An interview with victims of domestic violence designed to measure their reluctance to
report their victimization to the police may result in _____.
a. physical harm
b. psychological harm
c. no harm at all
d. the police coming to arrest the abuser
External validity in an experimental design refers to _____.
a. the researcher’s ability to be sure that they are measuring what they think they are
measuring
b. the lack of concern with issues internal to the study
c. the ability to apply findings to other populations
d. instrumentation
If, on a questionnaire, a respondent is asked “what do you feel is the most important
crime problem facing the police in your city today?”, they are being asked what type of
question?
a. closed-ended question
b. open-ended question
c. contingency question
d. matrix question
The researcher can lessen the potential for harm when doing research by _____.
a. putting themselves in the line of danger to avoid harm to the participant
b. never telling the subject about the potential of harm
c. using field studies as the main source of research
d. considering which study design to use with regard to its potential for harm
Dr. Jones wanted to display the findings of the sentences given in his local courthouse
on one summer day. If the sentences, displayed in months, were 10, 18, 24, 36, 18, 70,
30, then which of the following measures of central tendency is accurate?
a. the mean is 24
b. the median is 24
c. the mode is 24
d. the median is 26
Program evaluation is designed to link the intended actions and goals of criminal justice
policy to __________.
a. empirical evidence that supports them having the desired effects
b. policies that are made to benefit communities
c. implementation of policies
d. randomized field experiments
Which of the following is least accurate?
a. Experimentation is appropriate for hypothesis testing.
b. Experiments are well suited to research involving well-defined concepts.
c. Experiments cannot be used in the study of criminal justice policy because they
require a hypothesis to test.
d. Experiments are appropriate for evaluation research.
When we trust the judgments of people who have special training, such as a doctor or a
lawyer, we are accepting their _____.
a. wisdom
b. expertise
c. authority
d. word
Which of the following would represent a distribution of those arrested on a holiday
weekend?
a. the exact number of persons arrested for violation of specific statute numbers
b. a partial list of persons arrested with the corresponding statute number they allegedly
violated
c. the number of persons arrested for violent crimes, the number of persons arrested for
property crimes but not the number of persons arrested for public order crimes
d. a list of people arrested for DUI only
Which of the following would serve as a ‘snapshot” of a phenomenon at one point in
time?
a. panel study
b. cross-sectional study
c. cohort study
d. trend study
Which of the following is not a reason for using random selection methods in selecting
samples?
a. Random selection is a check on conscious or unconscious bias.
b. Random selection gives access to probability theory.
c. Random selection allows for estimates of error.
d. Random selection allows the researcher to selects cases on an intuitive basis
Which example below is not a random assignment to experimental groups?
a. Assigning numbers to subjects, put corresponding numbers in a hat and pull out
numbers placing the first subject in the experimental group and the second subject in
the control group and continue until all numbers are used.
b. Ask subjects whether they prefer to be in the experimental group or the control
group, then assign subjects based on their preference.
c. Flip a coin assigning subjects to the control group and to the experimental group.
d. Use a random number generator after assigning numbers to your subjects.
Surveys are best suited for studies that have what as their units of analysis?
a. individuals
b. groups
c. organizations
d. social artifacts
Which of the following are true concerning sampling error?
a. If many independent random samples are drawn from a population, then the sample
statistics from those samples are distributed in a predictable way around the population
parameter.
b. Probability theory does not allow us to use a formula to estimate how closely the
sample statistics are clustered.
c. The standard error cannot identify how spread out of clustered the sample statistics
are around the population parameter.
d. The standard error generally similar to the standard deviation.
When a researcher uses a stratified sampling technique, they _____.
a. do not select elements from homogeneous subsets of a population
b. recognize the extent that subsets that are homogeneous on stratified variables will
generally result in homogeneity on other variables as well
c. cannot estimate that a stratified sample is likely to be more representative on a
number of variables than a simple random sample
d. do not use probability sampling method.
Which of the following would be considered an appropriate method for increasing the
response rate in mailed surveys?
a. go to the respondent’s home and pick up the questionnaire
b. targeting a narrowly defined population
c. send one dollar along with the questionnaire
d. send out only one original mailing with no follow ups
Program goals represent _____.
a. empirical indicators
b. desired outcomes
c. inputs
d. standards
Nonpublic agency records are often made available to which of the following?
a. any citizen who expresses written interest
b. criminal justice researchers
c. nonpublic agency records are not generally made available to anyone
d. law enforcement personnel
In the interest of being unambiguous and precise, the survey questions should be _____.
a. long
b. statements of purpose
c. clear
d. translated in different languages
Bias in questions can be established in which of the following ways?
a. questions that encourage particular responses
b. do not identify the name of either a prestigious or unpopular agency in the question
c. do not identify the name of either a prestigious or unpopular person in the question
d. questions that are unambiguous and clear
One of the most important parts of conducting evaluation research is _____.
