Test Bank For The Process of Social Research 2nd Edition By
Jeffrey C. Dixon
A paramount ethical issue that bears on feasibility is _____. - ANSWER: whether the
value and quality of the research will outweigh any potential discomfort,
inconvenience, or risk experienced by those who participate in the study
T/F In general, you should put off doing your literature review until after you have
sharpened your research question to avoid reviewing irrelevant work. - ANSWER: F,
complete literature review to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'
Lucinda wants to know how different age groups get information about programs
that provide assistance with utility bills. She interviews individuals between 19 and
78 years of age, and then analyses the data by 10-year age group (19 to 28, 29 to 38
and so on). This research is best described as _____. - ANSWER: cross-sectional
Sam knows that rates of cigarette smoking are higher among individuals with
schizophrenia and, when doing street outreach for a drop-in program often carries
cigarettes with him as a way to break the ice. If Sam assumes that Charles, who has
told Sam that he has schizophrenia, smokes cigarettes and offers him one, Sam has
fallen into the _____ fallacy. - ANSWER: ecological (unproven inferences)
Leila has been studying the career trajectories of a group of social workers for the
past 20 years. They were randomly selected from among those who were newly
licensed in 1995 and she has surveyed the same individuals every 5 years since then.
This is best described as a(n) _____ study. - ANSWER: panel (same set of people over
time)
Silvia is conducting a study that seeks to characterize the mood of remaining
employees after a large-scale layoff. She will be using standardized measures of
anxiety, depression and satisfaction. Her research is best categorized as _____. -
ANSWER: descriptive
Milton believes that the teenage boys who are about to become fathers will be more
likely to form healthy, enduring bonds with their children if they know how to be
fathers. Milton has developed a psychoeducational intervention and wants to find
out if it is effective. His research is best described as _____. - ANSWER: evaluation
Arthur is conducting unstructured, open-ended interviews with a small number of
practitioners regarding how the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has
impacted their clients. This research is best described as _____. - ANSWER:
qualitative exploratory
,Suppose your state created extensive and convoluted new paperwork for individuals
applying for the Medicaid Waiver Program that is supposed to help individuals with
severe disabilities remain in their communities rather than be placed in nursing
homes. After nearly all applicants using the new paperwork are denied, your agency
works with the state to develop a training on how to complete the new forms.
Knowledge of how to complete the forms is assessed by scores on a multiple choice
test given both before and after the training. This research is best described as
_____. - ANSWER: quantitative evaluation
T/F In social work research, the terms research problem and research question are
considered to be distinctly different and not interchangeable. - ANSWER: F
The research question typically deals with needed information to solve practical
problems in social welfare, the terms research question and research problem are
often used interchangeably.
In research, the refinement and specification of abstract ideas is referred to as
_____. - ANSWER: conceptualization
In research, developing specific research procedures that will result in empirical
observations is referred to as _____. - ANSWER: operationalization
Andre is a school social worker in a community in which getting parents involved in
their children's education is difficult. Many of the parents work, and he suspects that
coming home from a hard day's work, feeding the kids, arranging for someone to
watch the kids and then going to school for a meeting is part of the problem. He
works with the district's vocational school, which has both culinary and child
development/care programs and, using donations from local businesses, arranges to
provide services at two schools that serve very similar populations. Historically, only
about 20% of the parents have shown up for the monthly parent/teacher meetings
at each of the schools. The families in one school will be offered a free "family
dinner" coupled with free childcare afterwards, allowing the parents to attend
meetings with teachers and the other will offer free childcare while parents attend
meetings with teachers. I - ANSWER: whether the families get a meal + childcare or
only childcare
Andre wants to improve attendance at parent/teacher meetings and arranges to
offer services that he hopes will do just that at two very similar schools. The families
in one school will be offered a free "family dinner" coupled with free childcare
afterwards, allowing the parents to attend meetings with teachers and the other will
offer free childcare while parents attend meetings with teachers. In the pilot phase
of his study, which will last during the first half of the school year, Andre plans to
look at the proportion of parents who attend meetings with teachers at each of the
schools. What is the dependent variable? - ANSWER: whether the parents come to
the parent/teacher meetings
, Sandy works at a crisis residential program for adolescents. In an attempt to improve
academic performance, the agency pays youth for their grades. The have found that,
as pay increases, performance improves up to a point, but beyond that point
academic performance actually gets worse. What type of relationship does this
illustrate? - ANSWER: curvilinear
Jessie finds that, as the amount of time children spend playing video games at a local
after school program increases, their academic performance increases. However, she
soon finds that children do not get to play video games until their homework is
complete and that the amount of time they get on the games is related to the quality
of the work they have done. This suggests that the relationship between the amount
of time children spend playing video games and academic performance is _____. -
ANSWER: spurious
T/F It is not possible to operationally define variables that exist only in terms of our
idiosyncratic conceptions of them. - ANSWER: F
Although there may be disagreements about how to best operationally define
theoretical constructs that cannot be observed, they still can be operationally
defined.
