Chapter 14: Research Using Secondary Data and “Big” Data

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Frequency graphs produced by Google’s database of all words printed in more than one third of the world’s books over time are called ______.

A. Ngrams

B. pictograms

C. Mekko graphs

D. Trellis line graphs

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What is not one of the advantages of secondary data analyses?

A. It may allow data from multiple studies to be combined.

B. It allows analyses of social processes in other inaccessible settings.

C. It allows the researcher to avoid data collection problems.

D. It allows the methods to be refined on the basis of preliminary feedback from the population.

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. How many people currently use the internet worldwide?

A. 1.4 billion

B. 2.3 billion

C. 3.7 billion

D. 4.9 billion

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. How many people currently use Facebook worldwide?

A. 10 million

B. 100 million

C. 500 million

D. 1 billion

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Which of the following is an ethical concern when dealing with secondary and big data?

A. subject confidentiality

B. consequences of social experiments

C. citing the original principal investigators

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. All are advantages for social researchers to engage in secondary data analysis except:

A. It allows analyses of social processes in other inaccessible settings.

B. It saves time and money.

C. It is available via government funding.

D. It allows the researcher to avoid data collection problems.

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Identify a disadvantage of engaging in secondary data analysis.

A. takes more time

B. cannot test and refine the methods to be used

C. cannot compare with other samples

D. cannot allow data from multiple studies to be combined

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. What provides basic data on labor force activity monthly?

A. the CPS

B. IPUMS

C. the ICPSR

D. the CSC

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. A researcher wants to discover the fate of Apple's first attempt at a PDA, the Newton. A good source of data sets that might contain information about this handheld computer would be with the ______.

A. U.S. Census

B. Federal Customer Service Centers

C. National Institute of Technology

D. National Technical Information Service

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. According to the author, why do street-level bureaucrats pose a challenge regarding secondary data analysis?

A. They make decisions and record the bases for their decisions without much supervision.

B. They control the "purse strings" for grant making for secondary data analysis.

C. They have a broad range of training and experience.

D. They are part of a hierarchical organization.

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Whether data are stored in one kind of database or another, when conducting secondary analysis, goes to the question of:

A. What is known about the success of the data collection effort?

B. Who was responsible for data collection?

C. How are missing data indicated?

D. How was the information organized?

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. The least likely source of data for secondary data analysis comes from ______.

A. qualitative data

B. the World Bank

C. ICPSR

D. Federal Customer Service Centers

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. The first U.S. Census was conducted in which year?

A. 1770

B. 1780

C. 1790

D. 1800

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Which of the following is conducted on a monthly basis?

A. the U.S. Census

B. the IPUMS

C. the Current Population Survey

D. the General Social Survey

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. The archive of historical and comparative data housed at the University of Michigan since 1962 but shared by over 300 international colleges, universities, and other institutions is known as the ______.

A. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series

B. The National Technical Information Service

C. The National Archive

D. The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. When researchers use data that have been collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, stored at the ICPSR, or published in archival collections, they are using ______.

A. primary data

B. secondary data

C. tertiary data

D. nonempirical data

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Census data are available and reported for which of the following units?

A. geographical, including tracts and blocks

B. governmental, including agencies and officials

C. educational, including primary and secondary schools

D. service, including individuals and crews

Difficulty Level: Hard

18. The U.S. Census intends to survey ______.

A. every American citizen

B. every person living in the United States

C. an adult in every household in the United States

D. a random sample of U.S. residents

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The largest academic archive of secondary data is ______.

A. ICPSR

B. Bureau of Labor Statistics

C. University of Chicago

D. National Opinion Research Corporation

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Much of the statistical data collected by U.S. federal agencies can be accessed through which website?

A. ICPSR

B. NTIS

C. U.S. Census

D. American Fact Finder

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. The single most important government data source for social scientists is ______.

A. American Community Survey

B. Decennial Census

C. Current Population Survey

D. General Social Survey

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. The University of Michigan's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) contains what kind of data?

A. American Community Survey

B. Decennial Census

C. Current Population Survey

D. General Social Survey

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. The Current Population Survey provides a monthly record of ______.

A. births and deaths

B. migration

C. income and education

D. employment and unemployment

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. The European Commission administers and makes available survey data that monitors social and political attitudes in the European Union member states, known as the ______.

