Sociology Chapter 2

Research can be divided into two broad categories...what are they?

Qualitative, quantitative

What is necessary when determining a casual relationship between two variables?

The research must be based on entire populations, not just representative samples

What is a form that a researcher sends you to fill out concerning your favorite movies?

Questionnaire

What is closely associated with qualitative research?

Participant observations

What do sociologists rely on to perform quantitative research?

Pre-collected data

If an interviewer asks you to name three favorite ways to spend your leisure time, that is an example of what type of question?

Open-ended question

A questionnaire that lists 20 leisure-time activities and asks you to pick your three favorites from a list is what type of question?

Close-ended question

What methods are used when conducting qualitative research?

Field studies, case studies, participant observations

All the high school football players in the state of Nebraska is an example of what?

Population

What is the most common reason that researchers usually do not conduct surveys of an entire population?

It's usually too time consuming and expensive to survey an entire population

Assuming that a researcher has determined that the more hours a student works at a job the lower his grades will be is an example of what?

Negative correlation

Why do sociologists conduct research?

Gain knowledge

What must sociologists consider when conducting research?

The ethical implications of their research methods

How is a survey useful to a sociologist?

When they want to study a large group of people

Why are close-ended questions used in surveys?

Results are relatively easy to quantify

Are statistical methods used to analyze qualitative data?

No

Secondary analysis

Using census date collected by the US government to determine the average income

Hypothesis

Testable statement of relationship among well defined variables

Variable

Either quantitative or qualitative

Causation

One event predictably leads to another event

Case study

Commonly used type of field research

Population

All those people have a specified characteristic