Chapter 12- Quantitative Data Analysis

1. Which of the following most accurately describes Singleton's study of alcohol consumption and academic performance? A) It involved the secondary analysis of a national survey. B) It was based on a telephone interview survey. C) It measured academic performance in terms of self-reported GPA. D) It combined data from four campus surveys. 2. What is the order of steps in the quantitative analysis of survey data? A) inspect/modify data  data processing  bivariate analysis  multivariate testing B) inspect/modify data  data processing  multivariate testing  bivariate analysis C) data processing  inspect/modify data  bivariate analysis  multivariate testing D) data processing  inspect/modify data  multivariate testing  bivariate analysis 3. Editing of survey data A) involves checking for inconsistencies and omitted responses. B) is carried out prior to the process of data collection. C) is applied mostly to computer-assisted interviewing surveys. D) is the sole responsibility of the project supervisor. 4. In a data matrix, __________ are placed in rows and __________ are placed in columns. A) variables; missing data B) cases or observations; variables C) dependent variables; independent variables D) independent variables, dependent variables 5. Codebooks may contain all but which one of the following? A) raw survey data B) numerical codes for each response C) question wording D) editing and coding rules E) interviewer directions 6. Obtaining frequency distributions for all the variables in a data file is one way to A) do wild-code checking. B) do consistency checking. C) verify data entry. Page 1

D) edit the data. 7. What is the usual order of steps in processing completed survey interviews or questionnaires? A) data entry  coding  editing  cleaning B) editing  coding  data entry  cleaning C) cleaning  coding  data entry  editing D) coding  data entry  cleaning  editing 8. In terms of data processing, one advantage of computer-assisted interviewing over paper-and-pencil questionnaire surveys is that A) it is easier to determine if interviewers are recording answers accurately and adequately. B) there is no need to code responses. C) open-ended questions can be coded more easily. D) data entry occurs directly when interviewers record respondents' answers. 9. Percentage distributions A) may be applied only to interval-/ratio-scale variables. B) should include missing values in the computation of percentages. C) cannot be computed when there are missing data. D) provide an explicit comparative framework for interpreting distributions. 10. Univariate distributions of interval-/ratio-scale variables include all but which one of the following properties? A) regression B) central tendency C) dispersion D) shape 11. If the median in a distribution is 75, this means that A) 75 percent of the cases scored above the median. B) a score of 75 has the highest frequency. C) 75 is average score. D) a score of 75 divides the frequency distribution in half. 12. What is the mode in the following set of data? 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 Page 2

C) blacks are more likely to favor gun control than whites. 18. Suppose a researcher finds a statistically significant relationship between salary and job satisfaction among a random sample of employees. From this information, he can A) reject the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between job satisfaction and salary. B) conclude that differences in salary cause differences in job satisfaction. C) conclude that the relationship between salary and job satisfaction probably occurred at random. D) infer that salary is the most important factor in job satisfaction. 19. The chi-square test for independence indicates A) how two variables are related to one another. B) whether a relationship exists between variables. C) the strength of the relationship between variables. D) the direction of the relationship between variables. 20. In the general formula for a linear relationship, Y = a + bX, “a” is called the A) least squares point. B) Y-intercept. C) regression coefficient. D) slope. 21. For the 2016 GSS, you regress number of hours of television watched on the average day (Y) on number of years of education completed (X) and obtain the following result: Y = 5.37 – .18X. How much change in hours of television watched is associated with a change of one year in a respondent's education? A) 1 B) 5.37 – .18 C) 5.37 D) –.18 22. Consider the regression equation Y = –5.43 + 4.16X. This equation tells us that A) one unit increase in X is associated with a 5.43 unit decrease in Y. B) one unit increase in X is associated with a 4.16 unit increase in Y. C) one unit increase in Y is associated with a 5.43 decrease in X. D) one unit increase in Y is associated with a 4.16 increase in X Page 4

23. A correlation of –.85 indicates a __________ relationship, and a correlation of +.10 indicates a __________ relationship. A) strong; weak B) weak; strong C) weak; moderate D) weak; weak 24. The difference between an actual score and the score predicted by the regression equation is called A) a slope. B) the explained variation. C) a residual. D) a regression coefficient. 25. Suppose two variables are negatively related. Which of the following regression equations might describe this relationship? A) Y = 3.21 + 2.41X B) Y = –.45 + 4.12X C) Y = 18.62 – 1.21X 26. Which of the following is an example of an inferential statistic ? A) range B) mean C) correlation coefficient D) chi-square test for independence 27. Statistical control of extraneous variables in a survey is analogous to __________ in an experiment. A) randomly assigning research participants to experimental conditions B) manipulating the independent variable C) pretesting (i.e., premeasuring) the dependent variable D) posttesting the dependent variable. 28. According to the theoretical model: A) the inferred causal relationship between Y and Z is weak. B) X is an intervening variable. C) X affects Y and Z, but there is no causal relationship between Y and Z. D) Y and Z are independent of X. Page 5