A. EUSS

B. Eurobarometer

C. European Census

D. EUCPSR

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Outside of the federal government, which entity has the largest collection of social science datasets in the United States?

A. Roper (University of Connecticut)

B. NORC (University of Michigan)

C. ICPSR (University of Michigan)

D. Harvard-MIT Data Center (Harvard University – Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Which is an advantage of secondary data analysis?

A. saves time and money

B. avoids data collection problems

C. may allow comparison of multiple samples

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. An official who serves clients and records data about them for official records is known as a/an ______.

A. street-level bureaucrat

B. informant

C. stakeholder

D. gatekeeper

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. If asked to provide an example of a source of Big Data, a researcher could point to ______.

A. the ICPSR

B. Facebook

C. the U.S. Census

D. Federal Customer Service Centers

Difficulty Level: Medium

29. Who or what might least likely have a need to use Big Data?

A. a public utility

B. a researcher

C. a lawyer

D. a statistician

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. An ethical issue common to secondary data analysis and big data includes ______.

A. subject confidentiality

B. units of analysis

C. sources of data

D. research design

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. In order to protect subject confidentiality in secondary data analysis, a researcher must ______.

A. find out what procedures were used to preserve subject confidentiality

B. contact participants from the original study and ask for permission

C. all information that could identify individuals should be removed when possible

D. both find out what procedures were used to preserve subject confidentiality and all information that could identify individuals should be removed when possible

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. Who decides whether there are any issues of concern regarding human subjects when a researcher acquires a data set for secondary analysis?

A. the Human Subjects Review Board

B. the Institutional Review Board

C. the researcher who gathered the primary data

D. the overseer of the project

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. Which of the following is not a unique challenge a researcher may face when using secondary data analysis?

A. A researcher cannot facilitate comparisons with other samples.

B. A researcher is unable to design data collection methods best suited for his or her research question.

C. A researcher cannot engage in the iterative process of making observations and developing concepts.

D. A researcher cannot make more observations and refine concepts based on the data.

Difficulty Level: Hard

34. Qualitative data sets available for secondary data analysis can be found at ______.

A. the ESDS Qualidata site

B. the ICPSR collection

C. the Human Relations Area Files

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. Confidentiality of the information obtained in the U.S. Census is mandated by law for ______ years after collection.

A. 72

B. 5

C. 100

D. 10

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Secondary data analysis involves the analysis of data sets of unprecedented size.

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The complete count census includes basic demographic measures, work indicators, immigration status, veteran status, disability status, and family composition information.

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The Current Population Survey is collected by the Bureau of the Census.

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Secondary data analysis involves using preexisting data in a different way.

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. There are few methodological problems associated with secondary analysis because available data are generally of high quality.

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim both used secondary data analysis in their research.

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. The ICPSR is housed at the University of Chicago.

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. The single most important secondary data source for social researchers is the General Social Survey.

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. U.S. Census data are collected every 10 years.

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Participation in the U.S. Census is required by law.

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. The IPUMS data set provides consistent codes for U.S. Census data, beginning with the 1850 Census.

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. To access most ICPSR data sets, a student or researcher must be affiliated with a member institution.

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. The secondary data analyst can engage in the iterative process by refining measures in the data set.

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Street level bureaucrats ensure consistent data in official reports.

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. By definition, the content analyst applies primarily qualitative techniques to the coding and analysis of data.

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. What is the U.S. Census? Explain its purpose, how often it is conducted, and how data collected from the census are made available.

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Describe a few international sources of secondary data.

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Why is data quality a particularly sensitive issue in secondary data analysis?

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Define Big Data.

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Describe at least one ethical concern regarding Big Data.

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. What does the availability of Big Data mean for a researcher?

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. What are the principle disadvantages of using secondary data? How can a researcher minimize these disadvantages?

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Explain the advantage of using the IPUMS data set rather than a series of decennial census. Make sure to consider validity in your answer.

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. What are the major advantages of using the method of secondary data analysis? Limitations?

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. What are the questions that should be asked when developing an analysis for secondary data? Provide explanations on why a secondary data analyst should be concerned with this information.

Difficulty Level: Hard