a. selecting a sample that will support the program goals
b. formulating goal statements that are empirically testable
c. gather official documents since that is where the researcher can find complete
descriptions of goals
d. make sure that the staff of the agency where you conduct research like you by doing
anything to get them on your side
Measures of dispersion are not appropriate for which types of variables?
a. Interval
b. ratio
c. ordinal
d. discrete
Which of the following is true concerning independent and dependent variables in
classical experiments?
a. A variable can be an independent in one experiment and dependent in another.
b. Once a variable is designated as an independent variable in one experiment, it can
never be used as a dependent variable in another.
c. A classical experiment examines the effect of a dependent variable on an independent
variable.
d. An independent variable in a classical experiment is viewed as the effect because it is
dependent upon another variable.
What can help rule out the threats to internal validity in an experimental design?
a. proper selection and assignment of subjects to groups
b. large sample size
c. small sample size
d. nothing can rule out threats to internal validity
The true list of elements in the population is called the _____.
a. parameter
b. sampling frame
c. population
d. sample
Professor Smith is studying attitudes toward gun control and plans to assess support for
firearms registration by determining whether or not her research subjects say they
would travel to countries where the possession of unlicensed guns is legal. Her critics
argue that this measure lacks _____.
a. face validity
b. construct validity
c. convergent validity
d. criterion-related validity
Which of the following is accurate?
a. The reason that researchers use probability samples is because they guarantee
representativeness of the sample.
b. In general, the more heterogeneous a population, the smaller the sample needed for
representativeness.
c. A simple random sample is appropriate when a researcher wants to over-represent a
characteristic in the population
d. A sample is representative of the population from which it is drawn if the aggregate
characteristics of the sample approximate those of the general population.
We live in a world of two realities: _____.
a. expressed and assumed
b. experiential and agreement
c. expressed and agreement
d. experiential and assumed
After you have identified a sponsor and sent a letter to a formal organization stating
your interest in research, a phone call is typically the next step in the process. You have
agreed upon a time and day for the phone call and at the appointed time, you call. The
director will not take your call. In this case, you should do which of the following?
a. forget that organization as a target of your research because if the director will not
take your call now, you cannot expect much from him once the research begins
b. keep calling back until your call is taken by the director
c. ask to speak the director’s assistant and make an appointment for a meeting
d. find another sponsor and see if you have better luck getting access to the director
Researchers Field research results can have general applicability beyond the specific
settings observed. However findings cannot be formally generalized compared to those
based on __________________________________.
a. Specific settings
b. surveys
c. participant observations
d. rigorous sampling and standardized questionnaires
Which of the following represent criteria for causality?
a. there is a correlation between the cause and the effect
b. the effect precedes the cause in time
c. the change in the effect is caused by some third variable
d. cause in social science is not probabilistic
If field observations will be made on a phenomenon that occurs with some degree of
regularity, what sampling techniques can be used to select cases for observation?
a. Purposive sampling techniques
b. Snowball sampling techniques
c. Participant sampling techniques
d. Quantitative sampling techniques
Ethical issues surrounding the prison simulation include all of the following except
________.
a. subjects were not fully informed of the procedures they would undergo
b. the researchers were not fully aware of what they could expect from the simulation
c. consent forms were signed
d. guards were allowed to make up and modify rules as the project progressed
Which of the following would be an inappropriate manner to report findings on the
variable gender?
a. median
b. mode
c. raw numbers
d. percentages
Content analysis is really a(n) __________ operation that represents the measurement
process.
Social science involves three fundamental aspects: theory, data collection, and data
analysis.
The main reason that experiments in criminal justice are so easy to complete is that the
researcher need only secure one experimental and one control group for any project.
Goal-oriented public policies cannot be viewed as “if-then” statements: if some policy
action is taken, then we expect some result to be produced.
Focus groups usually consist of 15 to 20 people.
___________________ are those that have a vested interest in the organization and the
outcome of evaluation research.
Casual and _______________ types of reasoning are used when we plan our day.
Strengths and weaknesses of field research can be measured in terms of validity, which
refers to whether you are actually measuring what you are supposed to measure instead
of something else; reliability refers to dependability, while ____________ refers to
whether specific findings apply to the unobserved.
Research projects known as longitudinal studies are designed to permit observations
over a short period of time.
When no reasonable sampling frame exists and a probability sample cannot be drawn,
at least estimates about the sample accuracy are available through nonprobability
samples.
_____________________ refers to the ability to take findings from an experiment and
apply them to the real world.
The defining feature of an experiment lies in the control of the independent variable by
the experimenter.
Telephone surveys are relatively fast and low cost.
The essential characteristic of interviewers is that they be neutral; their presence in the
data collection process must not have any effect on the responses given to questionnaire
items.
The norm of voluntary participation is usually satisfied through
______________________. Informing subjects about research procedures and then
obtaining their consent to participate.