Exam 3: Doing Sociological Research

Sociologists are not interested in historical research.

Which statement about sociology as a science is true?

_____ is the best way to make sure a sample is representative of the population being studied.

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Research that is exactly the same as a previous study but on a different group of people or in a different time or place is called a _____ study.

Siobhan participated in a sociology experiment in which she and a group of others reviewed and rated job applications for an elementary school teaching position. After the experiment was over, Siobhan was told that the experiment had not just been about rating the applications; it had been about seeing whether the presence of someone making comments that expressed prejudice (for example, in response to a name that might be associated with a particular race, ethnicity, or religious faith) would affect the ratings. This meeting, in which Siobhan learned more about the experiment after she participated, is called

Variables used to measure an abstract concept are called

A student is given the same survey three times, each time sitting alone in a room. The student's results on the survey are different each time. This is an indication that the survey

During which step of the research process do sociologists make their research discoveries?

Akasha creates a survey for her sociology course and gives it to her classmates. When she writes up her findings, she generalizes to all college students. Her generalization is unwarranted because her sample was

What is necessary in order to draw the most accurate conclusions about a population while studying only part of it?

Explain the limitations of a controlled experiment for addressing real-life effects.

Researchers use the term serendipity to refer to

The research technique in which the sociologist is the researcher but is also involved in the activities being studied is called

An advantage of doing participant observation research is that it can be conducted very quickly without much preparation or effort on the part of the researcher.

Explain the difference between validity and reliability. Why are they important in research?

Why is serendipity important in research progress and the development of knowledge?

Replication of previous results is a necessary step for new research.

Today, care is taken to protect the subjects of sociological research. Which of these statements about ethics in sociology is false?

Researchers studied the portrayal of African Americans in prime-time television shows and found an increase from the 1970s, when African Americans made up 6 percent of characters (compared to 12 percent of the U.S. population) , through the early 2000s, when African Americans made up 16 percent of characters (compared to 13 percent of the U.S. population) . This demonstrates