Answer 58

double negative

Question 59

A researcher should not include a discussion of potentially harmful effects for participants in the cover letter.

Answer 59

false

Question 60

Researchers should not rely on previous surveys even if they are reliable when creating their surveys

Answer 60

true