Social Science Research Methods
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Course Introduction
Social Science Research Methods provides an in-depth exploration of the principles and techniques used to investigate social phenomena. The course covers both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, emphasizing research design, data collection, sampling strategies, and data analysis. Students learn how to formulate research questions, construct hypotheses, design surveys and interviews, and interpret results using statistical tools. Ethical considerations in social research and critical evaluation of published studies are also integral components. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the foundational skills necessary to conduct independent research in social science disciplines.
Recommended Textbook Methods in Behavioral Research 12th Edition by Paul C. Cozby
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Chapter 1: Scientific Understanding of Behavior
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Q1) Scientists often rely on intuition and assertions of authorities to:
A) generate ideas for research.
B) draw conclusions about behavior.
C) set rules for evaluating and reporting information.
D) ensure that flawed research does not become part of scientific literature.
Answer: A
Q2) Isaac has decided to purchase several copies of a new children's book because he has a feeling that the availability of this book will be scarce in the future.Which of the following best explains Isaac's behavior?
A) Authority
B) Skepticism
C) Intuition
D) Empirical evidence
Answer: C
Q3) _____ is the idea that knowledge is based on observations.
A) Fanaticism
B) Didacticism
C) Empiricism
D) Skepticism
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Where to Start
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Q1) Juan is writing a section of a research report that describes who participated in the research along with a description of how the study was conducted.Juan is most likely to be writing the _____ section of the research report.
A) introduction
B) method
C) results
D) discussion
Answer: B
Q2) If the prediction "Participants who consume alcohol will score lower on a reaction time test than participants who do not consume alcohol" is confirmed,we can say the hypothesis is _____.
A) tentative
B) supported
C) unalterable
D) ambiguous
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Ethics in Behavioral Research
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Q1) Informed consent of participants is often a problem for researchers because:
A) understanding and signing the informed consent is time-consuming.
B) knowledge of the hypothesis may bias the participants' responses.
C) participants are rarely interested to know the details of the experiment.
D) researchers themselves are not informed completely about the procedures.
Answer: B
Q2) According to the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services,informed consent is necessary when research places participants at greater than _____ risk.
A) average
B) normal
C) minimal
D) moderate
Answer: C
Q3) Principle C of the APA Ethics Code focuses on _____.
A) integrity
B) justice
C) responsibility
D) beneficence
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Fundamental Research Issues
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Q1) _____ validity is the extent to which results of a study can be generalized to other populations and settings.
A) Linear
B) External
C) Construct
D) Internal
Q2) A _____ is any event,situation,behavior,or individual characteristic that changes.
A) variable
B) module
C) parameter
D) system
Q3) In a _____ method,relationships between variables are studied by making observations or measures of the variables of interest.
A) nonexperimental
B) operational
C) curvilinear
D) confounded
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Chapter 5: Measurement Concepts
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Q1) Mike takes his temperature with a thermometer three times over a 20-minute period and observes the following measurements: 98,106,and 89 degrees.In this context,Mike concludes that the _____ of the thermometer is _____.
A) validity;high
B) variability;low
C) reliability;low
D) reactivity;high
Q2) In the context of reactivity of measures,a measure is said to be reactive if:
A) the measurement is unobtrusive.
B) same individuals are measured at two points in time during a research.
C) awareness of being measured changes an individual's behavior.
D) the measurement is unreliable.
Q3) If a measure is reliable,then a researcher must find a:
A) high positive correlation coefficient between scores on the measure.
B) negative linear relationship between the two variables being studied.
C) correlation coefficient of zero.
D) low amount of true score.
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Chapter 6: Observational Methods
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Q1) If zoologists wanted to study how tigers interact with each other in their habitats,which of these research methods will they most likely use?
A) Content analysis
B) Naturalistic observation
C) Archival research
D) Experimental analysis
Q2) Which of the following is an advantage of conducting a naturalistic observation?
A) It can be used to study all issues or phenomena.
B) It can be used to provide a complete and accurate picture of what occurred in a setting.
C) Its process of analysis that follows the completion of a research is simple.
D) It allows studying well-defined hypotheses under precisely specified conditions.
Q3) Content analysis and systematic observation are similar because both _____.
A) require researchers to devise coding systems
B) depend on qualitative data
C) are forms of laboratory experiments
D) require concealed participation
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Chapter 7: Asking People About Themselves: Survey Research
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Q1) "Do you agree that the city council members should not get an increase in their pay?" is an example of a _____ question.
A) simplistic
B) double-barreled
C) yea-saying and nay-saying
D) negatively worded
Q2) Javier wants to know what teenagers believe is the most significant social problem faced by today's youth.Which type of question would be the most useful to Javier in this scenario?
A) Closed-ended
B) Double-barreled
C) Open-ended
D) Loaded
Q3) While interviewing Lia,Matthew nods his head and smiles whenever Lia responds with an answer that he likes.Matthew's behavior is an example of:
A) carryover effect.
