research methods - exam 1 practice questions

a professor wants to know whether students perform differently on exams if they attend an online review session. to test this, she compares scores on an exam between students who attended an online review session for the course with students who did not attend an online review session. there are _____ variables & the most appropriate statistical test to use is _____. a. 2; an independent samples t-test b. 3; a correlation c. 3; an ANOVA d. 2; a correlation e. 2; a dependent samples t-test

a. 2; an independent samples t-test

which of the following is an example of BASIC research? a. an experimental psychologist who examines people's ability to perceive a "sweet" taste b. a clinical psychologist who examines the effectiveness of drama therapy in helping children who have been abused c. an educational psychologist who examines how mindset ("intelligence is innate" or "intelligence can be achieved") affects academic performance

a. an experimental psychologist who examines people's ability to perceive a "sweet" taste

a coding scheme must be created ______ ; whereas a codebook is primarily ______ . a. before you collect data; after you collect data b. after you collect data; before you collect data c. both before you collect data d. both after you collect data

a. before you collect data; after you collect data

how are quota sampling & stratified random sampling similar? a. both identify subgroups that need to studied b. both result in representative samples c. both result in non-representative samples d. both randomly sample subgroups to be studied

a. both identify subgroups that need to studied

Mendoza et. al. (2009) introduced a coin rotation task as a convenient test of motor dexterity. it involves timed completion of twenty 180 degree rotations of a nickel using the thumb, index finger, & middle fingers. what type of variable is MOTOR DEXTERITY? a. conceptual b. operational c. extraneous d. categorical

a. conceptual

Josiane has found an online test that claims to measure IQ. it consists of choosing the correct definitions for a series of words. she is concerned that it doesn't include tests of other things that are part of IQ, such as problem solving or visual-spatial ability. which type of validity is she questioning? a. content validity b. face validity c. discriminant validity d. criterion validity

a. content validity

Dr. Sheffield is a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating pathological gambling. Pathological gambling is defined as being unable to resist impulses to gamble. Bothered by not having a good measure that he can give to clients to determine whether they are suffering from this condition, he creates a new measure of pathological gambling. the measure has 15 questions, and it takes 20 minutes to complete Dr. Sheffield gives his measure to his supervisor, who is also an expert in pathological gambling. His supervisor says that his measure appears to test all the components of pathological gambling, including feeling restless when attempting to stop gambling, jeopardizing jobs in order to keep gambling, and using gambling to escape from problems and a bad mood. given this information, Dr. Sheffield's measure has evidence of which of the following? a. content validity b. criterion validity c. predictive validity d. discriminant validity

a. content validity - this is an example of content validity (does the measurement contain all the parts that it should to fully measure the construct of interest) - content validity can be assessed by either the researcher themselves (if they are an expert on the topic) or by someone else who is an expert on the topic

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old, beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, so she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. she plans to share the results of her survey w/ the school administration to argue to keep the tree. one question on Jenny's survey asks, "would you be in favor of brutally cutting down this majestic tree to make way for a stupid bike path?" this question is which one of the following types? a. leading b. forced choice c. double-barreled d. negatively worded

a. leading

Lorenzo is studying aggression in children. he administers a questionnaire to the children that asks them about their feelings of aggression. which type of measure is the questionnaire? a. self-report b. ordinal scale c. physiological d. observational

a. self-report

Hosea is studying the relationship between caffeine consumption and problem-solving ability. which of the following is a QUANTITATIVE way to operationalize problem-solving ability? a. the time spent solving a math problem b. the type of puzzle solved (Sudoku puzzle or a crossword puzzle) c. the report of a teacher about whether a student is a good or bad problem solver d. whether participants used insight or trial-and-error techniques to solve the problem

a. the time spent solving a math problem - this is an example of a quantitative (continuous) way to operationalize (define) problem-solving ability

Martin has found a correlation of r = .18 between the two variables of using prescription stimulants (e.g., Adderall) & frontal lobe activity this correlation is more likely to be STATISTICALLY significant if: a. the study can be applied to the real world b. Martin used a larger number of subjects c. Martin's measure of prescription stimulant use is categorical d. Martin measured frontal lobe activity extremely accurately

b. Martin used a larger number of subjects - correlations are more likely to be statistically significant w/ larger sample sizes

which is a "good" alpha? a. a = 0.54 b. a = 0.71

b. a = 0.71 - want it to be over 0.7

which of these is a SCALE? a. a question on attitudes toward smoking b. a series of questions asking about how people feel about "junk food"

b. a series of questions asking about how people feel about "junk food" - contains multiple questions

