Exam 2: How Sociologists Do Research

Which of the following represents a pattern?

Premature closure of inquiry is an example of scientific thinking.

A neighbour talking to others in her community said that all members of the working class prefer to wear blue jeans rather than dress pants.She said this because all working-class people she knows wear jeans.This statement is an example of knowledge based on what?

A sports commentator insists that football teams from Florida cannot win in cold weather because these teams have lost 55 percent of their past games when played in cold weather.Which form of knowledge does this statement represent?

If a relationship is spurious,what will occur?

The textbook discusses 10 types of non-scientific thinking.Which of the following is one of them?

Mathias refuses to discuss any competing view about string theory.He states,"We know all there is to know about string theory and this view does not fit with the theory!" What form of non-scientific thinking is Mathias demonstrating?

What is a spurious variable and how does it work?

In a probability sample,the units are selected randomly.

Deciding which observations to link to which variables is known as operationalization.

Where is the abstract level of experience located?

What steps should sociologists take to ensure a representative sample for their research?

What is the term for unverified but testable statements about the phenomena that researchers are interested in?

Suppose people are asked questions about their knowledge,attitudes,or behaviour in a face-to-face or telephone interview or using a "paper-and-pencil" format.What are they doing?

Jamie believes that if she steps on a crack in the sidewalk,her mother's back will break.What form of non-scientific thinking is Jamie demonstrating?

According to the textbook,what term describes researchers who approach a problem from an exclusively male point of view?

According to research,approximately what percentage of university students today plagiarize in their work?

If a group of sociologists is interested in studying university students' attitudes toward the federal government,they will need to gather responses to a survey.However,it is not reasonable for the research group to ask all university students what they think.In order to generate a set of meaningful responses,what type of the research survey should the group design?

How much of the difference does the control variable make to the independent-dependent variable connection when a relationship is spurious?

What is the problem of overgeneralization? How can sociologists attempt to correct this problem?