Question 1

In Broh's study of the relationship between participation in interscholastic sports and academic achievement, social capital was an __________ variable and parent's income was an __________ variable.

Accepted Answer

A)  antecedent; antecedent 
B)  antecedent; intervening 
C)  intervening; antecedent 
D)  intervening; intervening

Question 2

A nonspurious relationship implies that

Accepted Answer

A)  the independent and dependent variables are interchangeable. 
B)  there is a no statistical association between the variables. 
C)  there is a positive association between the variables. 
D)  there is a negative association between the variables. 
E)  there is a causal link between the variables.

Question 3

The best control for investigator bias is to try not to anticipate any patterns or relationships among variables.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Suppose there is an association between variables X and Y. Showing empirically that a variable intervenes between X and Y

Accepted Answer

A)  adds to theoretical understanding of the relationship between X and Y. 
B)  demonstrates that the relationship between X and Y is spurious. 
C)  weakens the inference that a causal relationship exists between X and Y. 
D)  weakens the inference that the relationship between X and Y is statistically significant.

Question 5

Suppose you develop the following hypothesis: The more cohesive the group, the greater its productivity. To test the hypothesis, you analyze fifteen secretarial pools of six secretaries each in one large insurance company. The unit of analysis in this study would be

Accepted Answer

A)  the insurance company. 
B)  site and time of the study. 
C)  the secretarial pools. 
D)  individual secretaries.

Question 6

To examine whether the unemployment rate is related to rates of welfare and imprisonment, Mark Colvin gathered data from a random sample of 184 urban, industrial counties in the United States. Colvin's unit of analysis is

Accepted Answer

A)  the United States. 
B)  counties. 
C)  a random sample. 
D)  welfare recipients.

Question 7

Emile Durkheim may have committed an ecological fallacy in his classic study of suicide by inferring individual propensities to suicide from group suicide rates.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 8

In a study of the relationship between level of education and support for immigration reform, a person's race or ethnicity is an __________ variable and their occupational status is an __________ variable.

Accepted Answer

A)  antecedent; antecedent 
B)  antecedent; intervening 
C)  intervening; antecedent 
D)  intervening; intervening

Question 9

Including only males in a study controls for the variable "gender."

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 10

The three criteria for establishing causality are association, direction of influence, and nonspuriousness.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

If an empirical relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable is maintained when the effects of all antecedent variables are controlled or held constant, the relationship is

Accepted Answer

A)  spurious. 
B)  nonspurious. 
C)  positive. 
D)  negative.

Question 12

Either an antecedent or intervening variable may create a spurious relationship.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

In a study of the effect of gender on trust, gender would be the control variable.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 14

Independent variable is to cause as dependent variable is to effect.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

In a sample of corporations, the level of charitable giving increases as the average salary of the corporation increases. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Accepted Answer

A)  high-paying corporations are more apt to encourage employee giving than low-paying corporations. 
B)  high-paying corporations give greater amounts than low-paying corporations. 
C)  charitable giving enhances the economic growth of corporations. 
D)  employees who are paid more tend to give more to charities.

Question 16

Anticipated relationships guide all research, even research aimed exclusively at exploration or description.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

A correlation coefficient of .10 between SAT score and college GPA is statistically significant at p < .01. This indicates that the association is

Accepted Answer

A)  weak but significant. 
B)  weak and nonsignificant. 
C)  strong and significant. 
D)  strong but nonsignificant.

Question 18

Respondents in a campus survey are drawn from a random sample of the entire student body. Therefore, it is appropriate to conduct tests of statistical significance. A significance level of p < .001 for a particular relationship would indicate that the relationship

Accepted Answer

A)  is not significant. 
B)  can be generalized to other student populations. 
C)  is likely to exist for the entire student body. 
D)  easily could have occurred by chance or random processes.

Question 19

Explain the difference between the following four properties of relationships: strength, directionality, linearity, and statistical significance. Which properties are revealed by a correlation coefficient?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the difference between the following four...

Question 20

In her analysis of data from a national survey of high school students, Beckett Broh found that students who played interscholastic sports tended to perform better academically than those who did not play; moreover, this association was statistically significant. Based on this information, it would be appropriate to conclude that

Accepted Answer

A)  playing sports is a cause (among other causes) of academic performance. 
B)  there is an association between playing high school sports and academic performance. 
C)  playing sports has a positive impact on academic performance. 
D)  the relationship between sports participation and academic performance is nonspurious.

Exam 4: Elements of Research Design

In Broh's study of the relationship between participation in interscholastic sports and academic achievement, social capital was an variable and parent's income was an variable.

A nonspurious relationship implies that

The best control for investigator bias is to try not to anticipate any patterns or relationships among variables.

Suppose there is an association between variables X and Y. Showing empirically that a variable intervenes between X and Y

Suppose you develop the following hypothesis: The more cohesive the group, the greater its productivity. To test the hypothesis, you analyze fifteen secretarial pools of six secretaries each in one large insurance company. The unit of analysis in this study would be

To examine whether the unemployment rate is related to rates of welfare and imprisonment, Mark Colvin gathered data from a random sample of 184 urban, industrial counties in the United States. Colvin's unit of analysis is

Emile Durkheim may have committed an ecological fallacy in his classic study of suicide by inferring individual propensities to suicide from group suicide rates.

In a study of the relationship between level of education and support for immigration reform, a person's race or ethnicity is an variable and their occupational status is an variable.

Including only males in a study controls for the variable "gender."

The three criteria for establishing causality are association, direction of influence, and nonspuriousness.

If an empirical relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable is maintained when the effects of all antecedent variables are controlled or held constant, the relationship is

Either an antecedent or intervening variable may create a spurious relationship.

In a study of the effect of gender on trust, gender would be the control variable.

Independent variable is to cause as dependent variable is to effect.

In a sample of corporations, the level of charitable giving increases as the average salary of the corporation increases. It would be an ecological fallacy to conclude that

Anticipated relationships guide all research, even research aimed exclusively at exploration or description.

A correlation coefficient of .10 between SAT score and college GPA is statistically significant at p < .01. This indicates that the association is

Respondents in a campus survey are drawn from a random sample of the entire student body. Therefore, it is appropriate to conduct tests of statistical significance. A significance level of p < .001 for a particular relationship would indicate that the relationship

Explain the difference between the following four properties of relationships: strength, directionality, linearity, and statistical significance. Which properties are revealed by a correlation coefficient?