Question 1

Secondary data are usually based on ______.
A) content analysis
B) interviews
C) existing statistics
D) survey research

Accepted Answer

D

Question 2

Secondary data analysis is considered research because ______.
A) you analyze the data
B) it is statistical
C) you summarize the original researcher's findings
D) you do a literature review before you start your study

Accepted Answer

Secondary data analysis is considered research because you analyze existing data to draw new conclusions or insights.

Question 3

Raw data are data that ______.
A) don't yet have any variables that have been collapsed
B) haven't been cleaned
C) Haven't been statistically calculated yet
D) didn't come from a data repository
Answer Location: Introduction

Accepted Answer

C

Question 4

Why is secondary data analysis good for testing theories of middle range?
A) It offers good alternatives if the hypotheses are disproven.
B) It allows you to work inductively and build theory.
C) It can be used to understand people's experiences in a deep way.
D) It usually uses large samples that are generalizable.

Accepted Answer

Secondary data analysis often involves large datasets that can provide generalizable findings, making it suitable for testing middle-range theories.

Question 5

Research questions for secondary data analysis are most likely to be ______.
A) descriptive
B) explanatory
C) applied
D) interpretive

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research questions for secondary data analysis are...

Question 6

You should write your hypotheses for secondary data analysis ______.
A) before choosing a data set
B) concurrently with data analysis
C) after choosing a data set
D) when you decide how to collapse the variables

Accepted Answer

Before choosing a data set, you should write your hypotheses for secondary data analysis to ensure that the data set you choose is relevant to your research question and hypotheses.

Question 7

You are interested in measuring parents' experiences with children who have mental illness. The GSS, which has data on people's attitudes generally about mental illness, is the closest data set you have found on the topic. You should ______.
A) use the GSS data
B) conduct your own survey
C) change your topic
D) use some data from the GSS and combine it with another set of data

Accepted Answer

The GSS data focuses on general attitudes about mental illness, not specifically on parents' experiences with children who have mental illness. Conducting your own survey will provide more relevant and specific data for your research topic.

Question 8

Which of the following questions is most appropriate for secondary data research?
A) What nonverbal behavior do people engage in while flirting?
B) How do siblings of people with cancer perceive family dynamics to have changed after the cancer diagnosis?
C) What are students' attitudes about gun control?
D) How does the domestic violence rate in your county compare to those at a national level?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following questions is most...

Question 9

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How much job satisfaction do workers in the service industry report having?
A) It asks about an experience that is too complex to study with surveys.
B) You are unlikely to find relevant variables in available data sets.
C) It is more appropriate for existing statistics.
D) It is a descriptive question.

Accepted Answer

The research question is descriptive because it seeks to quantify the level of job satisfaction among workers in the service industry without exploring causal relationships or deeper insights.

Question 10

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How do clients in Chicago homeless shelters evaluate the services provided by those shelters?
A) It asks about an experience that is too complex to study with surveys.
B) You are unlikely to find relevant variables in available data sets.
C) It is more appropriate for existing statistics.
D) It is a descriptive question.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is a problem...

Question 11

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How does race affect the likelihood of having medical insurance?
A) The question is too narrow.
B) You are unlikely to find relevant variables in available data sets.
C) It is more appropriate for existing statistics.
D) It is a descriptive question.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following is a problem...

Question 12

How do economic downturns affect rates of suicide? Which of the following is a problem with this research question?
A) The question is too narrow.
B) You are unlikely to find relevant variables in available data sets.
C) It is more appropriate for existing statistics.
D) It is a descriptive question.

Accepted Answer

The question is more appropriate for existing statistics because it seeks to understand the relationship between economic downturns and suicide rates, which can be analyzed using existing statistical data.

Question 13

You are using a secondary data set from the Pew Center to understand people's attitudes about abortion. Which of the following is true about your approval from the IRB?
A) You need approval for secondary data analysis research because you will be getting the raw data.
B) You do not need to get IRB approval because the original researchers already did that.
C) You will need to get informed consent again from everyone who participated to use their data.
D) Your IRB application will take extra long because you will need approval from both the IRB used by the original researchers and the one at your university.

Accepted Answer

Secondary data analysis typically requires IRB approval if the data is not publicly available or if it contains identifiable information.

