Chapter 1 review

A researcher measures the number of hours spent studying among students living on campus and off campus at a local college. In this study, location (on campus, off campus) is the ______ and hours spent studying is the ______.

C) quasi-independent variable; dependent variable

fractional units

Because continuous variables are measured along a continuum, they can be measured in ___ ___

What two characteristics of rating scales that allow researches to use these values on an interval scale of measurement?

C) Values on an interval scale are assumed to be equidistant but do not have a true zero

Inferential statistics (example)

Evaluation of information example e.g. is diet related to obesity or should we implement a public policy change that can reduce obesity rates

sample

set of individuals, items, or data selected from a population of interest.

research method

set of systematic techniques used to acquire, modify, and integrate knowledge concerning observable and measurable phenomena (also known as scientific method)

Population

the set of all individuals, items, or data of interest.

Impulsive behavior

Identify the DV: A researcher tests whether mindfulness training reduces impulsive behavior in a sample of participants with a history of impulsivity.

Mindfulness training

Identify the IV: A researcher tests whether mindfulness training reduces impulsive behavior in a sample of participants with a history of impulsivity.

discrete, qualitative, ordinal

Label a letter grade (A,B, C, D, F) as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

discrete, quantitative, ratio

Label dumber of dreams recalled, number of errors, number of students in your class, number of lever presses per minute as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

continuous, quantitative, ratio

Label duration of drug abuse (in years), score (from 0%-100%) on an exam, time (in seconds) to memorize a list, the size of a reward (in grams), weight (in pounds) of an infant as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

discrete, quantitative, ordinal

Label ranking of favorite food, position standing in line as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

discrete, quantitative, interval

Label ratings of satisfaction (1 to 7), a college student's SAT score as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

discrete, qualitative, nominal

Label sex (male/female), seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall), body type (slim, average, heavy), political affiliation (Republican, Democrat), type of distraction (auditory, visual) as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

continuous, quantitative, interval

Label temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) as continuous vs. discrete, quantitate vs. qualitative, and what is the scale of measurement?

Interval Scales

Measurement that can be understood readily by two defining principals: equidistant classes and no true zero

Ordinal Scales

Measurement that coveys only that some value is greater or less than another value (i.e. order)

Nominal Scales

Measurements in which a number is assigned to represent something or someone

Correlational Method

Method that determines whether a relationship exists between variables

Coding

Procedure of converting a nominal or categorical variable to a numeric value

Random assignment

Procedure used to ensure that participants in a study have an equal chance of being assigned to a particular group or condition.

Order

Property that describes does a larger number indicate a greater value than a smaller number

Ratio

Property that describes does dividing two numbers represent some meaningful value

Difference

Property that describes does subtracting tow numbers represent some meaningful value

discrete

Qualitative variables can only be ___, as they are often labels for the behaviors we observe

Qualitative

State if this describes qualitative or quantitative variables: A researcher distributes open-ended questions to participants asking how they feel when they are in love.

Quantitative

State if this describes qualitative or quantitative variables: A researcher records the BP of participants during a task meant to induce stress

Qualitative

State if this describes qualitative or quantitative variables: A witness to a crime gives a description of the suspect to the police.

continuous, quantitative

State whether the following is continuous or discrete and quantitative or qualitative: delay (in seconds) it takes drivers to make a left-hand turn when a light turns green

discrete, quantitative

State whether the following is continuous or discrete and quantitative or qualitative: number of questions that participants as during a research study

discrete, qualitative

State whether the following is continuous or discrete and quantitative or qualitative: season of birth (spring, summer, fall, or winter)

discrete, qualitative

State whether the following is continuous or discrete and quantitative or qualitative: type of drug use (none, infrequency, moderate, or frequent)

QI

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): Political affiliation

manipulated, comparison (control)

Quasi-experiment meets one or both of the following two conditions: does not include a ___ IV and lacks a ___

most

Ratio scales of measurement are the ___ informative

IV

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): environment of research setting

QI

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): marital status

IV

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): time of delay prior to recall

IV

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): type of feedback (negative, positive)

QI

State whether this is a quasi-experimental (QI) variable or and example of independent variable (IV): years of education

True

True or False: A ratio scale variable can be continuous or discrete

True

True or False: An experiment is the only method that can demonstrate cause and effect relationships between variables.

