207 Psyc Final

B

Statistics that allow you to generalize from the sample to the population is called ___ statistics. A. descriptive B. inferential C. evaluative D. reliability

C

Telephone surveys A. offer a way to gather a large amount of data in a very short time. B. are currently the most popular method of conducting surveys. C. may not be the best way to administer a questionnaire, owing to the "backlash" against telephone intrusions and new laws protecting people from unwanted calls. D. using live interviewers have gained popularity since the intervention of interactive voice response (IVR) technology)

D

The cohort-sequential design A. allows you to evaluate the degree of contribution made by factors such as generation effects. B. includes a cross-sectional and a longitudinal component. C. allows you to eliminate generation effects. D. both A and B

A

The distribution of a statistic that you would get by taking every possible sample of n scores from the population is the ____ of that statistic. A. sampling distribution B. frequency distribution C. skewed distribution D. none of the above

A

The five numbers contained in the five-number summary are the A. minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum B. mean, median mode, standard deviation, and interquartile range. C. minimum, interquartile range, standard deviation, range and maximum. D. mean, median, interquartile range, standard deviation, and range.

D

The hypothesis stating that sample means are drawn from the same population is the ___ hypothesis. A. alternative B. equivalence C. sampling error D. null

A

The importance of a research finding refers to its ___ significance. A. practical B. statistical C. internal D. external

C

The mean is derived by A. finding the most frequent score in a distribution B. finding the middle score in an ordered distribution. C. summing the scores in the distribution and dividing by the number of scores. D. averaging the middle pair of scores in an ordered distribution

B

The measure of correlation to use when one variable is measured on a dichotomous nominal scale and the other on an interval scale is the A. spearman rank order correlation B. point-biserial correlation C. phi coefficient D. part correlation

B

The multiple-choice questions on this exam are ____ items. A. open-ended B. restricted C. partially open-ended D. partially restricted

B

The power of a statistical test is a statistic's ability to A. correct for flaws in your data. B. detect real differences between population means C. withstand violations of assumptions. D. none of the above

D

The power of a statistical test is affected by A. the alpha level selected B. the sample size. C. whether a one-tailed or two-tailed test is used. D. all of the above.

C

The simplest and least informative measure of spread is the A. standard deviation B. variance C. range D. semi-interquartile range

C

The statistical variability among scores caused by the influence of variables other than your independent variable is called ___ variance. A. systematic B. extraneous C. error D. random

B

A ____ distribution has a long tail extending to the right (upscale) and a shorter tail on the left. A. normal B. positively skewed C. negatively skewed D. bimodal

B

A design in which different subjects are randomly assigned to the various groups in the experiment is a ____ design. A. single-subject B. between-subjects C. within-subjects D. matched groups

A

A design in which every possible order of treatments is represented once is the A. Latin square design B. partially counterbalanced design. C. solomon four-group design D. completely counterbalanced design

C

A distribution contains the following scores: 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 5, 4, 1, 4, 3. its modes is A. 2.5 B. 2.7 C. 2.0 D. 4.0

A

A drawback to the randomized two-group design is that it A. provides a limited amount of information about the effect of the independent variable. B. leaves too many sources of variance unaccounted for. C. is time-consuming to run. D. produces data that are difficult to analyze.

C

A drawback to the totally within-subjects factorial design is that A. too many subjects are required as the design gets larger and larger. B. carryover effects cannot be dealt with. C. as the number of factors increases, so does the number of trials that the subject mus go through, making the design cumbersome and complex for subjects. D. none of the above.

C

A factorial design always has more than one A. level of a single independent variable. B. dependent variable. C. independent variable. D. both B and C

B

A hypothesis is A. the final word on the cause of a phenomenon. B. a tentative statement about the relationship between variables.. C. rarely used in science because of imprecision. D. none of the above

B

A limitation of the media is that it A. is difficult to calculate B. does not take into account the distances (intervals) of the scores above and below it. C. cannot be used with interval data. D. all of the above

D

A sample consisting of participants whose characteristics closely match the characteristics of the population is a ____ sample. A. systematic B. balanced C. random D. representative

C

A sample that includes enough participants to ensure a valid survey, and no more, is a(n) ____ sample. A. stratified B. limited C. economic D. frugal

B

A statistical test led Dr. Jones to incorrectly decide that his independent variable had no effect when in fact it did. Dr. Jones committed a(n) A. type 1 error B. type 2 error C. type 3 error D. alpha error

A

A statistically significant difference between sample means leads us to A. accept that the observed differences between sample means were not due to chance. B. conclude that the means represent a single underlying populations C. accept that the observed differences were due mainly to chance fluctuations in the data. D. none of the above

A

A technique you can use to endure that your stratified sampling retains the character of the population (in terms of the proportion of the sample represented by each group) is A. proportionate sampling B. simple random sampling within strata. C. multistage sampling. D. none of the above

C

A theory is ____ if it is capable of failing an empirical test. A. sound B. relevant C. testable D. controvertible

A

A theory is a(n) A. set of assumptions about the causes of a phenomenon and rules that specify how the causes act B. untestable assertion about the causes of a phenomenon. C. prescientific attempt to explain a phenomenon based on belief and conjecture. D. set of statements concerning the proven causes of a phenomenon.

