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SMPA 1050 Final Questions and Correct
Answers
survey Ans: -a technique for ascertaining the self-reported
attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning
a representative, random sample of the group
pro: generalizable
con: cannot make strong claims, minor variation in wording and
order of questions and social desirability affect responses
content analysis Ans: the systematic coding and objective
recording of data, guided by some rationale, identifying patterns
in data
pros: cheap, high reliability, quantifies meaning
cons: if coding is inaccurate then the findings are invalid, context
can be ignored, not valid on its own
Experiments Ans: a technique that tests predicted relationships
among variables in a controlled environment
pros: causal inferences, control over administration of
independent variables, internal validity
cons: not always generalizable, lacks external validity
Independent variable Ans: Things that influence, effect, or cause
other things
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example: strategy framed news stories
dependent variable Ans: things that are influenced, affected, or
moved
population Ans: the universe of things you are interested in
understanding
example: Americans, voters, likely voters
sample Ans: a smaller portion of that population that you analyze
because the population is too big
meant to be representative
internal validity Ans: extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect
inferences from a study
is the study conducted properly
external validity Ans: extent to which we can generalize findings
to real-world settings
Codebook Ans: -a document that contains explicit directions about
how data from data collection forms are coded in the data file
-defines all variables
intercoder reliability Ans: in content analysis, the degree of
agreement between or among independent coders
crime story Ans: -A type of story most likely to lead to newscast
© 2025 All rights reserved
SMPA 1050 Final Questions and Correct
Answers
survey Ans: -a technique for ascertaining the self-reported
attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning
a representative, random sample of the group
pro: generalizable
con: cannot make strong claims, minor variation in wording and
order of questions and social desirability affect responses
content analysis Ans: the systematic coding and objective
recording of data, guided by some rationale, identifying patterns
in data
pros: cheap, high reliability, quantifies meaning
cons: if coding is inaccurate then the findings are invalid, context
can be ignored, not valid on its own
Experiments Ans: a technique that tests predicted relationships
among variables in a controlled environment
pros: causal inferences, control over administration of
independent variables, internal validity
cons: not always generalizable, lacks external validity
Independent variable Ans: Things that influence, effect, or cause
other things
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
example: strategy framed news stories
dependent variable Ans: things that are influenced, affected, or
moved
population Ans: the universe of things you are interested in
understanding
example: Americans, voters, likely voters
sample Ans: a smaller portion of that population that you analyze
because the population is too big
meant to be representative
internal validity Ans: extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect
inferences from a study
is the study conducted properly
external validity Ans: extent to which we can generalize findings
to real-world settings
Codebook Ans: -a document that contains explicit directions about
how data from data collection forms are coded in the data file
-defines all variables
intercoder reliability Ans: in content analysis, the degree of
agreement between or among independent coders
crime story Ans: -A type of story most likely to lead to newscast
© 2025 All rights reserved
