Chapter 9

Which of the answer pairs correctly completes the following sentence: Although we cannot establish causation with correlational designs, longitudinal designs address concerns of _____ and multiple regression addresses concerns of ____?

temporal precedence; internal validity

Which of the following phrases in a popular media article suggests that multiple regression was used?

"controlled for"

Which of the following is true about the difference between beta and r?

Unlike r, beta reflects the independent contribution of the predictor variable, controlling for the contributions from the other predictor variables.

Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999) examined foreign-language anxiety as a predictor of foreign-language achievement. They performed a multiple-regression analysis and included other predictor variables, including academic achievement, perceived scholastic competence, and perceived self-worth. They found β = −.39 for foreign-language anxiety and .29 for academic achievement. Which of the following explains what this means?

Foreign-language anxiety has a greater effect than academic achievement does on foreign-language achievement.

Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999) examined foreign-language anxiety as a predictor of foreign-language achievement. They performed a multiple-regression analysis and included other predictor variables, including academic achievement, perceived scholastic competence, and perceived self-worth. They found β = −.39 for foreign-language anxiety. Which of the following explains what this means?

People with lower levels of anxiety about learning a foreign language have higher levels of achievement in foreign language, even after controlling for the other variables.

June is interested in looking at whether social media use predicts feelings of loneliness and found there was a positive relationship between the two variables. However, she finds that after controlling for the amount of time a person spends with friends per week, social media use was no longer associated with feelings of loneliness. Which of the following is the correct interpretation of this finding?

The amount of time spent with friends is a third-variable problem.

Professor Horvat designs a study to assess the work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction of a group of graduate students. She administers the same measures of work and home-life satisfaction on two occasions, 1 year apart. She finds home-life satisfaction measured at the first time point is strongly correlated with job satisfaction at the second time point, but there is no correlation between job satisfaction measured at the first time point and home life satisfaction measured at the second time point. Which of the following explains why Dr. Horvat can't conclude that home-life satisfaction causes job satisfaction?

There are potential third variables that might explain the relationship.

A multiple-regression analysis is run to examine third variables as a follow-up to the study indicating that boys with unusual names are more likely to commit crimes. Unusual names, ethnic backgrounds, and geographical regions are all included as predictor variables. Even after controlling for all these variables, unusual names still predict criminal activity. Which of the following explains why this study doesn't establish causation?

There may be some other third variable.

In a study in which two variables are measured at two different time points, which of the following is an example of a cross-lag correlation?

Variable A at time 1 is associated with variable B at time 2.

Iva is studying whether students gain weight during their first year of college. She collects weights from all the incoming freshmen in the fall, then collects weights from them again at the end of the spring term. Which is the term for the correlation she finds when she compares the fall and spring weights of the students?

autocorrelations

Professor Horvat designs a study to assess the work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction of a group of graduate students. She administers the same measures of work and home-life satisfaction on two occasions, 1 year apart. She finds job satisfaction at the first time point is correlated with job satisfaction at the second time point. Which type of correlation is this?

autocorrelations

Multiple-regression designs help address internal validity in which of the following ways?

by ruling out third variables

Dr. Russell did a study that found praise provided by supervisors is associated with higher levels of work productivity only because more-motivated employees are praised more often, and highly motivated people are more productive. In her findings, employee motivation is a ___________ in the relationship between praise from supervisors and work productivity.

confounding third variable

Dr. Stevens did a study that found having a cognitively demanding job is associated with cognitive benefits in later years because people who are highly educated take cognitively demanding jobs, and people who are highly educated have better cognitive skills. In the relationship between having demanding job and cognitive benefits in later years, she found that the amount of education plays which of the following roles?

confounding third variable

Professor Horvat designs a study to assess the work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction of a group of graduate students. She administers the same measures of work and home-life satisfaction on two occasions, 1 year apart. She finds home-life satisfaction measured at the first time point is strongly correlated with job satisfaction at the second time point, but there is no correlation between job satisfaction measured at the first time point and home life satisfaction measured at the second time point. Which of the three criteria for causation does Professor Horvat's study fulfill?

covariance and temporal precedence

When using multiple regression, which is the term for the variable the researcher is most interested in explaining or predicting?

criterion variable

Professor Horvat designs a study to assess the work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction of a group of graduate students. She administers the same measures of work and home-life satisfaction on two occasions, 1 year apart. She finds home-life satisfaction measured at the first time point is strongly correlated with job satisfaction measured at the second time point. Which type of correlation is this?

cross-lag

Professor Horvat designs a study to assess the work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction of a group of graduate students. She administers the same measures of work and home-life satisfaction on two occasions, 1 year apart. She finds at both the first time point and the second time point there is a strong correlation between work satisfaction and home-life satisfaction. Which type of correlations are these?

cross-sectional

Onwuegbuzie et al. (1999) examined foreign-language anxiety as a predictor of foreign-language achievement. They performed a multiple-regression analysis and included other predictor variables, including academic achievement, perceived scholastic competence, and perceived self-worth. Which of the following is the criterion variable?

foreign-language achievement

Which type of research design involves measuring the same variables, for the same people, across different points in time?

longitudinal

Dr. Samuels does a study that finds children with unusual names are more likely to have delinquency records as adolescents because they were teased more, and the teasing makes them act out. In the relationship between having an unusual name and adolescent delinquency, Dr. Samuels found that teasing plays which of the following roles?

mediator

When a third variable explains the relationship between two other variables, that kind of third variable is called a _____.

mediator

Dr. Aarons does a study that finds having a cognitively demanding job is associated with cognitive benefits in later years, but only among men, not among women. In her findings, in the relationship between having a cognitively demanding job and cognitive benefits later in life, sex plays which of the following roles?

moderator

When a relationship between two variables depends on the level of a third variable, that kind of a third variable is called a _____.

moderator

Which type of study design is used when researchers investigate causality by using a variety of correlational studies that all point in a single, causal direction?

pattern and parsimony