Hypothesis, Dependent Variable, and Reverse Causation
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In social research, a hypothesis is:
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a proposed relationship between two or more variables.
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A variable that is thought to be influenced by another variable is known as the:
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dependent variable
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Martine is a sociologist who thinks that A is causing B, when in fact, B is causing A. She needs to be careful not to make the mistake known as:
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reverse causality
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A testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables is called a(n):
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hypothesis
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Sandra Harding's (1987) three elements of feminist research include all of the following EXCEPT:
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prioritizing women's and girls' experiences over men's and boys' experiences.
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What is a moderating variable?
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a factor that affects the relationship between the independent and dependent variables
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Based on the results of a representative sample of students at his high school, Jack claims that "the majority of high school student today believe premarital sex is wrong." Jack may be "speaking beyond his data" because the results he obtained may not easily translate to the attitudes of other high school students across the United States. This concern addresses the study's:
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generalizability
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If Juanita practices __________ in her research, she carefully considers how her role as researcher may affect those whom she studies (the researched).
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reflexivity
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Elizabeth would like to conduct a study to determine how women define spousal abuse and the meanings they attach to their abuse. What research method will Elizabeth most likely use?
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qualitative
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Which of the following is an example of a quantitative research method?
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conducting a survey about how often people attend church
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Paula begins to notice there are patterns to where people sit on the bus, and that these patterns differ depending on whether the rider is male or female. Based in these observations, she generates larger ideas (theories) about the behaviors of men and women. This an example of which kind of research approach?
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inductive
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Which of the following is more difficult to do in social science research?
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to establish that something is the cause of something else
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If Sandra wants to generalize the findings of her study to another (possibly larger) population, it is important that the people in her study be:
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representative of the group(s) she wants to generalize to.
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When a researcher is successful at measuring what he or she intends to measure, this is called:
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validity
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If Jose's study measures religiosity by the number of hours people spend in organized religious activities, while Deidra's study measures religiosity by whether people agree or disagree that religion plays an important part in their life, Jose and Deidra:
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operationalize their concepts of religion differently.
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The research method that uses information that can be converted to numerical form is:
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quantitative research.
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One of the positive outcomes of sociology's long-term male dominance is:
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the evolution of feminist methodology to complement it and add to the scientific accumulation of knowledge.
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Which of the following is an example of a correlation?
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People with higher levels of income tend to enjoy better overall health.
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Which of the following is true regarding value judgments made by sociologists conducting research?
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Every sociologist makes some value judgments, even about the problems and topics he or she chooses to study.
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The extent to which a researcher can claim that his or her findings explain a larger population than was studied is known as:
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generalizability
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Professor Clayton hypothesizes that travel to other countries increases students' abilities to do well in advanced sociology classes. Which variable is the independent variable?
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travel to other countries
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In her study, Darby is using church membership as an indicator of how relogious a person is. She discovers that some "very religious" people rarely attened church. Darby may conclude that:
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her measure of religiosity lacks validity.
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The likelihood that a researcher will obtain the same result using the same measures the next time he or she tests a hypothesis is:
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reliability
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After consistently burning dinner for a month, John found out that his oven's temperature gauge was giving readings that were 50 degrees cooler than the oven's actual temperature. John's oven thermometer can be said to be:
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reliable but not valid.
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A double-blind study means that:
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neither the subjects nor the researchers know who is in the experimental group or the control group.
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What does reflexivity mean with regard to social research?
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When researchers are aware of their role in, and their potential effect on, the behavior of the people they study
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A standard yardstick measures 36 inches, but Sarah is using a "faulty" yardstick (one that measures 40 inches long) to measure the campers in her youth group. Sarah will not get a(n) __________ indication of height, but she will have a(n) __________ measure of height.
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valid; reliable
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The more consistent the results given by repeated measurements, the higher the __________ of the measurement procedure (and vice versa).
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reliability
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To define a term (or variable) in such a way that it can be examined and measured is the process known as:
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operationalization.
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All of the following are factors needed to establish causality EXCEPT:
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panel study results.
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What type of research describes people's behavior in rich detail and focuses on the meanings people give to their actions?
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qualitative research
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Because they are an accessible population, sociologists sometimes use undergraduate students in their research. In relation to the concept of generalizability in science, this tendency could represent a potential defect in research because:
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college undergraduates are not typical of the public at large.
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A variable that is thought to cause a change in another variable is called the:
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independent variable.
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When one factor is said to influence another factor, we refer to this as:
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causality
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A sociologist's subject matter presents some difficult research problems of a kind that natural scientists rarely have to deal with. Which of the following does NOT describe such a problem?
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It is possible to have completely controlled experiments to delineate cause-and-effect relationships.
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The three factors needed to establish causality are:
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correlation, time order, and ruling out alternative explanations.
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Ethnographer Mitchell Duneier spent five years hanging out with booksellers on the streets of Manhattan. His role as both researcher and participant provides a great example of the importance of:
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critically assessing how our role as researchers may affect the people we study.
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Andy hypothesized that the stress created during economic downturns would increase the probability of spousal abuse. Stress would be considered the __________ variable, and spousal abuse would be considered the __________ variable.
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independent; dependent
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What type of research describes people's behavior in rich detail and focuses on the meaning peoplegive to their actions?
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qualitative research
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What is the meaning of the term white coat effects in social research?
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the impact researchers have on the people/relationships they study
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The two broad approaches social scientists use to gather data about the social world are:
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qualitative and quantitative
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Factors that affect the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable are known as:
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moderating variables.
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A correlation is:
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a simultaneous change in two variables.
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Perhaps the most important outcome of feminist methodology is that:
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the focus on women's experiences, in addition to men's experiences, has increased the generalizabilityof the research.
