Research Methods exam 2 study guide
questions with correct answers
1) Purpose of the Uniformed Crime Report (UCR) - correct answer ✔✔- Is the most widely cited
source of aggregate criminal statistics in the U.S.
- It is also used as a comparison for victimization (NCVS) and self-report surveys.
2) Who is responsible for compiling UCR data? - correct answer ✔✔FBI
3) What info does it contain? - correct answer ✔✔- Aggregate criminal statistics
5) What is data used for? - correct answer ✔✔It is also used as a comparison for victimization
(NCVS) and self-report surveys.
- Newspapers and media utilize UCR statistics
4) When was it created? - correct answer ✔✔- 1930
6) What is main unit of anaylysis? - correct answer ✔✔- Police station
7) Problems with UCR? - correct answer ✔✔- Not all crimes committed are discovered
- When discovered, not all crimes are reported to the police
- When reported to the police, not all crimes are recorded by the police
- number of crimes reported are unfounded or defined by investigating officers as not
constituting a criminal matter.
- The further removed statistics are from the crime committed, the weaker the figures are as
estimates of the true crime level.
,- Citizen reporting practices
- Police reporting practices
- Methodological problems
8) Why was NIBRS created? - correct answer ✔✔- In 1977, the International Association of
Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs Association called for major changes to the UCR.
- The major changes came in the form of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
9) What crimes does it focus on? - correct answer ✔✔- NIBRS has 22 Group A offenses-including
bribery, counterfeiting/forgery, drug and narcotic offenses, extortion/blackmail, fraud,
kidnapping, pornography, non-forcible sex offenses, and firearms violations.
10) How Does NIBRS differ from UCR? - correct answer ✔✔- UCR is a summary-based system
and collects totals on criminal incidents in 8 offense classifications in Part I. NIBRS receives
detailed reports on 22 categories and 46 offenses
11) How do we calculate crime rate? - correct answer ✔✔- The number of crimes per unit of
population, 100,000. Enables control of population size and thus permits a fair comparison of
different size units. Crime rate = # of index crimes/pop x 100,000
12) What are methodological problems with official crime data? - correct answer ✔✔-
Methodological Problems - No federal crimes are reported, reports are voluntary and vary in
accuracy and completeness, not all police submit reports
13) What is a population in research? - correct answer ✔✔- The population refers to all
individuals who have particular sets of characteristics.
14) What is a sample used for in research? - correct answer ✔✔A sample is simply a miniature
representation of that population or a portion of the whole population surveyed to infer to the
total population.
, 15) What is logic of sampling? - correct answer ✔✔- In any study, it would always be more
desirable to study the entire population, but usually for the social scientist, this procedure is not
financially feasible or necessary.
- Common among all techniques is the assumption that the sample derived is a true
representation of the population since all things found to be true of the sample will be
generalized to the population.
- Any generalization made from the sample will be biased to the extent to which the sample is a
biased representation of the population.
16) What is a probability sample? - correct answer ✔✔- Probability sampling occurs when every
element of a population has an equal chance of being selected into the sample.
- This is referred to as the Equal Probability of Selection Method (EPSEM).
- These samples refer to those that permit estimation of the likelihood of each element of the
population being selected in the sample.
17) What is non probability sample? - correct answer ✔✔Non probability samples are any
sampling procedures that violate the principle of EPSEM.
18) What is acronym EPSEM? - correct answer ✔✔Equal Probability of Selection Method
19) Advantages of probability samples - correct answer ✔✔- Advantages of Using Probability
Sampling
- Reduces biases
- Enhances the representativeness of a sample
- Permits a statistical estimate of the accuracy or representativeness of the sample
20) What type of elements are found in samples? - correct answer ✔✔- Probability sampling
requires that the researcher is familiar with several components:
questions with correct answers
1) Purpose of the Uniformed Crime Report (UCR) - correct answer ✔✔- Is the most widely cited
source of aggregate criminal statistics in the U.S.
- It is also used as a comparison for victimization (NCVS) and self-report surveys.
2) Who is responsible for compiling UCR data? - correct answer ✔✔FBI
3) What info does it contain? - correct answer ✔✔- Aggregate criminal statistics
5) What is data used for? - correct answer ✔✔It is also used as a comparison for victimization
(NCVS) and self-report surveys.
- Newspapers and media utilize UCR statistics
4) When was it created? - correct answer ✔✔- 1930
6) What is main unit of anaylysis? - correct answer ✔✔- Police station
7) Problems with UCR? - correct answer ✔✔- Not all crimes committed are discovered
- When discovered, not all crimes are reported to the police
- When reported to the police, not all crimes are recorded by the police
- number of crimes reported are unfounded or defined by investigating officers as not
constituting a criminal matter.
- The further removed statistics are from the crime committed, the weaker the figures are as
estimates of the true crime level.
,- Citizen reporting practices
- Police reporting practices
- Methodological problems
8) Why was NIBRS created? - correct answer ✔✔- In 1977, the International Association of
Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs Association called for major changes to the UCR.
- The major changes came in the form of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS).
9) What crimes does it focus on? - correct answer ✔✔- NIBRS has 22 Group A offenses-including
bribery, counterfeiting/forgery, drug and narcotic offenses, extortion/blackmail, fraud,
kidnapping, pornography, non-forcible sex offenses, and firearms violations.
10) How Does NIBRS differ from UCR? - correct answer ✔✔- UCR is a summary-based system
and collects totals on criminal incidents in 8 offense classifications in Part I. NIBRS receives
detailed reports on 22 categories and 46 offenses
11) How do we calculate crime rate? - correct answer ✔✔- The number of crimes per unit of
population, 100,000. Enables control of population size and thus permits a fair comparison of
different size units. Crime rate = # of index crimes/pop x 100,000
12) What are methodological problems with official crime data? - correct answer ✔✔-
Methodological Problems - No federal crimes are reported, reports are voluntary and vary in
accuracy and completeness, not all police submit reports
13) What is a population in research? - correct answer ✔✔- The population refers to all
individuals who have particular sets of characteristics.
14) What is a sample used for in research? - correct answer ✔✔A sample is simply a miniature
representation of that population or a portion of the whole population surveyed to infer to the
total population.
, 15) What is logic of sampling? - correct answer ✔✔- In any study, it would always be more
desirable to study the entire population, but usually for the social scientist, this procedure is not
financially feasible or necessary.
- Common among all techniques is the assumption that the sample derived is a true
representation of the population since all things found to be true of the sample will be
generalized to the population.
- Any generalization made from the sample will be biased to the extent to which the sample is a
biased representation of the population.
16) What is a probability sample? - correct answer ✔✔- Probability sampling occurs when every
element of a population has an equal chance of being selected into the sample.
- This is referred to as the Equal Probability of Selection Method (EPSEM).
- These samples refer to those that permit estimation of the likelihood of each element of the
population being selected in the sample.
17) What is non probability sample? - correct answer ✔✔Non probability samples are any
sampling procedures that violate the principle of EPSEM.
18) What is acronym EPSEM? - correct answer ✔✔Equal Probability of Selection Method
19) Advantages of probability samples - correct answer ✔✔- Advantages of Using Probability
Sampling
- Reduces biases
- Enhances the representativeness of a sample
- Permits a statistical estimate of the accuracy or representativeness of the sample
20) What type of elements are found in samples? - correct answer ✔✔- Probability sampling
requires that the researcher is familiar with several components:
