Exam 6: Research Design and Causation

A trend study has a repeated cross-sectional design.

When relationships between variables differ across geographic units such as counties or across other social settings,researchers say there is a(n)______.

After consulting factory records,Researcher P finds that factories with higher proportions of male workers are more likely to be union shops.P concludes that in future research on union activism,the focus should be on male individuals.What methodological error has P committed?

Dr.Smith is exploring the effects of bullying on children's self-esteem.In order to conduct her research,she decides to interview children at a local high school about their experiences with bullies.What are the units of analysis for this study?

In some studies,the unit of analysis and the unit of observation are the same.

Provide an example of a spurious relationship.

Which of the following is NOT a circumstance in which it is reasonable to draw conclusions about time order based on cross-sectional data?

A researcher examined factory records and found that the higher the percentage of unskilled workers in factories,the higher the rate of employee sabotage in those factories.The researcher concluded that individual unskilled factory workers are more likely to engage in sabotage.What is the conclusion an example of?

Provide an example in which you expect that a contextual effect exists.Why do you think this contextual effect occurs? How would you design research to account for this contextual effect?

An explanation of behavior problems in grade school classrooms that focus on the children's personalities,rather than on classroom structure,teacher behavior,or the surrounding neighborhood is an example of ______.

What technique reduces the risk of spuriousness in nonexperimental designs?

Idiographic causal explanations seek to specify which conditions led to a particular outcome in a particular case or event.

When relationships between variables differ across geographic units such as counties or across other social settings,researchers say there is ______.

In most sociological and psychological studies,the units of analysis are ______.

Which causal criteria are the most difficult to establish when using cross-sectional designs?

Longitudinal research designs are generally superior to cross-sectional research designs because they more readily establish ______.

Katherine is creating a mock research design that examines the effect of college on religiosity among students.She wishes to interview a random sample of incoming freshmen and do subsequent interviews with the same group at the end of each semester for four years.This is an example of ______.

Association in causal explanations requires that variables vary together.

A researcher conducts four surveys over 4 months measuring voters' support for a proposed policy in his county.What kind of study is this an example of?

To establish time order,which of the following must come first?