Sociology 5313 - Research Methods and Design » Fall 2021 » Quiz 1

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Question #1
The president of Big Hotdog, Inc. considered changing the wage structure to increase worker productivity. She called in the firm’s top management team to make a decision. The vice president for sales said, “I read an article in last week’s Fortune magazine on it, and it proves that the proposed new wage structure always is best.” Which error does the vice president of sales make?
A.   appeal to tradition as a basis of knowledge
B.   premature closure
C.   appeal to authority as a basis of knowledge
D.   overgeneralization
Question #2
The television show “COPS”was broadcast on FOX since March 1989 and its limited portrayal of crime could leave many viewers with an inaccurate view of the social world. This alternative medium of social knowledge is called
A.   media myths.
B.   authority
C.   common sense
D.   tradition
Question #3
Communalism means
A.   Irrespective of who conducts a study or where the researcher conducts it, the study is judged only on the basis of scientific merit.
B.   Scientists must be neutral, impartial, receptive, and open-minded to unexpected observations or new ideas. They should not be rigidly wedded to a particular idea or point of view.
C.   Scientists should not accept new ideas or evidence in a carefree, uncritical manner, but challenge and question new evidence.
D.   Scientific knowledge must be shared with others, and it belongs to everyone. Creating scientific knowledge is a public act and the findings are public property, available for all to use.
Question #4
Sara conducted a study on religion. She developed a questionnaire and planned an accurate sample of 500 people. She ran off copies of her questionnaire. She contacted people in her sample. Sara next interviewed the sample and carefully recorded all the information. She used various statistics to analyze the data and interpreted her statistics to bring out their meaning. Lastly, she wrote about her findings and method for a paper that she presented at professional meetings and sent to a scholarly journal for possible publication. Which step in the process of research did Sara skip?
A.   Collect data
B.   Focus research question
C.   Design Study
D.   inform others
Question #5
Professional researchers may devote years of work and money to have their results published in a scholarly journal. Yet, they rarely receive commission or royalties from the publication. Which norm of the scientific community pressures them to do this and share the results with others?
A.   universalism
B.   disinterestedness
C.   communalism
D.   organized skepticism
Question #6
Thomas T. Jones, a hospital administrator, has heard a lot about gay men getting HIV and AIDS. He has watched male patients at his hospital admitted for AIDS. He thinks all of the men look like homosexuals as well as almost all their male visitors. In actuality, 60 percent of the HIV positive male patients were heterosexual and 80 percent of their visitors were neighbors, co-workers, or immediate family members. He most clearly made which type of error?
A.   Premature closure
B.   Disinterestedness
C.   Overgeneralization
D.   Selective observation
Question #7
The halo effect occurs when____
A.   people overgeneralize from one positive or prestigious feature of a person to other areas. 
B.   there is a research study without social theory involved.
C.   a researcher goes around in circles and makes no progress.
D.   a very moral, upstanding person, who is like an angel, conducts research.
Question #8
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but turned the position down because of his failing health. The assumption that a Nobel winning physicist would understand the dynamics of nation building falls under which error of personal experience?
A.   halo effect
B.   premature closure
C.   selective observation
D.   overgeneralization
Question #9
Disinterestedness means
A.   Scientists must be neutral, impartial, receptive, and open-minded to unexpected observations or new ideas. They should not be rigidly wedded to a particular idea or point of view.
B.   Scientists should not accept new ideas or evidence in a carefree, uncritical manner, but challenge and question new evidence.
C.   Regardless of who conducts a study or where the researcher conducts it, the study is judged only on the basis of scientific merit.
D.   Scientific knowledge must be shared with others, and it belongs to everyone. Creating scientific knowledge is a public act and the findings are public property, available for all to use.
Question #10
Universalism means
A.   Regardless of who conducts a study or where the researcher conducts it, the study is judged only on the basis of scientific merit.
B.   Scientific knowledge must be shared with others, and it belongs to everyone. Creating scientific knowledge is a public act and the findings are public property, available for all to use.
C.   Scientists must be neutral, impartial, receptive, and open minded to unexpected observations or new ideas. They should not be rigidly wedded to a particular idea or point of view.
D.   Scientists should not accept new ideas or evidence in a carefree, uncritical manner, but challenge and question new evidence.

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