True

True or False: Descriptive statistics can be used to describe populations and samples of data

False

True or False: Graphs, tables, and summary statistics all illustrate the application of inferential statistics

False (can only be discrete)

True or False: Qualitative variables can be continuous or discrete

True

True or False:Inferential statistics are procedures used to make inferences about a population, given only a limited amount of data

experiment

a study that demonstrates cause

Datum

(Singular) single measurement or observation usually referred to as a score or raw score

Data

(plural) set of scores, measurements, or observations that are typically numeric

Population parameter

A characteristic (usually numeric) that describes a population

sample statistic

A characteristic (usually numeric) that describes a sample

temperature (other example is longitude/latitude)

A common example of a scale without a true zero is ___ as the zero is arbitrary

rating scale

A common example of an interval scale

same

A control group must be treated exactly the ___ as an experimental group; except members of this group do not actually receive the treatments believed to cause changes in the dependent variable

Experimental design

A researcher demonstrates that eating breakfast in the morning causes increased alertness throughout the day. What research design must the researcher have used in this example?

Quantitative

A researcher is interested in the effects of stuttering on social behavior with children. He records the number of peers a child speaks to during a typical school day. In this example, would the data be quantitative or qualitative?

Correlational Method (example)

A researcher measures the relationship between annual income and life satisfaction.

quantitative, quantitative

A researcher places a participant in a room filled with 10 strangers. To measure social behavior, he records the number of different people the participant talks to and the time (in seconds) spent talking. The number of people the participant talks to is a ______ variable; the time (in seconds) spent talking is a ______ variable.

Experiment (example)

A researcher tests where dosage level of some drug (low, high) causes significant differences in health

Quasi-Experiment (example)

A researcher tests whether citizens of differing political affiliations (Republican, Democrat) will show differences in attitudes towards morality.

characteristics

A sample is selected from a population to learn more about the ___ in a population of interest.

parameter

A sample statistic is measured to estimate the population ___

measures

A sample statistic is the value that is ___ in a study

Quasi-Independent

A variable that is preexisting and cannot be randomly assigned.

A researcher conducts a study that includes a quasi-independent variable and lacks a comparison group. What type of research method is described?

A) quasi-experimental method

interval

An ___ scale does not have a true zero

dependent

An operational definition is a description for how a ___ variable was measured.

A researcher records the family relationship (brother, son, father, cousin, etc.) of the people who stay in regular contact with loved ones in a nursing home. What type of measure is family relationship?

B) Qualitative, discrete

A researcher measures four variables, which of these variables is not an example of variable measured on a ratio scale?

B) Movie Ratings (1-4 stars)

beyond

Continuous variables are measured at any place ___ the decimal point

controls, cause, effect

Correlational method lacks the ___ needed to demonstrate ___ and ___

operational definition

Description of some observable even in terms of the specific process or manner by which it was observed or measured.

quantify

Descriptive statistics are typically used to ___ the behaviors researchers measure

organize, summarize

Descriptive statistics include applying statistics to ___ and ___ information

(zip codes, license plate numbers, credit card numbers, SSN, country codes, telephone numbers)

Examples of nominal numbers

(race, sex, nationality sexual orientation, hair and eye color, season of birth, marital status, or other demographic or personal information)

Examples of nominal variables

(finishing order in a competition, education level, and rankings)

Examples of ordinal scales

(counts and measures of length, height, weight, and time)

