PURDUE COM 304 MIDTERM QUESTIONS & VERIFIED
ANSWERS
What types of questions about communication are social-science methods best suited
to address? - Answers - empirical
What are empirical questions? - Answers - questions that can be judged mostly based
on observations and measurements of social world
replication - Answers - what behaviors or events are likely to occur under specific
conditions in the future
falsification - Answers - empirically testable, could possibly be refuted. Have to be clear
and specific
Why are replication and falsification important? - Answers - If they don't exist there is
wiggle room in interpreting findings
Research questions - Answers - more tentative than a hypothesis, always asked in the
form of a question, no speculating or guessing included
good example of a RQ - Answers - What patterns of deceptive communication
characterize romantic relationships?
bad example of a RQ - Answers - Is it ethical for professors to use their own students as
research participants?
What are constructs? - Answers - abstraction generalized from particulars that are
constructed from nothing
3 parts of any construct - Answers - complete, clear, precise
conceptual definition - Answers - more clear and precise with essential qualities. used
by operational definition
operational definition - Answers - most precise, tell us how to measure and observe
"what counts as ___" i.e. scale, number of times they say "um". Most important. uses
conceptual definition
variable - Answers - trait/characteristic w/ 2 or more categories, empirical indicators of
constructs
, variable quote definition - Answers - "an entity that can take on a variety of different
values"
categorical vs quantitative variables - Answers - quantitative = numbers, categorical =
categories
mutually exclusive categories - Answers - no overlap in categories
exhaustive categories - Answers - every possible answer is listed
4 levels of measurement - Answers - 1. nominal
2. ordinal
3. interval
4. ratio
nominal - Answers - naming, no order, no mathematical relationship
examples of nominal measuring - Answers - gender, country you live in, political
orientation, dorm
ordinal - Answers - rank, ranking indicates order of categories but not how much higher
or lower one category is in relation to another
examples of ordinal measuring - Answers - finishes in a race, standing in line from
tallest to shortest and assigning numbers based on that
A sample is divided into 3 groups. The "low" group has an income ranging from $0-
$15,000, the "medium" has an income ranging from $15,001-$30,000 and the "high"
group has income ranging from $30,001-$50,000. At what value is the level of income
being measured at? - Answers - ordinal
interval - Answers - Likert scale! numbers indicate order of categories and assume
categories are equidistant apart
ratio - Answers - indicate order of categories and assume categories are equidistant
apart, has absolute zero, allows us to form meaningful fractions
ratio examples - Answers - height, age, number of siblings
How old are you? ______
ratio tells us - Answers - -whether one case comes before another (X costs more than
Y)
-how far apart two values are (X costs $2 more than Y)
-the relative size or magnitude of values (X costs 15% more than Y)
ANSWERS
What types of questions about communication are social-science methods best suited
to address? - Answers - empirical
What are empirical questions? - Answers - questions that can be judged mostly based
on observations and measurements of social world
replication - Answers - what behaviors or events are likely to occur under specific
conditions in the future
falsification - Answers - empirically testable, could possibly be refuted. Have to be clear
and specific
Why are replication and falsification important? - Answers - If they don't exist there is
wiggle room in interpreting findings
Research questions - Answers - more tentative than a hypothesis, always asked in the
form of a question, no speculating or guessing included
good example of a RQ - Answers - What patterns of deceptive communication
characterize romantic relationships?
bad example of a RQ - Answers - Is it ethical for professors to use their own students as
research participants?
What are constructs? - Answers - abstraction generalized from particulars that are
constructed from nothing
3 parts of any construct - Answers - complete, clear, precise
conceptual definition - Answers - more clear and precise with essential qualities. used
by operational definition
operational definition - Answers - most precise, tell us how to measure and observe
"what counts as ___" i.e. scale, number of times they say "um". Most important. uses
conceptual definition
variable - Answers - trait/characteristic w/ 2 or more categories, empirical indicators of
constructs
, variable quote definition - Answers - "an entity that can take on a variety of different
values"
categorical vs quantitative variables - Answers - quantitative = numbers, categorical =
categories
mutually exclusive categories - Answers - no overlap in categories
exhaustive categories - Answers - every possible answer is listed
4 levels of measurement - Answers - 1. nominal
2. ordinal
3. interval
4. ratio
nominal - Answers - naming, no order, no mathematical relationship
examples of nominal measuring - Answers - gender, country you live in, political
orientation, dorm
ordinal - Answers - rank, ranking indicates order of categories but not how much higher
or lower one category is in relation to another
examples of ordinal measuring - Answers - finishes in a race, standing in line from
tallest to shortest and assigning numbers based on that
A sample is divided into 3 groups. The "low" group has an income ranging from $0-
$15,000, the "medium" has an income ranging from $15,001-$30,000 and the "high"
group has income ranging from $30,001-$50,000. At what value is the level of income
being measured at? - Answers - ordinal
interval - Answers - Likert scale! numbers indicate order of categories and assume
categories are equidistant apart
ratio - Answers - indicate order of categories and assume categories are equidistant
apart, has absolute zero, allows us to form meaningful fractions
ratio examples - Answers - height, age, number of siblings
How old are you? ______
ratio tells us - Answers - -whether one case comes before another (X costs more than
Y)
-how far apart two values are (X costs $2 more than Y)
-the relative size or magnitude of values (X costs 15% more than Y)
