Exam 1: Human Inquiry and Science

There is only one correct way to do social research.

Quantification is a process that often makes observations

Nomothetic explanations are more useful than idiographic reasoning.

Social regularities are probabilistic patterns.

Epistemology is the science of finding out.

Explain what is meant by the statement "Tradition and authority are the two-edged swords in the search for knowledge about the world."

If a researcher was studying employment,occupation would be the ______________ and plumber,teacher,or police officer would be _______________

Social theory focuses on "how things should be."

Exceptions to social regularities should be disregarded.

A data file that consists of a prison population's time incarcerated,number of prior offenses,and number of infractions during their stay would be an example of:

When you notice two freshmen women in your form dressing up excessively to attend classes,and assume that ALL freshmen women dress up excessively,AND you therefore choose only to observe those freshmen women who dress up,and disregard those who do not dress up,you have committed the error known as

Social scientific theory aims at the determination of logical and persistent patterns of regularities in social life.

Nomothetic explanations

Juanita decided to study the differences among students who choose different majors.Everyone in her study,however,has chosen sociology as a major.Which one of the following can be said about her concept of choice of major?

A study reported in American Sociological Review (1994)was entitled "Race Differences in Sexual Activity Among Adolescent Women." The independent variable was probably

Watching students coming out of a sociology class,Peng noted that about 15 of the students walked out looking dejected.He did not count the students who appeared relieved or happy.Peng has committed what kind of error?

The misuse of authority refers to experts who discuss their area of expertise in public.

Van says that his 48-year-old Catholic uncle will marry his 23-year-old atheist girlfriend next year in order to prove that the social regularity that people tend to marry people like themselves is not accurate.What is your best response as a methodologist?

Discuss how scientific inquiry tries to avoid the common pitfalls that produce error in nonscientific inquiry.

Sally begins to think about the grades she receives for class participation.Recalling her prior semester she writes down that she received a 10/10 from Ms.Smith and a 9/10 from Ms.Baxter,4/10 from Mr.Cagney,3/10 from Mr.Wiley and 10/10 from Ms.Dona.Examining the list she realizes that she spoke a lot in classes with Smith,Baxter and Dona and very little in her other two classes.She also notices that the classes in which she spoke have female instructors and that she rarely spoke in the two classes with male instructors.She then begins to list all her college courses,the gender of the professor and whether or not she spoke in class.She notices that she tends to speak in classes where the instructor is female and rarely speaks when the instructor is male and that her class participation grades are higher when she speaks more.Sally is using