20 Multiple Choice Questions -- Practice Exam
Advanced English for Scholarly Writing
Fall Semester 2012
Choose ONE answer only
______#1. Which of the following do you think best explains the goals of social science
research?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
to discover truth wherever it exists
to correct the errors of thinking in people who are ideologically bound
to define terms so that language about society is clear and unambiguous
to develop tools of analysis that are useful and persuasive
to produce knowledge that raises the standard of living and dignity of the poorest in society
______#2. Richard Feynman complained that social science is not really a “science” because
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
it does not use the correct methods of science such as statistics and mathematics
real science is not about uncertainty
social scientists cannot prove anything for certain
social scientists are not able to adequately test the theories they propose
they cannot produce anything useful in their research
_____#3. John Maynard Keynes felt that social science was
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
about using data on population, income, religion, etc. to prove theories about humans
an apparatus of the mind that allowed its users to come to useful conclusions
about history and the sanctity of human rights
full of uncertainty and incapable of being useful
capable of proving propositions about human behavior using logic
_____#4. Keynes felt that social science was particularly difficult to do because
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
it required that people always remember that society was changing
it needed very good mathematical knowledge to generate results
it could never produce anything worthwhile
everyone ultimately has their own ideas, concepts, and definitions
proving propositions using logic can be very time consuming and tedious
_____#5. Instead of judging truth in social science, we
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
make sure our errors are always small in our models
avoid making grand and overarching statements in social science
look to see if people incorporate social science in their behavior and actions
promote only theories that can be proven empirically
allow all points of views in a truly multicultural fashion
_____#6. Descriptivism is different from instrumentalism because it
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
says that assumptions should be as close to reality as possible
says that a picture is worth a thousand words
advocates proof instead of usefulness
if a model is useful it need not have realistic assumptions
the goal of research is to make poor people better off
_____#7. The method of falsification as a way of conducting scientific research was advocated
by
a. Thomas Kuhn
b. Karl Popper c. Paul Samuelson
d. Milton Friedman e. Frank Sinatra
_____#8. Who was it that said “Facts are the bricks out of which reason builds the edifice of
knowledge”?
a. Alfred Marshall
b. Karl Popper
c. Albert Einstein
d. Milton Friedman
e. Frank Sinatra
_____#9. The F-twist refers to Paul Samuelson’s criticism that Milton Friedman advocated
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a scientific method that promoted usefulness instead of accuracy
the use of assumptions in models that were known to be false
giving up on the hunt for truth in social science
descriptive models instead of instrumental models
highly simplistic models
_____#10. Which of the following would be an example of a banality?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
illegal immigration into the US is reversing course due to the rise in US unemployment
polls show the US electorate is nearly evenly divided between conservatives and liberals
Americans must now look into their hearts and decide what is best
most scientists in the US support the Democratic Party
a majority of scientists in the US believe in God or a higher power in the world.
_____#11. Plagiarism, even unintentional plagiarism, cannot occur if a person writes only his
own thoughts.
a. true
b. false
_____#12. A normative statement in social science differs from a positive statement by the
inclusion of the words
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
proof or certain
should or ought
relative or absolute
important or fundamental
arbitrary or ad hoc
_____#13. Bias in social science analysis occurs whenever our analysis includes
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
our own personal conclusions to the analysis
criticism of others’ works
a significant lack of mathematical analysis
unanswered questions to our analysis
our own personal value-laden judgments
_____#14. Which of the following is true about plagiarism?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
quoting anyone with full attribution is plagiarism
using a table from someone else’s work with proper attribution is still plagiarism
plagiarism is generally considered an unlawful act
plagiarism is when you use significant portions of other’s works without attribution
plagiarism is identical to copyright infringement
_____#15. One of the reasons why social scientist have difficulty in applying logic to their
analysis is because
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
the world is illogical
social science involves the behavior of people and people are not rational
the rules of logic requires that things be either true or false…no in between
models in social science are usually not logical
social science involves making decisions
_____#16. The trivium was a set of three scholarly courses taught in medieval universities and
consisted of
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
logic, science, mathematics
geography, philosophy, language
politics, economics, sociology
grammar, rhetoric, logic
religion, philosophy, mathematics
_____#17. An inappropriate method of argument known as “ad hominem” refers to
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
attacking the assumptions of an discussion rather than the conclusions
attacking the person rather than what he or she is saying
denying the validity of a statement because it is too controversial
accepting an assertion because it sounds good
falsely arguing from general to particular
_____#18. An inappropriate method of argument known as “composition” refers to
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
arguing that something is true because people like Einstein accepted it
arguing something is true because otherwise it would have been proven wrong by now
claiming that one’s theories are true because the assumptions are popular
claiming that truth is a composition of smaller truths
claiming that what is good for one is good for all together
_____#19. Which of the following is true about a logical argument?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
it must be true for all people and all times
it will be true only within a particular culture and to a particular set of people
it says that if the assumptions are not true, then the conclusion cannot be true
it may contain contradictions, but only rarely, using real life data
it must be completely realistic and applicable in real life
_____#20. A logical tautology is one in which
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
the conclusion cannot be shown to be true, given the assumptions
the conclusion is always true, if the assumptions are true
the conclusion is true, when the assumptions are factual
the conclusion is true, under all circumstances
the conclusion can never be true.