C

A type of rating scale widely used in attitude research is the A. unnumbered rating scale. B. restricted rating scale C. Likert scale D. none of the above.

D

A way of reducing error variance is to A. take steps to control extraneous variables. B. randomize error variance across groups. C. increase the effectiveness of your independent variable. D. all of the above.

A

A_____ presents a frequency distribution graphically as a series of bars representing the classes whose heights indicate the number of cases falling into each class. A. histogram B. scatterplot C. line graph D. stemplot

A

According to the text and lecture, a successfully completed research project A. may raise more questions than it answers. B. removes the need to continue your research in that area. C. should not be replicated. D. none of the above

C

According to the text, a major advantage of the longitudinal design is that it A. is fast and easy to do. B. is relatively inexpensive to use. C. allows you to identify subtle developmental changes in behavior. D. all of the above

C

According to the text, an advantage of including a covariate in your design is that A. you can look at both between-subjects and within-subjects effects. B. you can assess the impact of carryover effects. C. it increases the sensitivity of your experiment to the effect of your independent variable. D. all of the above.

A

According to the text, the presence of error variance A. makes it difficult to determine if your independent variable was effective. B. makes it easier to determine if your independent variable was effective. C. increases the internal validity of an experiment. D. increases the external validity of an experiment

D

According to the text, you can increase the reliability of your questionnaire by A. reducing the number of items on the questionnaire. B. standardizing administration procedures. C. Writing clear, appropriate questions. D. both B and C

D

After hearing about a terrorist act, you read a book to learn what causes such behavior. this is an example of reliance on the A. scientific method of inquiry B. rational method of inquiry C. direct experience method of inquiry D. method of authority

A

An advantage of the matched groups design over the random assignment is that the matched groups design A. allows you to control subject variables that might otherwise obscure the effect of your independent variable. B. requires fewer subjects. C. uses more subjects, which increases the sensitivity of the experiment. D. totally eliminates error variance.

B

An estimate of the amount of variability in sample means to be expected across a series of samples is provided by the A. standard deviation of the mean B. standard error of the mean. C. standardized variability around the mean. D. variance

B

An experimental design with two levels of a single independent variable is called a ____ design. A. matched groups B. single-factor two group C. factorial D. higher order

C

By convention, an alpha level of ____ has been established as the minimum criterion for statistical significance. A. 0.5 B. 0.1 C. 0.05 D. 0.01

C

Characteristics such as a participant's age, sex, and income level are classifies as: A. criterion variables B. causal Variables C. demographics D. quasi-independent variables

C

Dr. Harris conducted a two-factor experiment. She plots her results on a graph and notices that the lines on the graph are not parallel (which is confirmed when she runs a statistical analysis). this pattern suggests the presence of A. only one main effect B. two main effects. C. an interaction between two independent variables D. none of the above

B

Dr. Jones conducts a cross-sectional study of the effects of age on intelligence. after testing participants ranging in age from 10 to 90, she concludes that intelligence declines with age. This conclusion A. is totally correct and logical. B. may be incorrect because of the operation of generation effects. C. is incorrect because cross-sectional research lacks external validity D. none of the above.

A

Dr. Kent studies the development of emotions by following a group of 100 participants over the course of the first 10 years of life, taking measured every year. the design being employed here is the A. longitudinal design. B. cross-sectional design C. cohort-sequential design. D. solomon four-group design

C

Dr. Loo administers a long and boring questionnaire concerning attitudes that tend to fluctuate over time. When assessing the reliability of his questionnaire, Dr. Loo should A. consider only test-retest reliability. B. not worry about reliability at all. C. avoid using test-retest reliability D. ignore reliability, but pay special attention to validity.

B

Dr. Myers is conducting a survey of attitudes toward social programs. He want to be sure that he has White and non-White participants in his sample. Consequently, he divides his population into groups according to race and then randomly samples from each group. this is an example of ____ sampling. A. simple random B. stratified C. cluster D. multistage

B

Explanation A makes four assumptions about behavior, whereas Explanation B makes three assumptions. Which of the following is true? A. Explanation A is more parsimonious than Explanation B. B. Explanation B is more parsimonious than Explanation A. C. Explanation A is more testable than Explanation B. D. Explanation B is more empirical than Explanation A.

C

Making treatment order an independent variable allows you to A. completely eliminate carryover effects. B. partially eliminate carryover effects. C. measure the amount of carryover and take it into account in future experiments. D. not worry about carryover effects anymore.

D

On a questionnaire, Dr. Jones asks participants to answer the following question: "What do you think about the genetic engineering of food crops?" This question is an example of a(n)______ item. A. restricted B. partially restricted C. free Response D.open-Ended

B

Pairs of scores from a correlational study are usually plotted on a A. histogram B. scatterplot C. line graph D. pie graph

C

Post hoc tests are necessary after an ANOVA whenever ____ A. H0 is rejected B. there are more than two treatments C. H0 is rejected and there are more than two treatments. D. you always should do post hoc tests after an ANOVA

C

Quasi-experimental research is used when A. you can manipulate independent variables only in the field. B. participants can be randomly assigned to treatment groups. C. random assignment of subjects is not possible. D. both A and B

D

Refer to table 15-1. What value for the missing mean would result in no interaction? A. 2 B. 10 C. 12 D. 14

A

Refer to talbe 15-1. What value for the missing mean would result in no main effect for factor A? A. 2 B. 10 C. 12 D. 14

D

Research done primarily to test a theoretical position would best be classified as A. applied research B. analytical research C. focused research D. basic research

A

Research primarily focused on the solution to a real-world problem would best be classified as A. applied research B. basic research C. pseudoresearch D. analytical research

A

Sampling error A. is the deviation of sample characteristics from those of the population. B. is not a major problem in most surveys. C. cannot be effectively reduced. D. none of the above.

D

Scientific explanations are A. empirical B. rational C. testable D. all of the above

B

Scientific explanations are superior to those based on belief for questions that A. cannot be addressed with objective observation/ B. can be addressed with objective observation. C. are broad and generally defined. D. can be addressed by mutual agreement of authoritative sources.

D

Scores that lie far from the others in a distribution are called A. deviants B. distant scores C. outlaws D. outliers

C

for an experiment comparing more than two treatment conditions you should use analysis of variance rather than separate t-tests because _______. A. you are less likely to make a mistake in the computations of ANOVA B. a test based on variance is more sensitive than a test based on means C. ANOVA has less less risk of a type 1 error because several means are compared in one test D. ANOVA has less risk of a type 2 error because several means are compared in one test

A

the hypothesis stating that sample means are drawn from different populations having different population means is the ___ hypothesis. A. alternative B. nonequivalence C. null D. differential means

D

the mode is the least popular measure of center because it A. is insensitive to extreme scores. B. is difficult to compute C. is inappropriate for use with interval data D. does not take into account scores other than the most frequent score.

B

For data measured on a nominal scale, you are limited to using the ____ as your measure of center. A. mean B. mode C. median D. any of the above

B

If the effect of one independent variable changes over the levels of a second, a(n)____ is present. A. multiple main effect B. interaction C. confounding D. matching variable

D

If the results of a two-factor experiment are presented in a line graph then an interaction can be seen whenever ______. A. the lines in the graph are not straight (bent) B. there is a space separating the lines C. the lines are parallel D. the lies move toward each other or cross

A

If you wanted to evaluate the impact of a new policy on factory worker productivity, you would use a A. pretest-posttest strategy B. cross-sectional strategy C. cohort-sequential design. D. none of the above

C

If your data are in the form of proportions or percentages for various categories, then a good type of graph to represent the value of each category would be a A. line graph B. histogram C. pie chart. D. happy face

D

In ___, you select every kth element after a random start. A. proportionate sampling B. random digit dialing C. stratified sampling D. systematic sampling

C

In _____ sampling, you identify naturally occurring groups (for example, classes in a school) and sample some of those groups. A. modified stratified B. systematic C. cluster D. multistage

A

In a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design there are A. three independent variables B. 8 levels within one independent variable C. three main effects and two interactions D. three main effects and two interactions

C

In a _____ design, you assign subjects to groups on a purely random basis. A. matched pairs B. demonstration C. randomized two-group D. all of the above

C

In a distribution with an even number of scores, the median is determined by A. finding the most frequent score in the top half the distribution and averaging it with the most frequent score in the bottom half of the distribution. B. finding the arithmetic average of the entire distribution and dividing it in half. C. averaging the middle pair of scores. D. finding the most frequent score.

B

In a factorial design, the "main effects are A the effects of the most important independent variables on your dependent variable. B. the separate effects of each independent variable on your dependent variable. C the changes in the effect of one independent variable over levels of a second. D. never interpreted because they yield no interesting information.

