Study Guide for Exam #1--SOC 200
EXAM IS THURSDAY, September 24, 2009 in AN 166. BRING A CALCULATOR (or let me know if you do not have one)
Fall, 2009
M. Senter
Reading: Chapters 1 and 10 from Earl Babbie's Seeing Ourselves [See Course Reserves] in Blackboard
American Sociological Association Code of Ethics,
Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, Chapters 1, 2, and 3
"Tables" (univariate) from Course Web Page
"Article from Whatsamattu U" and "Letter to the Editor" from Course Web Page
"More Practice--Exam 1" from Course Web Page (answers on Bulletin Board in AN 251)
Review of Math and Simple Statistics from Course Web Page
The exam will consist of:
a series of about 20-25 multiple choice questions (bring a #2 pencil with you)
a series of short-answer questions (a word to a short essay)
General questions to ask yourself:
(1) What are the ways in which a scientific understanding of the world differs from other ways of knowing about the world? (What is distinct about "science?") Be able to distinguish between scientific and non-scientific statements. (The Whatsamatta U article and The Letter to the Editor on the course web page may be helpful as review. As you know, they contain both scientific and non-scientific statements.)
(2) Why does Babbie talk about patterns? Why does he talk about "closed answers" and "open questions?"
(3) What principles must be followed to ensure that your research with human subjects (people) is ethical? What principles must be followed to make sure that your presentation of the data and that your presentation of yourself as a researcher are ethical?
(4) Discuss the stages in the research process. See diagram on page 3 of Social Statistics for a Diverse Society.
(5) Be able to write hypotheses from two variables that I will give you. Be able to identify the independent variable and the dependent variable.
(6) What factors must be present for a hypothesis to be supported? (That is, what factors must be present to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship among variables?)
(7) What five questions must you address is choosing a research design?
(8) What are the basic ways that sociologists gather data?
(9) Be able to identify the unit of analysis in a series of statements I will give you. Why is the unit of analysis important?
(10) Why is the operationalization of variables so important? Be able to operationalize a concept that I will give you (for example, "political participation").
(11) Be able to identify the level of measurement of variables.
(12) Be able to operationalize a variable with different levels of measurement.
(13) Be able to discuss the steps that you go through when you take raw data and put it in a form that can be analyzed by a quantitative data analysis software package such as SPSS. Be able to create an SPSS system file with variable names, variable labels, value labels, missing data codes, and levels of measurement and to enter raw data into your system file.
(14) Be able to create univariate tables by hand (frequency distributions, percentage distributions, valid percentage distributions, cumulative frequency distributions, and cumulative percentage distributions). Make sure that the tables are complete with titles, labels, etc.
(15) Be able to turn a frequency distribution into a cumulative frequency distribution. Be able to turn a frequency distribution into a percentage distribution and a percentage distribution into a cumulative percentage distribution.
(16) Be able to find the N's when you have the percentages of responses in each category of a variable and the total N.
(17) Know the ways in which the level of measurement of a variable affects how you create these univariate tables.
(18) Be able to summarize the main findings from these univariate tables whether you create them by hand or whether I give them to you from SPSS.
(19) Be able to calculate and makes sense of proportions, percentages, and rates.
(20) Be able to transform percents into rates per 1,000 and rates per 100,000 and to transform rates per 100,000 and rates per 1,000 into percents.
(21) Make sure that you know how to interpret (put into words) what proportions, percentages, and rates mean whether you create them by hand or interpret them from material I give you from SPSS.
(22) Be able to create by hand univariate graphs (bar graphs, pie graphs, line graphs, histograms, and time series graphs). Make sure that you know which graph is appropriate, given your level of measurement. Make sure that you know how to create titles for these graphs (figures).
(23) Be able to summarize (put into words) what these graphs and a statistical map tell you whether you create them by hand or interpret them from material that I give you from SPSS.
(24) Be able to figure out what each "bar" on a histogram means. To do this, you need to be able to calculate the stated limits and the real limits of class intervals, as well as the midpoints of the intervals.
(25) Be able to calculate the percentage-point change and the percentage change.
Other terms you want to understand:
description, explanation, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, quantitative research, qualitative research, observation, empirical, systematic, patterns, objectivity, subjectivity, replication, intersubjectivity, population, sample, representative samples, falsification, overgeneralization, selective observation, anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, coercion of subjects, deception, debriefing, Institutional Review Board (IRB), Human Subjects Review Committee, plagiarism, data fraud, full disclosure, theory, hypothesis, probability statements, independent variable, dependent variable, exhaustive response option, mutually exclusive response options, primary data analysis, secondary data analysis, unit of analysis, the individual as the unit of analysis, an aggregate as the unit of analysis, artifact as the unit of analysis, operationalization (operational definitions), nominal definition, measurement, measurement error, research design, variable, survey, experiment, field research, existing statistics/data, cross-sectional studies, longitudinal studies, codebook, nominal level of measurement, ordinal level of measurement, interval-ratio level of measurement, scale measures, dichotomous variable, variable name, variable label, value label, missing data codes, recode, codebook, SPSS system file, univariate tables, frequency distribution, percentage distribution, valid percentage distribution, cumulative frequency distribution, cumulative percentage distribution, proportions, percentages, rates, table titles, source of data, pie graph (or chart), bar graph (or chart), histogram, normal curve, age-sex pyramid, line graph (frequency polygon), time series graph, statistical map, stated limits of class intervals, real limits, midpoints, percentage-point change, percentage change.