Chapter 6: Research Design and Causation

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. In most sociological and psychological studies, the units of analysis are ______.

A. groups

B. families

C. schools

D. individuals

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. A repeated cross-sectional design is also known as a ______.

A. panel study

B. trend study

C. cross sectional study

D. cohort study

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. What is the goal of a trend study?

A. to determine whether a sample has changed over time

B. to determine whether a population has changed over time

C. to follow the same people for at least 10 years to see how they change

D. to conduct a survey on the most recent topic in a society

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. When testing causal hypotheses, which design is best?

A. a repeated cross-sectional design

B. a trend study

C. a panel design

D. a cohort study

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. In experimental designs, what reduces the risk of spuriousness?

A. statistical control

B. inferential statistics

C. randomization

D. context

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Research that collects data at more than one point in time is called:

A. Longitudinal

B. Cross-sectional

C. Ideographic

D. Nomothetic

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Longitudinal research designs are generally superior to cross-sectional research designs because they more readily establish ______.

A. association

B. time order

C. nonspuriousness

D. causal mechanism

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Which of the following is NOT a circumstance in which it is reasonable to draw conclusions about time order based on cross-sectional data?

A. The independent variable is fixed at some point prior to the variation in the dependent variable.

B. Respondents can give reliable reports of what happened to them or what they thought at some earlier point in time.

C. When events in the past are unrelated to the measurement of the dependent variable.

D. Measures are based on records that contain information on cases in earlier periods.

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. In a nomothetic causal explanation, the focus is on which of the following as the cause?

A. mechanism

B. context

C. dependent variable

D. independent variable

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Individual respondents in a repeated cross-sectional study ______.

A. must belong to the same cohort

B. must be part of the same population

C. are subject to measurement at more than one point in time

D. must belong to different populations

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Fixed sample panel studies are distinguished by which of the following designs.

A. Data are collected from individuals in the same room.

B. Data are collected from the same individuals at multiple points in time.

C. Data are collected at only one point in time.

D. Data are collected from different samples in the same population.

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Attrition in panel studies refers to which of the following?

A. Over time, the population changes.

B. Panel members begin to tire of repeated questioning and give thoughtless, stock answers during interviews.

C. The process of sample selection must remain the same at Time 1 and Time 2.

D. Some members of the panel may drop out of the study.

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. A cohort has which of the following characteristics?

A. random selection from the general population

B. a common starting point

C. values or beliefs in common

D. inability to consent to participation in social research

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The narrative is a critical element in which of the following?

A. experimental design

B. nomothetic explanations

C. causal mechanism

D. idiographic explanations

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Most sociological and psychological studies use which unit of analysis?

A. institution

B. individual

C. artifact

D. aggregate

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Conclusions drawn about individuals based on family-level data, such as income, may or may not be correct due to the possibility of an error known as a/an ______.

A. ecological fallacy

B. reductionist fallacy

C. event-based fallacy

D. selective observer fallacy

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. The belief that the variation in an independent variable will be followed by variation in the dependent variable, when all other things are equal, is known as ______.

A. a nomothetic explanation

B. an individualist fallacy

C. an ecological fallacy

D. a historicist explanation

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. While investigating why juveniles commit murder, a researcher extensively interviews one 13 year old who was convicted of this crime. The researcher paid careful attention to the specific conditions of this juvenile offender that led to his crime, such as his relationship with his parents, his peers, his previous delinquency, his psychological health, his biological health, his educational experiences, his contact with role models, his exposure to media, and his history of violent behavior. This study is a good example of what type of causal explanation?

A. counterfactual

B. exploratory

C. idiographic

D. nomothetic

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. In a true experiment, how is association established?

A. randomization

B. comparison groups

C. statistical controls

D. quantitative measurement

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Researcher K is interested in the effects of gender on educational attainment, so she asked one member of 100 households to provide the gender and number of years of education completed for adults in the household. In K's study, the unit of analysis is ______.

A. gender

B. household

C. individual

D. educational attainment

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. After consulting factory records, Researcher P finds that factories with higher proportions of male workers are more likely to be union shops. P concludes that in future research on union activism, the focus should be on male individuals. What methodological error has P committed?

