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Chapter_4 General_Issues_in_Research_Design
1. Science is the enterprise dedicated to exploring.
a. True
b. False
2. Causation in social science is the foundation for exploratory research.
a. True
b. False
3. Joseph Maxwell identified “how credible and believable it is” as one criterion for assessing an idiographic
explanation.
a. True
b. False
4. Threats to internal validity result from nonrandom, systematic error.
a. True
b. False
5. Construct validity refers to generalizing from what we observe and measure to the real-world things in which we are
interested.
a. True
b. False
6. Explanatory studies are not cross-sectional.
a. True
b. False
7. Retrospective studies have the danger of faulty memories or even subjects lying.
a. True
b. False
8. Prospective studies are completed quickly since you only have to ask people to project what they would do or how
they will act in the future.
a. True
b. False
9. The idea that two variables must vary together (i.e. must be empirically correlated)—is a nomothetic explanation of
causality.
a. True
b. False
10. Social artifacts refer only to paper documents, such as newspapers, court opinions and police crime reports.
a. True
b. False
11. With respect to causation
a. it is the focus of explanatory research
b. it suggests a cause and effect relationship
c. cause in social science is inherently probabilistic
d. all of the above
12. Which of the following does not represent a criterion for causality?
a. there is a correlation between the cause and the effect
b. the cause precedes the effect in time
c. the change in the effect is not caused by some third variable
d. it is not necessary for two variables to be correlated with each other
13. It is necessary to be charged before one can be convicted. This statement is representative of:
a. real cause
b. necessary cause
c. sufficient cause
d. probabilistic cause
14. When we are concerned with whether we are correct in inferring that a cause produced an effect, we are
concerned with the:
a. reliability
b. generalizability
c. validity
d. probability
15. Our ability to determine whether a change in the cause is statistically associated with a change in the effect is
referring to what type of validity?
a. face validity
b. statistical conclusion validity
c. internal validity
d. construct validity
16. One common threat to statistical conclusion validity is:
a. the manner in which a sample is pulled
b. whether the sample is randomly selected
c. the size of the sample
d. all of the above are threats
17. When two variables are empirically correlated with each other, they must:
a. occur together
b. occur at different times
c. be on separate time and space continuums
d. occur in succession
18. A researcher compared the recidivism rates of drug abusers that were given probation with those that were
sentenced to prison and discovered that the recidivism rates were highest for those given prison. What potential error
is reflected by this conclusion?
a. internal validity
b. statistical conclusion validity
c. construct validity
d. external validity
19. Systematic error would be found in what type of validity problem?
a. internal validity
b. statistical conclusion validity
c. external validity
d. construct validity
20. Nonsystematic bias would be found in what type of validity problem?
a. internal validity
b. statistical conclusion validity
c. external validity
d. construct validity
21. Causally related can also be expressed as
a. one relies upon the other
b. one precedes the other
c. one causes the other
d. none of the above
22. In examining the relationship between drug use and crime discussed in your text, which of the following represents
an internal validity threat?
a. the amount of variation in drug use and crime participation
b. the different patterns among different population groups means that there is no cause-and-effect relationship
c. both drug use and crime can be attributed to other causes
d. all of the above
23. All but which of the following would be a unit of analysis?
a. individuals
b. groups
c. organizations
d. social sentiments
24. Households used by the National Crime Victimization Survey are an example of which unit of analysis?
a. individuals
b. groups
c. social artifacts
d. organizations
25. Which of the following would not be an example of organizations as units of analysis?
a. police departments
b. federal courthouses
c. drug treatment facilities
d. civilians in the military
26. Which of the following would not be an example of social artifacts as units of analysis?
a. newspaper editorials
b. probation officers
c. television news programs
d. diaries
27. Which of the following would serve as an example of a cross sectional study?
a. Uniform Crime Reports
b. the 2010 U.S. census
c. a single wave of the National Crime Victimization Survey
d. both Uniform Crime Reports and a single wave of the National Crime Victimization Survey
28. Which of the following is not a type of longitudinal study?
a. cross-sectional study
b. panel study
c. trend study
d. cohort study
29. A major mid-western university does annual surveys of its alumni. These surveys are designed to gauge the attitudes
that alumni hold about the university, its academic programs, and the major team sports. These surveys have been an
annual event for the last two decades and represent which type of study?
a. cohort study
b. panel study
c. trend study
d. cross-sectional study
30. Marvin Wolfgang’s study of males born in Philadelphia in 1945 was an attempt to measure delinquency by following
those males from their 10th birthday until they were 18. This is an example of what type of study?
a. cohort study
b. panel study
c. trend study
d. cross-sectional study
31. What type of study attempts to account for errors in drawing a sample by measuring the same people on two or
more occasions?
a. cohort study
b. panel study
c. trend study
d. cross-sectional study
32. Despite a record number of cars being stolen in Newark, NJ in 2000, Newark’s auto theft rate was really lower than
that of Miami, Denver and Chicago. The unit of analysis used in this example is?
