The Basics of Social Research, Babbie - Exam Preparation Test Bank (Downloadable Doc)

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS



1. Methodology is best described as:

a. the science of knowing

b. the science of finding out

c. the discovery of reality through agreement

d. the discovery of reality through personal experience

e. the logical aspect of science

ANS: B PG: 4 TYPE: Factual SOURCE: Pickup



2. Epistemology is best described as:

a. the science of knowing

b. the discovery of reality through experimentation

c. the discovery of reality through agreement

d. the science of finding out

e. the logical aspect of research

ANS: A PG: 4 TYPE: Factual SOURCE: New



3. Professor Rodgers found that the average level of happiness reported by people under 65
years of age declined from 1957 to 1970. However, for this same group, the average level of
happiness increased slightly from 1970 to 1978. Rodgers also found that the average level
of happiness reported by people age 65 and older increased from 1957 to 1978. A(the)
variable(s) in this study is(are):

a. aged 65 and older

b. less than age 65

c. age

d. age 65

e. all of these choices are variables

, ANS: C PG: 16 TYPE: Conceptual SOURCE: Pickup



4. Assume that Professor Rodgers from the previous question had studied only three people
aged 65 or older. Suppose he concluded that the average level of happiness increased for
people aged 65 and older. Rodgers would be committing:

a. the error of overgeneralization

b. the error of inaccurate observation

c. the error of illogical reasoning

d. the error of selective observation

e. no error

ANS: A PG: 6-7 TYPE: Conceptual SOURCE: Pickup



5. Our attempts to learn about the world we live in come from:

a. direct experience

b. tradition

c. direct, personal inquiry

d. authority

e. all of these choices

ANS: E PG: 4-6 TYPE: Factual SOURCE: Pickup



6. Social scientific theory addresses:

a. what should be

b. what is

c. matters of value

d. what should be and why

e. what is and why it should be that way

ANS: B PG: 7 TYPE: Factual SOURCE: Pickup

,7. Which of the following would a sociologist be LEAST likely to study?

a. Why crime rates are increasing in rural areas

b. The incidence of child abuse in middle-income families

c. Why Mr. Smith quit his job

d. The incidence of unemployment among white collar workers

e. Why unemployment rates are higher for Black teens than White teens

ANS: C PG: 18-19 TYPE: Conceptual SOURCE: Pickup



8. A probabilistic explanation takes the form:

a. x is always y

b. x is never y

c. x tends to be y

d. x is y if a and b are true

e. y is always x

ANS: C PG: 4, 10-11 TYPE: Applied SOURCE: Pickup



9. One of your friends scored in the 90s on her last ten exams. Although she has been studying
for this exam and feels prepared, she told you, "I know I'm going to flunk this exam. I've
been doing too well on exams." Your friend is committing the error of:

a. illogical reasoning

b. theory

c. inaccurate observation

d. selective observation

e. overgeneralization

ANS: A PG: 7 TYPE: Applied SOURCE: Pickup

, 10.A form of human interference in which what we learn about society can change reality so what
we learned is not true is known as being:

a. trivial

b. exceptional

c. recursive

d. dismissive

e. evolutionary

ANS: C PG: 11 TYPE: Factual SOURCE: New




11. A study reported in American Sociological Review (1994) was entitled "Race Differences in
Sexual Activity Among Adolescent Women." The dependent variable was probably:

a. race

b. sexual activity

c. adolescence

d. women

e. there is no independent variable

ANS: A PG: 16 TYPE: Conceptual SOURCE: Modified



12. Which of the following is NOT an aim of social science?

a. Judging social values

b. Predicting social phenomena

c. Understanding social regularities

d. Explaining social regularities

e. All of these choices are aims of social science