Social Research Methods
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Course Introduction
Social Research Methods explores the systematic approaches used to investigate social phenomena, equipping students with the skills to design, conduct, and analyze research in the social sciences. The course covers both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including survey design, interviews, observation, data collection, and statistical analysis. Emphasis is placed on ethical considerations, developing research questions, sampling techniques, and interpreting results, enabling students to critically assess and contribute to scholarly research and practical applications in various social settings.
Recommended Textbook
An Invitation to Social Research How Its Done 5th Edition by Emily Stier Adler
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Uses of Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) In many ways,the scientific method
A) compensates for the shortcomings of other approaches to knowledge.
B) relies exclusively on the word of "authorities" and "personal inquiry".
C) emphasizes the value of communities of scientists and critical skepticism.
D) compensates for the shortcomings of other approaches to knowledge and emphasizes the value of communities of scientists and critical skepticism.
E) all of these.
Answer: D
Q2) In applied research,investigators are seeking to critique existing social relationships.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) In applied research,investigators are interested in
A) knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
B) research having practical and useful outcomes.
C) knowing about fields where there is little previous research.
D) creating social theory.
E) none of these.
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Theory and Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) If we approach a setting with a theory we want to test,we are employing
A) common sense.
B) inductive reasoning.
C) deductive reasoning.
D) personal knowledge.
E) both inductive reasoning and personal knowledge.
Answer: C
Q2) If in our research,we have observed that 10 individuals with characteristic X seem to be more committed to ideas about social equality than other individuals without that characteristic,we are making
A) unfounded assumptions.
B) theories.
C) empirical generalizations.
D) deductive conclusions.
E) hypotheses.
Answer: C
Q3) Independent variables influence dependent variables.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Ethics and Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) An informed consent form would include
A) a promise of anonymity and confidentiality.
B) a description of the study.
C) a statement that participation is completely voluntary.
D) the contact information for the principal investigator.
E) all of the above would be included on an informed consent form
Answer: E
Q2) It is ethical to ask permission to observe groups or organizations who meet in private settings.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) First and foremost,the central ethical obligation for researchers is to
A) obtain informed consent.
B) receive IRB approval.
C) protect study participants from harm.
D) both A and B.
E) none of these
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Planning a Research Project
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Sample Questions
Q1) Research costs include
A) salaries
B) pre-testing data costs
C) equipment costs
D) data collection costs
E) all of these
Q2) A researchable question must be feasible.Which of the following is not an element of feasibility?
A) It must be possible to get access to the information needed for the study.
B) There must be sufficient time to do the study.
C) There must be a grant to support the investigation.
D) There must be resources to do the research even if there are minimal costs associated with it.
E) all of these are elements of feasibility.
Q3) "What impact do cell phones have on society?" This is an example of a researchable question.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the purposes of conducting a literature review?
Q5) Describe how funding sources may influence whether research is value free.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Sampling
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Sample Questions
Q1) The U.S.Census,in order to save money,samples the population of the United States every ten years.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If a series of samples are drawn from a population,it is likely that they will fall along a normal distribution and reflect
A) a nonprobability sample.
B) a population parameter.
C) a variable distribution.
D) sampling error.
E) a nonprobability sample and a variable distribution only.
Q3) Snowball sampling techniques are useful when gaining access to groups that are harder to find.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A random sample is usually the best way to examine a population.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Identify and describe the sources of errors associated with sampling.
Q6) Identify and describe the four types of nonprobability sampling.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Measurement
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is pretty easy to take a nominal measure and transform it into a ratio measure.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A researcher assigns her observations into categories.She isher variables.
A) indexing
B) compositing
C) coding
D) conceptualizing
E) operationalizing
Q3) Develop mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories for the variable "involvement of college students in employment." Explain your choices.
Q4) A/nis an index in which some items are given more weight than others.
A) scale
B) composite
C) indicator
D) operator
E) variable
Q5) What is the difference between reliability and validity?
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Chapter 7: Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, and Case Study Designs
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Q1) If we are interested in learning about how social and economic elites influence decision making in one city and will rely upon census data,newspaper accounts,interviews,and surveys to do this research,we are relying on the Study design.
A) case
B) non-experimental
C) trend
D) longitudinal
E) questionnaire
Q2) A cross-sectional research design relies on obtaining data from a cross-section of the population over several points in time.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Consider the following variables: age,marital status,income,and educational attainment.Develop a hypothesis with at least two of the variables.Then,design a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study to test your hypothesis.
Q4) Identify and explain the major challenges to doing research using longitudinal study designs.
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Chapter 8: Experimental Research
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Q1) Internal validity is not an issue with quasi-experiments because there are experimental and control groups.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Field experiments typically have better generalizability because they occur outside an official laboratory setting.On the other hand,there are disadvantages,which include which of the following?
