Potential Exam Questions for Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview (5th Edition) by Glenn
G. Sparks
NOTE: Correct answers are underlined.
Chapter 2
1. According to the text, which of the following best captures the meaning of the term
“systematic” in the context of content analysis?
e. the analysis follows a cybernetic approach to coding—which is concerned with
systems and sub-systems of content that occurs in multiple layers
2. According to the text, why might a researcher not be overly impressed in a content
analysis if the coding agreement between two coders was 90% or .90?
a. The coders could have been cheating and discussing their coding decisions with
each other instead of doing them independently.
3. According to the text, when Sarah Coyne and her colleagues studied the content of novels
intended for adolescent readers, they found that the vast majority of substance abuse
incidents in those novels were:
4. Based on your understanding of the text discussion, if a survey researcher draws a sample
of college juniors in 2002 and compares their responses to a sample of college juniors in
1992, which type of survey design was employed?
a. cross-sectional
5. Based on your understanding of the text discussion, which of the following statements
best captures the meaning of: r = .-.61, p < .002?
a. two variables were correlated and as one variable increases, the other tends to also
increase; the probability that this would happen by chance alone is less than 2
times in 100; the relationship is significant
6. Based on your understanding of the text discussion, if a measure of TV viewing was
related to a measure of obesity according to the following expression (r = .30, p < .05),
which of the following would be TRUE?
a. 9% of the variance in obesity is explained or accounted for by knowing the values
e. 3% of the variance in obesity is explained or accounted for by knowing the values
of TV viewing.
7. According to the text, when Jennifer Ahern and her colleagues surveyed citizens of New
York City after the events of September 11, 2001, they concluded that:
a. exposure to media coverage about the traumatic events are probably not
associated with any increase in stress levels on the part of media consumers.
8. According to the text, when Nicholas Bowman and Ron Tamborini conducted an
experimental investigation of the mood-management theory, they concluded that, in
general:
a. people in negative moods DO NOT benefit from playing a computer game.
9. According to the text, when critics of the experimental method raise the point that many
experiments are “artificial” and that results cannot be generalized to any meaningful
situation outside the lab, they are expressing a concern about which type of experimental
validity?
a. statistical validity
10. According to the text, random assignment to experimental conditions theoretically:
a. makes the experimental groups equivalent just prior to exposure to the
c. guarantees that the experiment will yield statistically significant results.
