The Basics of Social Research 7th Edition by Earl R. Babbie – Test Bank

Complete Test Bank With Answers

 

 

Sample Questions Posted Below

 

1. Which of the following is a(n) sign of the presence or absence of the concept that one is studying.?

a. Indicator

b. Concept

c. Direct observable

d. Indirect observable

e. Dependent variable

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

2. Which of the following sequences illustrates the progression of measurement steps in a fully structured scientific

study?

a. Conceptualization, nominal definition, operational definition, and measurements in the real world

b. Nominal definition, conceptualization, operational definition, and measurements in the real world

c. Operational definition, conceptualization, nominal definition, and measurements in the real world

d. Nominal definition, operationalization, conceptualization, and real-world measurements

e. Conceptualization, operationalization, nominal definition, and real-world measurements

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

3. Professor Smith gave an exam on Monday. On Wednesday Smith gave the same class the same exam. Professor

Smith was clearly interested in assessing the exam’s:

a. reliability.

b. validity.

c. face validity.

d. conceptualization.

e. precision.

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 14. Reliability is:

results each time

a. a matter of whether a particular technique, applied repeatedly to the same object, would yield the same

b. a matter of ensuring accuracy alone

c. a matter of ensuring that the measure measures what one thinks it should measure

d. a matter of ensuring precision alone

e. a matter of ensuring both accuracy and precision

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Modified

5. The specification of concepts in scientific inquiry depends on:

a. nominal, operational, and real definitions.

b. real definitions.

c. nominal and operational definitions.

d. nominal and real definitions.

e. operational and real definitions.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

6. Professor Spence decided to define socioeconomic status as a combination of income and education. Spence

then determined the questions to be asked in a survey and the categories of responses. Spence was assigning

socioeconomic status:

a. a nominal definition only.

b. an operational and a real definition.

c. a real definition only.

d. a nominal and a real definition.

e. a nominal and an operational definition.

ANSWER: e

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 27. A level of measurement describing a variable whose attributes are rank-ordered and have equal distances

between adjacent attributes are _____ measures.

a. ratio

b. interval

c. ordinal

d. nominal

e. theoretical

ANSWER: b

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: New

8. Conceptions are:

a. empirical measurements.

b. variables.

c. mental images.

d. hypotheses.

e. definitions.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Measuring Anything That Exists

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

9. Most social scientists would not accept the conceptualization of prejudice as foot size because such a

measurement lacks:

a. precision.

b. reliability.

c. accuracy.

d. validity.

e. all of these choices.

ANSWER: d

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 310. Hudson et al. developed a series of questions to examine sexual attitudes (SAS). The SAS scores of religious

fundamentalists—a group believed to be conservative regarding sexual expression—were compared with the

scores of social work graduate students—a group believed to be liberal regarding sexual expression. The

researchers were examining the instrument’s:

a. split-half reliability.

b. split-half validity.

c. criterion-related validity.

d. criterion reliability.

e. construct validity.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

11. Dr. Ross is looking to examine if the indicators that make up her measurement of romantic attraction are truly

related to one another and make for an accurate representation of the variable she is researching. What sort of

validity is she examining?

a. Split-half validity

b. Face validity

c. Criterion-related validity

d. Content validity

e. Construct validity

ANSWER: e

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

12. A measurement of personality that produces observable, correct results, but that are not consistent would be

considered:

a. valid and reliable.

b. valid, but not reliable.

c. not valid, but reliable.

d. neither valid nor reliable.

e. partially valid, fully reliable.

ANSWER: b

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 413. Professor Myth asked respondents whether or not they had ever been divorced. One year later Professor Myth

asked the same respondents the same question. Myth found that with repeated applications of the measure

different responses were obtained for the same respondent. This means that the measuring instrument was:

a. reliable.

b. invalid.

c. unreliable or the value on the variable had changed.

d. lacking face validity.

e. inaccurate.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

14. A complete conceptualization involves:

a. specifying dimensions only.

b. specifying indicators only.

c. specifying dimensions and identifying the various indicators of each dimension.

d. specifying indicators and identifying the various dimensions of each indicator.

e. specifying variables and their attributes.

ANSWER: d

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

15. Considering the fact that low marital satisfaction should lead to divorce, Professor Rogers checked his measure of

marital satisfaction by examining whether couples with low marital satisfaction scores got divorced and those with

high levels of marital satisfaction were still married? This illustrates the use of:

a. criterion-related validity.

b. face validity.

c. content validity.

d. construct validity.

e. test-retest validity.

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 516. A nominal definition:

a. is a statement of the essential nature of some entity.

b. is a statement detailing what will be involved in measuring some entity.

c. is a statement that allows us to observe some entity.

d. is a statement that assigns a definition to a concept.

e. none of these choices.

ANSWER: d

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

17. A survey question asking voters which political party they are affiliated with (Democrat, Republican, Independent)

would be considered:

a. mutually exclusive.

b. exhaustive.

c. interchangeable.

d. a ratio scale.

e. an ordinal scale.

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

18. Which of the following is a nominal variable?

a. Education

b. Age

c. Employment status

d. Occupational prestige

e. One needs to know the attributes to determine the level of measurement

ANSWER: e

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 619. A measure of religiosity that is extremely consistent, but is actually targeting the respondent’s political affiliation

could be considered:

a. partially reliable, completely valid.

b. valid and reliable.

c. not valid, but reliable.

d. neither valid nor reliable.

e. valid, but not reliable.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

20. Measuring how people feel about proposed income tax hikes when you really want to know how well informed

they are on the proposal is a problem of operationalization concerning:

a. the use of single or multiple indicators.

b. how observations are going to be made.

c. the specific dimensions of the variable to be studied.

d. the relevant range of variations.

e. the degree of precision needed between extremes.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

21. Professor Miller argues that there are three dimensions to the quality of a relationship (belonging/affirmation,

interdependence, and intimacy). Miller designed an instrument to measure quality of a relationship. She notices

that no items in the instrument tap the intimacy dimension. Her measure lacks:

a. reliability.

b. content validity.

c. predictive validity.

d. construct validity.

e. internal consistency.

ANSWER: b

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 722. Professor Tyler wrote a proposal to study the impact of authoritarianism on child rearing practices. She began her

research by reviewing the meaning of authoritarianism. Based on this review, she formulated her own definition

of authoritarianism. This process illustrates:

a. operationalization.

b. the interchangeability of indicators.

c. conceptualization.

d. validity assessment.

e. reliability assessment.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

23. Shipley developed a NEW test to measure IQ. Using his test, someone with an IQ of 180 would be considered

twice as intelligent as someone with an IQ of 90 and someone with an IQ of 90 was three times as intelligent as

someone with an IQ of 30. Shipley’s test treats IQ as a(n):

a. nominal variable.

b. interval variable.

c. ratio variable.

d. ordinal variable.

e. none of these choices.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

24. Dr. Jones is developing a research study in which he plans to use the length of a participant’s ring finger to

determine mathematical prowess. At the most basic level, his indicator fails which test for validity?

a. Face validity

b. Content validity

c. Predictive validity

d. Criterion-related validity

e. Construct validity

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 825. Classifying someone as employed or not employed treats employment as:

a. a ratio variable.

b. an interval variable.

c. an ordinal variable.

d. a nominal variable.

e. a dependent variable.

ANSWER: d

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

26. Professor Tilton measured the variable “feelings toward drafting women” with the categories strongly agree, agree,

indifferent, disagree, and strongly disagree. Professor Tilton was using the _____ level of measurement.

a. nominal

b. interval

c. ratio

d. ordinal

e. not enough information to decide

ANSWER: d

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

27. The variable “educational level” of students was measured as last year in the school was completed (i.e., by using

attributes such as none, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, grades, etc.) This type of measurement falls under _____ measures.

a. nominal

b. interval

c. ratio

d. ordinal

e. not enough information to decide

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Modified

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 928. What is the lowest level of measurement in which there is an exact difference between attribute values?

a. Nominal

b. Interval

c. Ratio

d. Ordinal

e. All of these choices

ANSWER: b

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

29. When we fall into the trap of believing that terms have real meanings we are guilty of:

a. reification.

b. measurements that lack reliability.

c. measurements that lack validity.

d. confusing reliability with validity.

e. confusing validity with reliability.

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

30. Professor Salton created the categories of less than 20 hours, 20 hours to 40 hours, 40 hours to 60 hours, and 60

hours or more for the variable “number of hours employed outside the home.” The attributes in Salton’s scheme

represents:

a. a nominal measure.

b. mutually exclusive measure.

c. exhaustive measure.

d. an ordinal measure.

e. mutually exclusive and exhaustive measure.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1031. Verifying the validity of a measurement using an outside source of information, such as SAT scores or GPA when

examining a measure of academic performance is using:

a. face validity.

b. construct validity.

c. criterion-related validity.

d. content validity.

e. correlational validity.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

32. Which of the following is NOT a means of assessing the reliability of measuring a. Test-retest

b. Split-half

c. Construct-correlation

d. Using established measures

e. Using reliable research workers

devices?

