Matching (2 points each)
|
Terms |
Letter of Matching Definition |
|
1. Informed Consent |
C |
|
2. Confidentiality |
F |
|
3. Anonymity |
I |
|
4. Control Group |
A |
|
5. Hawthorne Effect |
G |
|
6. Debrief |
E |
|
7. TDM |
D |
|
8. CATI |
B |
|
9. Mutually Exclusive |
H |
|
10. SOC 300 |
J |
a.
The
group in an experiment that does not get the treatment or intervention.
b.
Survey
research in which an interviewer sits before a computer screen and keyboard,
reads the survey questions from the compute screen and enters the respondent’s
answers directly into the computer.
c.
A
statement, usually written, in which people in a study learn aspects about the
project and formally agree to participate.
d.
An
overall approach to conducting surveys in which a researcher makes
participation as easy as possible and uses multiple strategies to increase the
response rate.
e.
When a
researcher gives a true explanation of an experiment to study participants
after they finish participating in the study.
f.
The
ethical protection for those who are studied of not releasing their information
in a way that permits linking specific individuals to specific responses.
Researchers do this by only presenting data in aggregate form (percentages,
means).
g.
When
participants in an experiment react to the fact that they are being studied,
rather than to the existence or absence of the treatment or intervention.
h.
Responses
to a survey question which do not overlap.
i.
The
ethical protection in a study where participants’ name and identities are not
collected or recorded in the research.
j. My reason for
getting up in the morning.
Fill-in-the-Blank (3 points each): Identify the dependent variable, independent variable, pre-test, post-test and experimental group in the study description below.
We want to study prejudice against African-Americans
and ways to reduce it. We hypothesize
that acquiring an understanding of the contributions of African-Americans to
American history will reduce prejudice.
We gather a group of Caucasian students and measure their level of
prejudice against African-Americans (via five questions). Then we show them a documentary film on the
important contributions of African Americans to American science, literature,
politics and social development. We then again measure the level of prejudice
against African-Americans among the study participants. We look to see if their prejudice has
reduced as a result of watching the film.
|
11. pre-test: Prejudice Time 1 |
14. experimental group: All participants that saw the
film. |
|
12. independent variable: Film |
15. Control group: There is no control group with this
study. |
|
13. post-test: Prejudice Time 2 |
|
Multiple Choice: Choose the Best Response (3 points each)
16. What is the
general ethical principle regarding deception in social research? D
a. It is fully acceptable and does not involve
ethical issues.
b. It is forbidden under all circumstances of
ethical research.
c.
Deception
can only be ethically used when subjects are "captive" populations
(e.g., prisoners, students, mental hospital patients, military personnel).
d.
It
can be ethically used if essential to the research, but only to the minimal
degree necessary and it must be followed by debriefing.
17. The American
Sociological Association Code of Ethics says it is proper ethical behavior for
a researcher to: C
a. Use sloppy research methods and low standards
because one does not have enough money to do a study correctly.
b. Accept money from an outside source to do a study, but never tell in publications who provided the funds.
c. Make research data omitting the names of
specific subjects available to any other researcher for free, except for the
cost of copying and shipping it.
d. Use the ideas or writings of someone who made
the research study possible, but not acknowledge that their efforts were
essential to completing the study.
18. Where are Institutional
Review Boards and what is the purpose of one? A
a. They are at most colleges, hospitals and
research centers. They make sure that research involving humans is carried out
ethically.
b. They are part of professional associations. They lobby for more research money from government agencies.
c. They are located in state police offices.
They ensure that researchers do not misuse money given to them for research.
d.
They
are located inside government agencies that give grants for research. They
ensure that the methodology used is scientific.
19. Which of the
following research scenarios is NOT ethical?
D
a. A school district wants a study of students,
but demands that a researcher reach findings showing an improvement in student scores
during the past five years.
b. A government agency suppresses findings which
indicate that it has not enforced a law it is supposed to and has been an
overall failure.
c. A political party calls people for telephone
interviews on opinions but is really identifying potential financial
contributors. It hides the true sponsor of a study by using a made up the name
of a research company.
d.
