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SOCIOL 110 Final Study Guide 2025
Primary Data Collection - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ when
social scientists design and carry out their own data
collection
Secondary Data Collection - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ a
resource collected by someone else
Self-Administered Questionaires - .....ANSWER ...✔✔
A survey completed directly by respondents through the
mail or online
Interview Administered - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A
questionnaire completed in the presence of an
interviewer. The interviewer may also verbally ask some
or all of the questions.
Response Categories - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ The preset
answers to questions on a survey.
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Attrition - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ The loss of sample
members over time, usually to death or dropout.
Poll - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A very brief single-topic
survey
Open-ended Questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A broad
interview question to which subjects are allowed to
respond in their own words rather than in preset ways.
Close-ended Questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A
focused interview question to which subjects can respond
only in preset ways.
Generalizability - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the extent to
which we can claim our findings inform us about a group
larger than the one we studied
Response Rate - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the number or
percentage of surveys completed by respondents and
returned to researchers
What to avoid when writing interview questions? -
.....ANSWER ...✔✔ -Double-barreled questions
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-emotionally loaded words
-jargon, slang
-leading questions
-double negatives
-threatening or sensitive questions.
social desirability bias - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A type of
bias that occurs when study participants report positively
valued behaviors and attitudes rather than giving
truthful responses
screener questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ questions at
the beginning of a survey that determine if the person is
eligible for the study
order effects - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ When the order in
which questions appear biases the responses.
skip pattern - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A question or series
of questions associated with a conditional response to a
prior question.
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exhaustive - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ Preset response
categories that give all subjects at least one accurate
response.
mutually exclusive - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ Preset
response categories that do not overlap with one
another, ensuring that respondents select the single
category that best captures their views.
mode of administration - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the way
the survey is administered, such as face to face, by
phone or mail, or online
probes - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ follow-up prompts for
interview
composite measure - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A measure
that combines multiple items, whether as a scale or an
index, to create a single value that captures a
multifaceted concept
index - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A composite measure that
sums responses to survey items capturing key elements of
a particular concept being measured.
SOCIOL 110 Final Study Guide 2025
Primary Data Collection - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ when
social scientists design and carry out their own data
collection
Secondary Data Collection - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ a
resource collected by someone else
Self-Administered Questionaires - .....ANSWER ...✔✔
A survey completed directly by respondents through the
mail or online
Interview Administered - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A
questionnaire completed in the presence of an
interviewer. The interviewer may also verbally ask some
or all of the questions.
Response Categories - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ The preset
answers to questions on a survey.
,2|Page
Attrition - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ The loss of sample
members over time, usually to death or dropout.
Poll - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A very brief single-topic
survey
Open-ended Questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A broad
interview question to which subjects are allowed to
respond in their own words rather than in preset ways.
Close-ended Questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A
focused interview question to which subjects can respond
only in preset ways.
Generalizability - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the extent to
which we can claim our findings inform us about a group
larger than the one we studied
Response Rate - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the number or
percentage of surveys completed by respondents and
returned to researchers
What to avoid when writing interview questions? -
.....ANSWER ...✔✔ -Double-barreled questions
,3|Page
-emotionally loaded words
-jargon, slang
-leading questions
-double negatives
-threatening or sensitive questions.
social desirability bias - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A type of
bias that occurs when study participants report positively
valued behaviors and attitudes rather than giving
truthful responses
screener questions - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ questions at
the beginning of a survey that determine if the person is
eligible for the study
order effects - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ When the order in
which questions appear biases the responses.
skip pattern - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A question or series
of questions associated with a conditional response to a
prior question.
, 4|Page
exhaustive - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ Preset response
categories that give all subjects at least one accurate
response.
mutually exclusive - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ Preset
response categories that do not overlap with one
another, ensuring that respondents select the single
category that best captures their views.
mode of administration - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ the way
the survey is administered, such as face to face, by
phone or mail, or online
probes - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ follow-up prompts for
interview
composite measure - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A measure
that combines multiple items, whether as a scale or an
index, to create a single value that captures a
multifaceted concept
index - .....ANSWER ...✔✔ A composite measure that
sums responses to survey items capturing key elements of
a particular concept being measured.
