Question 1

Statistical significance indicates whether a relationship is spurious or nonspurious.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 2

Extraneous variables may be either controlled or uncontrolled.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  True

Question 3

If older people are less likely to attend church than younger people, the relationship between age and church attendance is

Accepted Answer

A)   positive.
B)   negative.
C)   curvilinear.
D)   symmetric. B

Question 4

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

Accepted Answer

A)   psychology major, sociology major, economics major
B)   race, class rank, age
C)   female, sociology major, sophomore class
D)   family income, sociology major, student

Question 5

A negative correlation between variables means that the variables are not causally related.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

In a survey of American high schools, it was found that students who attended private schools showed higher academic achievement than students who attended public schools. Which of the following variables could create a spurious correlation between type of school (private versus public) and academic achievement?

Accepted Answer

A)   parent's income
B)   school attendance
C)   amount of homework assigned
D)   strictness of school discipline

Question 7

The three main purposes of social research are discovery, explanation, and invention.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

Personal interest is a poor basis for topic selection.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

Suppose you found a negative correlation between how often respondents report that they attend church and how much money they claimed in charitable contributions on their most recent income tax return. This would indicate that

Accepted Answer

A)   church attendance and dollar amount of charitable contributions are unrelated.
B)   as church attendance decreases, dollar amount of charitable contributions decreases.
C)   as church attendance increases, dollar amount of charitable contributions decreases.
D)   you made a mistake in your calculation.

Question 10

Suppose you hypothesize that among college students women consume alcoholic beverages less often than men. The independent variable is

Accepted Answer

A)   women students.
B)   college students.
C)   gender.
D)   frequency of alcohol consumption.

Question 11

In her review of the literature on sports participation and grades, Broh found that previous research

Accepted Answer

A)   failed to examine the impact of sports participation on grades.
B)   showed that high school athletes got lower grades, on average, than non-athletes.
C)   showed that students who participated in non-sports extracurricular activities got higher grades than other students.
D)   had not adequately examined theoretical explanations of how sports participation affects grades.

Question 12

Which of the following statistical properties would not apply to the relationship between the two "qualitative" variables race and political party affiliation?

Accepted Answer

A)   association
B)   significance
C)   strength
D)   direction (positive or negative)

Question 13

Data from a U.S. survey showed that boys whose parents were divorced and separated had more behavioral problems than boys living with both biological parents. Evidence that this finding held up when the researchers controlled for social class and race would

Accepted Answer

A)   clarify the direction of influence.
B)   signify that the relationship is statistically significant.
C)   strengthen the inference that the relationship is nonspurious.
D)   prove that divorce or separation leads to behavioral problems.

Question 14

Which of the following is the least satisfactory statement of a hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

A)   As GNP increases, social inequality increases.
B)   Men are less religious than women.
C)   Happiness is related to intelligence.
D)   Women tend to receive less pay than men for the same work.
E)   The greater the social distance between criminal and victim, the more severe the punishment.

Question 15

Which of the following is not an appropriate statement of a hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

A)   Does place of residence-urban versus rural-affect tolerance?
B)   Rural residents are less tolerant than urban residents.
C)   As the size of one's community increases, one's level of tolerance increases.
D)   If someone resides in a rural area, then he or she tends to be intolerant; if someone resides in an urban area, then he or she tends to be tolerant.

Question 16

Which of the following is the best statement of a hypothesis?

Accepted Answer

A)   Social class is related to party affiliation.
B)   Among the elderly, marital status is related to happiness.
C)   Protestants tend to be Republicans.
D)   Women are more likely to oppose pornography than are men.
E)   Political conservatives support authoritarian leaders.

Question 17

It is hypothesized that among first-year students, women attend class more frequently than men. Class attendance is a(n) __________ variable, and class standing (first-year, second-year, etc.) is a(n) __________variable.

Accepted Answer

A)   independent; dependent
B)   independent; control
C)   dependent; independent
D)   dependent; control

Question 18

Which of the following research studies would be susceptible to the ecological fallacy?

Accepted Answer

A)   Observing individuals interacting in a group to determine whether men or women initiate more topic transitions.
B)   Analyzing data from colleges on the percentage of minority students and the average amount of financial aid to determine if minority students are more likely than others to receive financial aid.
C)   Analyzing data from nations on type of government and rate of voluntary association membership to determine if membership rate is higher in democratic than nondemocratic societies.
D)   Interviewing adolescents to see if exposure to violence is related to dropping out of school.
E)   Interviewing respondents to see if the racial composition of a neighborhood affects their preferences about where to live.

Question 19

A primary objective of research design is to plan a study so that the facts speak for themselves without the need for subjective interpretations.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

A correlation coefficient provides information on all but which one of the following properties?

Accepted Answer

A)   statistical significance
B)   how changes in the values of one variable are related to changes in the values of another
C)   direction of the relationship (positive or negative) 
D)   strength of association

Exam 4: Elements of Research Design

Statistical significance indicates whether a relationship is spurious or nonspurious.

Extraneous variables may be either controlled or uncontrolled.

If older people are less likely to attend church than younger people, the relationship between age and church attendance is

In which of the following lists does each term denote a variable?

A negative correlation between variables means that the variables are not causally related.

The three main purposes of social research are discovery, explanation, and invention.

Personal interest is a poor basis for topic selection.

Suppose you found a negative correlation between how often respondents report that they attend church and how much money they claimed in charitable contributions on their most recent income tax return. This would indicate that

Suppose you hypothesize that among college students women consume alcoholic beverages less often than men. The independent variable is

In her review of the literature on sports participation and grades, Broh found that previous research

Which of the following statistical properties would not apply to the relationship between the two "qualitative" variables race and political party affiliation?

Data from a U.S. survey showed that boys whose parents were divorced and separated had more behavioral problems than boys living with both biological parents. Evidence that this finding held up when the researchers controlled for social class and race would

Which of the following is the least satisfactory statement of a hypothesis?

Which of the following is not an appropriate statement of a hypothesis?

Which of the following is the best statement of a hypothesis?

It is hypothesized that among first-year students, women attend class more frequently than men. Class attendance is a(n) variable, and class standing (first-year, second-year, etc.) is a(n) variable.

Which of the following research studies would be susceptible to the ecological fallacy?

A primary objective of research design is to plan a study so that the facts speak for themselves without the need for subjective interpretations.

A correlation coefficient provides information on all but which one of the following properties?