Deck 15: Research Using Historical and Comparative Data and Content Analysis

Question 1

Cross-sectional comparative research tends to be all of the following except ______.

A)variable oriented
B)nomothetic
C)deductive
D)longitudinal

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Narrative historical explanations tend to be ______.

A)idiographic
B)inconclusive
C)variable oriented
D)nomothetic

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In case-oriented historical research,the sample is ______.

A)multiple nations at a single point in time
B)multiple nations at multiple points in time
C)one nation or other geographic unit
D)individuals within a single nation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

To identify the underlying structure in a chronology of events,historical social researchers use ______.

A)event history analysis
B)event process analysis
C)event structure analysis
D)event narrative analysis

Question 5

Qualitative historical research often follows a story involving specific actors and other events occurring at the same time or takes account of the position of actors and events in time.In other words,qualitative historical research is usually ______.

A)holistic
B)conjunctural
C)temporal
D)narrative

Question 6

What is the third step in an event structure analysis?

A)ordering events into a temporal sequence
B)identifying prior steps that are prerequisites for subsequent events
C)representing connections between events in a diagram
D)eliminating from the diagram connections that are not necessary to explain the focal event

Question 7

Event history analysis requires a researcher to do all of the following except:

A)classify historical information into discrete events
B)corroborate evidence with oral histories
C)identify prior steps that are prerequisites for subsequent events
D)diagram connections between events

Question 8

A study of romance novels found four different types of heroines predominated: the cold professional,the emotionally scarred,the romantic dreamer,and the self-sacrificing martyr.This study is most likely ______.

A)an oral history
B)a textual experiment
C)a content analysis
D)a narrative analysis

Question 9

If the applicability of general theoretical propositions is limited to particular historical circumstances,then the theory is ______.

A)analytic
B)interpretive
C)historically conditional
D)variable oriented

Question 10

Narrative historical explanations involve what type of causal reasoning?

A)variable oriented
B)idiographic
C)quantitative
D)nomothetic

Question 11

When Frank,Hironaka,and Schofer (2000)studied the historical development of environmental protection around the world from 1900 to the late 1900s,they were conducting what kind of research?

A)oral history analysis
B)cross-sectional comparative research
C)historical process research
D)historical events research

Question 12

What sampling method is used in content analyses?

A)simple random sample
B)stratified sample
C)nonrandom sampling techniques
D)all of these

Question 13

Historical and comparative methods seek to answer questions about economic development,stratification,and other social processes by ______.

A)balancing research method and design
B)providing clear answers based on observational science
C)research conducted with experimental groups
D)drawing comparisons between other times and places

Question 14

What kind of data sources do demographers use?

A)birth and death records
B)marriage and divorce records
C)migration records
D)all of these

Question 15

Max Weber's (Bendix 1962:268)comparative sociology of religions contrasted which religions?

A)Confucianism,Taoism,Hinduism
B)Protestantism and Ancient Judaism
C)Taoism,Hinduism,Buddhism,and Ancient Judaism.
D)Protestantism,Confucianism,Taoism,Hinduism,Buddhism,and Ancient Judaism.

Question 16

Research that involves studying a single case in a long period of time is known as ______.

A)comparative historical research
B)cross-sectional comparative research
C)historical process research
D)historical events research

Question 17

The final step in a content analysis is to ______.

A)perform statistical analysis
B)determine the units of analysis
C)design coding procedures for the variables to be measured
D)test and refine coding procedures

Question 18

What is the first stage in a systematic,qualitative,comparative historical study?

A)select cases (such as nations)that vary in terms of the key concepts or events
B)specify a theoretical framework and identify key concepts or events that should be examined to explain a phenomenon
C)propose a causal explanation for the historical outcome and check it against the features of each case
D)identify similarities and differences between the cases in these key concepts or events and the outcome to be explained

Question 19

Research that involves studying multiple cases (usually nations)throughout a long period of time is known as ______.

A)comparative historical research
B)cross-sectional comparative research
C)demography
D)historical events research

Question 20

To understand historical events that occurred within the lifetime of living individuals,social researchers use which of the following methods?

A)event history analysis
B)event structure analysis
C)narrative historical evaluation
D)oral history

Question 21

The central insight behind unobtrusive measures in historical and comparative investigations is that we can improve our understanding of social processes when we make comparisons to other times and places.

Question 22

An example of a cross-national qualitative database is the ______.

A)cross-national survey
B)Human Relations Area File
C)Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
D)United Nations Statistical Office

Question 23

Which of the following is not a stage for a systematic qualitative comparative historical study stated in Chapter 15?

A)identify similarities and differences between the cases in terms of key concepts or events and the outcome to be explained
B)select cases that vary in terms of key concepts or events
C)propose a causal explanation for the historical outcome and check it against the features of each case
D)draw a diagram outlining the major events from each case

Question 24

What is the name of John Stuart Mill's method in which the values of cases that differ on an outcome also differ on the value of the variable hypothesized to have a causal effect,while they agree in terms of other variables?

A)method of agreement
B)method of disagreement
C)method of difference
D)method of indifference

Question 25

Demographers report population characteristics as rates,percents,or per capita to allow ______.

A)comparisons across units of different size
B)variable-oriented research
C)case-oriented research
D)narrative analysis

Question 26

Which of the following is a good example of an historical events design?