C

In a matched groups design, after selecting a sample of subjects, you A. randomly assign subjects to your groups. B. select only the most intelligent subjects for inclusion in your research. C. match pairs of subjects on some measured characteristic (e.g. intelligence), then randomly assign one member of each pair to the experimental group and the other to the control group. D. none of the above

B

In a memory experiment, you expose one group of participants to a list of concrete words, another group to a list of abstract words, and a third group to a list of concrete and abstract words. this design is a ___ design. A. single-factor parametric B. single-factor nonparametric C. two-factor parametric D. two-factor nonparametric

B

In a positively skewed distribution, the mean A .underestimates the center B. overestimates the center C. is as accurate a measure of the center as is the median. D. accurately represents central dependency

A

In an ANOVA, which of the following is most likely to produce a large value for the F-ratio? A. large mean differences and small sample variances B. large mean differences and large sample variances C. small mean differences and small sample variances D. small mean differences and large sample variances.

A

In an experiment on the effects of alcohol on memory, participants are first tested after drinking a nonalcoholic beverage and then tested again after drinking an alcoholic beverage. this is an example of a _____ design. A. within-subjects B. between-subjects C. mixed-subject D. matched pairs

B

In the ___ design, treatments are administered repeatedly and alternated with periods of observation without the treatment. A. nonequivalent control group B. equivalent time samples C. interrupted time series. D. solomon four-group

D

In____ sampling, each member of the population has an equal chance of appearing in your sample. A. stratified B. cluster C. matched D. simple random

C

Keeping related items together on a questionnaire contributes to the _____ of the questionnaire. A. internal consistency B. reliability C. continuity D. external consistency

B

Labeling each point on a scale versus labeling only the end points A. significantly alters the responses participants give to a question. B. usually does not significantly affect the responses participants give to a question. C. may confuse the participant, so the practice should be avoided. D. changes the underlying psychological dimension being measured.

B

To ensure internal validity of a pretest-posttest study, you must A. include a large sample of subjects. B. include a control group that is not exposed to your treatment. C. conduct your research in your subjects' natural environment. D. all of the above.

D

To write good survey items, you should A. use simple words rather than complex words. B. make the stem of a question short and easy to understand but use complete sentences. C. avoid vague questions in favor of more precise ones. D. all of the above

B

Two designs that you can choose to use in your research are A. independent and dependent designs B. correlational and experimental designs C. analytical and formal designs D. correlational and formal designs.

D

Unsystematic observation A. my give you a general research idea. B. may provide a good starting point for developing a scientific research idea. C. should never be the starting point for a research idea. D. both A and B

D

When data are scaled on at least an interval scale, the mean is used except when A. there are more than 10 scores in the distribution B. there are fewer than 5 scores in the distribution C the mean and median are equal D. the distribution of scores is strongly skewed.

B

Which of the following is a type 1 statistical error? A. saying that an independent variable had no effect when in fact it did. B. saying that an independent variable had an effect when in fact it did not. C. saying that an independent variable had a weak effect when in fact if had a strong effect. D. identifying one independent variable as affecting the dependent variable when in fact one had the affect.

C

Which of the following is not one of the assumptions of parametric statistics listed in the text? A. scores are randomly sampled from the population. B. the sampling distribution of the mean is normal. C. large sample sizes are required. D. the within-groups variance are homogenous

A

Within-subjects designs are most useful when A. subject differences contribute heavily to variation in the dependent variable. B. carryover effects are large. C. carryover effects vary unpredictably. D. subject differences do not significantly affect the value of the dependent variable.

C

You can display the five-number summary graphically as a A. histogram B. bar graph C. boxplot D. scatterplot

C

You conduct a quasi-experiment to assess the impact of raising the speed limit from 55 to 65 mph. you find that there are more accidents in the 6-month period following the changes than in the 6-month period before the change. although it is tempting to say that raising the speed limit caused higher accidents rates, you must be careful because A. you manipulated speed as your independent variable. B. most drivers do not exceed the previous speed limit of 55 mph. C. other variables (for example, cheaper gasoline or the season of the year during which the change was instituted) may also be affecting accident rates. D. none of the above.

A

You have just completed an experiment in which different subjects were randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group. your dependent varialbe was the number of errors made on a memory test. the most appropriate parametric statistic for you data is the A. t-test for independent samples. B. t-test for related samples. C. z test for proportions D. any of the above could be used.

C

Your friend, who was raised as a strict Baptist, states that the earth was created in six days. Most likely her statement is based on A. rigorous experimental research. B. strict adherence to scientific explanations. C. beliefs are accepted on faith. D. all of the above

A

_____ involves assigning the various treatments of the experiment in a different order for different subjects. A. counterbalancing B. reverse ordering C. equalizing D. none of the above

A

_______ reliability involves dividing a test in half and correlating the items from one half with the items from the other half. A. split-half B. test-retest C. parallel item D. split-form