research methods practice questions
Which of the following graph formats is the best way to examine an association claim between a categorical variable and a quantitative variable? a. a bar graph b. a line graph c. a scatterplot d. a pie chart
a. a bar graph
Establishing construct validity is most important for which of the following? a. an abstract concept b. a behavior that is directly observable c. physical measurements (e.g., length) d. a concrete construct
a. an abstract concept
A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children. You are curious as to whether peer pressure is really to blame (peer pressure encourages you to watch television and peer pressure encourages you to be aggressive). You are questioning which of the following criteria of causation? a. the third-variable criterion b. the criterion of external validity c. the criterion of temporal precedence d. the criterion of covariance
a. the third-variable criterion
Studies that use nonprobability samples have ________ external validity. a. guaranteed b. unknown c. enhanced d. zero
b. unknown
For his research methods class project, Hiro is studying the effect of pet ownership on stress levels. Although a lot of research has been done on dog and cat owners, not much is known about other pets, so Hiro decides to study bird owners. Which of the following would demonstrate a purposive sampling technique? a.He contacts the Twitter followers of Dr. Oiseau, a famous biologist who studies birds. b.He recruits bird owners by e-mailing members of the National Bird Owners Association and asking for participants. c.His participants are all the people who have purchased birds at his local pet store in the past six months. d.He asks bird owners to give him the names of other bird owners.
b.He recruits bird owners by e-mailing members of the National Bird Owners Association and asking for participants.
What is a confidence interval constructed around? a. the correlation coefficient b. the point estimate c. the margin of error d. the population parameter
c. the margin of error
Ethical decision making is a. as easy as a yes-no decision. b. based only on what is good for society. c. based on a balance of priorities. d. determined by legal experts.
c. based on a balance of priorities.
What is one reason that causal claims cannot be made from correlational studies? a. correlations are not sensitive enough to detect causal associations b. correlational studies only involve a single variable c. the temporal order of the variables is unknown d. participants are randomly assigned to groups
c. the temporal order of the variables is unknown
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester—Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience. He gives his students a survey. Dr. Kramer needs to avoid which of the following if he hopes to have an unbiased sample? a.sampling only those students whose student ID numbers end with an odd number b.sampling only those students who sign the consent form c.sampling only those students who come to class frequently d.sampling only those students who finish the survey
c.sampling only those students who come to class frequently
The ethical principles that govern psychological research and the code of conduct for how to protect human and nonhuman participants in research are published by the a. Belmont Report. b. Nuremberg Code. c. Institutional Review Board. d. American Psychological Association.
d. American Psychological Association.
asking many similar questions when trying to measure a concept is done to a. allow participants to skip questions. b. cancel out measurement error. c. make sure participants are not lying. d. ensure validity.
b. cancel out measurement error.
Which of the following is true of 95% CIs? a. It involves testing effect sizes. b.It deals with precision estimates about the population. c.It is only done when you have two quantitative variables. d.It is necessary for establishing internal validity.
b.It deals with precision estimates about the population.
he American Psychological Association's ethical guidelines have ________ principles and ________ standards. a. 3; 10 b. 3; 8 c. 5; 10 d. 3; 5
c. 5; 10
What is the most common sampling technique in behavioral research? a. purposive sampling b. simple random sampling c. convenience sampling d. cluster sampling
c. convenience sampling
Which of the following could you conclude by looking at the figure a.There is a causal relationship between optimism and life satisfaction. b.More people reported being optimistic than being satisfied with life. c.As optimism increases, life satisfaction also increases. d.The relationship between optimism and life satisfaction is negative.
c.As optimism increases, life satisfaction also increases.
Which of the following phrases would NOT indicate that a researcher is making a causal claim? a. "seems to decrease" b. "curbs" c. "suggests a change" d. "is at higher risk of"
d. "is at higher risk of"
_ validity tends to be higher in experiments than in other types of studies. a. External b. Content c. Statistical d. Internal
d. internal
Asking an expert or experts to evaluate a measure is used to establish ________ validity. a. divergent b. face c. content d. criterion
b. face
Which of the following results in an unrepresentative sample? a. systematic sample b. snowball sample c. simple random sample d. stratified random sample
b. snowball sample
A correlation-based statistic called ________ is commonly used to determine internal reliability. a. a scatterplot b. Pearson's r c. Cronbach's alpha d. kappa
c. Cronbach's alpha
Another term for probability sampling is a. purposive sampling. b. cluster sampling. c. random sampling. d. convenience sampling.
c. random sampling.
