Chapter 6: Existing Statistics Research

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. What differentiates existing statistics research from secondary data analysis?

A. In existing statistics research, you don't get the raw data.

B. In existing statistics research, you can’t generalize to your population.

C. In existing statistics research, you don’t have to analyze the data.

D. In existing statistics research, the unit of analysis is the individual.

Learning Objective: 6.1: Describe the purpose and characteristics of existing statistics research. | 6.6: Differentiate between research questions appropriate for secondary data analysis and existing statistics.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In order to investigate the relationship between race and financial aid, which research method would you most likely use?

A. a survey

B. secondary data analysis

C. existing statistics

D. interviews

Learning Objective: 6.1: Describe the purpose and characteristics of existing statistics research

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. When working with existing statistics, you will need to ______.

A. collect updated data from some of the participants

B. make sure to get approval from a gatekeeper

C. simply report the statistics you find

D. create hypotheses and compute new statistics to test them

Learning Objective: 6.1: Describe the purpose and characteristics of existing statistics research

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. The unit of analysis in existing research will never be the individual because ______.

A. the data are raw data

B. you only have to do the math to change the unit of analysis to smaller levels like the individual

C. the survey was conducted by someone else

D. the data have already been aggregated

Learning Objective: Identify an appropriate unit of analysis for existing statistics research questions

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Using positivist methodology in existing statistics research means you will ______.

A. deductively generalize your findings from geographic region to the individual

B. inductively build theory

C. guard your procedures carefully so no one replicates your analysis

D. follow highly controlled steps to minimize bias

Learning Objective: 6.2: Describe the logic of positivist methodology and how it affects existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Methodology (see page 167)

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Existing statistics is a powerful tool for testing ______.

A. more focused theories such as how friendships are made

B. larger theoretical frameworks such as conflict theory

C. qualitative data

D. the validity of other quantitative measures

Learning Objective: 6.4: Describe the uses of theory in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Theorists like feminist theorists and conflict theorists sometimes use existing statistics because they can ______.

A. bring legitimacy to claims that seem politically motivated

B. Document the trauma that oppressed people suffer

C. easily be manipulated to support their claims

D. trace patterns of discrimination from the individual level all the way up to the national level

Learning Objective: 6.4: Describe the uses of theory in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. The fact that existing statistics comes from daily record keeping of government and other offices helps to eliminate ______.

A. sampling bias

B. objectivity

C. collapsing of variables

D. validity issues

Learning Objective: 6.3: Explain the goals of positivist methodology in regard to existing statistic research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Which of the following is the most appropriate research question for existing statistics research?

A. How likely are voters to vote for a member of the same political party in the next election as they did in the previous one?

B. What is the relationship between political party affiliation and attitudes about defense spending?

C. How do voters’ political beliefs change over the course of their lives?

D. How have changes in voter demographics affected campaign spending?

Learning Objective: 6.5: Identify research questions appropriate for existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Evaluation

Answer Location: Research Questions

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Which of the following is the best research question for existing statistics?

A. What is the relationship between a personch question forInternet purchases and their spending at local stores?

B. How does spending on Internet and in-app purchases affect the creation of new jobs?

C. How has Internet shopping expanded to new markets?

D. How does purchase price affect the amount of time people spend choosing items to purchase online?

Learning Objective: 6.5: Identify research questions appropriate for existing statistics research

Cognitive Domain: Evaluation

Answer Location: Research Questions

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. How do home prices affect victim’s decisions about whether to rebuild or move after a natural disaster? Why is this a poor question for existing statistics research?

A. The unit of analysis is the individual.

B. The question is descriptive rather than explanatory.

C. Rates of migration after a natural disaster are not likely to be available as an existing statistic.

D. The question is not based on theory.

Learning Objective: 6.7: Identify common errors in writing research questions for existing research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Research Questions | Box 6.2. Examples of Research Questions Appropriate for Existing Statistics | Box 6.3. Avoid these Common Errors When Writing Research Questions for Existing Statistics

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. For which of the following research methods will you have to file for IRB approval?

A. secondary data analysis

B. existing statistics

C. both secondary data analysis and existing statistics

D. none of these

Learning Objective: 6.11: Identify the researcher’s ethical responsibilities in conducting existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethics

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. In existing statistics research, you don’t have to file for IRB approval because ______.A. respondents are kept anonymous

B. you don’t have access to the raw data

C. you aren’t conducting any analysis

D. existing statistics is not a true form of research

Learning Objective: 6.11: Identify the researcher’s ethical responsibilities in conducting existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ethics

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. When conducting existing statistics research, which of the following would you be most likely to use as a source for your data?

A. the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

B. GSS

C. the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

D. ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States

Learning Objective: 6.14: Recognize possible and appropriate sources of existing statistics data for particular research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. You want to understand the relationship between spending on education, spending on welfare programs, and rates of employment. You find statistics on educational spending by school district, but you find spending on welfare programs by county and rates of employment by city. What is the problem in using these statistics?

A. Your units of analysis are mismatched.

B. Your variables aren’t correctly operationalized for your hypotheses.

C. You can’t generalize from the sample.

D. You cannot research three different variables.

Learning Objective: 6.15: Determine the compatibility of data from multiple sources.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Hard

16. You want to understand the relationship between consumption of fossil fuels, income per household, and economic health of the region. You find statistics on consumption of fossil fuels by state, but you find income per household by city and economic health by county. What is the problem in using these statistics?

A. Your units of analysis are mismatched.

B. Your variables aren’t correctly operationalized for your hypotheses.

C. You can’t generalize from the sample.

D. You cannot compare three different variables.

Learning Objective: 6.15: Determine the compatibility of data from multiple sources.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Hard

17. You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. Your unit of analysis is ______.A. the individual

B. the divorce rates

C. the nation

D. the county

Learning Objective: 6.8: Identify the unit of analysis used in a variety of existing statistics research questions. Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Hard

18. What is the relationship between standardized test scores and state spending on education? The unit of analysis for this research question is the ______.

