SOC 11276 | Course Paper

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For fear of being sued, governmental agencies rarely keep records that document their

actions and areas of responsibility.

a. True

b. False

Open Coding is also defined as:

a. brainstorming

b. data reduction

c. ground theory

d. qualitative note taking

An Internet Search is good for getting ideas about potential research topics when:

a. specialized tools are used

b. All the time

c. Internet searches are not good, book bound journals are better

d. when you are late on an assignment

UCR data suffers from:

a. clerical problem

b. data processing problem

c. political problem

d. all of the above

What role do environmental surveys play in field research?

a. they seek to assess overall environment of an area without concern for who lives

there

b. they have been very instructive in the area of problem-oriented policing

c. they are limited to strategies for surveying the people who live in the area

d. they have been instructive in the area of understanding the values of the citizens of an

area

Social artifacts refer only to paper documents, such as newspapers, court opinions and

police crime reports.

a. True

b. False

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

Cluster sampling is a very efficient tool, but the efficiency means a less accurate sample

since with each cluster there is a chance for sampling error.

a. True

b. False

When we find any discrepancy between the assumed independence of variables in a

population and the observed distribution of sample elements, we can explain that

discrepancy how?

a. we attribute the discrepancy to the nonprobability sample alone

b. the discrepancy can be the result of poor data collection

c. we attribute the discrepancy to an unrepresentative sample causing us to reject the

assumption of independence

d. we attribute the discrepancy to poor sample selection and to poor operational

definitions of the main variables

Bias in questions can be established in which of the following ways?

a. questions that encourage particular responses

b. identify the name of either a prestigious or unpopular agency in the question

c. identify the name of either a prestigious or unpopular person in the question

d. all of the above

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

Measures of crime are said to be selective. In what way is the ADAM program selective

as a measure of drug use?

a. it operated in a relatively small number of cities

b. it includes only arrested persons

c. it includes voluntary interviews and testing

d. all of the above

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

Participants are usually reluctant to participate in research studies when:

a. they aren”t being paid

b. they do not know what is being done with the results

c. they feel threatened in someway

d. none of the answers are correct

Which of the following best defines conceptualization of a research process:

a. the manner in which variables are defined

b. how a population is decided upon

c. the specific analytic structure used for a study

d. the initial concept used for a study

What is the final step in the traditional model of science?

a. operationalization

b. theory development

c. data collection

d. observation

Before creating an interview schedule, a researcher ought to:

a. know who he/she is studying

b. create an outline

c. decided on the format of questions to use

d. all of the answers are correct

When it is not possible to create groups through randomization, what options do you

have for the research design?

a. a classical experiment

b. non-equivalent groups

c. surveys

d. pre and post tests

Which of the following is important to remember when using agency records?

a. to ask permission before you study any agency data

b. to examine the data through some form of content analysis

c. the financial considerations of obtaining complete agency records are typically

substantial

d. the discretionary actions by criminal justice officials and others can affect the

production of agency records

If the independent variable is the cause then the dependant variable is the:

a. reason

b. description

c. fallacy

d. effect

Essentially, an experiment examines the effect of:

a. the world we live in

b. modern science

c. an independent variable on a dependent variable

d. science on sociology

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

The study of food-buying habits where researchers were interested in learning whether

people who drank wine ate

healthier foods than people who drank beeris a good example of:

a. research exhaustiveness

b. face validity

c. interrater reliability

d. split-half method

The keystone of inquiry is observation.

a. True

b. False

Federal regulations require special provisions for all of the following categories of

subjects, except one. The one not covered is:

a. elderly

b. juveniles

c. prisoners and juveniles

d. prisoners

In most cases the following months should be avoided when mailing questionnaires:

a. June, July, August

b. November, December, January

c. March, April, May

d. September, October, November

Which of the following is not a type of validity?

a. internal

b. external

c. concept

d. statistical conclusion

Following the model of London, England Center City, USA decided to install closed

circuit television (CCTV) cameras in a downtown park in hopes of reducing the public’s

fear of crime. Which technique would be the best choice to determine if fear has in fact

decreased?

a. send out a questionnaire to all citizens living in Center City, USA

b. select, via simple random sampling, 20 citizens to interview

c. interview, via reliance on available subjects, citizens that are in the park

d. because you want to measure a “feeling” there is no accurate way to do this

If the standard deviation is zero, we can conclude that:

a. there is dispersion in the data

b. the mean is a good measure of the average

c. the data are heterogeneous

d. the mean will be zero

Sources of distinction between “right and “wrong” include:

a. religion

b. political ideology

c. pragmatic observations of successes and failures

d. all of the above

Mental images of serious crime may vary among individuals depending on their

backgrounds and experiences.

a. True

b. False

The majority of survey research is conducted using this type of interview schedule:

a. structured

b. semi-structured

c. unstructured

d. random

The Humphrey’s study involved

a. participant observation involving human deviance

b. participant observation in a laboratory setting

c. observation of prison inmates in a maximum security setting

d. participation in parole activities

Which of the following is not correct concerning structured field interviews?

a. the researcher can change the order in which questions are asked

b. the researcher can use follow up questions to clarify an earlier prepared question

c. the researcher must stick to the questions prepared prior to the interview

d. ask questions in a manner that always keeps the subject on target, and not wandering

to areas of no interest to the researcher

With respect to sampling in field studies, which of the following is least accurate?

a. field studies can use only non-probability samples

b. field studies can use only probability samples

c. field studies primarily use non-probability samples

d. field studies can be accomplished by using probability and non-probability samples