Outline for PS 222 Mid-term Exam
Your midterm exam will take place in class on Friday, October 26th. It will cover all of the
material from the course up until that date, including both readings and class. I am most
interested assessing your ability to think critically about others’ research. The homeworks
are a good example of the skill set I am looking for you to demonstrate on the exam. There
will be some evaluation of your knowledge of key terms, concepts, and definitions as well.
Terms
You should be prepared to define and give examples of the following terms:
Normative Question
Empirical Question
Simple Random Sample
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Intervening Variable
Antecedent/Conditional Variable
Institutional Review Board
Reliability
Validity
Nominal/Ordinal/Ratio/Interval
Mead/Median/Mode
Standard deviation
Test Statistic
Positivism
Interpretivism
Cluster/Stratified Sample
Random Error
Systematic Bias
Concept
Belmont Report
Ecological Fallacy
Test-retest/alternate form/split-halves
Face/Content/Construct Validity
Likert Scale
Quartile Range
Null Hypothesis
Critical Value
Types of Questions
1. Definitional Questions: I may ask you to define and give examples of any of the
terms above.
What is the difference between a normative and an empirical question? Give
an example of each?
Describe the four steps to conducting a statistical test of a hypothesis.
2. Applied Questions: I will give you some type of reading excerpt and ask you
methodological questions about the excerpt. This may involve simply identifying
terms and where they are used or it may involve critiquing flaws in the argument
presented.
Diagram the hypothesis presented in the abstract above, identifying the
independent, dependent, and intervening variables.
Examine the poll data below. Can we state with statistical certainty that
Romney is in fact ahead? Or could this lead be due to statistical randomness?
(I won’t ask you to perform any complex statistical calculations)