a. group
b. organization
c. individual
d. social artifacts
33. Which of the following would be an example of a retrospective approach to longitudinal studies?
a. asking how many victims of childhood abuse later abuse their own children
b. asking how many child abuse victims’ parents were also abuse victims
c. asking how many offenders incarcerated in the state of New York have high school degrees
d. none of the above is an example of a retrospective approach
34. Which of the following would serve as a “snap shot” of a phenomenon at one point in time?
a. panel study
b. cross-sectional study
c. cohort study
d. trend study
35. Regarding nomothetic explanation, which of the following specific criteria for causality do researchers consider?
a. two variables must vary together—they must be empirically correlated.
b. the cause must occur before the effect.
c. the empirical correlation between cause and effect is not due to some other factor.
d. all of the above
36. In a general sense, external validity is concerned with whether research findings from one study can be
a. exhaustingly conclusive
b. reproduced in another study, often under different conditions
c. reproduced in another study, often under the same conditions
d. validated by the National Academy to Advance Scientific Learning
37. The well-known Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment, discussed in Chapter 1, provides another example of
a. construct validity problems
b. internal validity problems
c. statistical validity problems
d. replication validity problems
38. The effects of violence in children’s programming is a major research endeavor that requires counting the number of
violent acts in Saturday morning cartoons for an entire year. The units of analysis being used for this project are
a. social artifacts
b. individuals
c. groups
d. organizations
39. After a one-year study of the recidivism rates of boot camps in the state of Georgia, the lowest rates were found in
the boot camps located in Macon. What units of analysis were used in this study?
a. social artifacts
b. individuals
c. groups
d. organizations
40. After careful study of the relationship between the economy and arson, the conclusion was drawn that when the
economy is poor and unemployment is high the arson rates go up. The researcher concluded that unemployed people
are more likely to commit arson than are those that are employed. What error was just committed?
a. the ecological fallacy
b. reductionism
c. using the wrong time dimension
d. an internal validity threat
41. Which of the following are social artifacts?
a. citizen attitudes about the death penalty
b. police crime reports
c. cities with over 250,000 inhabitants
d. months of the year
42. A survey distributed on a college campus discovered that males support the death penalty in greater numbers than do
females. The units of analysis in this case would be
a. social artifacts
b. groups
c. organizations
d. individuals
43. A study of the commentary made about the Patriot Act in 50 major newspapers’ editorials found that newspapers in
the northeast gave more attention to the subject than did papers in any other part of the country. What is the unit of
analysis being used?
a. newspaper editorials
b. Patriot Act
c. area of the country
d. newspaper names
44. 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
45. Dr. Stone is interested in comparing the attitudes about teenage pregnancy between the United States and the
Netherlands. He selects samples in both countries of 10 year old males and females and plans to survey a portion of
them every other year for the next ten years. Stone is using what technique?
a. cross-sectional study
b. trend study
c. cohort study
d. panel study
46. Which of the following is an example of a panel study?
a. National Incident-based Reporting System
b. U.S. Census
c. National Crime Victimization Survey
d. Uniform Crime Reports
47. Which of the following would allow a researcher to measure change in a general population over time?
a. trend study
b. cohort study
c. panel study
d. cross-sectional study
48. Professor Hardy has spent the last decade conducting a study of the effects of early childhood “Wellness” programs
on subsequent delinquency. Every year, researchers visit participating families and collect a variety of data. Over the
course of 10 years, many families have moved away and the research staff has been unable to locate them. What
problem has Professor Hardy encountered?
a. cross-sectional distortion
b. cohort distortion
c. panel attrition
d. experimental mortality
49. Rather than try to exclude or otherwise control possible outside influences, scientific realism studies how such
influences are involved in
a. external validity claims
b. cause-and-effect relationships
c. cohort and trend studies
d. patterns and trends
50. In criminal justice research, there is a great deal of variation in what or who is studied—which are technically known
as
a. causal inference
b. population sampling distributions
c. trend studies
d. units of analysis
51. Observations of shoplifters in Pueblo, Colorado characterized as “72 percent men and 28 percent women, with an
average age of 15.4 years” constitutes which type of analysis?
a. descriptive analysis
b. variegated analysis
c. trend analysis
d. cohort analysis
52. In the following research conclusion, what units of analysis are being used? “An enormous variation of deviant
activities was represented in a sample of 1,485 news items. We categorized these deviant activities into five general
types of analysis: violence, economic, political, ideological/cultural and diversionary.”
a. individuals
b. social artifacts
c. organizations
d. groups
53. In an examination of violent crime among the most populous nations in the world, the United States ranks very high
along with England, France and Australia. The chance of being raped is higher in France than in the United States.
