Which statement is a potential threat to internal validity in an experimental design?
a. generalization
b. instrumentation
c. randomization
d. correlation
A(n) _____ can be thought of as a complex set of relationships among several concepts.
a. analysis
b. theory
c. operationalization
d. generalization
The primary difference between the interval and the ratio level of variables is that ____.
a. interval is rarely used
b. with ratio, there is an absolute meaning of zero
c. with interval, there is an absolute meaning of zero
d. ratio level is on a true zero point, while interval level is not
Field research in criminal justice may produce either qualitative or quantitative data.
The scientific criteria for causality include ____.
a. a correlation between the cause and the effect
b. the effect preceding the cause in time
c. the effect being caused by some third variable
d. a cause that is not probabilistic
The publication produced by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that includes information
about hundreds of justice agency data sets, characteristics of criminal justice agencies,
and perceptions of crime is called ____.
a. the Uniform Crime Reports
b. the National Crime Victimization Survey
c. the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
d. Gallup Poll
Quota samples, judgmental samples, snowball samples, and convenience samples are
all examples of ____.
a. nonprobability sampling
b. probability sampling
c. sampling distributions
d. sampling frames
The age of an offender is an example of the ____ level of measurement?
a. interval
b. nominal
c. ratio
d. ordinal
Program evaluation differs from policy analysis with respect to ____.
a. when it occurs in the policy process
b. the cost
c. the time
d. the role of the stakeholder
The purpose of sampling is to select a set of elements from a population so that the
descriptions of the sample statistics accurately portray the parameters of the population.
This is best achieved through the use of ____.
a. a convenience sample
b. random selection
c. the sampling element
d. sampling error
Surveys may be used for ____.
a. exploratory, and applied research only
b. applied research only
c. descriptive research only
d. descriptive, explanatory, exploratory, and applied research only
The two major types of applied research are _____.
a. program evaluation and policy analysis
b. program development and causal analysis
c. psychosocial evaluations and policy creation
d. goal setting and policy implementation
Which method is conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census Bureau under contract
from the Bureau of Justice Statistics?
a. Court records of Children in Custody
b. Self Report Survey data
c. Survey of Inmates in Local Jails
d. Survey of all Criminal Justice Professors
An experiment examines the effects of a(n) ____ variable.
a. dependent
b. control
c. independent
d. masking
Which of the following is true concerning the reliability of quantitative field studies?
a. Reliability can be strengthened by reviewing police records
b. Reliability can be strengthened by reviewing by the director of the organization
c. Reliability can be strengthened by contacting various personnel within the
organization
d. The reliability of quantitative field studies can be enhanced by careful attention to the
details of observation.
Units of analysis are typically also the units of ____.
a. observation
b. inference
c. interaction
d. deduction
Under what conditions would it be appropriate to use a snowball sampling technique?
a. when the characteristic of interest to the study is a deviant one and only a small
number of people who know one another are required
b. when your questionnaire can be administered in a narrow geographic area
c. when all you need to do is interview persons from a population where the sampling
frame is known
d. when the researcher absolutely must have a sample that is representative of the
population from which it is drawn
The behavior of people, together with the characteristics of people and places, can
vary by population group,____________________________________________.
a. race, school attended
b. time of the year
c. weather
d. location, time, and weather
Which of the following is included in the “CRAAP Test?”
a. convenience
b. reliability
c. accuracy
d. acceptability
Suppose a researcher describes the age, race, and gender distributions for people who
are charged with shoplifting. The unit of analysis is ____.
a. individuals
b. demographic groups
c. arrest records
d. stores at which shoplifting occurs
Which of the following statements is not true concerning field research?
a. It has greater validity and reliability than does survey research.
b. It often involves theory creation.
c. It often combines observation and asking questions.
d. It can provide both qualitative and quantitative data.