33. A partial-regression coefficient in a multiple regression equation A) is the result of a specification error. B) usually has the same value as the corresponding bivariate regression coefficient. C) indicates the influence of an independent variable on the dependent variable when other independent variables are held constant. D) is a product of multicollinearity. 34. (Box 12.3) Which of the following would not pose a problem for the interpretation of a multiple linear regression analysis? A) nominal-scale independent variables B) multicollinearity C) misspecification D) curvilinear relationship between independent and dependent variable 35. A dummy variable in a multiple regression analysis is A) an unmeasured variable that is excluded from the underlying causal model. B) an uncontrolled variable that creates a spurious relationship. C) an uncontrolled variable that intervenes or “mediates” a relationship. D) an interval- or ratio-scale variable with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1. E) a nominal- or ordinal-scale variable that is recoded to have the values of 0 and 1. 36. Using the 2016 GSS, we regressed the number of hours of television watched on the average day on three variables: years of education, age, and marital status. Marital status is a dummy variables with 1 = married. We get the following results for the unstandardized regression coefficients : TVhours = 3.52 – .16Educ + .04Age – .69Married. According to this equation, A) There is no association between age and television viewing. B) Younger people watch more hours of television, on average, than older people. C) Married people watch fewer hours of television, on average, than unmarried people. D) Marital status is more strongly associated with hours of television viewing than age. 37. Using the 2016 GSS, we regressed the number of hours of television watched on the average day on three variables: years of education, age, and marital status. Marital status is a dummy variables with 1 = married. We get the following results for the unstandardized regression coefficients : TVhours = 3.52 – .16Educ + .04Age – .69Married. What is the predicted number of hours of television viewing for a 20-year old, unmarried person with 14 years of education? A) 1.39 B) 2.08 C) 2.71 Page 7

D) 4.41 38. Using the 2016 GSS, we regressed the number of hours of television watched on the average day on three variables: years of education, age, and marital status. Marital status is a dummy variables with 1 = married. We get the following results for the standardized regression coefficients : TVhours = – .17Educ + .27Age – .13Married. According to this equation, A) none of the variables is significantly related to television viewing. B) all three variables are significantly related to television viewing. C) age has the strongest association with television viewing. D) one year of education has a greater impact on viewing than one year of age. 39. Closed-ended questions usually are coded before data collection. A) True B) False 40. Editing is carried out after all the data have been entered into a data file. A) True B) False 41. Some data-processing activities can be programmed into computer-assisted interviewing. A) True B) False 42. Using computer-assisted interviewing eliminates the need for coding and data cleaning. A) True B) False 43. Verification may involve entering the data twice into separate files and then comparing the two files for noncomparable entries. A) True B) False 44. Consistency checking compares entries in a data file with entries in the interview schedule or questionnaire. A) True B) False Page 8

B) False 53. Tests of statistical significance may be applied only to interval- and ratio-scale variables. A) True B) False 54. The chi-square test is a measure of degree of association. A) True B) False 55. Examining a scatterplot can reveal whether a linear regression analysis is appropriate. A) True B) False 56. Regression coefficients indicate, among other things, the direction of the relationship between two variables. A) True B) False 57. The correlation coefficient measures the direction and strength of association between variables. A) True B) False 58. In the model X  T  Y, the relationship between X and Y is spurious. A) True B) False 59. In elaboration analysis, statistically controlling for an intervening variable may reveal a spurious association. A) True B) False 60. One strength of elaboration analysis is that it permits the simultaneous control of several independent variables. A) True Page 10

B) False 61. Leaving out important variables from a model is called a “specification error.” (Box 12.3) A) True B) False 62. “Collinearity” refers to a perfect association between variables. (Box 12.3) A) True B) False 63. Multiple regression is limited to the analysis of interval- and ratio-scale independent variables. A) True B) False 64. A dummy variable is a dichotomous variable with variable categories arbitrarily coded 0 and 1. A) True B) False 65. To determine which independent variable has the greatest impact in a multiple regression, researchers use unstandardized regression coefficients. A) True B) False 66. The quality of data is affected at several stages of social research, including data processing. What techniques do survey researchers apply to avoid errors and enhance data quality during data processing? Are data processing errors unavoidable, like random sampling error? Explain. 67. Describe the differences in the univariate analysis of nominal/ordinal variables and interval/ratio variables. What descriptive statistics are used to describe each type of variable? 68. Describe the differences in the bivariate analysis of nominal/ordinal variables and interval/ratio variables. What descriptive and inferential statistics are used to describe each type of variable? Page 11

Answer Key 1. D 2. C 3. A 4. B 5. A 6. A 7. B 8. D 9. D 10. A 11. D 12. B 13. C 14. A 15. E 16. C 17. C 18. A 19. B 20. B 21. D 22. B 23. A 24. C 25. C 26. D 27. A 28. C 29. D 30. B 31. B 32. D 33. C 34. A 35. E 36. C 37. B 38. C 39. A 40. B 41. A 42. B 43. A 44. B Page 13

45. B 46. B 47. A 48. A 49. B 50. A 51. A 52. B 53. B 54. B 55. A 56. A 57. A 58. B 59. B 60. B 61. A 62. A 63. B 64. A 65. B 66. 67. 68. 69. Page 14