QUALIFYING EXAMINATION
SUMMER 2010
Texas Woman’s University
BEFORE BEGINNING:
Read through the questions and instructions so that you may make wise
use of your choices and time.
Try to focus on the intent of the questions and approach them as
comprehensively as time allows.
You will have until 5:00 p.m. to complete the examination.
PLEASE DOUBLE-SPACE YOUR ANSWERS. THE BEGINNING OF EACH
ANSWER SHOULD START AT THE TOP OF A NEW PAGE AND BE CLEARLY
NUMBERED.
Do not put your name on your paper. Use your assigned number, which is
_______.
Part 1. THEORY (choose 2 questions from this section)
1. Compare the views Marx, Durkheim, and Weber on one of the following
substantive issues: Methodology of Social Science, Religion, history.
2. Discuss the original significance, impact and continuing relevance of two of the
following classical sociological theories: Weber's “Rationalization”, Durkheim’s
mechanical versus organic solidarity, Tonnies’s Gemeinshaft versus Gesselschaft,
or Marx's “Alienation.”
3. Discuss the influence of one classical sociological theory on one contemporary
sociological theory of ONE of the following: social problems, social change,
nature of domination, sociology of knowledge.
4. Trace the career of ONE of the following ideas from the 18th or 19th centuries to
the 20th or 21st centuries: Social Progress, Rights of the Individual in Society,
Future Prospects of Human Society. Comment on contemporary formulations of
the old theories.
Part 2. METHODS (Answer 1 and 2)
1. You have been asked to help design a survey of marijuana use among students
at your university. Officials do not know which one of the major types of surveys
to use. Identify the three major types of surveys. Which type of survey would
you suggest they use. Explain your reasons. In your answer, discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of using each of the three types of surveys.
2. Choose one concept from the list below. Define the concept and discuss how you
would measure the variable. Discuss relevant testing techniques of validation and
reliability you would employ. Indicate what level of measurement you would
obtain.
B.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Deviance
Attitude toward a current public issue
Competition
Organizational effectiveness
Quality of marital relationship
Religiosity
Select
1.
2.
3.
one of the following three topics for a qualitative research project:
Mothers on welfare
Job satisfaction among employees in a prison setting
College dropouts
Address the following issues:
a.
Identify the role of theory in qualitative research;
b.
Discuss issues of ethics in your research project;
c.
Describe the sampling design and recruitment of participants;
d.
Discuss data collection;
e.
Discuss appropriate technique(s) of data analysis; and
f.
Discuss the limitations of your study.
Part 3. STATISTICS (Answer A and B)
A. For five of the following eight pairs, discuss when it is most appropriate to use which
technique in the analysis of data.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Tests of statistical significance and measures of association
Chi-square test and F test
Pearson’s r and Spearman’s rho
t test and Z test
Lambda and Gamma
PRE and non-PRE measures of association
Ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression
Event history analysis and hierarchical linear model
B. Answer one of the following questions:
1. Write a brief essay substantively interpreting the ordinary least squares regression
analysis Presented in Table 1.
2. Write a brief essay substantively interpreting the logistic regression analysis
presented in Table 2.
Table 1. Ordinary Least Squares Regression Estimates Predicting Frequency of Labor
Strikes, U.S. Industries, 1963-1977
Predictor
% of workers in labor unions
Model 1
b

100.021**
Sales/inventory ratio
% change in industry employment
% change in profits per worker
R2
N
b
-90.011***
.177
120

198.060**
.189**
-.213**
-.053**
143.650**
.097**
-.122
% of corporate sales held by the
industry’s largest firms
Average value of assets per firm
in the industry
Average # of employees per firm
in the industry
Mining industry (Mining = 1, other=0)
Constant
.130**
Model 2
-.031
-10.430**
-.063**
.053
.017
-.229**
-.085**
677.230**
.749**
-183.790
.819
120
p ≤ 0.05 **p ≤ 0.01 ***p ≤ 0.001 (two-tailed test)
Source: Adapted from Table 4 of Michael Wallace, Larry Griffin, and Beth Rubin (1989), “The
Positional of American Labor, 1963-1977.” ASR 54(2): 197-214.
*
Table 2. Logistic Regression Estimates Predicting Teenage Pregnancy,a Female
Adolescents, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 1996
Predictor
b
S.E.
Odds ratio
Age
.312***
(.059)
1.366
Race/ethnicity
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Other
.416
.724***
-.001
.840
(.295)
(.315)
(.626)
(.572)
1.516
2.064
.999
2.317
Parent education (years)
-.191
(.107)
.826
Single-parent family
(one parent=1, else=0)
Poverty (poverty=1, else=0)
.758***
(.256)
2.134
-.319
(.221)
.727
GPA (points)
-.180
(.141)
.836
Urban (urban=1, else=0)
-.590***
(.220)
.554
Exposure to intimate partner
violence (5-point scale) b
1.228***
(.211)
3.416
-5.553***
(1.152)
.004
Constant
Model χ2
Pseudo R2
N
50.82
.25
5,263
p ≤ 0.05 **p ≤ 0.01 ***p ≤ 0.001
a
Teenage pregnancy is coded 1 for being pregnant and coded 0 otherwise.
b
A higher score indicates a higher degree of exposure.
*