The operational definition of any variable is composed of:
a. the hypothesis
b. the content analysis
c. manifest content
d. attributes
Which of the following are not efforts that you can employ as situational crime
prevention techniques?
a. keeping your car doors locked when you park
b. using a steering wheel lock every time you exit your car
c. call the police immediately after you realize that your car has been vandalized
d. use removable stereo systems
Kevin made an observation in a natural setting, then formulated a tentative theory about
the observation that explained the observation and then made additional observations.
This is an example of a/an:
a. grounded theory
b. paradigm
c. inductive illustration
d. hypothesis
According to the text, most criminal justice professionals (especially supervisors)
routinely review:
a. computer readouts and news reports
b. archived and updated spreadsheets
c. performance reports and statistical tabulations
d. databases
The threat of history refers to:
a. some subjects with have had history classes and others not
b. the realization that some subjects have learned from history while others have not
c. events external to the experiment that will impact the results
d. the fact that only current, relevant subjects need be studied
On the continuum of methods for recording observations, one extreme is taking notes
with pen and paper, the other extreme is:
a. video recording
b. participant observation
c. total participation
d. interviews
How many attributes does a dichotomous variable have?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 4
Stepping on a thorn for the first time and realizing that it is painful before anyone tells
you it is painful is an example of:
a. agreement reality
b. inaccurate observation
c. experiential reality
d. a nomothetic explanation
Which of the following is not a characteristic of a cross-sectional study?
a. the study is conducted at one point in time
b. cross-sectional studies for explanatory or evaluation purposes have an inherent flaw
c. the study assesses changes that take place in a specific sample over time
d. it allows a large population to be examined at a specific point in time
Which of the following is not true concerning the use of multivariate tables?
a. they are constructed in the same manner as bivariate tables
b. they include only one independent variable
c. the dependent variable is explained in terms of more than one independent variable
d. they include more than one independent variable
With respect to lambda, which of the following is not true?
a. lambda represents the reduction in errors as a proportion of the errors that would
have been made on the basis of the overall distribution
b. lambda is appropriate for ratio level variables
c. lambda measures the statistical association between two nominal variables
d. lambda is based on the ability to guess values on one of the variables by having
knowledge of values on the other variables
A mock jury is an example of:
a. open ended questions
b. interviews
c. focus group
d. survey designs
When using inferential statistics all of the following assumptions are accurate except:
a. the sample must be drawn from the population about which inferences are being
made
b. the inferential statistics assume simple random sampling
c. as long as the sample is drawn from a population that resembles the one about which
inferences are to be made, the resulting statistic has value
d. inferential statistics are addressed to sampling error only, they do not consider
non-sampling errors
Which of the following is not a subject that can be studied effectively?
a. Should a state consider adopting the death penalty.
b. Are appointed public defenders better than those that are elected in getting not-guilty
verdicts.
c. Are police officers respected by the citizens more in community policing areas.
d. Are child protective services employees effective as measured by the number of
families they reunite.
Understanding the details of how agency records are produced is one of the accepted
means of controlling reliability and validity problems.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following data sources could not be coded for use in content analysis?
a. letters to the editor
b. commentaries by talk show hosts
c. dissenting opinions in cases dealing with the death penalty
d. agency aggregate statistics
Which of the following are not exempt from IRB review under federal guidelines?
a. research involving the analysis of existing data
b. research involving the use of educational tests that are cognitive in nature
c. research conducted in established educational settings that involve normal education
practices
d. research that uses living subjects who have participated in at least one prior research
study
Causation in social science is the foundation for exploratory research.
a. True
b. False
While the interrupted time series can be used in cause-and-effect studies, it is really
useless in applied studies.
a. True
b. False
Bivariate and multivariate analyses are aimed primarily at:
a. description
b. exploration
c. explanation
d. application
Which of the following is not one of the levels of significance typically used in social
science research reports?
a. 0.05
b. 0.10
c. 0.01
d. 0.001
A variable which has two attributes such as gender, is what type of variable?
a. sampling variable
b. binomial variable
c. sampling frame
d. representative variable
Which of the following is an example of content analysis in criminal justice research?
a. counting the number of stories devoted to the coverage of crime in your local
newspaper
b. counting the number of robberies that happen in your city
c. measuring the average length of time from arrest to disposition in your city
d. determining the average number of inmates housed in your city’s jail on a daily basis
Which of the following represent discrete nominal or ordinal variables?
a. age
b. race
c. speed limit
d. ranks in a police department
Selective observation is a danger of overgeneralization.
a. True
b. False
With regard to the UCR, Part I offenses are counted only when:
a. the offenses are reported to police
b. the offenses are recorded by police
c. a and b are correct
d. none of the above
Which of the following statements is true?
a. non-equivalent-groups and time-series designs are two general types of
quasi-experiments
b. experiments and time-series designs are two general types of quasi-experiments
c. all research purposes are amenable to the use of experimental designs
d. all of the above are true
Professor White asked his students to put the number of hours each studied for the final
exam on a piece of paper and turn that paper in with the exam. The pieces of paper
indicate that students studied 10, 3, 4, 25, 1, 4, 4, 12, 6, 8 and 10 hours. What is the
modal number of hours studied? What is the mean number of hours students studied?
a. 10
b. 7.9
c. 7
d. 6
The appropriate measure of association when using nominal variables is:
a. regression
b. lambda
c. correlation
d. standard deviation
Which of the following is not an advantage of the use of matrix questions?
a. they are faster to complete for respondents
b. they do not take much thought on the part of the respondents to answer
c. they use space efficiently
d. the format increases the comparability of responses given to different questions for
the respondent as well as the researcher
The words or symbols in language used to illustrate subjective thoughts or mental
images about things we may encounter in daily life are known as:
a. operations
b. concepts
c. observations
d. measurements
Creaming, or skimming the best, risks off the top to be incorporated in an experiment, is
a threat to
____________________.
Compare and contrast, the structured, semi-structured, and unstructured interview
format. Be sure to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of each and well as discuss
which situations better lend themselves to different types of interview formats.
Answer:N/A
When the researcher selects the role of they are participating with the group but let the
group know that they are conducting research.
The main reason why is used to select subjects for control and experimental groups in a
classical experiment is that the groups will be statistically equivalent.
Qualitative interviews are an important component of research.
Discuss the validity and reliability of self-report measures.
Answer:N/A
The tends to be based on a much less structured set of open-ended questions than other
survey or interview techniques.
Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo’s prison simulation examined whether the prison
environment itself creates brutal, dehumanizing conditions unrelated to the kinds of
people who live and work in the institutions. The term used to describe this explanation
is .
When we generalize from samples to larger populations we use statistics to test the
significance of an observed relationship.
Combining measures often produces more valid and reliable indicators.
When using students in your class as research subjects and having them complete a
questionnaire, there is a potential for ethical problems in that their participation may not
be .
, units, and time are key elements in planning a research study.
Discuss what your text refers to as “measuring crime for specific purposes.” Compare
these with the traditional methods.
Answer:N/A
If the respondent must select an answer from among a list provided by the researcher,
they are answering
____________________ questions.
are those that have a vested interest in the organization and the outcome of evaluation
research.
The process of specifying steps, procedures, or operations for actually identifying and
measuring variables to be observed is ____________________.
Suggest a content analysis project that could be completed by the class. Discuss the
units of analysis and the sampling for this project. Further, discuss the coding that you
would use if you were required to complete this project.
Answer:N/A
The first step in gaining access to an organization or group of people is a finding a .
The two main ways of promoting compliance with ethical principles are codes of ethics
and
___________________.