Ch.9 Diverse Concepts & Methods Test Questions & Answers

CHAPTER 9: Diverse Perspectives: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations

True/False Questions

1. Most social scientists agree that race is not a biological reality, but rather a social construct.

2. According to Currah and Minter (2000), transgender can be defined as any person whose anatomy, appearance, identity, beliefs, personality characteristics, demeanor or behavior diverges from or is perceived to diverge from prevailing social norms about gender.

3. Cross-cultural research examines groups living within the United States.

4. An early research strategy in comparative research framework involved comparison of members of diverse groups with the majority White population on various psychological variables.

5. In early comparative studies, White Americans were considered to be the gold standard or the norm against which others were compared.

6. Coping has been one of the most widely studied constructs in psychology.

7. Descriptive studies are often the final step in the topics and populations after more complex and causal relationships have been examined.

8. Conclusions drawn from small samples are high in external validity.

9. Research has found that a construct developed in one cultural context can never be valid in another cultural context.

10. The use of culturally inappropriate measures increases error variance and may mask significant relationships among variables in research related to diverse populations.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following statements is true of race?

1. Most social scientists agree that race is a biological reality, and not a social construct.
2. There are real social consequences of being perceived to be a part of an identifiable racial group.
3. The creation of racial taxonomies has been documented to have occurred in a distinctly scientific manner.
4. Certain physical traits related to race are inherently and exclusively found in combination with other physical traits.

2. Helms and Cook (1999) characterized ethnicity as a euphemism for _____.

1. origin
2. culture
3. race
4. religion

3. The central differences between the various definitions of culture often depend on whether the scholar is defining culture:

1. using functionalist, conflict, or interactionist theory.
2. objectively or subjectively.
3. from a feminist or a misogynist point of view.
4. psychologically, anthropologically, or sociologically.

4. Which of the following best describes the term intersexed?

1. It refers to culturally ascribed characteristics associated with maleness or femaleness that are distinct from assigned sex.
2. It denotes anatomical or biological characteristics as male or female.
3. It refers to an individual who is born with male and female sexual anatomy.
4. It is defined as any person whose anatomy, appearance, or behavior diverges from prevailing social norms about gender.

5. _____ has been described by Diemer and Ali (2009) as an index to denote an individual’s position within a hierarchy relative to power, prestige, and control of resources.

1. Subjective social status
2. Socioeconomic status
3. Perceived social status
4. Ascribed social status

6. Which of the following is a characteristic of early research on ethnic minorities?

1. It discouraged the comparison of minority groups to majority groups as the standard.
2. It assumed that the problems of ethnic minorities could be attributed to being deprived of modern values.
3. It pathologized ethnic minorities.
4. It was completely theoretical and nondescriptive.

7. In the context of multicultural research, which of the following is a true statement?

1. Distal factors are factors that do not directly explain observed phenomena.
2. Proximal factors tend to be demographic.
3. Proximal factors are ones that explain differences in behavior.
4. Distal factors are usually more psychological in nature.

8. Patrick conducted a long-term study involving undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds at a university. During the course of the study, there was an attack on a student who was identified as a member of the LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) community. This led to other LGB students withdrawing from the study due to perturbation. Which of the following threats does this scenario exemplify?

1. Maturation
2. Selection
3. Testing effects
4. Attrition

9. Which of the following is true of comparative research framework?

1. It is a research strategy to compare members of diverse groups with the Black population on various psychological variables.
2. The results obtained are more informative than studying psychological constructs of various groups in and of themselves.
3. It has been criticized because of the history of ethnic minority groups being compared to White Americans as a "norm group."
4. The use of this framework ensures that results are apolitical and free of bias.

10. In the context of comparative research framework, Azibo (1988) suggested that:

1. it is important to compare two different ethnic groups to understand the psychological constructs of various groups in and of themselves.
2. comparing two different ethnic groups, especially when the comparison involves an ethnic minority group with Whites, is only appropriate when "racial" groups are equated on all relevant variables, especially culture.
3. while comparing two different ethnic groups one should have a clear theoretical rationale and research question to better understand how a phenomenon manifests differently across groups.
4. while comparing two different ethnic groups one should have a clear idea of how minority groups differ from the dominant groups.