All
of the above.
20. A survey researcher from a marketing company telephones local residents and informs them she is calling from a “university research center” who is conducting a study on attitudes about local issues. She begins asking personal questions about how respondents spend their money. Afterwards the market research company uses the data to decide how to advertise their most expensive products. What ethical principles have been violated in this research? B
a.
Cause
no physical harm to study participants.
b.
Failure
to get informed consent.
c.
Cause
no psychological distress to study participants.
d.
No ethical
principles violated.
21. If researchers
criticize a study for its external validity problems they are point to
problems with: B
a. Randomization to the experimental or control
group
b. Generalizability
c. Ethics
d. Selection of subjects into experimental and
control groups
22. Which of the
following are strengths of survey research?
D
a. Data are often easily quantifiable for later
statistical analysis.
b. A large number of people can be asked about
their attitudes, behaviors, etc., so information can be generalized if a study
has good sampling.
c. The data are always highly accurate, because
people never lie or distort answers in a survey.
d. a and b
23. What occurs
during a pilot study? C
a. A test of just the questionnaire.
b.
When you
ask an airline pilot to participate in your study.
c.
A
complete run of all the steps in the research design.
d. None of the above.
24. In survey
research, what kind of error causes problems with the quality of the data
obtained? A
a. Systematic error
b. Combination error
c. Random error
d.
No
errors with surveys
25. If you were
going to ask a question about a highly sensitive topic (e.g., masturbation,
homosexuality, extramarital affairs) where should you place it in a
survey? C
a. As the very first question.
b. Mixed somewhere among unrelated questions in
the middle.
c. Among the last questions, unless it fits into
a set of similar questions, then with similar questions.
d. Such questions are never asked in survey
research.
26. When conducting
a survey research interview an interviewer should: D
a.
Communicate
his/her own feelings and opinions, to build rapport and so that the respondent
will feel free to divulge personal information also.
b.
Skip
over questions if you already know the answer for the respondent.
c. Rephrase each question into terms with which the respondent will understand.
d. None of the above.
27. The type of
survey that has the highest response rate. C
a. Telephone Interviews
b. Mail
Questionnaires
c. Face-to-face
Interviews
28. The one to
choose if one wants the quickest results. A
a. Telephone Interviews
b. Mail
Questionnaires
c. Face-to-face
Interviews
29. Permits the
longest interview and the most complex questions. C
a. Telephone
Interviews
b. Mail
Questionnaires
c. Face-to-face
Interviews
30. This test fairly reflects the course
readings, lectures and discussion on ethics, experiments and surveys. (No wrong
answer) A or B (100% of students responded A, True)
a.
True
b.
False
·
What
are three ethical issues involved with studying your research question, either
with an experiment or with a survey? Whose
lives might be influenced by your research? How so?
No standard
answer to this question. Needed to identify
ethical issues specific to your research question and your research method.
·
Why is informed consent important? What process do researchers generally follow to obtain informed
consent?
Researchers are not supposed to
deceive or hurt their study participants, or treat them with disrespect. Obtaining informed consent enables
participants to evaluate the research being done and decide for themselves
whether to participate. Obtaining
consent treats the participants with respect.
The process we follow to obtain
informed consent varies with different research methods. With experiments we create a form that
describes the purpose of the research, who is doing it, how it will be done,
how the data will be used, and how to contact the researcher. The researcher sits down with each
participant and reviews the form, after which each study participant signs the
form, along with the researcher. Both parties keep a copy of the form. The form serves as a type of contract
between the researcher and participant, indicating that ethical standards were
followed and protects both the researcher and the participant against later
claims to the contrary.
With surveys, we describe the
project when first contacting the participant (be it by phone, mail, or
in-person). In this conversation or
letter, we briefly describe the purpose of the research, who is doing it, how
it will be done, how the data will be used, and how to contact the
researcher. The participant decides
whether to participate and conveys that consent by either completing the
telephone survey, returning the mail survey, or allowing the researcher to
survey them in-person. The completed
survey usually serves as an implied consent form. Survey participants can skip any question they do not wish to
answer, and can end the survey at any time.
-5 for minor errors; incomplete answers; or not enough
explanation of points
·
Why is
a high response rate in a survey critical?
What techniques to social scientists use to increase response rates?
High response rates are critical in surveys in order to
obtain internal and external validity.
Issues here include the need to generalize and to conduct statistical
analyses, and the appropriate use of a survey to answer the research question
(i.e., methodological validity).
Generalization: Surveys are usually done on a sample of a
large population. The sample is designed to represent the population. If a high percentage of people contacted
choose not to respond to the survey, the sample may not represent the
population and accurate generalizations of the study results to the population
cannot be made from the sample.
Generalizations made under these conditions are likely to be biased or
inaccurate. Analysis: Surveys are
usually done on large samples. If we do not get a high response rate there may
not be enough cases to conduct adequate analyses, and the study conclusions
could be statistically inaccurate or biased.
Methodological validity: High
rejection rates indicate that a) there is a problem with using a survey with
this topic (people aren’t interested in
it, or it is too sensitive), b) the survey questions are not written well or
are too hard to answer), or c) the method being used to conduct the survey is
not appropriate to the topic (for example, using a face-to-face survey in a
neighborhood with a high crime rates – people will be reluctant to talk to
strangers at their door, let strangers in their homes to conduct the survey).
To obtain high response rates in surveys, we follow the
total design method (TDM). Basically this involves strategies that make it easy
for the study participants to respond to the survey, such as the
following. 1) The researcher should
develop valid survey questions and develop a questionnaire with a smooth
question ordering. The researcher
should pre-test the survey questions and questionnaire to determine if there
are problems with either the questions or questionnaire design/layout. 2) The researcher should develop a mail
survey cover letter or a verbal introduction to a telephone or face-to-face
survey that accurately and clearly describes the research being done. This letter or introduction should convey
how important the study topic is and how important each selected participant’s
response is. 3) With mail surveys, the
researcher should include a self-addressed posted envelope for return of the completed
survey. 4) The researcher should train
survey interviewers (in telephone and face-to-face surveys) to gather the
survey data scientifically. 5) The
researcher should use multiple attempts to reach participants selected for the
study. With a mail survey this involves sending post-card reminders after a
week or two of the initial mailing, and an entire new survey packet after 3
weeks. With a telephone surveys this
involves calling selected participants at different days and times. 6) The
researcher should consider using alternative survey methods to reach
non-respondents – for example, use a telephone call-back to people who haven’t
returned a mail survey. 7) The researcher should pilot the survey research
design (which includes all of the above) on a small random sample of the
population. 8) The researcher should consider using financial incentives for
completing the survey such as entering respondents into drawings for prizes, or
including a small payment for completing the survey.
-5 for minor errors;
incomplete answers; or not enough explanation of points.
·
What
kinds of questions are appropriate for experiments? For surveys?
Experiments can be used for research questions or topics that
allow manipulation of the independent variable and observation of the dependent
variable. There are fewer of these
kinds of research questions or topics in sociology. Example research questions that could be answered using an
experiment are:
Surveys can
be and are used for many types of research questions or topics, but they are
best suited for research projects that meet the following conditions:
·
Projects
that aim to describe or estimate the incidence or prevalence of an attitude,
belief, or behavior in a large population.
·
Projects
for which a researcher can draw a sample from a population, so as to
obtain a representative sample and make sound generalizations.
· Topics about which a researcher can develop clear, easy to answer closed-ended questions.
Surveys should not be used to answer “why” or “how” research
questions. Example research questions that could be answered using a survey
are:
-5 for minor errors; incomplete answers; or not enough
explanation of points