The first step in operationalization is _____. - ANSWER: conceptualizing the construct
Marlyss measures popularity in an elementary school classroom by asking the
children to name the person they would most like to play with at recess. She then
creates a composite rank for all of the children from most popular (the most
nominations) to least popular (the fewest nominations). Marlyss' is using a(n) _____
scale. - ANSWER: ordinal
T/F Operationalization in qualitative studies is made more difficult by the fact that
the salient variables may not be known in advance. - ANSWER: T
In qualitative studies, the problem of operationally defining variables in advance is
threefold: we may not know in advance what all the most salient variables are;
limitations in our understanding of the variables may keep us from anticipating the
best way to operationally define those variables; and, even the best operational
definitions are necessarily superficial because they are specified only in terms of
observable indicators.
Which type of error occurs when the information we collect consistently reflects a
false picture of the concept we seek to measure because of either the way we collect
the data or the dynamics of those who are providing the data? - ANSWER: systematic
The tendency to answer questions in ways that will make the respondent look good
is referred to as _____ bias. - ANSWER: social desirability
Jeffrey C. Dixon
A paramount ethical issue that bears on feasibility is _____. - ANSWER: whether the
value and quality of the research will outweigh any potential discomfort,
inconvenience, or risk experienced by those who participate in the study
T/F In general, you should put off doing your literature review until after you have
sharpened your research question to avoid reviewing irrelevant work. - ANSWER: F,
complete literature review to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'
Lucinda wants to know how different age groups get information about programs
that provide assistance with utility bills. She interviews individuals between 19 and
78 years of age, and then analyses the data by 10-year age group (19 to 28, 29 to 38
and so on). This research is best described as _____. - ANSWER: cross-sectional
Sam knows that rates of cigarette smoking are higher among individuals with
schizophrenia and, when doing street outreach for a drop-in program often carries
cigarettes with him as a way to break the ice. If Sam assumes that Charles, who has
told Sam that he has schizophrenia, smokes cigarettes and offers him one, Sam has
fallen into the _____ fallacy. - ANSWER: ecological (unproven inferences)
Leila has been studying the career trajectories of a group of social workers for the
past 20 years. They were randomly selected from among those who were newly
licensed in 1995 and she has surveyed the same individuals every 5 years since then.
This is best described as a(n) _____ study. - ANSWER: panel (same set of people over
time)
Silvia is conducting a study that seeks to characterize the mood of remaining
employees after a large-scale layoff. She will be using standardized measures of
anxiety, depression and satisfaction. Her research is best categorized as _____. -
ANSWER: descriptive
Milton believes that the teenage boys who are about to become fathers will be more
likely to form healthy, enduring bonds with their children if they know how to be
fathers. Milton has developed a psychoeducational intervention and wants to find
out if it is effective. His research is best described as _____. - ANSWER: evaluation
Arthur is conducting unstructured, open-ended interviews with a small number of
practitioners regarding how the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has
impacted their clients. This research is best described as _____. - ANSWER:
qualitative exploratory
,Suppose your state created extensive and convoluted new paperwork for individuals
applying for the Medicaid Waiver Program that is supposed to help individuals with
severe disabilities remain in their communities rather than be placed in nursing
homes. After nearly all applicants using the new paperwork are denied, your agency
works with the state to develop a training on how to complete the new forms.
