Exam 2: How Sociologists Do Research

Knowledge based on the assumption about the past that may or may not be accurate is known as:

If one variable changes as the other changes,the variables are said to be ____.

When children fight at home,an adult is often present to intervene.By repeatedly separating and not ____ their aggressive behavior,the adult can teach them that fighting is unacceptable.

If researchers are unable to differentiate their ideas and understandings from those of their research subjects,they have:

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the American census?

A researcher believes that colder temperatures lead to more snowfall.The amount of snowfall is the ____ variable.

When research subjects have an equal chance to be assigned to a research group,this is called:

When we read that a finding is statistically significant,it usually means we can expect similar findings in 19 out of 20 samples of the same size.Said differently,researchers in the social sciences are conventionally prepared to tolerate a 5% chance that the characteristics of a population are actually different from the characteristics of their sample (1/20 = 5%).

The Rank of Countries by Four Measures of Well-Being,shown in Table 2.3 in the text,demonstrates the potential bias of official statistics because:

Janice is taking a survey about television sets.The question about preferred screen size allows four options: 12" screen,19" screen,25" screen,and 36" screen.This is an example of what kind of question?

When researchers introduce an independent variable to an experimental group in the normal course of social life,this is called:

A researcher notes that when his nose gets cold,he is more likely to slip on the ice when leaving his office building.The researcher then writes a paper stating that there is an association between cold noses and falling down.This association is:

A researcher speculates that people who get married are more likely than people who are not married to be interested in the same kind of pets.This is an example of:

The process whereby individuals are assigned to research groups by chance is known as:

Compare and contrast participant observation and survey research.What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? How are they similar and different?

A community holds a parade every year after which area farmers are then allowed to plant their lands.While the parade does not influence the growing season in any demonstrable way,the community believes that a good parade does positively influence the crop yields.This would be an example of:

Many sociologists who conduct participant observation research consider the Hawthorne effect a serious problem in conducting research.What steps can a sociologist take to counter the negative consequences of the Hawthorne effect?

A researcher who examines a social setting from the viewpoint of the participants is conducting research using which method?

The whole point of using scientific research methods is to eliminate all bias from our observations and arrive at a completely objective perception of reality.

One of the means of dealing with bias in sociological research is: