For each research situation below, identify the independent and dependent variables. Classify each in terms of level of measurement and whether or not the variable is discrete or continuous.
a. A graduate student is studying sexual harassment on university campuses and asks 500 female students if they personally have experienced any such incidents. Each student is asked to estimate the frequency of these incidents as either “often, sometimes, rarely, or never.” The researcher also gathers data on age and major to find out whether there is any connection between these variables and frequency of sexual harassment.
b. A supervisor in the Solid Waste Management Division of a municipal government is attempting to assess two different methods of trash collection. One area of the city is served by trucks with two-person crews who do “backyard” pickups, and the rest of the city is served by “high-tech” single-person trucks with curbside pickup. The assessment measures include the number of complaints received from the two different areas over a six-month period, the amount of time per day required to service each area, and the cost per tonne of trash collected.
c. The adult bookstore near campus has been raided and closed by the police. Your social research class has decided to poll the student body and get their reactions and opinions. The class decides to ask each student if he or she supports or opposes the closing of the store, how many times each one has visited the store, and if he or she agrees or disagrees that “pornography is a direct cause of sexual assaults on women.” The class also collects information on the sex, age, religious and political philosophy, and major of each student to see if opinions are related to these characteristics.
d. For a research project in a political science course, a student has collected information about the quality of life and the degree of political democracy in 50 nations. Specifically, she used infant mortality rates to measure quality of life and the percentage of all adults who are permitted to vote in national elections as the measure of democratization. Her hypothesis is that quality of life is higher in more democratic nations.
e. A highway engineer wonders if a planned increase in speed limit on a heavily travelled local avenue will result in any change in number of accidents. He plans to collect information on traffic volume, number of accidents, and number of fatalities for the six-month periods before and after the change.
f. Students are planning a program to promote “safe sex” and awareness of a variety of other health concerns for university students. To measure the effectiveness of the program, they plan to give a survey measuring knowledge about these matters to a random sample of the student body before and after the program.
g. Several provinces have drastically cut their budgets for mental health care. Will this increase the number of homeless people in these provinces? A researcher contacts a number of agencies serving the homeless in each province and develops an estimate of the size of the population before and after the cuts.
h. Does tolerance for diversity vary by race, ethnicity, or gender? Samples of males and females from various racial and ethnic groups have been given a survey that measures their interest in and appreciation of cultures and groups other than their own.