Examples of ratio scales

nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

Four scales of measurement are ___, ___, ___, and ___

Ordinal

In 2010, Fortune magazine ranked Apple as the most admired company in the world. This ranking is on a(n) ____ scale of measurement

cannot, random

In a typical quasi-experiment, the variables being studied ___ be manipulated which makes ___ assignment impossible

interpret

Inferential statistics include applying statistics to ___ the meaning of the information

likely

It is often not possible to identify all individuals in a population, researchers require inferential statistics to infer that observations made with a sample are also ___ to be observed in the larger population from which the sample was selected.

number of absent students, discrete, quantitative

Name the variable being measured and state whether the variable is continuous or discrete and whether the viable is quantitative or qualitative: A professor records the number of students absent during a final exam.

choice of cereal, discrete, qualitative

Name the variable being measured and state whether the variable is continuous or discrete and whether the viable is quantitative or qualitative: A researcher asks children to choose which type of cereal they prefer (one with a toy and one without). He records the choices cereal for each child.

month of birth, discrete, qualitative

Name the variable being measured and state whether the variable is continuous or discrete and whether the viable is quantitative or qualitative: A researcher records the month of birth among patients with schizophrenia.

time, continuous, quantitative

Name the variable being measured and state whether the variable is continuous or discrete and whether the viable is quantitative or qualitative: A therapist measures the time (in hours) that clients continue a recommended program of counseling.

coded

Nominal scales are often data that have been ___

least

Nominal scales of measurement are the ___ informative

something, someone

Nominal scales represent ___ or ___

Continuous (example)

Olympic sprinters are timed to the nearest hundredths place (in seconds), but if a judge wanted to clock them to the nearest millionths place, they could. What type of variable does this define?

manipulation, randomization, comparison (control)

Requirements for an experiment must satisfy requirements of ___, ___, and ____

equidistant sclae

Scale with intervals or values distributed in equal units

order, difference, ratio

Scales of measurement are characterized by three properties: ___, ___, and ___

Ratio Scales

Similar to interval scales in equal units, however has a true zero

Quantitative

State if this describes qualitative or quantitative variables: A psychologist interested in drug addiction injects rats with an attention-inducing drug and then measures the rate of lever pressing

science

Study of phenomena, such as behavior, through strict observation, evaluation, interpretation, and theoretical explanation.

effect

The dependent variable is the presumed ___

cause

The independent variable is the presumed ___

unchanged

The independent variable remains ___ between conditions being observed in an experiment

descriptive, inferential

The two general types of statistics are ______ and ______.

Independent variable

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment

Continuous

The variable that is measured along a continuum

Discrete

The variable that is measured in whole units or categories that are not distributed along a continuum

Quantitative

The variable that varies by amount and is often collected by measuring or counting

Qualitative

The variable that varies by class and is often represented as a label and describes nonnumeric aspects of phenomena

continuous/discrete, quantitative/qualitative

The variables for which researchers measure data fall into two broad categories: ___/____ and ___/___

Scales of Measurement

This identifies how the properties of numbers can change with different uses.

categorical

Values on a nominal scale are typically ___ variables that have been coded-converted to numeric values

Discrete (example)

Variable that counts the number of pieces of food consumed

Dependent Variable

Variable that is measured in each group of a study, and is believed to change in the presence of the independent variable

order, difference

What properties are included in interval scales of measurement?

None

What properties are included in nominal scales of measurement?

order

What properties are included in ordinal scales of measurement?

All (order, difference, and ratio)

What properties are included in ratio scales of measurement?

true zero

When the value 0 truly indicates nothing on a scale of measurement

continuous, discrete

Which variable(s) can be quantitative?

Statistics

branch of mathematics used to summarize, analyze, and interpret and group of numbers or observations

Descriptive statistics

procedures used to summarize, organize, and make sense of a set of scores called data; presented graphically, in tabular form, or as summary statistics

Descriptive, inferential

two types of statistics are ___ and ___ statistics