In Widom’s study of the effects of child abuse and its impact upon later criminal
offenses, she selected a sample of children with court records of being abuse victims
and gathered a comparison group that were matched on gender, race, age and
socioeconomic status. The technique used in this case was ____.
a. individual matching
b. aggregate matching
c. randomization
d. probabilistic aggregation
When reporting research findings in professional journals, ____.
a. negative findings should be omitted
b. technical failures and mistakes should be reported
c. unexpected findings should not be reported.
d. limitations in the research need not be discussed
Which type of questions should be avoided on a questionnaire?
a. short items
b. contingency questions
c. ambiguous questions
d. matrix questions
Research involving which group would not be receptive to the use of unstructured
interviews?
a. criminals
b. police officers
c. judges
d. probation officers
What type of research is characterized by the direct observation of events as they
actually occur?
a. field
b. grounded
c. cohort
d. idiographic
Which statement is false with regard to the use of published data in aggregate forms?
a. Published data is never used in criminal justice research because it is not readily
available.
b. Published data is appropriate for measuring highly aggregated patterns or trends such
as drug use over time.
c. Published data can be used for the covariation in two estimates of crime.
d. Published data are easy to obtain.
When conducting field or survey interviews, ____.
a. names and addresses should remain on data-collection forms until the research has
been published
b. each interviewer should have a copy of the master identification file linking numbers
to names
c. only anonymous data collection is considered permissible
d. only legitimate researchers should have access to the master file
What level of measurement allows you to arrange attributes from greater than to less
than, but does not allow you to tell how much greater or how much less than one
attribute is from another?
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio
Systematic sample is?
a. Systematic sampling is a poor example of simple random sampling.
b. Systematic sampling is often used as a substitute for stratified sampling.
c. Systematic sampling is frequently used rather than a simple random sample.
d. Systematic sampling is a non-probability sampling.
Experimental mortality is also known as ____.
a. selection
b. regression
c. attrition
d. relevance
Which activity would not be a logical crime to study using the field research
techniques?
a. prostitution
b. shoplifting
c. embezzlement
d. drug use
Often developed through ____, grounded theory combines a naturalist approach with a
positivist concern for a systematic set of procedures.
a. qualitative interviewing
b. focus groups
c. letters, phone calls, and meetings
d. None of the above are true.
If a researcher uses only those subjects who volunteer for a study, then which outcome
may be expected?
a. Non-volunteers will feel left out.
b. The results may not be generalizable.
c. No one would be interested in the outcome.
d. Subjects may not like the results.
Conceptualization is the process by which we specify precisely what we mean when we
use particular terms.
_______________ are those that have a vested interest in the organization and the
outcome of evaluation research.
Because of some controversial medical and social science research, the U.S.
Department of ____________________ has established regulations designed to protect
human subjects.
The policy process, like the research process in general, is fluid and does not always
‘start at the beginning and conclude at the end.”
In grounded theory, observations rarely contribute to theory development.
A(n) _______________ is a type of variable-oriented research.
Grounded theory is not built from qualitative field observations.
Non-governmental organizations that conduct research involving human subjects need
not establish review committees known as institutional review boards.
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.
When using agency records as a data source, the researcher must always keep changes
in operational definitions and changes in _______________ in mind because of their
potential impact upon validity and reliability.
A(n) _______________ experiment guards against experimenters’ tendency to prejudge
results by eliminating the possibility of either the researcher or the subjects knowing
which group is the control and which group is the experimental.
Traditional beliefs about patrol effectiveness, response time and detective work are
examples of _________________ reality.
_______________ is the process by which we specify precisely what we mean when
we use a particular term.
Respondents may develop a(n) _______________ or fixed pattern of answering when
answering matrix questions.
A(n) _______________ is produced by the intersection of two or more variables to
create a set of categories.
The norm of voluntary participation is usually satisfied through
______________________.
If you believe that the exception proves the rule, you are engaging in _____________
reasoning.
According to your text, causation, units of analysis, and _______________ are key
considerations in planning a research study.
Applied studies such as program evaluation is that they do not require the same degree
of planning as do survey designs.
A definition that says exactly how a concept will be measured is a(n) _______________
definition.