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 & spring weights of the students? a. nonlinear b. autocorrelations c. cross-lag d. cross-sectional

b. autocorrelations - this is a correlation of one variable w/ itself, measured on two different occasions, or an autocorrelation

multiple-regression designs help address internal validity in which of the following ways? a. by eliminating selection threats b. by ruling out third variables c. by introducing a control condition d. by increasing the amount of purposive sampling

b. by ruling out third variables - by measuring possible third variables & using multiple-regression analysis, these third variables can be eliminated as explanations for the relationship between the key variables.

true or false: when we prioritize the four validities (4Vs) for each of the three claims (3Cs) (such as external validity being the 1st priority for a frequency claim), this suggests that the validites that prioritized lower (such as construct & statistical validity prioritized 2nd for a frequency claim) should not be evaluated for that claim type a. true b. false

b. false - just because some validities are prioritized over other validities, this does not indicated that less-prioritized validities should not be taken into account when evaluating the scientific 'soundness' of the research - all of the validities that are applicable (that apply) to a specific type of claim are important-just to varying levels / degrees

"based on a recent nationwide survey, Chevy is more reliable than Toyota, Honda, & Ford." ... the survey was sent in 2018 to owners of 2015 model year cars, & the reporting of the "repairs in the past 12 months" relates to those 2015 cars in their third year of service. Chevy reiterated that "independent statisticians reviewed the materials & concluded w/ 95% confidence that Chevy's percentage of NO parts repaired or replaced is better than Toyota, Honda, Ford, or 23 other brands." how did Chevy operationalize "RELIABILITY" in their study? a. ratings of statisticians overall b. number of repairs in the past 12 months c. number of repairs overall d. customer satisfaction e. none of the options

b. number of repairs in the past 12 months

Martins et al. (2010) studied factors relating to the retrieval of names of famous people based on pictures. famous faces tests are used in studies of memory. they were interested in understanding the factors that influence successful recall. 5 groups of stimuli were formed based on reason for celebrity & time of peak fame. multiple regressions for age, gender, & education were performed for each of the groups. which of the following is NOT a "predictor" variable? a. gender b. recall of names c. education d. age

b. recall of names - "predictor" - (independent variable) - gender, education, & age are predictors - all playing into the outcome

Dr. Chandler is a personality psychologist who is interested in studying the characteristics of people who report being abducted by UFOs. She finds several people in an online support group for UFO abductees to participate and asks them if they can provide the names and contact information of other people who have also been abducted. Upon contacting these new participants, she asks them to refer her to even more people they may know who have been abducted. this is an example of what kind of SAMPLING? a. self-selection sampling b. snowball sampling c. purposive sampling d. convenience sampling

b. snowball sampling - this is an example of snowball sampling (select someone who can recruit other people that are part of the target group of interest for a research study)

which characteristic sets scientific journals apart from magazines? a. they have multiple contributors b. they are peer-reviewed c. they have editors

b. they are peer-reviewed

a political research center obtains a list of phone numbers for all registered voters in Texas and uses a random number generator to select 1,000 of the phone numbers to call. they ask each voter which candidate for governor they plan to vote for in the upcoming election. to which population of interest does the research center want to generalize? a. all Texans b. all Americans c. all registered voters in Texas d. all the people likely to vote for the Republican candidate for governor

c. all registered voters in Texas - simple random sampling - the sample will be representative of the population that it was sampled from

professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. he is teaching 2 classes this semester (psychology & law). he gives the students a survey within this scenario, who would he be giving the survey to? a. all the students at the university c. all the students he is currently teaching d. all the students in his psychology & law courses

c. all the students he is currently teaching

Jack & his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. in the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. why should Jack NOT interrogate the internal validity of the study? a. because he is a student, not a researcher b. because the author of the study already did c. because the study's claim is an association claim d. because he has not taken statistics yet

c. because the study's claim is an association claim - you would have to manipulate bullying (unethical) - has to be a correlational study

which of the following is an example of a causal claim? a. folic acid is tied to better toddler talk b. sweetened drinks are linked to depression risk c. ice applied to a twisted ankle prevents swelling d. women regift at a 50% greater rate than men

c. ice applied to a twisted ankle prevents swelling - "is linked" and "tied to" are associative claims

you design a new scale to measure intelligence. which of the following approaches could NOT be used to validate your new scale as a measurement of intelligence? a. criterion validity b. discriminant validity c. internal validity d. internal reliability e. test-retest reliability

c. internal validity - concept in reasoning about evidence more generally - refers to how well an experiment is done - whether or not it avoids confounding

