Test Bank

Chapter 9: Unobtrusive Methods

Multiple Choice

1. How do historical and comparative methods seek to answer questions about economic development and stratification?

a. balancing research method and design

b. providing clear answers based on observational science

c. conducting research with experimental groups

d. drawing comparisons between other times and places

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical and Comparative Research Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Research which focuses on the past presents special methodological challenges including ______.

a. available evidence that may represent a sample biased toward more newsworthy figures

b. historical research that cannot use quantitative techniques

c. an over-abundance of data from each historical timeframe

d. historical research is not conjunctional

Learning Objective: 9.3: Explain the special cautions that secondary data analysts should be aware of in their research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Qualitative historical research can be described in which of the following ways?

a. holistic and conjunctural

b. controlled and case-oriented

c. accessible and temporal

d. comprehensive and experimental

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Research that involves studying multiple cases, typically nations, over a long period of time is known as ______.

a. comparative historical research

b. cross-sectional comparative research

c. demography

d. historical events research

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparative Historical Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Qualitative historical research often follows a story involving specific actors and social phenomenon occurring at the same time or takes account of the position of actors and events in time. In other words, qualitative historical research is often ______.

a. holistic

b. conjunctural

c. temporal

d. narrative

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. When Frank, Hironaka, and Schofer (2000) studied the historical development of environmental protection around the world from 1900 to the late 1900s, they were conducting what kind of research?

a. oral history analysis

b. cross-sectional comparative research

c. demography

d. historical process research

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following is an example of a source of Big Data?

a. the general social survey

b. Facebook

c. the US census

d. federal customer service centers

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. In case-oriented historical research, what is the sample?

a. multiple nations at a single point in time

b. multiple nations at multiple points in time

c. one nation or other geographic unit

d. individuals within a single nation

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Which of the following is a unique challenge faced by researchers when using secondary data analysis?

a. A researcher must collect original data.

b. A researcher is able 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 facilitate comparisons with other samples.

Learning Objective: 9.3: Explain the special cautions that secondary data analysts should be aware of in their research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The U.S. Census has been conducted every ten years since what year?

a. 1770

b. 1780

c. 1790

d. 1800

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientist.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. 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

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Sources

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Which law gives individuals the right to access all federal agency records, unless the records are specifically exempted?

a. the Archival and Historical Access Act

b. the Freedom of Information Act

c. the Academic Freedom and Integrity Act

d. the Federal Public Records Act

Learning Objective: 9.8: Discuss the major ethical challenges that arise in the use of unobtrusive methods.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical and Comparative Research and Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. What is the first stage in a systematic, qualitative, comparative historical study?

a. selecting cases

b. specifying a theoretical framework and identifying key concepts

c. identifying similarities and differences between case or concepts

d. proposing a causal explanation for phenomenon

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Comparative Historical Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Historical research that uses national statistics or cross-national surveys is most likely ______.

a. variable-oriented

b. case-oriented

c. qualitative

d. interpretive

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparative Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. Which of the following is an advantage of secondary data analysis?

a. It focuses on small amounts of data.

b. It largely avoids data collection problems.

c. It limits the comparison of multiple samples.

d. A researcher should expect to experience no difficulty conducting follow-ups.

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures

of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Challenges for Secondary Data Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Which of the following is an ethical issue that is common to secondary data analysis and big data?

a. subject confidentiality

b. units of analysis

c. sources of data

d. research design

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Analysis of data collected by others does not create the same potential for ______ harm as does the collection of primary data.

a. any

b. immediate

c. permanent

d. temporary

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Janet is concerned with the context in which the events she is studying occurred and the interrelations between different events and processes she is observing. Her concern is ______.

a. conjunctural

b. qualitative

c. quantitative

d. historical

Learning Objective: 9.3: Explain the special cautions that secondary data analysts should be aware of in their research.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. Outside of the federal government, which entity has the largest collection of social science datasets in the U.S.?

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)

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Sources

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. What is one of the main problems with content analysis?

a. developing sociological hypotheses

b. lack of corroborating evidence

c. developing reliable coding procedures

d. gaps in the material

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Design Coding Procedures for the Variables to Be Measured

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. How is reliability of coding assessed in content analysis?

a. comparing different coders’ codes for the same variables

b. statistical controls

c. testing the same codes on a new sample

d. split-ballot design

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Design Coding Procedures for the Variables to Be Measured

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Previously collected data that are used in a new analysis are called ______ data.

a. secondary

b. historical

c. obtrusive

d. patterned

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. In regard to collecting primary data, how are analyses of historical documents in media different?

a. There are fewer options regarding confidentiality for human subjects.

b. The potential for harming human subjects is less.

c. There are different restrictions regarding participation of human subjects.

d. There are fewer conflicts of interest for human subjects who participate.

