Social Statistics For A Diverse Society 8th Edition By Frankfort Nachmias - Test Bank

Chapter 1: The What and the Why of Statistics

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. An organized and elaborate conceptual scheme that serves to explain how social attributes and events are patterned or related is called a

a. law.

b. theory.

c. hypothesis.

d. variable.

Ans: b

Learning Objective: 1-1: Describe the five stages of the research process

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Role of Theory

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Procedures that help organize or describe data collected from a sample or a population are called

a. descriptive statistics.

b. analytical variables.

c. inferential statistics.

d. dependent variables.

Ans: a

Learning Objective: 1-4: Apply descriptive and inferential statistical procedures

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The levels of social life on which social scientists focus are called

a. measures of tendency.

b. dependent variables.

c. independent variables.

d. units of analysis.

Ans: d

Learning Objective: 1-1: Describe the five stages of the research process

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Formulating the Hypotheses

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Researchers use the term ______ to refer to information that is obtained and verified by direct experience.

a. variable

b. unit of analysis

c. empirical research

d. theory

Ans: c

Learning Objective: 1-1: Describe the five stages of the research process

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Asking Research Questions

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. A(n) ______ is a tentative prediction about how empirical events or attributes will be related or patterned.

a. theory

b. estimate

c. law

d. hypothesis

Ans: d

Learning Objective: 1-1: Describe the five stages of the research process

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Formulating the Hypotheses

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The total set of cases, objects, groups, or events in which the researcher is interested is called the

a. population.

b. sample.

c. entity.

d. variable.

Ans: a

Learning Objective: 1-4: Apply descriptive and inferential statistical procedures

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. A subset of cases selected from the total set of cases is referred to as the

a. population.

b. sample.

c. entity.

d. variable.

Ans: b

Learning Objective: 1-4: Apply descriptive and inferential statistical procedures

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. A(n) ______ is a property of people or objects that can take two or more values.

a. unit of analysis

b. variable

c. level of measurement

d. theory