A. ecological fallacy

B. time order violation

C. spuriousness

D. reductionist fallacy

Difficulty Level: Hard

22. To say that variables have an association is to say that ______.

A. the relationship between them is genuine

B. they occur at the same point in time

C. they empirically vary together

D. the relationship between them is false

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. Researcher M found that when temperatures rise, so does the crime rate. Researcher M has satisfied which criterion for causality?

A. association

B. nonspuriousness

C. causal mechanism

D. context

Difficulty Level: Hard

24. To establish time order, which of the following must come first?

A. covariation

B. the independent variable

C. the dependent variable

D. the pretest

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. By definition, a cross-sectional study ______.

A. collects data from two or more samples

B. collects data at one point in time

C. collects data for independent and dependent variables

D. collects data from two or more populations

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. In nonexperimental research designs, which technique is usually used to establish nonspuriousness?

A. counterfactuals

B. association

C. statistical control

D. randomization

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Which causal criteria are the most difficult to establish when using cross-sectional designs?

A. association

B. nonspuriousness

C. time order

D. mechanism

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. The process through which the independent variable creates changes in a dependent variable is known as a/an ______.

A. association

B. context

C. consideration

D. mechanism

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. In cross-sectional research, which of the following is assumed to come before current attitudes?

A. sex

B. race

C. education

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. What technique reduces the risk of spuriousness in nonexperimental designs?

A. randomization

B. association

C. time order

D. statistical control

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. Historically, Southern cities have been more spatially integrated by race than have Northern cities. This is an example of ______.

A. spuriousness

B. contextual effect

C. idiographic causal explanation

D. ecological fallacy

Difficulty Level: Hard

32. Dr. Smith is exploring the effects of bullying on children's self-esteem. In order to conduct her research, she decides to interview children at a local high school about their experiences with bullies. What are the units of analysis for this study?

A. the children being interviewed

B. bullies

C. the local high school

D. all of these

Difficulty Level: Hard

33. John found that freshman girls at a local high school were more likely than freshman boys to get detention. In his article, he concludes that overall high school girls are more likely than boys to get in trouble. This is an example of ______.

A. contextual effect

B. ecological fallacy

C. reductionist fallacy

D. spuriousness

Difficulty Level: Hard

34. Katherine is creating a mock research design that examines the effect of college on religiosity among students. She wishes to interview a random sample of incoming freshmen and do subsequent interviews with the same group at the end of each semester for four years. This is an example of ______.

A. a cross-sectional research design

B. a longitudinal research design

C. a fixed-sample panel design

D. a repeated cross-sectional research design

Difficulty Level: Hard

35. The problem of panel members growing weary of repeated interviews, which could cause participants to drop out of the study or give thoughtless answers to standard questions, is called ______.

A. laziness

B. subject frustration

C. indifference

D. subject fatigue

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. The class of 2020, baby boomers, and juniors in a high school are all examples of ______.

A. subjects

B. cohorts

C. extraneous variables

D. moderators

Difficulty Level: Easy

37. When relationships between variables differ across geographic units such as counties or across other social settings, researchers say there is a(n) ______.

A. association

B. extraneous variable

C. moderator

D. contextual effect.

Difficulty Level: Easy

38. What are variables that involve a mechanism called?

A. nonspurious

B. mediators

C. extraneous variables

D. context variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

39. When relationships between variables differ across geographic units such as counties or across other social settings, researchers say there is ______.

A. an association

B. emergence

C. moderation

D. a contextual effect

Difficulty Level: Easy

40. A researcher examined factory records and found that the higher the percentage of unskilled workers in factories, the higher the rate of employee sabotage in those factories. The researcher concluded that individual unskilled factory workers are more likely to engage in sabotage. What is the conclusion an example of?

A. extrapolation

B. emergence

C. reductionist fallacy

D. ecological fallacy

Difficulty Level: Hard

41. In their study of influences on violent crime in Chicago neighborhoods, Robert Sampson, Stephen Raudenbush, and Felton Earls (1997, p. 919) hypothesized that efficacy would influence neighborhood crime rates. Collective efficacy was defined conceptually as a characteristic of the neighborhood: the extent to which residents were likely to help other residents and were trusted by other residents. To test this hypothesis, the researchers surveyed individuals from different neighborhoods. What is the unit of analysis in this study?

