Which of the Following Research Studies Would Be Susceptible to the Ecological

question 18

Multiple Choice

Which of the following research studies would be susceptible to the ecological fallacy?

• A) Observing individuals interacting in a group to determine whether men or women initiate more topic transitions.
• B) Analyzing data from colleges on the percentage of minority students and the average amount of financial aid to determine if minority students are more likely than others to receive financial aid.
• C) Analyzing data from nations on type of government and rate of voluntary association membership to determine if membership rate is higher in democratic than nondemocratic societies.
• D) Interviewing adolescents to see if exposure to violence is related to dropping out of school.
• E) Interviewing respondents to see if the racial composition of a neighborhood affects their preferences about where to live.

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Definitions:

Independent Populations

Populations in which the members or outcomes of one group do not influence or are not related to the members or outcomes of another group.

Equal Variances

An assumption in some statistical tests that the variances in the groups being compared are similar.

Normally Distributed

A symmetric probability distribution centered around the mean, demonstrating that occurrences near the mean happen more often than those at a distance.

Population Variances

A measure of how data points in a population are spread out, indicating the variability of the entire population.