Question 14

You are using a secondary data set about addiction. Your primary responsibility to protect the research participants is to ______.
A) have them sign informed consent statements
B) report only in the aggregate
C) delete their names from the files
D) find out their names and e-mail addresses to make sure the data originally collected were correct

Accepted Answer

Reporting only in the aggregate ensures that individual identities are not disclosed, thus protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the research participants.

Question 15

If you wish to do applied research, you should ______.
A) conduct your own survey
B) find a data set that has most or all of your variables
C) recode variables to make the data you choose work better for your research
D) analyze the data using crosstabs rather than frequencies

Accepted Answer

Conducting your own survey allows you to collect data that is specific to your research question and hypotheses.

Question 16

You want to study voting behaviors among millennials. Specifically, you are interested in how the 2016 presidential election affected the likelihood that they will vote in future elections. Which of the following is a necessary criterion for choosing to use this data set?
A) The sample contains voters born between the 1940s and early 2000s.
B) It contains variables including candidate voted for in 2016 national election, reaction to 2016 national election results, and belief that their vote matters.
C) The variables on race, political ideology, education, and age have already been collapsed for you.
D) The data repository contains multiple surveys that each have different variables you can use.

Accepted Answer

The data set must contain variables that are relevant to the research question, such as candidate voted for in 2016 national election, reaction to 2016 national election results, and belief that their vote matters.

Question 17

You would like to study how demographic characteristics affect likelihood of owning a home. You find data sets at both nationwide data and community data. You should ______.
A) use both sets to get the exact information you are looking for
B) conduct your own survey
C) change your topic
D) choose only one of the data sets to use

Accepted Answer

The answer of You would like to study how demographic...

Question 18

You are interested in doing a study regarding views on immigration. Specifically, you would like to know how a person's income level affects the likelihood that they support open immigration into the United States. Which of the following is a necessary criterion for choosing a data set?
A) The sample is of people in the upper and upper-middle class.
B) It contains variables including support for a range of different immigration laws.
C) The variables race, social class, education, and age have already been collapsed for you.
D) The data repository contains multiple surveys that each have different variables you can use.

Accepted Answer

To study the effect of income level on support for open immigration, the dataset must include variables that measure support for immigration laws.

Question 19

Recoding a variable is part of the process of ______ in secondary data analysis.
A) sampling
B) operationalizing
C) increasing reliability
D) data collection

Accepted Answer

Recoding a variable is part of operationalizing, which involves defining and categorizing variables to make them measurable and analyzable in research.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of collapsing a variable?
A) reassigning an answer to a different response category by hand
B) you decide to put those who said their race was "the human race" as missing values
C) you put someone who says they are "Polish" into the "White" category
D) you collapse six categories of race into two: Whites and people of color

Accepted Answer

Collapsing a variable involves combining multiple categories into fewer categories, as in the example of reducing six race categories into two broader categories.

Quiz 5: Secondary Data Analysis

Secondary data are usually based on ______.

Secondary data analysis is considered research because ______.

Raw data are data that ______.

Why is secondary data analysis good for testing theories of middle range?

Research questions for secondary data analysis are most likely to be ______.

You should write your hypotheses for secondary data analysis ______.

You are interested in measuring parents' experiences with children who have mental illness. The GSS, which has data on people's attitudes generally about mental illness, is the closest data set you have found on the topic. You should ______.

Which of the following questions is most appropriate for secondary data research?

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How much job satisfaction do workers in the service industry report having?

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How do clients in Chicago homeless shelters evaluate the services provided by those shelters?

Which of the following is a problem with this research question: How does race affect the likelihood of having medical insurance?

How do economic downturns affect rates of suicide? Which of the following is a problem with this research question?

You are using a secondary data set from the Pew Center to understand people's attitudes about abortion. Which of the following is true about your approval from the IRB?

You are using a secondary data set about addiction. Your primary responsibility to protect the research participants is to ______.

If you wish to do applied research, you should ______.

You want to study voting behaviors among millennials. Specifically, you are interested in how the 2016 presidential election affected the likelihood that they will vote in future elections. Which of the following is a necessary criterion for choosing to use this data set?

You would like to study how demographic characteristics affect likelihood of owning a home. You find data sets at both nationwide data and community data. You should ______.

You are interested in doing a study regarding views on immigration. Specifically, you would like to know how a person's income level affects the likelihood that they support open immigration into the United States. Which of the following is a necessary criterion for choosing a data set?

Recoding a variable is part of the process of ______ in secondary data analysis.

Which of the following is an example of collapsing a variable?