A) Researchers do not have complete control over the setting.
B) It may be impossible to run the experiment so that it is methodologically sound.
C) Researchers are usually at the mercy of others in the setting and must abide by institutional constraints.
D) All of these.
E) None of these.
Q3) Describe the situation in which a natural experiment is more appropriate over a classical experimental design.What are the inherent differences between these experimental designs? What issues do you have to account for when doing a natural experiment?
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Chapter 9: Questionnaires and Structured Interviews
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Q1) A pilot test is useful to pretest a questionnaire.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If those who respond to a survey are different (e.g.,better educated,higher income,politically involved)from those who do not respond,a researcher is faced with A) invalid results.
B) contaminated samples.
C) nonresponse bias.
D) a poor response rate.
E) self-administered questionnaires.
Q3) Among the following,the data collection method that is most costly is A) mail questionnaires.
B) phone surveys.
C) group administered questionnaires.
D) in-person interviews.
E) All of these cost about the same.
Q4) Compare the advantages and disadvantages of mail vs.phone surveys.
Q5) Provide an example of a closed-ended and an open-ended question that seeks information about racial and ethnic tolerance.
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Chapter 10: Qualitative Interviewing
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Q1) Gatekeepers are those individuals who are empowered to grant access to certain populations.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The advantage of an unstructured interview is that
A) the researcher doesn't have to make up the interview questions.
B) they are relatively inexpensive.
C) it focuses on the respondent's understanding of the social world and allows the researcher to understand their viewpoints.
D) it helps the researcher to narrow the focus of his or her interests.
E) it allows the researcher to change his or her research questions during the interview.
Q3) Typically,the analysis of interviews is
A) intuitive.
B) inductive.
C) hypothetical.
D) deductive.
E) none of these
Q4) Describe the issues of validity for qualitative interviews.
Q5) Compare and contrast any two types of qualitative interviews.
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Chapter 11: Observational Techniques
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Sample Questions
Q1) Collingham's focal research used
A) nonparticipant observation.
B) controlled experiments.
C) thick descriptions.
D) complete observation.
E) participant observation.
Q2) The bias caused by the observed changing as a result of being observed is called
A) demand characteristics.
B) observational bias.
C) grounded bias.
D) informant bias.
E) ethnography.
Q3) When a researcher is participating in_______observation,the goal is to remain aloof.
A) full participant
B) non participant
C) participant as observer
D) partial participant
E) The goal is to remain aloof no matter what type of observation a researcher is participating in.
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Chapter 12: Using Available Data
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Q1) There are few sources of available data that allow researchers to examine changes over time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One concern of using available data is being confused about the unit of analysis. A)True
B)False
Q3) The advantages of using data that has already been collected do not include
A) the fact that others have already invested resources in collecting the data.
B) the fact that researchers can work at their own pace.
C) the fact that data may have been collected at several points in time permitting study of change over time.
D) the fact that the data collection is obtrusive.
E) the fact that data is on a continuum of availability.
Q4) Physical traces includes any kind of physical evidence left by humans. A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the ecological fallacy and how you might avoid it.
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Chapter 13: Content Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) In content analysis,you can choose any conventional sampling technique.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is not an appropriate topic for content analysis?
A) an examination of facebook accounts for social activity among teens
B) an examination of election coverage on various websites
C) an examination of women's portrayal through art
D) an examination of social networks through obituaries
E) an examination of gender differences in college attendance
Q3) A unit of analysis is the unit about which information is collected.
A)True
B)False
Q4) There are strict guidelines for doing qualitative content analysis.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Content analysis relies solely on simple random sampling.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What are the main differences between quantitative content analysis and qualitative content analysis?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Applied Social Research
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Q1) Applied research
A) is research with a practical purpose.
B) tests hypotheses just as basic research does.
C) is generally a lonely research enterprise.
D) can help to create, modify, and implement programs and activities that make a difference in people's lives.
E) is research with a practical purpose and helps to create, modify, and implement programs and activities that make a difference in people's lives.
Q2) Basic research is intended to be immediately useful to program managers and policy makers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Evaluation research is a scientific method that does not need to consider who the intended audience is for its findings.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Impact analysis seeks to determine the utility of programs or treatments.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) In describing a population,why is it advantageous to not only know the measures of central tendency,but also to calculate measures of dispersion?
Q2) If as the value of A (let's say height)increases,B (let's say weight)also increases,we can say that they
A) are inversely related. B) are positively related.
C) are causally related.
D) are spuriously related.
E) are graphically related.
Q3) The______model allows a researcher to examine more than two variables at a time.
A) multivariable
B) elaboration
C) variable
D) interpretation
E) central tendency
Q4) Identify and describe the four types of elaboration.
Q5) The measure of central tendency used for ordinal variables is mode.
A)True
B)False
17
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