A. individuals

B. neighborhoods

C. crime rates

D. collective efficacy scores

Difficulty Level: Hard

42. An explanation of behavior problems in grade school classrooms that focus on the children’s personalities, rather than on classroom structure, teacher behavior, or the surrounding neighborhood is an example of ______.

A. emergence

B. cross sectional design

C. reductionist fallacy

D. ecological fallacy

Difficulty Level: Medium

43. Quantitative projects lead to what kind of causal explanations?

A. idiographic

B. nomothetic

C. nonspurious

D. quantitative projects do not lead to any causal explanations

Difficulty Level: Easy

44. What is the first criterion for identifying a nomothetic causal effect?

A. association

B. time order

C. nonspuriousness

D. mechanism

Difficulty Level: Easy

45. Melissa responds to a survey questionnaire every few weeks. Each survey is on a different topic such as her recycling behaviors and her view on gun control. What kind of study is this an example of?

A. trend

B. cohort

C. panel

D. cross-sectional

Difficulty Level: Hard

46. A researcher conducts four surveys over 4 months measuring voters’ support for a proposed policy in his county. What kind of study is this an example of?

A. trend

B. cohort

C. panel

D. cross-sectional

Difficulty Level: Hard

47. A study that surveys millennials every 3 years for 9 years is an example of what kind of study?

A. trend

B. cohort

C. panel

D. cross-sectional

Difficulty Level: Hard

48. What is critical for developing a causal analysis but can be an insurmountable problem with a cross-sectional design?

A. time order

B. association

C. nonspuriousness

D. mechanism

Difficulty Level: Medium

49. What is the appearance of phenomena at a group level that cannot be explained by the properties of individuals within the group?

A. ecological fallacy

B. reductionist fallacy

C. emergence

D. context

Difficulty Level: Easy

50. The cases about which measures actually are obtained in a sample are known as ______.

A. units of analysis

B. units of observation

C. cohorts

D. individuals

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Cross-sectional research collects data at one point in time.

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. If a contextual effect exists, then causality cannot be established.

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Time order cannot be established in cross-sectional research designs.

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. A trend study has a repeated cross-sectional design.

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Quantitative research generally seeks to test idiographic causal explanations using either experimental or nonexperimental designs.

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Interviewing survivors of the 9-11 attacks is an example of a cohort study.

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. In some studies, the unit of analysis and the unit of observation are the same.

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. The unit of analysis is the level of social life from which data are collected.

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. If a study contains an ecological fallacy, it has drawn conclusions about individuals from group-level data.

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. If a study contains a reductionist fallacy, it has drawn conclusions about individuals based on group-level data.

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. A nomothetic causal explanation is deterministic.

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. A counterfactual situation is a hypothetical one, in which researchers must estimate what the situation would have been in the absence of variation in the independent variable.

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Idiographic causal explanations seek to specify which conditions led to a particular outcome in a particular case or event.

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Association in causal explanations requires that variables vary together.

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Randomization is a technique used to ensure spuriousness in experimental designs.

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Describe the difference between nomothetic and idiographic causal explanations. How do these differ from case-oriented understanding?

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Outline the two causal fallacies commonly associated with units of analysis. Give an example that demonstrates each, describing the problems with each fallacy in terms of the example.

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Identify the four special circumstances in which researchers can be more confident in drawing conclusions about time order when using cross-sectional data.

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Provide an example of a spurious relationship.

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Describe each of the five criteria for identifying a causal effect and provide an example of each.

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. In your own words, describe nonspuriousness. How do researchers attempt to achieve nonspuriousness in experimental and nonexperimental designs? What is the role of extraneous variables in explaining a spurious relationship?

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. Outline the three types of longitudinal research designs. What are the strengths and potential weaknesses of each?

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Provide an example in which you expect that a contextual effect exists. Why do you think this contextual effect occurs? How would you design research to account for this contextual effect?

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. How is causality established in experimental research, and how does this differ when using nonexperimental research designs? Why do both experimental and nonexperimental designs exist in social sciences?

Difficulty Level: Hard