Exam 2: Sociological Investigation

Sociologists use the term "empirical evidence" to refer to

Which of the following is true about scientific sociology?

In his research, Sniderman found thats

A variable that is changed by another variable is called the "independent variable."

Sociological research can never be harmful to subjects.

Replication is one way to assess the accuracy of existing research.

Critical sociology can best be described as a(n) ________ approach.

Haphazardly selecting people as they walk down the street is a convenient and useful way to generate a random sample.

Your text notes that one of the best-known early content analyses of the twentieth century is

One disadvantage of conducting interviews is that this research method

Which sociological research method is likely to be most difficult to replicate?

Drawing conclusions about all of humanity based on research using only males as subjects is the problem called

The sociologist recognizes that there are various kinds of "truth."

Three researchers wish to test the effects of playing soft music during an exam on the test performance of their sociology students. They conduct an experiment in which one test-taking class hears music and another does not. In experimental terms, the class hearing the music is called

Which sociological research method saves the time and expense of data gathering, but the researcher has no control over possible data bias?

What research method was used in Philip Zimbardo's study, the Stanford County Prison?

Your friend has just given you an article to read that claims that AIDS was brought to Earth by aliens from another planet. Using the knowledge gained in Chapter 2 of the text on sociological investigation, how might you go about beginning the process of critiquing this article? Explain in as much detail as possible.

Two simple requirements that underlie the process of sociological investigation are (1) looking at the world using the sociological perspective, and (2) becoming curious and asking questions.

To identify cause-and-effect relationships, it is usually necessary to exercise experimental control of variables.

Which of the following terms is defined in the text as "a mental construct that represents some part of the world in a somewhat simplified form"?