Knowledge of how to complete the forms is assessed by scores on a multiple choice
test given both before and after the training. This research is best described as
_____. - ANSWER: quantitative evaluation
T/F In social work research, the terms research problem and research question are
considered to be distinctly different and not interchangeable. - ANSWER: F
The research question typically deals with needed information to solve practical
problems in social welfare, the terms research question and research problem are
often used interchangeably.
In research, the refinement and specification of abstract ideas is referred to as
_____. - ANSWER: conceptualization
In research, developing specific research procedures that will result in empirical
observations is referred to as _____. - ANSWER: operationalization
Andre is a school social worker in a community in which getting parents involved in
their children's education is difficult. Many of the parents work, and he suspects that
coming home from a hard day's work, feeding the kids, arranging for someone to
watch the kids and then going to school for a meeting is part of the problem. He
works with the district's vocational school, which has both culinary and child
development/care programs and, using donations from local businesses, arranges to
provide services at two schools that serve very similar populations. Historically, only
about 20% of the parents have shown up for the monthly parent/teacher meetings
at each of the schools. The families in one school will be offered a free "family
dinner" coupled with free childcare afterwards, allowing the parents to attend
meetings with teachers and the other will offer free childcare while parents attend
meetings with teachers. I - ANSWER: whether the families get a meal + childcare or
only childcare
Andre wants to improve attendance at parent/teacher meetings and arranges to
offer services that he hopes will do just that at two very similar schools. The families
in one school will be offered a free "family dinner" coupled with free childcare
afterwards, allowing the parents to attend meetings with teachers and the other will
offer free childcare while parents attend meetings with teachers. In the pilot phase
of his study, which will last during the first half of the school year, Andre plans to
look at the proportion of parents who attend meetings with teachers at each of the
schools. What is the dependent variable? - ANSWER: whether the parents come to
the parent/teacher meetings
, Sandy works at a crisis residential program for adolescents. In an attempt to improve
academic performance, the agency pays youth for their grades. The have found that,
as pay increases, performance improves up to a point, but beyond that point
academic performance actually gets worse. What type of relationship does this
illustrate? - ANSWER: curvilinear
Jessie finds that, as the amount of time children spend playing video games at a local
after school program increases, their academic performance increases. However, she
soon finds that children do not get to play video games until their homework is
complete and that the amount of time they get on the games is related to the quality
of the work they have done. This suggests that the relationship between the amount
of time children spend playing video games and academic performance is _____. -
ANSWER: spurious
T/F It is not possible to operationally define variables that exist only in terms of our
idiosyncratic conceptions of them. - ANSWER: F
Although there may be disagreements about how to best operationally define
theoretical constructs that cannot be observed, they still can be operationally
defined.
The first step in operationalization is _____. - ANSWER: conceptualizing the construct
Marlyss measures popularity in an elementary school classroom by asking the
children to name the person they would most like to play with at recess. She then
creates a composite rank for all of the children from most popular (the most
nominations) to least popular (the fewest nominations). Marlyss' is using a(n) _____
scale. - ANSWER: ordinal
T/F Operationalization in qualitative studies is made more difficult by the fact that
the salient variables may not be known in advance. - ANSWER: T
In qualitative studies, the problem of operationally defining variables in advance is
threefold: we may not know in advance what all the most salient variables are;
limitations in our understanding of the variables may keep us from anticipating the
best way to operationally define those variables; and, even the best operational
definitions are necessarily superficial because they are specified only in terms of
observable indicators.
Which type of error occurs when the information we collect consistently reflects a
false picture of the concept we seek to measure because of either the way we collect
the data or the dynamics of those who are providing the data? - ANSWER: systematic
The tendency to answer questions in ways that will make the respondent look good
is referred to as _____ bias. - ANSWER: social desirability
