POLS 2026 FINAL ALL EXAM UPDATED QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Ethnography - ✔✔Detailed observation and immersion in a group/community to
understand social life.
✔✔Grounded Theory - ✔✔Researcher gathers data first, then develops theory from
patterns found in the data.
✔✔Case Studies - ✔✔In-depth study of one case (community, family, organization,
etc.).
✔✔Focus Group - ✔✔Small guided discussion group used to study opinions and
reactions.
✔✔Participant Observer - ✔✔Researcher actively participates in the setting being
studied.
✔✔Constructivism - ✔✔Idea that people socially construct meaning and reality through
interaction.
✔✔Experimental Group - ✔✔Group exposed to the treatment/intervention.
, ✔✔Control Group - ✔✔Group not exposed to the treatment; used for comparison.
✔✔RCT (Randomized Control Trial) - ✔✔Participants randomly assigned to treatment
or control groups. Considered the 'gold standard.'
✔✔Quasi-Experimental Design - ✔✔Experiment-like study lacking full random
assignment or true controls.
✔✔Hawthorne Effect - ✔✔People change behavior because they know they are being
observed.
✔✔John Henry Effect - ✔✔Control group works harder because they know they are
being compared to the treatment group.
✔✔Lurking Variables - ✔✔Hidden/confounding variables influencing results.
✔✔Cross-Sectional Study - ✔✔Study examining a population at one point in time.
✔✔Longitudinal Study - ✔✔Study examining change over time.
✔✔Cohort Study - ✔✔Longitudinal study following a group sharing a common
characteristic over time.
✔✔Panel Study - ✔✔Longitudinal study surveying the same people repeatedly.
✔✔Necessary Condition - ✔✔Condition that must exist for the outcome to happen.
✔✔Sufficient Condition - ✔✔Condition that guarantees the outcome happens.
✔✔Method of Agreement - ✔✔Finding a common factor present in all cases where the
outcome occurs.
✔✔Method of Difference - ✔✔Comparing cases where the outcome happens and does
not happen to identify the important factor.
✔✔IRB - ✔✔Institutional Review Board — reviews research to protect human subjects.
✔✔Milgram Experiment - ✔✔Study testing obedience to authority using fake electric
shocks. Raised major ethical concerns.
✔✔Tuskegee Syphilis Study - ✔✔Unethical study where Black men with syphilis were
denied treatment without informed consent.
✔✔Sample Statistic - ✔✔Numerical summary from a sample (mean, percentage, etc.).
AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Ethnography - ✔✔Detailed observation and immersion in a group/community to
understand social life.
✔✔Grounded Theory - ✔✔Researcher gathers data first, then develops theory from
patterns found in the data.
✔✔Case Studies - ✔✔In-depth study of one case (community, family, organization,
etc.).
✔✔Focus Group - ✔✔Small guided discussion group used to study opinions and
reactions.
✔✔Participant Observer - ✔✔Researcher actively participates in the setting being
studied.
✔✔Constructivism - ✔✔Idea that people socially construct meaning and reality through
interaction.
✔✔Experimental Group - ✔✔Group exposed to the treatment/intervention.
, ✔✔Control Group - ✔✔Group not exposed to the treatment; used for comparison.
✔✔RCT (Randomized Control Trial) - ✔✔Participants randomly assigned to treatment
or control groups. Considered the 'gold standard.'
✔✔Quasi-Experimental Design - ✔✔Experiment-like study lacking full random
assignment or true controls.
✔✔Hawthorne Effect - ✔✔People change behavior because they know they are being
observed.
✔✔John Henry Effect - ✔✔Control group works harder because they know they are
being compared to the treatment group.
✔✔Lurking Variables - ✔✔Hidden/confounding variables influencing results.
✔✔Cross-Sectional Study - ✔✔Study examining a population at one point in time.
✔✔Longitudinal Study - ✔✔Study examining change over time.
✔✔Cohort Study - ✔✔Longitudinal study following a group sharing a common
characteristic over time.
✔✔Panel Study - ✔✔Longitudinal study surveying the same people repeatedly.
✔✔Necessary Condition - ✔✔Condition that must exist for the outcome to happen.
✔✔Sufficient Condition - ✔✔Condition that guarantees the outcome happens.
✔✔Method of Agreement - ✔✔Finding a common factor present in all cases where the
outcome occurs.
✔✔Method of Difference - ✔✔Comparing cases where the outcome happens and does
not happen to identify the important factor.
✔✔IRB - ✔✔Institutional Review Board — reviews research to protect human subjects.
✔✔Milgram Experiment - ✔✔Study testing obedience to authority using fake electric
shocks. Raised major ethical concerns.
✔✔Tuskegee Syphilis Study - ✔✔Unethical study where Black men with syphilis were
denied treatment without informed consent.
✔✔Sample Statistic - ✔✔Numerical summary from a sample (mean, percentage, etc.).
