Worksheets2026 SOC Research Methods Review
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 54mins
Ethan wants to find out if a new teaching method improves student performance. He divides his class into two groups, gives one group the new method, and the other group the standard method, then compares their results. What type of study is Ethan conducting?
Naturalistic
Longitudinal
Experimental
Survey
In a study testing a new medication, James is part of a group that doesn't receive any treatment. What is this group called?
Experimental group
Control group
Single Blind Procedure
Double Blind Procedure
Charlotte is a psychologist who spends several months studying a single patient in great detail to understand their unique experiences and behaviors. What type of descriptive research is Charlotte conducting?
naturalistic observation
experiment
correlational study
case study
Abigail wants to find out how people in her town feel about a new park. She creates a set of questions and asks residents to report their own answers. What research method is Abigail using?
case study
experiment
survey
naturalistic observation
Aiden is designing an experiment and needs to create operational definitions for the variables he will study. These operational definitions must be written in terms that are . . .
observable & measurable
valid
reliable
scientific
Avery is conducting an experiment and writes a testable statement that makes a prediction about the outcome. What is this statement known as?
theory
hypothesis
operational definition
guess
Jane Goodall lived among wild chimpanzees intermittently for decades, studying their social and family systems while keeping her interaction with the chimpanzees to a minimum. Her research method can most accurately be described as
a quasi-experiment
a naturalistic observation
a case study
a survey
A researcher surveyed social adjustment in the same group of 20 people from early childhood through adulthood. In this example, the group of 20 people surveyed was the study’s ___.
sample
population
public
populace
A researcher wants to know if the average American teenager thinks alcohol and nicotine are dangerous drugs. He can choose from a number of research methods. The best strategy would be to . . .
Naturalistic observation
Case Study
Survey
Quasi-Experiment
Olivia is conducting a research study about favorite sports among all the students in her school. In this context, the population in her research study is...
the whole group of research interest.
the smaller group that has been chosen from the group of research interest.
exactly the same as the sample.
always smaller than the sample.
An experiment where neither the participants nor the experimenter know who has received the treatment, until the experiment has concluded, is known as what?
Random Experiment
Single-blind Experiment
Stratified Experiment
Double-blind Experiment
When everybody has an equal chance of being included in a study, this process is called
unbiased reporting
survey
random sample
reliability
An experiment is performed to see if background music improves learning. Two groups study the same material, one while listening to music and another without music. The independent variable is
learning
size of group
material studied
presence of music
Lily is interested in understanding how people lived during the 18th century. She decides to examine letters, diaries, and official documents from that time period in order to learn about social life during that era. This approach is an example of a ___.
content analysis
historical analysis
correlation
survey
These techniques involve no contact with subjects & are called “non-reactive”.
Unobtrusive measures
Correlations
Case Studies
Experiments
Research particpants are randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group listens to a list of words, another group reads a list of words, and the third group hears and reads the words. The researcher then tests the participants' memories to see how many words the members of each group can recall. The way the words are presented is which type of variable?
Confounding
Dependent
Independent
Extraneous
Control
What is a stratified sample?
a random sample
a sample in which the subgroups within a population are ignored
a sample in which the subgroups within a population are proportionately represented
a sample in which the effects of the stratosphere on people are measured
What are two methods of surveying?
tests and interviews
experiments and questionnaires
interviews and questionnaires
case studies and experiments
Zoe is a researcher who wants to understand the daily lives of street artists. To do this, she becomes part of their group, participating in their activities and observing their routines from within to gain an "insider" perspective. What type of research is Zoe conducting?
Participant Observation
Non-participant Observation
Survey Research
Experiment
_____________ ____________ are variables that can potentially distort the relationship between the IV and the DV.
Target population
Confounding variables
Matching variables
Target variables
__________ refers to the extent to which the results of the study can be applied beyond the sample and the settings used in the study.
Generalizability
Population
Sample
Credibility
What is the independent variable?
In an experiment, the group with independent variable is known as what?
Single blind Group
Control Group
Experimental Group
The effect
A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other is called a
measure of central tendency
coefficient
inferential statistic
correlation
Sam wanted to know if the type of chair you sat in when taking a test affected your test grade. What is the dependent variable?
Type of chair
Grade on test
Age of students
Type of test
