Mass Communication Research Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+

Mass Communication Research Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+ Which principle of research is met by directly observing and measuring phenomena? - Answers Empirical Which principle of research is met by carefully planning studies and consistently following those plans? - Answers Systematic Which principle of research refers to the idea that the community of scholars should share definitions for important ideas in communication? - Answers Cyclical Research gains strength over time because of this principle of research, in which scholars constantly test and expand prior studies. - Answers Intersubjective A ________ describes a situation where the value of one variable can be used to more accurately predict the value of another. - Answers Relationship Partial __________ occurs when many aspects of a study are carried out again, but others are modified, beyond just the sample. - Answers Replication What is the term for systematic errors in research created when researchers distort results as a reflection of their personal beliefs or expectations? - Answers Bias If a researcher uses numbers to describe a variable, this represents what type of measurement? - Answers Quantitative Research that focuses on the specific details of individual situations as opposed to broad but basic patterns is known as ________. - Answers Ideographic An initial step in many research projects is to gather data that offer preliminary insights into relevant variables in patterns, a goal known as ___________. - Answers Descriptions Which goal of research involves identifying and then testing possible reasons that two or more variables are related? - Answers Explanation Which goal of research is met by studies that look to identify and measure patterns based on limited prior expectations, but without the goal of fully understanding why those patterns occur? - Answers Exploration Which goal of research is reflected in a situation where the researcher wants to address a practical problem, such as how to use advertisements to encourage people to stop smoking? - Answers Application If a person has a consistent belief about how communication works, based on something they were previously taught or discovered, and persists in reaching answers consistent with this belief regardless of other evidence, this would reflect which way of knowing? - Answers Tenacity What term is used for when people rely on their instinctive sense of what just ""seems right"" as a way of knowing. - Answers Intuition When individuals automatically trust the claims of people with advanced degrees or positions of influence, this reflects which way of knowing? - Answers Authoritative What do we call a variable that is potentially important to measure but that is neither the independent nor the dependent variable in a relationship? - Answers Third Suppose researchers find that couples who use video chat later report having a stronger relationship than those who rely on text. The researcher concludes that the type of chat causes the strength of the relationship, which means that chat format is the _________ variable. - Answers Independent Suppose researchers find that the gender of a person determines how much they enjoy watching horror movies. In this case, enjoyment of watching horror movies would be the __________ variable - Answers Dependent In a poll asking which candidate likely voters will support in the next election, the voters represent the ______________. - Answers Variable What term do we use to describe a specific characteristic of individuals that has only one value for each individual but different values for different individuals? - Answers Variable Researchers testing the same relationship using two or more different methods would be an example of _____________. - Answers Triangulation Extra information about a study, such as images shown to participants or a copy of the questionnaire, would appear in the __________. - Answers Tables Which section of a journal article summarizes the implications of the findings for theory, offers suggestions for future research, and notes weaknesses in the current study? - Answers Discussion Which section of a journal article describes statistical procedures used to evaluate whether data support specific hypotheses. - Answers results Which section of a journal article contains details about the individuals selected for the study and the ways the key variables were measured? - Answers Method Which section of a journal article typically describes the relevant theories and concepts used to identify appropriate research questions or hypotheses? - Answers Literature review Testing hypotheses reflects what type of reasoning? - Answers Deductive reasoning Consider a situation in which the effect of media exposure on individual attitudes is different for men and women. If exposure is the independent variable and attitudes are the dependent