A)examining the process of civil rights exclusion of blacks beginning in the 1870s
B)analyzing the right to petition the English Parliament circa 1640
C)exploring public school enrollments between the 1890s and 1990s
D)describing contemporary individualism and moral commitment

Question 27

What method of research compares data from one time period between two or more nations?

A)cross-sectional comparative research
B)historical process research
C)historical events research
D)comparative historical research

Question 28

Historical research that uses national statistics or cross-national surveys is most likely ______.

A)variable oriented
B)case oriented
C)qualitative
D)interpretive

Question 29

Which law gives individuals the right to access all federal agency records,unless the records are specifically exempted?

A)The Archival and Historical Access Act
B)The Freedom of Information Act
C)The Academic Freedom and Integrity Act
D)The Federal Public Records Act

Question 30

To increase the credibility of oral histories,a researcher should ______.

A)consider counterfactuals
B)diagram the event structure
C)corroborate with other sources
D)develop a chronology of events

Question 31

One of the main problems with content analysis is ______.

A)developing sociological hypotheses
B)lack of corroborating evidence
C)developing reliable coding procedures
D)gaps in the material

Question 32

Why should researchers corroborate oral histories with documents and other more reliable sources?

A)Oral histories may be exaggerated.
B)Oral histories given by different individuals may not match up.
C)Some may withhold information.
D)Individuals often cannot recall all the details of a single event,especially when a lot of time has passed.

Question 33

Why do demographers seek to standardize population numbers (such that demographic reports tend to feature rates instead of raw numbers)?

A)to allow statistical analysis
B)to facilitate comparisons between nations and over time
C)Data must be standardized to be included in the demographic bookkeeping equation.
D)They work with data with dubious origins.

Question 34

Which of the following is not one of the four basic types of historical and/or comparative research methods?

A)historical events research
B)historical process research
C)historical policy research
D)cross-sectional comparative research

Question 35

A researcher is examining the historical events of a nuclear disaster.In order to investigate thoroughly,she first classifies historical information into discrete events and then orders them into a temporal sequence.After identifying prior events that occurred leading up to the disaster,she creates an event's diagram and then eliminates connections from the diagram that are not necessary to explain the disaster.This process is an example of ______.

A)a narrative explanation
B)variable-oriented research
C)an event structure analysis
D)oral history

Question 36

Which of the following techniques involves studying interviews about the lives of individuals,either collected by the researcher or obtained from an earlier study?

A)demographic analysis
B)content analysis
C)aggregate matching
D)oral history

Question 37

If there is no deviance from a causal explanation proposed by a historical comparative researcher,their causal approach is ______.

A)nomothetic
B)reliable
C)valid
D)deterministic

Question 38

John Stuart Mill's method of agreement helps to establish causality in which type of research ______.

A)content analysis
B)comparative historical
C)quantitative
D)experimental

Question 39

Which of the following is not necessary to compute the demographic bookkeeping equation?

A)births during the time interval
B)deaths during the time interval
C)fertility rate during the time interval
D)in-migration during the time interval

Question 40

How is reliability of coding assessed in content analysis?

A)comparing different coders' codes for the same variables
B)scontrols
C)testing the same codes on a new sample
D)split-ballot design

Question 41

What is demography? What sorts of statistics do demographers collect?

Question 42

Variable-oriented historical research is nomothetic and deductive.

Question 43

What makes historical social research a type of social science research and not just simply history?

Question 44

Event structure analysis seeks to identify the underlying structure of an action in a chronology of events.

Question 45

Why are ethical concerns multiplied when surveys are conducted in other countries?

Question 46

Event history analysis can use the counterfactual to identify key events and figures.

Question 47

According to Skocpol (1984),interpretive historical sociology compares the histories or particular historical experiences of nations in narrative form,noting similarities and differences and inferring explanations for key national events.

Question 48

Why is it important to understand local or historical norms when doing comparative or historical research?

Question 49

Demographic standardization involves computing comparable measures across units of different population sizes,such as death rates per 1000 in different countries.

Question 50

It is not methodologically acceptable to turn qualitative historical characteristics into dichotomies to facilitate comparisons.

Question 51

Historical process research can use qualitative or quantitative techniques.

Question 52

Qualitative comparative historical studies are likely to rely on availability or purposive samples of cases.

Question 53

According to Skocpol (1984),analytic historical sociology collects quantitative longitudinal data about a number of nations and then uses these data to test hypotheses about influences on national characteristics.

Question 54

Cross-sectional comparative research tends to be case-oriented research.

Question 55

Research in which social events of one past time period are studied is known as historical process research.

Question 56

What is an oral history? Why should a researcher be skeptical while collecting data through the use of oral histories?

Question 57

Qualitative historical research tends to be historically specific and narrative.

Question 58

In demographic research,the emphasis is on characteristics of the population,not the sample.

Question 59

Event history analysis considers historical events across different geographic units,usually nations.

Question 60

Describe the difference between historical events and historical process research.

Question 61

How is demography different from other forms of comparative and historical research? What type of research does it most resemble? Explain your answer.

Question 62

Describe Schutt's content analysis of schizophrenia to illustrate the process of creating coding categories.

Question 63

What is the relationship between comparative and historical research and the use of secondary data sources?

Question 64

What types of data are appropriate for content analysis?

Question 65

What are some cautions for comparative analysis?

Question 66

Describe the process of creating an event structure analysis.Design an event structure analysis of your decision to attend this college or university.