Exam 2: Studying Social Life: Sociology Research Methods

A sociologist wants to study racial discrimination in hiring, and decides to either distribute a survey asking employers about their hiring methods, or conduct an experiment that involves sending fake resumes to employers to see who gets an interview. Which method would best examine racial discrimination in hiring and why?

Why should sociologists generally follow the steps of the scientific method or approach?

A research team is curious about the relationship between exercise habits and academic performance among American college students. The researchers randomly select seventeen colleges by pulling names out of a hat. They travel to campuses and stand in prominent public places asking for volunteers until they have ten people from each campus willing to be interviewed. What is the researchers' target population?

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that it

A sociologist thinks he has discovered a very interesting and unique finding. His data show a correlation between children's shoe sizes and their reading test scores. He thinks that children with bigger feet must be smarter. What is the most logical explanation based on this information?

In her ethnography Wheeling & Dealing, Patricia Adler investigates the social and professional worlds of mid-level cocaine and marijuana smugglers. Her research started unexpectedly when she discovered that her next-door neighbor and friend was a drug smuggler. This was a huge advantage for her because it meant that she already had ________ with one of her informants.

In his research, ethnographer Richard Mitchell kept his identity a secret while studying militant survivalist groups. Sometimes, he even presented himself as a believer in the survivalists' paranoid, racist ideologies in order to establish

The analysis of documents such as medical records, photographs, diaries, letters, newspapers, and song lyrics uses which of the following types of data?

What kind of question usually produces a wide variety of responses by allowing respondents to answer in whatever way seems appropriate to them?

Ethnography and participant observation are often used interchangeably.

Researchers are often worried that interviewees have not been completely honest or forthcoming, especially when asked about sensitive subjects. How did Arlie Hochschild attempt to deal with this problem?

What does it mean when an interviewer asks a respondent for their life history?

________ research would involve observing a group in order to determine its norms, values, rules, and meanings.

What role does the population studied perform in action research?

A team of sociologists is commissioned to study the effects of lighting levels and amount of time for breaks on workers' productivity in an office setting. Before the study begins, office workers are told why the researchers are there. When the team analyzes their data, they find that no matter what they do, productivity levels go up while they are physically present. When the team is not physically present, productivity levels return to normal. What is the likely explanation for these findings?

If a researcher allows their own values and opinions to affect their analysis, they are guilty of

In what way does a focus group differ from one-on-one interviews?

Elton Mayo conducted his now-classic experiment on worker productivity. Mayo found that he could increase productivity by changing variables in a work environment, but that changing variables back also increased productivity. What did he conclude was the true cause of the increase in productivity?

Reactivity is

If a researcher has obtained informed consent from all of their participants, it means that