SOC 300 final UPDATED ACTUAL Exam
Questions and CORRECT Answers
The presumption of innocence is to jury trials as ??? is to social research? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The null hypothesis
A study finds that high school students who watch more hours of tv have lower GPA. We can
describe the relationship between television watching and GPA as a... - CORRECT
ANSWER - negative relationship
In the study about distance healing and health outcomes by Sicher et al., the evidence used to test
their null hypothesis was obtained by comparing health-related outcomes for what two groups? -
CORRECT ANSWER - control group and treatment group
p-values (as discussed so far in class) are best understood as describing the probability that an
observed relationship between two variables is: - CORRECT ANSWER - due to chance
In the study by Stack et al. about the possible connection between a Heavy Metal subculture and
suicide the independent variable was... - CORRECT ANSWER - subscriptions to Metal Edge
magazine
Which of the following statements is not true? - CORRECT ANSWER - β can take on only
positive values
In the study by Sicher et al. on distance healing and health outcomes for people living with
AIDS, the null hypothesis was? - CORRECT ANSWER - distance healing has no effect on
health
In their study how did Sicher et al. control for such factors (i.e., independent variables) as age,
CD4 blood count, history of AIDS defined diseases? - CORRECT ANSWER - through
matching and random assignment
,In the video that was shown in class, featuring the public health specialist Dr. Hans Rosling,
what was the independent variable of primary interest? - CORRECT ANSWER - income
In the video that was shown in class, featuring the public health specialist Dr. Hans Rosling, the
relationship between the independent variable of primary interest and the dependent variable of
primary interest was.. - CORRECT ANSWER - positive
Which of the following best summarizes the major finding by Stack, Gundlach, and Reeves? -
CORRECT ANSWER - suicide rates are significantly related to heavy metal subculture for
15-24 year olds, but not for 25-34 year olds
Which of the following was not included as a control variable in the study by Stack et al. of the
relationship between heavy metal subculture and suicide? - CORRECT ANSWER - %
divorced, % black, and migration rate
Research by the Transylvanian demographer, Dr. Ivan Todye, shows that, on average, life
expectancy (i.e., the average age at death) for Transylvanian males is 9 years younger than the
life expectancy for Transylvanian females. What is the dependent variable in Dr. Todye's
research? - CORRECT ANSWER - life expectancy
According to a recent opinion poll of 1,200 adults in the U.S., 60% assign primary blame for the
shutdown of the U.S. government to congressional
Republicans. What is the unit of analysis in this survey? - CORRECT ANSWER - adults
In the study by Stack and Gundlach about the effect of country-western music on suicide, how
was the concept
"country-western subculture"
operationalized? - CORRECT ANSWER - percent of radio airtime devoted to
country-western music
A question on a survey asks
respondents if they would be
, comfortable with having a married same-sex couple move into a house next door to their own.
This question is most likely attempting to operationalize the concept
of: - CORRECT ANSWER - homophobia
A researcher uses the following
categories to construct a measure of political preference for American voters: (1) Democrat, (2)
Republican, (3)
Independent, (4) Conservative, (5) Liberal, (6) Other. Which of the following is an obvious
problem with this measure? - CORRECT ANSWER - the categories are not mutually
exclusive
You want to identify a variable to represent an important concept for your research (e.g., fear of
crime) that allows you to sort cases into different groups,
and to order cases by level of
magnitude, and to describe precise differences in magnitude between cases.