What units of analysis are being used?
a. individuals
b. organizations
c. social artifacts
d. groups
54. Which of the following —refers to the danger of making assertions about individuals as the unit of analysis based on
the examination of groups or other aggregations?
a. individualistic fallacy
b. ecological fallacy
c. reductionism
d. pluralism
55. Which term best describes—an overly strict limitation on the kinds of concepts and variables to be considered as
causes in explaining the broad range of human behavior represented by crime and criminal justice policy?
a. individualistic fallacy
b. ecological fallacy
c. reductionism
d. pluralism
56. Which of the following is not true concerning a cohort study?
a. all members of the cohort have something in common
b. members of a cohort may be all born in the same year
c. cohort members are studied as individuals as well as their group affiliation
d. members of a cohort may be all police officers hired in a particular year
57. According to the text book, because time order is a requirement for causal inferences, the time dimension of
research requires
a. careful planning
b. controlled environmental design
c. a minimum of two researchers working in tandem
d. none of the above
58. Which type of research study project is designed to permit observations over an extended period of time?
a. cross-sectional studies
b. latitudinal studies
c. longitudinal studies
d. proportional studies
59. Which of the following is not a type of validity?
a. internal
b. external
c. concept
d. statistical conclusion
60. Which of the following is correct?
a. X is a sufficient cause of Y if Y always happens when X is present
b. Y is a necessary cause of X if Y always happens when X does
c. X is a necessary cause of Y only if Y happens before X
d. Y is a sufficient cause of X only if X happens before Y
61. Which of the following is accurate with respect to time dimensions?
a. a cross-sectional study is like a snapshot and produces an image at one point in time
b. a trend study is like a series of snapshots in sequence over time
c. a panel study is like a motion picture that looks at the same people over time
d. all of the above
62. Which of the following is true with respect to validity threats?
a. internal validity leads to problems with generalization
b. construct validity makes it easy to establish cause and effect
c. internal validity arises from bias
d. statistical conclusion validity impacts what groups the findings apply to
63. It is often said that social science is inherently probabilistic. What is meant by that?
a. social sciences are probably hard to study
b. the best that can be said of findings is that they are more or less likely to occur, never with certainty
c. researchers can reduce the probability of findings being wrong to zero
d. if the independent and dependent variables are truly causal one can be certain of the results
64. , units, and time are key elements in planning a research study.
65. A(n) cause is a condition that more or less guarantees the effect in question.
66. A(n) cause is a condition that must be present for the effect to follow.
67. Research that aims to measure the recidivism rates for youths participating in a new boot camp program after its
first year in operation may use the type of study.
68. In research such as that done by the National Crime Victimization Survey the study
technique is most frequently employed.
69. Scientists assess the truth of statements about cause by considering threats to .
70. When we are concerned with how well an observed relationship between variables represents the underlying causal
process of interest we are concerned with validity.
71. If a researcher is concerned with whether their findings can be generalized to another population or environment, the
researcher is expressing concerns about validity.
72. Rather than trying to exclude or control possible outside influences, studies show such
influences are involved in cause-and-effect relationships.
73. In order to avoid mistaken inferences, researchers must be careful to specify the people or phenomena being studied,
known as the ____________________.
74. Criminal justice has difficulty with regard to causality because researchers encounter
very few perfect measures of correlation.
75. If a researcher restricts the kinds of concepts and variables to be considered as causes in criminal justice research,
they are committing the error of ?
76. Interests, ideas, , and new programs are all possible beginning points for a line of
research.
77. When a researcher asks people to recall their past in order to obtain measurement of some phenomena over time,
the technique is called a(n) ____________________ study.
78. Exploratory and descriptive studies frequently are in nature since they allow data to be
gathered at one point in time.
79. Identify four threats to validity discussed in your text. Give an example of each.
80. Provide an example of the way in which the ecological fallacy is the result of errors with units of analysis. Explain in
detail.
81. Give a hypothetical situation that would lend itself to a cross-sectional study. What would be the research purpose in
your hypothetical situation? Why would your example not lend itself to a longitudinal approach?
82. Explain the difference between a necessary and a sufficient cause. Give an example of each from the criminal
justice literature.
83. Describe the three criteria for causality. Give an example of each using the same hypothesis.
84. Another word for an exploratory research study is:
a. cross-sectional research study
b. longitudinal research study
c. correlational study
d. double blind study
85. Key elements in planning a research study include:
a. units of analysis
b. time dimension
c. causation
d. all are correct
86. Of the following, which time-dimension design is the most likely to be used for descriptive purposes:
a. cross-sectional
b. trend
c. panel
d. cohort
87. Basing conclusions on the statistical relationship between two variables in a study with a less-than-ideal number of
cases may compromise:
a. external validity
b. internal validity
c. construct validity
d. statistical conclusion validity
88. Valerie was interested in studying neighborhood anticrime organizations. She observed the activities of a
neighborhood anticrime organization from the time of its inception until the time of its demise. Valerie's study was
a. retrospective
b. cross-sectional
c. cohort
d. longitudinal
89. In his research, Gif examined whether people living in high-crime neighborhoods are more likely to have guns at
home for protection than those living in low-crime areas. His unit of analysis was:
a. organizations
b. social artifacts
c. individuals
d. groups
90. Ruth wanted to study the educational histories of inmates at prison. She interviewed prisoners on their involvement
in school and academic performance. Ruth was conducting which type of research?
a. longitudinal
b. panel
c. retrospective
d. cohort
