1.
By itself the 2000 Census exemplifies a ____ study that when compared to another decennial census could be considered a ____ study.
a.
cross-sectional, trend
b.
cross-sectional, panel
c.
cross-sectional, cohort
d.
cross-sectional, cross-sectional
e.
trend, cohort
2.
Professor Stone designs a study to examine the effect of a teenage pregnancy on young women's career choices. Stone wants to interview a sample of teenage women during their pregnancy, after the baby's birth, and once a year after that for a ten year period. Stone is using a
a.
cross sectional design
b.
trend study
c.
cohort study
d.
panel study
e.
cannot tell from the given information
3.
It is possible to draw approximate conclusions about processes that take place over time when using cross-sectional data by
a.
making logical inferences whenever the time order of variables is clear
b.
asking people to report information from their past
c.
examining the data within age groups
d.
all of these choices are correct
e.
none of these choices are correct
4.
Professor Smith gave an exam on Monday. On Wednesday Smith gave the same class the same exam. Professor Smith was assessing the exam's
a.
reliability
b.
validity
c.
face validity
d.
conceptualization
e.
precision
5.
Professor Spence decided to define socioeconomic status as a combination of income and education. Spence then determined the questions to be asked and the categories of responses. Spence was assigning socioeconomic status
a.
a nominal and an operational definition
b.
an operational and a real definition
c.
a real definition only
d.
a nominal and a real definition
e.
a nominal definition only
6.
Hudson et al. (1983, Journal of Sex Research) developed a series of questions to examine sexual attitudes (SAS). The SAS scores of religious fundamentalists, a group believed to be conservative regarding sexual expression, were compared with the scores of social work graduate students, a group believed to be liberal regarding sexual expression. The researchers were examining the instrument's
a.
split-half reliability
b.
split-half validity
c.
criterion validity
d.
criterion reliability
e.
construct validity
7.
When the variable religious affiliation is classified as Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, this variable has the important quality of being
a.
mutually exclusive
b.
exhaustive
c.
interchangeable
d.
mutually exclusive and exhaustive
e.
ordinal scale
8.
Professor Miller argues that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship: 1) belonging/affirmation, 2) interdependence, and 3) intimacy. These "aspects" of quality of a relationship are called:
a.
Variables
b.
Dimensions
c.
Constructs
d.
Indicators
e.
Conceptions
9.
After noting that there are three aspects to the quality of a relationship (belonging/affirmation, interdependence, and intimacy) Professor Miller designed an instrument to measure the quality of a relationship. In looking at her questionnaire she noticed that there were no items tapping intimacy. Her measure lacks
a.
Reliability
b.
Content validity
c.
Predictive validity
d.
Construct validity
e.
Internal consistency
10.
Professor Tyler wrote a proposal to study the impact of authoritarianism on child rearing practices. She began her research by reviewing the meaning of authoritarianism in the sociological and psychological literature. Based on this review, she formulated her own definition of authoritarianism. This process illustrates
a.
Operationalization
b.
The interchangeability of indicators
c.
Conceptualization
d.
Validity assessment
e.
Reliability assessment
11.
The variable educational level was measured as last year in school completed (i.e., none, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, grades, etc.). It is measured at the ____ level.
a.
nominal
b.
interval
c.
ratio
d.
ordinal
e.
not enough information to decide
12.
Professor Tilton measured the variable "feelings toward drafting women" with the categories strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree, and strongly disagree. Professor Tilton was using the ____ level of measurement.
a.
nominal
b.
interval
c.
ratio
d.
ordinal
e.
not enough information to decide
13.
Jeremy can't decide whether he should ask people whether they "very strongly agree," "agree," "disagree, "very strongly disagree" or whether they "agree" or "disagree" with statements about the war in Iraq. Jeremy is dealing with the problem of
a.
whether to use single or multiple indicators of a concept
b.
the range of variation
c.
whether to use a ratio or ordinal measurement
d.
whether to use a ratio or interval measurement
e.
whether to use single or multiple dimensions
14.
Professor Twist created the categories of less than 20 hours, 20 hours to 40 hours, 40 hours to 60 hours and 60 hours or more for the variable "number of hours employed outside the home." Salton's scheme is
a.
a nominal variable
b.
mutually exclusive
c.
exhaustive
d.
an ordinal variable
e.
mutually exclusive and exhaustive
True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
15.
Research designs are descriptive, explanatory, or exploratory-never more than one.
16.
If a measure is reliable, it must also be valid.
17.
It is impossible to have several indicators of only one concept.
18.
Changing definitions almost inevitably results in different descriptive conclusions.
19.
When one's research purposes aren't clear, it is advisable to choose the highest level of measurement possible.
20.
The split-half technique for assessing reliability is closely linked to the concept of the interchangeability of indicators.