B) social desirability.
C) sampling bias.
D) interviewer bias.
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Chapter 8: Experimental Design
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Questions
Q1) Michelle is interested in factors that influence the perceptions of others.She provides participants with photographs of female supermodels and asks them to rate the attractiveness of each woman.She then provides participants with photographs of women who are not models and asks the participants to rate the attractiveness of each woman.She finds that participants rate the women who are not models much lower.What effect may be responsible for the lower ratings of the women who are not models?
A) Reactive
B) Practice
C) Fatigue
D) Carryover
Q2) Mike wants to find out whether campers prefer cotton or nylon sleeping bags.He asks a group of girl campers to try both the nylon and cotton sleeping bags.The sleeping bags were rated for softness and warmth.What is the confounding variable in Mike's experiment?
A) Cotton or nylon material
B) Softness
C) Gender of camper
D) Sleeping bags
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Chapter 9: Conducting Experiments
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Q1) In a study examining the effect of appearances on judgments of criminal behavior,a researcher asks questions about the surroundings and the victim in order to disguise the dependent measures in the study.These unrelated questions are referred to as _____.
A) independent measures
B) filler items
C) task measures
D) placebo measures
Q2) A researcher wants to examine the effect of noise level on reading comprehension.He finds that regardless of the noise level,all participants tested received the maximum scores for their performance.The results may be due to _____ effect.
A) fatigue
B) performance
C) ceiling
D) floor
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Chapter 10: Complex Experimental Designs
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Q1) In a study designed to measure aggressive play of boys versus girls who attend public or private schools,which of the following statements is least correct?
A) There may be a simple main effect of gender.
B) There may be a simple main effect of the type of school.
C) There may be an effect of aggressive play.
D) There may be a Gender × type of school interaction.
Q2) In order to find a curvilinear relationship,the researcher needs to use:
A) factorial designs.
B) three or more levels of the independent variable.
C) more than one dependent variable.
D) a mixed factorial design.
Q3) How many main effects are possible in a study with a 2 × 3 × 2 factorial design?
A) 18
B) 7
C) 4
D) 3
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Chapter 11: Single-Case, Quasi-Experimental, and Developmental Research
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Q1) One method used to demonstrate the reversibility of the effect of the independent variable is a(n):
A) quasi-experimental design.
B) interrupted time series design.
C) control series design.
D) ABA design.
Q2) A researcher wants to study the effect of weather on college students' study habits.On a sunny day,the researcher sits in the quad and records the number of minutes of study per student.Identify the crucial element missing in this design.
A) An experimental group
B) A control group
C) An independent variable
D) A dependent variable
Q3) In a multiple baseline design,in order to conclude that a treatment is effective,a behavior change must be observed:
A) with multiple participants.
B) under multiple circumstances.
C) when a treatment is removed and reintroduced multiple times.
D) before the manipulation is introduced.
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Chapter 12: Understanding Research Results: Description and
Correlation
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Q1) The general form of a regression equation is _____.
A) X = Y + ab
B) XY = a + b
C) Y = a + bX
D) ab = X + Y
Q2) Which of the following examples best represents the use of an interval scale?
A) Ranking the participants of a race based on their performance
B) Assessing students' ratings of their professors' performance on a five-point scale ranging from poor to excellent
C) Measuring the number of boxes of cookies sold by scouts on the west side of a town versus those sold on the east side of the town
D) Naming the different brands of cars seen in a school's parking lot
Q3) Which of the following statements is true about structural equation models?
A) They are developed after the data is analyzed and interpreted.
B) They are expected patterns of relationships among a set of variables.
C) They can only be used to explain the results of laboratory experiments.
D) They can only be used to explain the results of field experiments.
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Chapter 13: Understanding Research Results: Statistical Inference
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Q1) Andrea is told that the means of two groups in a study were statistically significant.She knows the means and standard deviations of the two groups and is interested in calculating an estimate of effect size.Given this information,which effect size estimate should she calculate?
A) F
B) Effect size r
C) Cohen's d
D) Alpha
Q2) The probability of making a Type II error is NOT influenced by the:
A) effect size.
B) sample size.
C) alpha level.
D) gamma level.
Q3) The larger the F ratio,the more likely the results are _____.
A) significant
B) invalid
C) dissimilar
D) manipulated
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Chapter 14: Generalization
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Q1) Using the Internet for research may lower the external validity of a study because users are more likely to share similar characteristics.In this case,volunteers of online surveys are likely to:
A) be college educated.
B) have a lower income.
C) live in rural areas.
D) be older adults.
Q2) Which of the following is true of conceptual replications?
A) They are an attempt to replicate precisely the procedures of a study to see whether the same results are obtained.
B) They occur when a researcher builds on the findings of a prior study.
C) They are not important in the social sciences because the variables used cannot be operationalized in different ways.
D) They are more important than exact replications in furthering one's understanding of behavior.
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