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

33. Jeremy can’t decide whether he should ask people whether they “very strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree,” “very

strongly disagree” or whether they simply “agree” or “disagree” with statements about the war in Iraq. Jeremy is

dealing with the problem of:

a. whether to use single or multiple indicators of a concept.

b. the range of variation.

c. whether to use a ratio or ordinal measurement.

d. whether to use a ratio or interval measurement.

e. whether to use single or multiple dimensions.

ANSWER: b

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1134. A researcher entering gender data collected from a mailed survey is working with:

a. constructs.

b. direct observables.

c. indirect observables.

d. reification.

e. a conceptualization.

ANSWER: c

REFERENCES: Measuring Anything That Exists

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

35. Sarah has compiled a list of 40 indicators of prejudice and its dimensions. She finds that women are more

prejudiced than men on some of the indicators but not on others. Sarah should:

a. check to see if the two sets of indicators represent different dimensions of prejudice.

b. conclude the women are more prejudiced than men.

c. throw out the 40 indicators and start over.

d. conclude that there was an error in her analysis.

e. get a new sample.

ANSWER: a

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Modified

36. If a measure is reliable, it must also be valid.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

37. Conceptualization is the development of research procedures that will result in empirical observations representing

those concepts in the real world.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1238. Validity refers to the extent to which an empirical measure adequately reflects the real meaning of the concept

under consideration.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Modified

39. Precision and accuracy are synonyms.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

40. Even if a pre-existing measure of a construct of interest exists, it is a better idea to create your own so you

understand it better.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

41. A split-half reliability test taps the idea of the general stability of the instrument over time.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

42. Predictive validity is often used as another term for criterion-related validity.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1343. It is impossible to have several indicators of only one concept.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

44. Changing definitions almost inevitably results in different descriptive conclusions.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

45. Precise measurement is more important than accurate measurement.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

46. Number of arrests would be an example of an interval measurement

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Applied

NOTES: Pickup

47. A nominal measure can have only two categories.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1448. Definitions are more problematic for descriptive research than for explanatory research.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

49. The split-half technique for assessing reliability is closely linked to concept of the interchangeability of indicators

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: 154

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

50. If unsure as a researcher how specific a measurement needs to be, it is best to be more general to simplify data

collection.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

51. Numbers assigned to ranks on an ordinal scale can legitimately be added, multiplied, subtracted, and divided.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

52. One only need a nominal definition of a concept before beginning the process of data collection

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: False

REFERENCES: Conceptualization

TOPICS: Factual

NOTES: Pickup

Cengage Learning Testing, Powered by Cognero Page 1553. The test-retest method assumes that the phenomena under study does not change.

a. True

b. False

ANSWER: True

REFERENCES: 153

TOPICS: Conceptual

NOTES: Pickup

54. Please conceptualize child abuse (or another abstract concept of your choice). What indicators would you use to

measure the concept? Are there dimensions to the concept?

ANSWER: Student answers will vary. One possible answer is that child abuse refers to the mistreatment of a

minor by his/her parent or guardian. Dimensions of child abuse might include physical abuse,

emotional abuse, and psychological abuse. Indicators might include: 1) Have you ever been

slapped by a parent? (Yes, No), 2) Have you ever been beaten up by a parent with a whip or

belt? (Yes, No), 3) Have you ever been told that you were stupid by your mother/father? (Yes,

No), and so on.

REFERENCES: Entire chapter

NOTES: Modified

55. As an extension of the previous question ask the students to evaluate their measurement in terms of validity. do they think might be some potential shortcomings, or how does their measurement meet the requirements for

validity?

What

ANSWER: Student answers will vary, but the answer should focus on issues of face validity, construct

validity, content validity, as well as possible items of use to establish criterion-related validity.

REFERENCES: Criteria of Measurement Quality

NOTES: Modified

56. How would you measure family size at the nominal, ordinal, and ratio levels?

ANSWER: Ratio level: How many people (excluding yourself) are in your immediate (nuclear, family of

orientation)? (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, …….)

Ordinal level: Use the same question with attributes of (less than 3) (3 – 6) (more than 6) or

small, medium, and large.

Nominal level: Are there other people (besides you) in your immediate family? (Yes, No) you have any brothers? (Yes, No)

NOTE: Students sometimes claim the ordinal classification of (0-3) (3-5) (6 or more) is ratio

because they “see” the 0 in the first category (0-3).

REFERENCES: Operationalization Choices

NOTES: Pickup

or Do

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