What type of measure are you looking for? - CORRECT ANSWER - interval level
What level of measurement is most appropriate for measuring race/ethnicity as collected by the
U.S. Census—non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, non-Hispanic Asian and
Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic Indian or Native American, other? - CORRECT ANSWER -
nominal
Which of the following best
summarizes the major finding by Stack and Gundlach regarding the relationship between country
western music and suicide? - CORRECT ANSWER - white suicide rates are related to
exposure to country music, but black rates are not
The study of country western
music and suicide by Stack and
Gundlach was based on 49
Questions and CORRECT Answers
The presumption of innocence is to jury trials as ??? is to social research? - CORRECT
ANSWER - The null hypothesis
A study finds that high school students who watch more hours of tv have lower GPA. We can
describe the relationship between television watching and GPA as a... - CORRECT
ANSWER - negative relationship
In the study about distance healing and health outcomes by Sicher et al., the evidence used to test
their null hypothesis was obtained by comparing health-related outcomes for what two groups? -
CORRECT ANSWER - control group and treatment group
p-values (as discussed so far in class) are best understood as describing the probability that an
observed relationship between two variables is: - CORRECT ANSWER - due to chance
In the study by Stack et al. about the possible connection between a Heavy Metal subculture and
suicide the independent variable was... - CORRECT ANSWER - subscriptions to Metal Edge
magazine
Which of the following statements is not true? - CORRECT ANSWER - β can take on only
positive values
In the study by Sicher et al. on distance healing and health outcomes for people living with
AIDS, the null hypothesis was? - CORRECT ANSWER - distance healing has no effect on
health
In their study how did Sicher et al. control for such factors (i.e., independent variables) as age,
CD4 blood count, history of AIDS defined diseases? - CORRECT ANSWER - through
matching and random assignment
,In the video that was shown in class, featuring the public health specialist Dr. Hans Rosling,
what was the independent variable of primary interest? - CORRECT ANSWER - income
In the video that was shown in class, featuring the public health specialist Dr. Hans Rosling, the
relationship between the independent variable of primary interest and the dependent variable of
primary interest was.. - CORRECT ANSWER - positive
Which of the following best summarizes the major finding by Stack, Gundlach, and Reeves? -
CORRECT ANSWER - suicide rates are significantly related to heavy metal subculture for
15-24 year olds, but not for 25-34 year olds
Which of the following was not included as a control variable in the study by Stack et al. of the
relationship between heavy metal subculture and suicide? - CORRECT ANSWER - %
divorced, % black, and migration rate
Research by the Transylvanian demographer, Dr. Ivan Todye, shows that, on average, life
expectancy (i.e., the average age at death) for Transylvanian males is 9 years younger than the
life expectancy for Transylvanian females. What is the dependent variable in Dr. Todye's
research? - CORRECT ANSWER - life expectancy
According to a recent opinion poll of 1,200 adults in the U.S., 60% assign primary blame for the
shutdown of the U.S. government to congressional
Republicans. What is the unit of analysis in this survey? - CORRECT ANSWER - adults
In the study by Stack and Gundlach about the effect of country-western music on suicide, how
was the concept
"country-western subculture"
operationalized? - CORRECT ANSWER - percent of radio airtime devoted to
country-western music
A question on a survey asks
respondents if they would be
, comfortable with having a married same-sex couple move into a house next door to their own.
This question is most likely attempting to operationalize the concept
of: - CORRECT ANSWER - homophobia
A researcher uses the following
categories to construct a measure of political preference for American voters: (1) Democrat, (2)
Republican, (3)
Independent, (4) Conservative, (5) Liberal, (6) Other. Which of the following is an obvious
problem with this measure? - CORRECT ANSWER - the categories are not mutually
exclusive
You want to identify a variable to represent an important concept for your research (e.g., fear of
crime) that allows you to sort cases into different groups,
and to order cases by level of
magnitude, and to describe precise differences in magnitude between cases.
What type of measure are you looking for? - CORRECT ANSWER - interval level
What level of measurement is most appropriate for measuring race/ethnicity as collected by the
U.S. Census—non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, non-Hispanic Asian and
Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic Indian or Native American, other? - CORRECT ANSWER -
nominal
Which of the following best
summarizes the major finding by Stack and Gundlach regarding the relationship between country
western music and suicide? - CORRECT ANSWER - white suicide rates are related to
exposure to country music, but black rates are not
The study of country western
music and suicide by Stack and
Gundlach was based on 49
