Exam 5: How Sociologists Do Research

When reading a table, a comment located just below the title that gives more detailed information on how the data was collected or how the data are presented is called a ________.

List the six practices that can distort data, misrepresent answers, or lead to fraudulent research. Briefly explain what each practice is.

A statement that describes how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory, is known as a ________.

Precise ways to measure variables in research so that comparisons can be made and replications can later be done are referred to as ________.

What is the defining characteristic of a random sample?

In research, to generalize one's findings to a total population, what is the most important quality that the sample must possess?

What is secondary analysis? In terms of research, what are documents? How are these two methods different from the other research methods discussed in the chapter?

Sam is conducting interviews to assess students' opinions on how President Bush handled the second Gulf War. Because this is a controversial topic at Sam's conservative campus, what is the best way for him to develop a sense of rapport with the sample?

Identify and define the three conditions necessary for a change in one variable to be caused by another variable.

The feeling of trust that researchers establish with their respondents is referred to as ________.

How can interviewer bias create skewed results in sociological research?

The term "________" refers to the extent to which different studies come up with similar results.