Dr. Ewell, a developmental psychologist, is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs Dr. Ewell is concerned that the children will behave differently because of the presence of research assistants. he is concerned about: a. faking good b. observer bias c. observer effects (reactivity) d. interrater reliability

c. observer effects (reactivity) - this is an example of observer effects (people may act differently because / when they know they are being watched)

Dr. Lawrence is the director of Counseling Services at her university. she is planning to conduct a survey of 100 students at the university to see how aware they are of the counseling services offered at the university. she wants the proportion of men & women in her sample to reflect the proportion in the university as a whole (55% women & 45% men). Dr. Lawrence plans to stand in the Student Union & ask people to participate until she has given the survey to 55 women & 45 men. which type of sampling method is Dr. Lawrence going to use? a. multistage sampling b. cluster sampling c. quota sampling

c. quota sampling - in quota sampling, participants are chosen non-randomly so it's not a representative sampling method

Angela reads about a study in which cell phone use is associated with migraine headaches. she says, "well, that study is not valid because I use a cell phone more than anyone I know and I never get migraines." based on her comment, Angela may be forgetting which of the following? a. science is based on empiricism b. the study has been replicated c. science is probabilistic d. the study did not properly define cell phone us

c. science is probabilistic - this means that anything can 'happen' once (or even twice) & may not represent what happens (on average) in the population

which of the following is considered a representative sampling method? a. convenience sampling b. snowball sampling c. systematic sampling d. self-selected sampling

c. systematic sampling

professor Morgan questions whether the ratings he receives from his students on "teaching effectiveness" indicate how much the students learn in his class or whether they are just a reflection of how much his students like him. which aspect of the ratings is he questioning? a. the reliability of the ratings b. the use of an interval scale c. the measurement validity of the ratings d. the statistical significance of the ratings

c. the measurement validity of the ratings

which of the following means a study used a BIVARIATE correlational design? a. the inclusion of quantitative variables b. the use of correlational statistics c. the presence of measured variables d. the depiction of a bar graph

c. the presence of measured variables - bivariate correlations involve 2 measured variables

in a study, men & women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period of time, in a stressed or unstressed condition. in the unstressed condition, men b* women performed similarly. however, w/ stress the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. the number of decision tasks performed was an example of what? a. a constant b. a level of a variable c. a manipulated variable d. a measured variable

d. a measured variable

the Yerkes-Dodson law (1908) shows performance increases w/ arousal up to a point, but beyond that, performance decreases w/ increasing arousal. which type of correlation is this? a. zero b. negative c. positive d. curvilinear

d. curvilinear - at low arousal, the correlation is positive, but at high arousal, the correlation is negative, hence the correlation is represented by a curve rather than a line

Mischel (1972) studied delay of gratification in preschoolers: children were offered a special reward if they could wait or a less attractive treat if they chose not to wait. a follow-up study was done years later, looking at the same children as adolescents. the researchers found an association between the waiting times of the preschoolers & parents' reports of the same children's behaviors as adolescents. which of the following is a question one could ask to assess the CONSTRUCT VALIDITY of this association? a. can the results be generalized to all American children? b. were the results statistically significant? c. is there a third variable that explains this relationship? d. how well was delay of gratification measured?

d. how well was delay of gratification measured? - construct validity for association claims is concerned with how well the variables are measured - because one of the variables is 'delay of gratification,' one question that should be asked is 'how well was delay of gratification measured?'

in the headline, "worry may make women's brains work overtime", what are the 2 variables listed? a. brains; gender b. level of worry; gender c. level of brain activity; brains d. level of worry; level of brain activity

d. level of worry; level of brain activity - BOTH variables are being measured

Georgina graduated as valedictorian of her high school class because of her class ranking. what type of scale is used for the quantitative variable of class ranking? a. nominal scale b. ratio scale c. interval scale d. ordinal scale

d. ordinal scale

which of the following is an OPERATIONAL definition of memory? a. recognition of previously learned info b. ability to recall previously studied info c. a cognitive process to retain & restore past info d. the accuracy w/ which a person can retell a short story based on the number of correct details

d. the accuracy w/ which a person can retell a short story based on the number of correct details

which of the following constructs are NOT measured w/ a psychological scale? a. attitudes b. intentions c. perceived behavioral control d. frequency of behavior

d. frequency of behavior - not. measured w/ a scale