Quiz 1

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Question #1

Maria is worried about the representativeness of her study. She is conducting interviews, but each one seems to last at least five hours. Given that she only has one month to collect her data, what strategy might she use to increase her sample size?

A conduct a focus group

B cut off interviews at two hours regardless if all questions were answered

C make respondents write out answers during interviews instead of answering verbally

D ask only open-ended questions

Question #2

Which method of social research might involve shifting between participating in a social situation and being an observer?

A interviews

B surveys

C comparative-historical research

D ethnography

Question #3

John wants to study whether a larger number of laptops available to students at his school lead to higher grades. Choose the independent and dependent variable.

A Independent variable: Number of laptops; Dependent variable: Grades

B Independent variable: John; Dependent variable: Grades

C Independent variable: Grades; Dependent variable: Number of laptops

D Independent variable: Grades; Dependent variable: John

Question #4

After formulating a general research question, what will a good researcher always do?

A form a hypothesis

B review the literature in order to become familiar with earlier research that relates to his topic

C look for correlations between two or more different phenomena

D clearly define his variables

Question #5

Any time a social researcher is going to use sampling, he or she must first identify his or her target population. What is this target population?

A the larger group of people about whom he or she wishes to generalize

B the group of people whose behavior he or she wishes to change

C the group of people least often studied in the past

D the group of people from whom he or she will gather data

Question #6

Some researchers suggest that interviews give “voice” to people who may never have been heard before and offer privileged access to authentic experience, private worlds, and true selves. How do interviews do this?

A Interviews may contribute to unfair stereotypes.

B Interviews allow respondents to speak in their own words; they can reveal their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs—internal states that would not necessarily be accessible by any other means.

C Respondents are not always forthcoming or truthful. Sometimes they are difficult to talk to, and at other times they may try too hard to be helpful.

D Interviews are relatively quick and economical and can provide a vast amount of data.

Question #7

When Laud Humphreys was a sociology graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, he wrote his dissertation on the “tearoom trade,” anonymous homosexual encounters in the men’s rooms of public parks. To gather data, he acted as a lookout for his subjects, but he also surreptitiously noted license-plate numbers as the men left, so he could get their names and addresses. The next year, he picked about fifty men from the “tearooms” and interviewed them in their homes, claiming to be performing a health survey. His descriptions of the interviews made it possible for many of the men (and their families) to recognize themselves when the dissertation was published. Why do many sociologists consider this research method to be unethical?

A It put Humphreys at risk for arrest or retaliation.

B It failed to protect the biographical anonymity of his subjects.

C It used terminology that was confusing to the interview subjects.

D It harmed the reputation of the city of St. Louis.

Question #8

Survey research tends to produce quantitative data. One key advantage of this kind of data is that it:

A includes observations and informal interviews.

B affords easy access to the norms, values, and meanings held by members of a group.

C is easy to transmit to the public.

D allows the researcher to review the literature.

Question #9

What is the sociological imagination?

A A property of society that ensures that people remain ignorant of the connections between their lives and social change

B The ability to understand the connections between biography and history, or the interplay of the self and the world

C A particular way of understanding the criminal mind, such as that of a serial killer

D The sociological approach that assumes that individual decisions and interactions are independent of larger social institutions

Question #10

According to C. Wright Mills, what one quality of mind do all great sociologists possess?

A Stoicism

B Biographical imagination

C Attention to detail

D Sociological imagination

Question #11

Which of the following men coined the term positivism, and is widely considered the father of sociology?

A Karl Marx

B Émile Durkheim

C Auguste Comte

D Max Weber

Question #12

Sociologists observe society:

A through the use of special scientific tools that provide unmediated access to the very heart of society.

B by studying society as if it were a concrete object, in the same way a geologist studies rocks.

C by using the preconceptions, assumptions, and beliefs that come from living in a society.

D by studying the various parts of a society, and the ways they interact and influence each other.

Question #13

Many everyday cultural practices—such as greeting a friend, giving someone flowers, or using the thumbs-up sign—seem like natural ways of acting. Why does having an awareness of how these practices vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

A It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger social structures.

B It shows us that cultures are not as different as we sometimes think they are.

C It lets us understand how immigrants perceive America when they move here.

D It helps us economically when we do business in different countries.

Question #14

Unlike sociologists, most people base their knowledge of the world on:

A the opinions of their parents and other family members.

B expert knowledge based on surveys and interviews.

C conventional wisdom, background knowledge, and personal experience.

D scientific journals and other publications that summarize the conclusions of professional researchers.

Question #15

A paradigm can be defined as:

A Social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society

B The social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion

C The consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated

D Philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them.

Question #16

Please define C. Wright Mill’s sociological imagination.

A The process of analyzing human behavior based solely on statistics.

B A series of interviews asking subjects about their sleep habits and dreams.

C The theory that man evolved slowly over time.

D How individuals understand their own and others’ pasts in relation to history and social structure.

Question #17

Why did C. Wright Mills think that it is important for everyone, even people who will never take a sociology class, to develop a sociological imagination?

A Many people remain unaware of the intricate connections between the patterns of their own lives and the larger course of history.

B It will help generate more jobs for sociologists.

C The sociological perspective is innately understood by nearly everyone, but we rarely acknowledge it.

D It will encourage growth in the field of microsociology.