FSU POS 3713 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Which of the following statements accurately describe theories?
-Theories are attempts to explain what causes what
-Theories are attempts to explain variation in a dependent variable. - Answers -BOTH
Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road to Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
A researcher writing about the effects of campaign spending on election outcomes
writes the following phrase: "Like many other people, I have been outraged at the
amount of money spent on recent political campaigns" - Answers -Avoid normative
statements
In the following theory, what is the dependent variable? "People get sick because they
don't think Covid-19 is fake" - Answers -NOT Belief in Covid-19
Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road of Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
A researcher writing about the effects of military spending on public support for
incumbent politicians writes, "Since it is obvious that poor economic performance leads
to lower incumbent support among voters, I conclude that military spending must hurt
incumbent support. - Answers -Consider only empirical evidence
True or False: The following is an example of a normative statement:
"Voters should choose the candidate with the most experience rather than the one with
their favorite policy positions." - Answers -True
If a researcher finds results in the direction expected by his or her hypothesis, which of
the following describes what has happened? - Answers -Their theory has been
supported
Which of the following causal claims is most parsimonious and general? - Answers -
When the economy is faring poorly, incumbent politicians tend to do poorly in elections.
In the following theory, what is the independent variable?
"A democratic country is more likely to go to war with another country if the other
country is an autocracy rather than a democracy." - Answers -Whether the other
country is an autocracy or a democracy
Which of the following accurately describes hypothesis testing? - Answers -The act of
evaluating systematic evidence to determine whether the evidence favors one's
hypothesis or favors the corresponding null hypothesis.
Which of the following best describes the role of theories in science? - Answers -A
theory is a tentative statement about the cause of some phenomenon of interest.
, Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road to Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
"A researcher notices that when more firemen are sent to the scene of a fire, there
tends to be more damage from that fire. She therefore theorizes that there is a positive
causal relationship between the independent variable number of firemen sent to a fire
and her dependent variable amount of fire damage. - Answers -None of the "Rules of
the Road to Scientific Knowledge" have been violated.
Which is the null hypothesis for the following hypothesis?
"People who are frustrated about public policy are more likely than people who are
content with public policy to participate in acts of political violence" - Answers -People
who are frustrated about public policy are neither more nor less likely than people who
are content with public policy to participate in acts of political violence.
A good theory should be - Answers -as simple as possible
Which of the following theories is more parsimonious - Answers -A democratic country
is more likely to go to war with another country if the other country is autocracy rather
than a democracy.
What does it mean when we say that a variable has been "operationalized" - Answers -
NOT That the variable has been turned into an independent variable in a theory
What is the dependent variable in the theory that easier access to gun ownership leads
to lower crime rates? - Answers -Crime rates
Which of the following is not an accurate statement about hypothesis? - Answers -For
each causal theory there can be only one hypothesis
Which of the following accurately describes a variable? - Answers -A definable quantity
that takes on two or more values
Which of the following best summarizes the main goal of political science? - Answers -
The development of scientific knowledge about politics
According to K & W, what is the relationship between promising theories and research
questions? - Answers -Promising theories offer answers to interesting research
questions
True or False: According to Chapter 2 in the textbook, we should evaluate a theory by
how well it predicts real world outcomes- even if it doesn't provide a casual explanation
about how those outcomes occurred. - Answers -False
Which of the following are time series measures? - Answers -US Presidential approval
in each month from 1950-1999.
Which of the following statements accurately describe theories?
-Theories are attempts to explain what causes what
-Theories are attempts to explain variation in a dependent variable. - Answers -BOTH
Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road to Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
A researcher writing about the effects of campaign spending on election outcomes
writes the following phrase: "Like many other people, I have been outraged at the
amount of money spent on recent political campaigns" - Answers -Avoid normative
statements
In the following theory, what is the dependent variable? "People get sick because they
don't think Covid-19 is fake" - Answers -NOT Belief in Covid-19
Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road of Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
A researcher writing about the effects of military spending on public support for
incumbent politicians writes, "Since it is obvious that poor economic performance leads
to lower incumbent support among voters, I conclude that military spending must hurt
incumbent support. - Answers -Consider only empirical evidence
True or False: The following is an example of a normative statement:
"Voters should choose the candidate with the most experience rather than the one with
their favorite policy positions." - Answers -True
If a researcher finds results in the direction expected by his or her hypothesis, which of
the following describes what has happened? - Answers -Their theory has been
supported
Which of the following causal claims is most parsimonious and general? - Answers -
When the economy is faring poorly, incumbent politicians tend to do poorly in elections.
In the following theory, what is the independent variable?
"A democratic country is more likely to go to war with another country if the other
country is an autocracy rather than a democracy." - Answers -Whether the other
country is an autocracy or a democracy
Which of the following accurately describes hypothesis testing? - Answers -The act of
evaluating systematic evidence to determine whether the evidence favors one's
hypothesis or favors the corresponding null hypothesis.
Which of the following best describes the role of theories in science? - Answers -A
theory is a tentative statement about the cause of some phenomenon of interest.
, Identify which one of the "Rules to the Road to Scientific Knowledge" has been violated:
"A researcher notices that when more firemen are sent to the scene of a fire, there
tends to be more damage from that fire. She therefore theorizes that there is a positive
causal relationship between the independent variable number of firemen sent to a fire
and her dependent variable amount of fire damage. - Answers -None of the "Rules of
the Road to Scientific Knowledge" have been violated.
Which is the null hypothesis for the following hypothesis?
"People who are frustrated about public policy are more likely than people who are
content with public policy to participate in acts of political violence" - Answers -People
who are frustrated about public policy are neither more nor less likely than people who
are content with public policy to participate in acts of political violence.
A good theory should be - Answers -as simple as possible
Which of the following theories is more parsimonious - Answers -A democratic country
is more likely to go to war with another country if the other country is autocracy rather
than a democracy.
What does it mean when we say that a variable has been "operationalized" - Answers -
NOT That the variable has been turned into an independent variable in a theory
What is the dependent variable in the theory that easier access to gun ownership leads
to lower crime rates? - Answers -Crime rates
Which of the following is not an accurate statement about hypothesis? - Answers -For
each causal theory there can be only one hypothesis
Which of the following accurately describes a variable? - Answers -A definable quantity
that takes on two or more values
Which of the following best summarizes the main goal of political science? - Answers -
The development of scientific knowledge about politics
According to K & W, what is the relationship between promising theories and research
questions? - Answers -Promising theories offer answers to interesting research
questions
True or False: According to Chapter 2 in the textbook, we should evaluate a theory by
how well it predicts real world outcomes- even if it doesn't provide a casual explanation
about how those outcomes occurred. - Answers -False
Which of the following are time series measures? - Answers -US Presidential approval
in each month from 1950-1999.