A. test scores

B. amount spent on education

C. state

D. school district

Learning Objective: 6.8: Identify the unit of analysis used in a variety of existing statistics research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. In operationalizing variables for existing statistics research, it is important to ______.

A. understand any changes in how the variable was measured over time

B. aggregate variables when needed

C. collapse all your variables

D. use probability sampling to ensure validity of your measurement

Learning Objective: 6.16: Explain why it’s important for researchers to understand any differences in the way that variables are conceptualized and operationalized over time or across data sources.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Conceptualizing and Operationalizing

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. The best way to draw a sample for this research is using ______.A. probability sampling

B. convenience sampling

C. theoretical sampling

D. cluster sampling

Learning Objective: 6.12: Describe the purpose of probability and its use in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Evaluation

Answer Location: Sampling

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. If you are drawing a census for your research, you will ______.

A. use probability sampling to generalize to a larger population

B. choose either simple random sampling or systematic random sampling

C. not sample at all

D. choose cluster sampling if there is no other feasible option

Learning Objective: 6.13: Describe how and when to use a census in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sampling

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. To calculate new statistics using existing statistics, you ______.A. rerun the statistical analyses to make sure they are valid

B. add county- and city-level statistics together to come up with national-level statistics

C. sum up all of your findings into one number to represent all of your variables

D. treat each statistic as a variable

Learning Objective: 6.18: Explain how statistics get used as variables in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. You are studying the relationship between employment rates and divorce rates. You find data for both of these by county for all the counties in the nation. The conclusions you draw can be generalized to ______.A. individuals

B. counties

C. the nation

D. the world

Learning Objective: 6.20: Explain why conclusions can only be drawn about the aggregated group in existing statistics research and not about the individual.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

24. Existing statistics are usually collected at the ______ level.

A. nominal

B. ordinal

C. interval

D. median

Learning Objective: 6.19: Describe how to collapse variables in existing statistics research and explain for what purpose.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. If using a crosstab that includes poverty level as the dependent variable, depending on your number of cases, you would want to collapse the variable so that ______.

A. there are only two columns for poverty

B. there are three to five columns for poverty

C. there are at least six columns for poverty

D. it’s better not to collapse this variable

Learning Objective: 6.19: Describe how to collapse variables in existing statistics research and explain for what purpose.

Cognitive Domain: Evaluation

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

26. Validity for existing statistics research means ______.A. you are using measures that were understood by all respondents in the same way

B. you have remained completely objective and unbiased

C. you are using statistics that are a good match with the variables in your hypotheses

D. you only used one trustworthy source of information

Learning Objective: 6.21: Explain reliability and validity for existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Evaluating the Quality of Data and Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Measuring prejudice against immigrants by using a statistic about number of immigrant visas denied is a(n) ______ measurement.

A. reliable

B. unreliable

C. valid

D. invalid

Learning Objective: 6.21: Explain reliability and validity for existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evaluating the Quality of Data and Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer/Essay

1. Explain how and why you create a spreadsheet when using existing statistics.

Learning Objective: 6.18: Explain how statistics get used as variables in existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Existing Statistics Research: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Compare and contrast the types of research questions appropriate for research using secondary data with those appropriate for research using existing statistics.

Learning Objective: 6.6: Differentiate between research questions appropriate for secondary data analysis and existing statistics.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Research Questions | Box 6.2. Examples of Research Questions Appropriate for Existing Statistics | Box 6.3. Avoid these Common Errors When Writing Research Questions for Existing Statistics

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Portland, OR has a relatively few number of African American and Latino residents compared to other parts of the west coast. You are interested in learning whether people of color who do reside in Portland are concentrated in specific neighborhoods, or whether they are integrated into neighborhoods throughout the city. Explain the most feasible way to find an answer to this question.

Learning Objective: 6.14: Recognize possible and appropriate sources of existing statistics data for particular research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection | Box 6.4. Selected Sources of Existing Statistics

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Describe the general steps usually taken to collect data for a research project using existing statistics as the research method.

Learning Objective: 6.17: Explain the steps to collecting existing statistics data.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Collection

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Write a research question appropriate for existing statistics research related to teen pregnancy.

• Use a geographical area (or other aggregated group) as the unit of analysis, never the individual
• Concern officially reported behavior, demographic characteristics of an aggregated group, population trends, spending, consumption, or use of services
• Be explanatory and not descriptive
• Contain one independent and one dependent variable
• Use variables that can be gathered from available sources of existing statistics

Learning Objective: 6.22: Write research questions suitable for existing statistics research.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Research Questions | Box 6.2. Examples of Research Questions Appropriate for Existing Statistics | Box 6.3. Avoid these Common Errors When Writing Research Questions for Existing Statistics

Difficulty Level: Hard

Which source(s) of existing statistics would you likely use to get your data for this research question? Explain.

Learning Objective: 6.14: Recognize possible and appropriate sources of existing statistics data for particular research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Preparing for Data Collection | Box 6.4. Selected Sources of Existing Statistics

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What does it mean to collapse a variable?

Learning Objective: 6.19: Describe how to collapse variables in existing statistics research and explain for what purpose.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

Explain why you would need to do this for existing statistics.

Learning Objective: 6.19: Describe how to collapse variables in existing statistics research and explain for what purpose.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

Give an example of how you would collapse a variable.

Learning Objective: 6.19: Describe how to collapse variables in existing statistics research and explain for what purpose. | 6.28: Appropriately collapse a variable for use in producing a crosstab.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard