A sociologist undertakes a series of studies to investigate various aspects of sports violence. For each of the following research situations, identify the research strategy (experiment, survey, content analysis, or participant observation) and the independent and dependent variables:
a. Do male and female sports reporters describe combative sporting events (such as football) in the same way? To find out, the sociologist collects the game reports filed by a number of male and female newspaper writers on the day following the Super Bowl. He compares the aggressiveness contained in the adjectives used by the reporters to describe the game.
b. Do children react differently after watching combative and noncombative sports? To find out, the sociologist randomly assigns school children to watch taped versions of either a hockey game (combative) or a swimming meet (noncombative). She then observes the aggressiveness of play demonstrated by the children immediately following their viewing of the tapes.
c. Are fans more aggressive when their team wins or loses? To find out, the sociologist spends his Saturdays in a sports bar that features the local college game on wide-screen television. He dresses in a team sweatshirt and becomes one of the crowd. At the same time, he observes the extent of arguing and fighting that goes on around him when the team is winning and losing.
d. Do levels of personal aggressiveness influence the kinds of sporting events that people prefer to watch? To find out, the sociologist distributes a questionnaire to a random sample of adults. In addition to standard background information, the questionnaire includes a series of items measuring aggressiveness (for example, How often do you get involved in heated arguments with neighbors or friends?) and a checklist of which sports the respondents like to watch.
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