Learning Objective: 9.3: Explain the special cautions that secondary data analysts should be aware of in their research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical and Comparative Research and Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Which term describes massive datasets produced by people that are accessible in computer-readable forms?

a. secondary Analysis

b. survey Data

c. Big Data

d. unobtrusive Results

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Content analysts create variables for analysis by ______ of particular words or themes and then testing relations between the resulting variables.

a. counting occurrences

b. measuring affects

c. noting the relationships

d. judging reactions

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Develop Appropriate Statistical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Research concerned with the context in which events occurred and the interrelations between different events and processes is known as ______ research.

a. obtrusive

b. secondary

c. Big Data

d. holistic

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. A ______ is a frequency graph produced by Google’s database of all words printed in more than one third of the world’s books over time.

a. Ngram

b. bread crumbs

c. Big Data source

d. trend

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. ______ research accounts for the related series of events that unfold over time.

a. Inductive

b. Temporal

c. Secondary

d. Holistic

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. A research method of systematically analyzing and making inferences from recorded human communication is known as ______.

a. experimentation

b. survey research

c. content analysis

d. historical records archival

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Which of the following is a step in a systematic, qualitative, comparative historical study?

a. specifying a theoretical framework and identifying key concepts

b. presenting results for peer review and publication

c. conducting content analysis

d. adjusting for deviations from the proposed causal pattern

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Comparative Historical Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. Qualitative, historical research is ______, focusing on the nation or other unit as a whole.

a. conjunctural

b. case-oriented

c. narrative

d. temporal

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. What is one common measurement problem in historical research projects?

a. the lack of data from some historical periods

b. Tests of reliability are easy but time consuming.

c. an overabundance of samples from an array of groups

d. Scientific principles for data collection are strictly modern.

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. What is the first stage in conducting a content analysis?

a. interviewing fellow researchers to narrow a study focus

b. determining and delineating units of analysis

c. selecting a sample

d. identifying a population of documents or other textual sources

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Identify a Population of Documents or Other Textual Sources

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. How can unobtrusive measures improve measurement validity?

a. avoiding the bias of self-reports

b. allowing researchers to collect data in real time

c. collecting data with the assistance of individual research subjects

d. improving confidentiality and informed consent

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Unobtrusive Measures of Behavior

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. Which of the following statements is true about U.S. Census data?

a. It provides basic data on the economy and economic trends.

b. It gauges public sentiment on a variety of social issues.

c. It is not typically seen as an appropriate source of secondary data.

d. It is used to appropriate seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Sources

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. Which of the following represents a good example of a secondary data source?

a. the Library of Congress

b. student self-reports

c. survey results

d. newsletters

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Secondary Data Sources

Difficulty Level: Easy

37. ______ is/are always a concern with secondary data analysis.

a. Linking specific hypothesis to available data

b. The quality of available data

c. The high costs associated

d. Identifying bias in original research

Learning Objective: 9.8: Discuss the major ethical challenges that arise in the use of unobtrusive methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Challenges for Secondary Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

38. As part of her research, Jill reviews hundreds of journal articles comparing the impacts of diet on school performance in pre-schoolers. She has conducted a(n) ______.

a. census

b. Ngram

c. temporal research

d. content analysis

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

39. Juan is measuring the prevalence of drinking in college dorms by counting the number of empty alcohol bottles in the surrounding dumpsters. This is an example of ______ research.

a. unobtrusive

b. qualitative

c. temporal

d. case-oriented

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Unobtrusive Measures of Behavior

Difficulty Level: Easy

40. The collection of Big Data likely has which consequence?

a. increased surveillance of individuals and groups

b. increased confidentiality and anonymity

c. data sets that contain information from all groups in society

d. lessing of restrictions on invasions of privacy as the Internet grows

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. Historical research cannot use quantitative techniques.

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Historical Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Sources of Big Data are increasingly hard to come by.

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. When enormous amounts of data are available for analysis, the usual procedures for making data anonymous may no longer ensure that it stays that way, creating new concerns about research ethics.

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Compared with collecting original data, secondary data analysis offers few advantages for social researchers.

Learning Objective: 9.1: Discuss the advantages of using unobtrusive measures of behavior.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Challenges for Secondary Data Analyses

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Ethical concerns are greater if research crosses national boundaries.

Learning Objective: 9.8: Discuss the major ethical challenges that arise in the use of unobtrusive methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Qualitative data sets are the most available type of secondary research.

Learning Objective: 9.2: List four major sources of secondary data for social scientists.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Secondary Data Sources

Difficulty: Medium

7. Using Big Data, government agencies can learn about their customers from analyzing patterns revealed in their records.

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Big Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Comparisons between countries during one time period can help social scientists identify the limitations of explanations based on single-nation research.

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Comparative Social Science Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Computer-aided qualitative analysis programs can help, in many cases, develop coding procedures and then carry out the content coding.

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Develop Appropriate Statistical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The standards of validity applied to data collected with other quantitative methods differs from the criteria for judging quantitative content analyses of text.

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Develop Appropriate Statistical Analyses

Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer

1. Why is it important to understand local or historical norms when doing comparative or historical research? What steps are ethical researchers working in other cultures obligated to take?

Learning Objective: 9.8: Discuss the major ethical challenges that arise in the use of unobtrusive methods.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Historical and Comparative Research and Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

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

Learning Objective: 9.5: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using Big Data to answer social research questions.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data

Difficulty Level: Hard

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

Learning Objective: 9.4: Identify several sources of Big Data.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Big Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. What are some cautions for comparative analysis?

Learning Objective: 9.6: Define the three basic types of historical and comparative research methods and give an example of each.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Historical and Comparative Research Methods

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Describe the when it would be appropriate to conduct a content analysis and the steps or phases a researcher would follow to do so?

Learning Objective: 9.7: Describe the process of content analysis and give one example.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Content Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium