Cross-sectional studies are those based on observations made at one time.
Construct validity is concerned with the ability to generalize from the results of the
experimental group to the control group.
Four purposes of research are exploration, description, explanation, and application.
The visible, objective context of a communication is known as _____.
a. latent content
b. manifest content
c. concept
d. validity
Scientists must have which two types of support before they will agree on the reality of
something?
a. epistemological and methodological
b. logical and hard facts
c. logical and empirical
d. hard facts and complete data
Which of the following represent potential problems with the use of open-ended
questions?
a. possibility of misunderstanding and researcher bias
b. they can be quickly completed by the respondent
c. they do not limit the responses received
d. they result in lack of uniformity of answers
With respect to causation, _____.
a. it is the focus of media
b. it suggests a cause and effect relationship
c. cause in social science is pre-determined
d. research explains most aspects of life
Qualitative field research is the preferred method for studying
a. many subjects who change language
b. many types of crimes
c. many types of phenomena
d. many types of active offenders.
Which of the following is not something that your letter, as a follow up to identification
of the sponsor, should contain?
a. the name of your sponsor
b. a detailed description of your research
c. arranging a time and date for a phone call
d. identify that you want to meet and talk with the contact person
Field research is a data collection method that involves the __________________of
phenomena in their natural settings.
a. direct observation
b. written records
c. grounded theory
d. accurate measures
Graduates majoring in criminal justice and graduates majoring in psychology from the
State University were part of a study to assess employment success of those receiving
their degrees in May 2002. Six months after graduation (November 2002) a
questionnaire was sent out asking about their job seeking success. What type of design
is this?
a. a double-blind experiment
b. a non-equivalent groups design
c. a time-series design
d. a cohort design
During observation, if you choose to follow “the exception that proves the rule,” an idea
that doesn”t make any sense, you have made which error?
a. inaccurate observation
b. overgeneralization
c. illogical reasoning
d. selective observation
Dr. Smith is interested in implementing a program that is designed to reduce the
recidivism rates of property offenders. He selects two state prisons and, with the
blessing of the Department of Corrections, begins the programs in the main state prison
for males and a female institution that is nearby. Which design would be best for Dr.
Smith to use?
a. non-equivalent groups
b. randomized study
c. interrupted times-series
d. none of these would work
Which of the following is most frequently used as a tool to gather data when doing field
research?
a. asking questions
b. reviewing written documents
c. direct observation
d. surveys
Which of the following is accounted for by the NCVS?
a. victimless crimes
b. crimes that have businesses as the victim
c. crimes that have commercial establishments as victims
d. national sample of households
Record-keeping systems used in most cities today are still designed more to track
individual cases for individual departments than to produce data for management or
research purposes. Individual agencies maintain silo databases. Silo databases refer to
__________________________________________.
a. stacks of data that are isolated from each other
b. record-keeping procedures
c. agency-produced data
d. computerized criminal history
Which of the following is not a concern when a questionnaire is not formatted
properly?
a. respondents may miss questions
b. respondents may finish the questionnaire too quickly
c. respondents may throw the questionnaire away
d. respondents may become confused about the nature of the data desired
The most effective method of accounting for certain crimes, such as delinquency and
victimless crimes, are _____.
a. anonymous surveys
b. self-report surveys
c. observation surveys
d. uniform crime reports
Dr. Jason wanted to find out what the citizens of Savannah think about a proposed law
that would require sex offenders to be treated in the community in lieu of prison
confinement, and he decided to randomly call people listed in the phone book. What is
his sampling frame?
a. the citizens of Savannah
b. the proposed law
c. telephone listings
d. sex offenders in prison
All of the following would be examples of goal statements that must be clarified before
empirical testing can follow except for _____.
a. participants will accept the philosophy of a drug-free life
b. participants will be equipped with the life skills necessary to succeed
c. participants will be able to obtain their GED upon completion of the program
d. provides participants with problem-solving skills
Validity that is related to the logical relationships between variables is known as _____.
a. criterion-related validity
b. face validity
c. convergent validity
d. construct validity
If a researcher is concerned with whether a particular measurement technique will, after
repeated measures, yield the same results, they are concerned with _____.
a. accuracy
b. reliability
c. precise measurement
d. validity
The keystone of inquiry is _____.
a. Population sampling
b. research
c. literature review
d. observation
Shortening the time between pretest and posttest or perhaps even offering cash
payments to participants in an experiment are techniques that may be used to
________________.
a. limit diffusion
b. decrease experimental mortality
c. decrease the effects of instrumentation
d. control threats to testing
Which of the following would be an appropriate target of content analysis?
a. speeches
b. NCVS data
c. crime rates
d. Uniform Crime Records
A Residence Assistant (RA) at a local university devised a plan to spot check the dorm
for illegal drinking by knocking on every 5th door on each floor. What technique was
the RA using?
a. stratified sampling
b. simple random sampling
c. quota sampling
d. systematic sampling
The most frequent attribute, the __________ can be reported from either grouped or
ungrouped data.
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
Which of the following is a problem when using self-report crime questions in general
population surveys?
a. social desirability
b. norm deviance
c. human bias
d. technical error
General population surveys and surveys of offenders tend to present what types of
difficulties?
a. recall error
b. systematic error
c. feasibility error
d. random error
A mock jury is an example of a(n) _____.
a. open ended questions
b. interviews
c. focus group
d. survey designs
Data analysis looks for patterns in what is ____________.
a. proved
b. observed
c. hypothesized
d. assumed
If a researcher tries to assess criminal victimization of the poor and disadvantaged,
which of the following is less biased than using the term “welfare” in her
questionnaire,?
a. assistance to the poor
b. on the dole
c. the underclass
d. poverty
Which of the following is an example of research where there was potential harm to the
researcher?
a. John Monahan and associates’ research on violence.
b. Bruce Johnson’s study of heroin users in New York where participants were gathered
by word of mouth among addicts.
c. Reuter, MacCoun, and Murphy’s study using probation records to identify drug
dealers.
d. all of the above
If the respondent must select an answer from among a list provided by the researcher,
they are answering __________________ questions.
When it is necessary to study phenomenon in their natural setting, experiments are the
best approach to take.
Field research has covered the wide range of applications from highly structured
counting to less structured field observations and _____________________.
To ensure that variables that occur rarely in a population will be represented in a
sample, the researcher would want to employ a(n) ___________________________
sampling technique.
Summary averages or measures of central tendency include the mode, mean, and range.
The standard deviation is the square root of the _______________.
The ___________________ is the person who will assist you in gaining access to a
subculture.
Harm to subjects, researchers, and third parties are especially risky when doing
__________________ studies.
In content analysis one may code the visible, surface content known as the
___________.
Illogical reasoning occurs if you choose to follow the exception that proves the
________.
Criminal justice research sometimes yields mistaken results, and we are wise to accept
research findings with caution even if they come from experts.
Experimentation is an approach to research best suited for exploration.
It may be helpful to record field notes onto highly structured forms created prior to the
beginning of the study.
Manipulation of the collected data for the purpose of drawing conclusions is known as
_____________.
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 ____________________.