Chapter 1 Flashcards
(35 cards)
Which type of research is usually useful for gaining breadth but not detail on a particular topic?
Quantitative
Which sociologist is credited with recognizing and defining the sociological imagination?
C. Wright Mills
Our personal experiences are powerfully shaped by macrosocial and historical forces.
Which of the following is the most serious drawback to panel studies?
Attrition
Most widely used quantitative method in socio?
Survey
Three general conditions guide a social scientist’s formulation of his or her question: its social importance, scientific relevance, and ____.
Feasibility
Goal of applied research is…
practical (real world problems)
goal of basic research is…
theoretical, pursuit of knowledge (academia)
Match each type of research with the example that best fits.
1) Descriptive
2) Explanatory
3) Exploratory
A) A research project examines the levels of opioid abuse in the United States
B) A research project examines how individuals gain access to opioids in the United States
C) A research project examines why certain types of individuals begin using opioids in the United States
1) A
2) C
3) B
Match each time design with the example that best fits.
1) Panel study
2) Cross-sectional study
3) Repeated cross-sectional study
A) A researcher surveys a group of college students during their freshman year and then surveys a different group of freshmen two years later
B) A researchers surveys the same group of college students during their freshman and senior years
C) A researcher surveys a group of college students only during their freshman year
1) B
2) C
3) A
Match each discipline with the statement about research that best fits.
1) Psychology
2) History
3) Anthropology
4) Sociology
A) Often focuses on contemporary populations and uses experimental methods
B) Often uses qualitative methods as well as archaeological methods
C) Uses materials-based approaches to research and sometimes in-depth interviewing
D) Uses both quantitative and qualitative methods and accounts for agency as well as structure
1) A
2) C
3) B
4) D
If Dr. Lintz tried to make inferences about the outcomes of individuals based on her data of state legislatures, what mistake would she be making?
An ecological fallacy. drawing conclusions on micro level based on macro level analysis
Establishing causality requires knowledge about the ____ of events, thus longitudinal studies are necessary to understanding cause and effect.
Time order
Dr. Lintz has collected data on state legislatures including variables on the number of women and minorities in each state legislature, the number of bills passed, and the total budget of each. What is the unit of analysis?
State legislatures. A unit of analysis is simply the entity being studied
Vincent Roscigno’s work on age discrimination used which type of method(s)?
Mixed-methods approach. helps provide nuanced insights, (triangulation = many methods to determine if findings are right)
Dr. Jackson wants to evaluate whether the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program increases the likelihood that low-income youth attend college. What type of research is Dr. Jackson conducting?
Applied
Macrosociology vs. micro
large scale social systems vs. personal concerns/ interpersonal interactions
Research design steps (3)
Unit of analysis, cross-sectional or longitudinal, apply research method
Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Quant: collection and analysis of numbered data (surveys)
Qual: interpretation of observation (open ended interviews)
ethnography
qualitative research method focused on studying cultures and communities
Cross-sectional
data collected at 1 time
repeated cross-sectional
longitudinal study (overtime with different subjects)
sociological perspective
adopts sociological imagination that the individual/ biology and historical/ social factors influence them
Agency
acting autonomously
structure
patterned arrangement that influences and limits choices
