Question 1

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
-Overall, the research described in the vignette best exemplifies which of the following research techniques?

Accepted Answer

The research described in the vignette involves a combination of qualitative (the suicide survivors' interviews) and quantitative (the examination of survey data) methods, making it a mixed-method approach.

Question 2

Social scientists must always be concerned with __________ in order to accurately capture phenomena in questions.

Accepted Answer

Social scientists must be concerned with both reliability and validity. Reliability ensures that the results can be replicated and are consistent. Validity ensures that the study accurately measures what it is intended to measure, and that the results can be generalized to the population of interest. While truth and probability are important, they are not the essential concerns for ensuring accurate measurements in social science research.

Question 3

What is a literature review? What role does a literature review play in the development of a research project?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is a literature review? What role...

Question 4

Which research method do you like the most? Why? First, review the technique you like the most. Second, using the basic research steps reviewed in the text, discuss how you would apply the technique to study a social phenomenon that interests you.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which research method do you like the...

Question 5

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
-Which of the projects would probably be more useful than the other for obtaining deeper insights into the processes associated with decisions to commit suicide? Which project is more representative of the experience of Americans with suicide decisions?

Accepted Answer

Project 1, which involves gathering qualitative data from suicide survivors about their personal and social conditions, is likely to provide more in-depth insights into the decision-making processes associated with suicide. Project 2, which relies on survey data, is more representative of the general population's experience with suicide decisions.

Question 6

Read the vignette and answer the questions that follow.
A sociologist is interested in studying the causes of suicide in society. She begins her research by developing a project in which she asks suicide survivors to discuss their reasons for attempting suicide and the personal and social conditions that led to their decisions to attempt the act. In a second project, she examines another researcher's survey data from a national sample of U.S. citizens. She found that depression is associated with the desire to commit suicide but many people who think about committing suicide never make any attempt to do so. She also found that people who have experienced a stressful life event, such as a job loss or divorce, are more likely to report the desire to commit suicide.
-Which method was employed in the first project? The second?

Accepted Answer

The sociologist employed in-depth interviews in the first project to obtain firsthand accounts of the survivors' experiences and reasons for attempting suicide. In the second project, the researcher analyzed secondary data from a national survey, which is a form of secondary data analysis.

Question 7

Quantitative research includes __________.

Accepted Answer

Quantitative research involves collecting numerical data and analyzing it using statistical methods. This makes data analysis an important part of quantitative research. Surveys are commonly used to collect quantitative data, but experiments and other methods can also be used. Therefore, choice B is the best option since it includes all three methods mentioned in the question - data analysis, surveys, and experiments.

Question 8

A researcher wants to explore the connection between drinking and sexual assault on college campuses nationwide. The most effective method of measurement would be __________.

Accepted Answer

To explore the connection between drinking and sexual assault on college campuses, a survey would be the most effective method of measurement. Surveys allow researchers to gather information from a large sample size and to ask about sensitive topics in a confidential and anonymous manner, which is important for a topic like sexual assault. While interviews and autoethnography could also provide valuable insights, they would likely require a smaller sample size and may not capture the experiences of a diverse range of individuals. Controlled experiments are not a feasible option for studying real-world experiences of sexual assault.

Question 9

Discuss the difference between social theory and personal theories about why friends and family do the things they do. First, review the basic components of a theory. Second, discuss how these components help in the development of research regarding social-psychological processes.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Discuss the difference between social theory and...

Quiz 3: Studying People