Which of the following ethical violations did NOT occur in the Tuskegee Study? a.Researchers told participants they were receiving treatment even though they were not. b.Researchers prevented participants from seeking treatment. c.Participants in the study were given/infected with the disease. d.Participants were not told they had been infected with the disease.
c.Participants in the study were given/infected with the disease.
All of the following are true of institutional review boards (IRBs) in the United States EXCEPT that a. IRBs must have at least five members. b.IRBs can be found in settings other than colleges and universities. c. IRBs are mandated by federal law. d. IRBs must have a psychologist as a member.
d. IRBs must have a psychologist as a member.
Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings:• Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = −.57, 95% CI [−.77, −.37] • Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, 95% CI [ −.27, .45] • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36, 95% CI [.12, .60] Matt, Dr. Guidry's research assistant, is discussing the findings of the study with some other students. He claims that the experience of more daily stress causes people to have lower life satisfaction. Which of the following causal criteria did Matt meet? a. the covariance of cause and effect b. internal validity c. temporal precedence d. external validity
a. the covariance of cause and effect
If a person is asking whether the variables in an association claim are measured appropriately, what is being interrogated? a. internal validity b. statistical validity c. external validity d. construct validity
d. construct validity
Faking good is also known as a. fence sitting. b. acquiescence. c. nondifferentiation. d. socially desirable responding.
d. socially desirable responding.
which of the following is true of students' views of deception and harm in research studies? a.Students find the negative effects of deception to be worsened by debriefing. b.Students usually are tolerant of studies that use major deception. c.Students are not tolerant of any degree of deception. d.Students typically find the negative effects of deception to be diminished during debriefing.
d.Students typically find the negative effects of deception to be diminished during debriefing.
What was the primary ethical concern in the Milgram study? a.The number of people negatively affected was larger than the number of people positively affected. b. The researchers did not debrief the participants. c.The financial costs of conducting the study outweighed the benefits gained by the researcher. d.The potential risks to participants outweighed the value of knowledge we can gain.
d.The potential risks to participants outweighed the value of knowledge we can gain.
in considering whether research is ethical, which of the following are balanced against each other? a.inconvenience to participants versus benefit to the researcher b.importance of the research versus financial cost to conduct the study c.time investment of the study versus complexity of the study d.risk to participants versus value of the knowledge gained
d.risk to participants versus value of the knowledge gained
Why are curvilinear relationships hard to detect with correlation coefficients ( r)? a.r always looks for the best straight line to fit the data. b. r always assumes a negative relationship. c. r always assumes a zero association. d.Curvilinear relationships require a large amount of scores.
a.r always looks for the best straight line to fit the data.
You submit a study for approval by the institutional review board (IRB), and they tell you that written informed consent is required. Which of the following can be excluded from your informed consent document? a. a statement of risks b. a description of the study's hypotheses c. a list of procedures d. a statement of benefits
b. a description of the study's
If researchers measure every member of a population, they have a. biased the study. b. conducted a census. c. collected a sample. d. increased internal validity.
b. conducted a census.
What is the best way to balance characteristics about participants that can lead to alternative explanations for findings? a. manipulated variables b. operationalization of variables c. random assignment d. correlational studies
c. random assignment
Dr. Paul is concerned about a fence-sitting response set when he conducts his survey. Which of the following might you recommend to decrease fence sitting? a. using a Likert scale b. using reverse-worded questions c. providing a "no opinion" option d.using scales with an even number of response options
d.using scales with an even number of response options
When examining the statistical validity of a frequency claim, one should look for the
margin of error estimate
Stefan wants to make a causal claim in his dissertation. Which of the following is necessary? a. He must conduct an experiment. b. He must make a frequency claim first. c. He must manipulate all of his variables. d. He must measure all of his variables. b. He must make a frequency claim first. c. He must manipulate all of his variables. d. He must measure all of his variables.
a. He must conduct an experiment.
Imagine you calculated the correlation coefficient for the data presented in the figure, and the resulting number was r = −.44. Looking at the figure, how would you know the number you calculated is incorrect? a. The figure depicts a positive relationship. b.Correlation coefficients cannot be smaller than 1. c. There aren't 44 data points in the figure. d. There wouldn't be a way to know this.
a. The figure depicts a positive relationship.
in which of the following cases would a large sample especially be needed? a.a study of teenagers whose parents are both deployed overseas in the military b. a study of high school students c.a study of people who have been to the doctor in the past year d. a study of first-time homeowners
a. a study of teenagers whose parents are both deployed overseas in the military
Naomi is studying the effect of popularity on academic success for her research methods project. To do this, she has elementary school students rate how popular each member of their class is. She then uses this information to rank the students on popularity (e.g., John is the most popular, Vanessa is the second-most popular). Which of the following best describes this variable? a. an ordinal scale of measurement b. a categorical measurement c. an interval scale of measurement d. a self-report measurement
a. an ordinal scale of measurement
Research articles that use terms such as unbiased sample, randomsamples, or representative sample allow for readers to a. be confident in a study's external validity. b. make a frequency claim. c. skip interrogating statistical validity. d.reject the conclusions made by the researcher(s).
a. be confident in a study's external validity.
Which of the following is an example of a nonprobability sample? a. convenience sample b. systematic sample c. simple random sample d. cluster sample
a. convenience sample
Why are techniques like cluster sampling and multistage sampling just as externally valid as simple random sampling? a.They all measure every member of the population of interest. b. They all contain elements of random selection. c. They all rely on large samples. d. They all use lists of all population members.
b. They all contain elements of random selection.
Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. The results of this study can be generalized to which of the following groups? a. individuals receiving unfair treatment b. White women and men of color c. all underrepresented groups d. women of color
b. White women and men of color
Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse." Which type of claim is Dr. LaSalle making? a. frequency claim b. association claim c. causal claim d. statistical claim
b. association claim
What must a researcher do when using deception in an experiment? a. give a formal apology b. debrief the participants afterward c.have the participants sign a waiver of liability d.explain how the data collected will be analyzed
b. debrief the participants afterward
_ validity tends to be higher in experiments than in other types of studies. a. Content b. Internal c. External d. Statistical
b. internal
Mrs. Raynor, a school psychologist, tracks the number of students that are reported by teachers as having concerning behaviors in the classroom. At the end of the year, she calculated that 12.4% of the students in her school have been identified as having behaviors that impact their performance in the classroom. She understands that there is a margin of error to this estimate and reports that the number of children who have behavior problems at school may be as low as 10.2% and as high as 14.6%. What is the term used to describe the 12.4% calculation made by Mrs. Raynor? a. the confidence estimate b. the point estimate c. the margin of error of the estimate d. the point estimate
b. the point estimate
Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Which of the following questions assesses the construct validity of this study? a.How big was the effect of perceived discrimination? b.How did the researchers measure expectations of unfair treatment? c.Did the researchers establish temporal precedence? d. Would this research generalize to children?
b.How did the researchers measure expectations of unfair treatment?
A group of students recorded the amount of time they studied for an exam in their research methods course and the grade they received on the exam. The scatter plot shows a positive, linear relationship. What statement best describes this relationship between time spent studying and exam grade? a. As study time increased, exam grades increased at first and then decreased. b. As study time increased, exam grades decreased at first and then increased. c. As study time increased, exam grades increased. d. As study time increases, exam grades decreased.
c. As study time increased, exam grades increased.
Which of the following is a primary reason that psychologists might fabricate or falsify their data a.They are curious to see if other scientists would be able to detect the data fabrication or falsification. b. A journal might require it for higher impact. c. They feel pressure to publish findings. d.They believe that the data they create is equally as valid as data that would be collected from participants.
c. They feel pressure to publish findings.
Which of the following statements is an operational definition of "fear of snakes" that could be assessed as a structured question? a. assigning the participant to keep a "daily fear diary" in which they track their fear level b. measuring heart rate following exposure to snakes c. asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?" d. asking the question "When was the last time you saw a snake?"
c. asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?"
Which of the following results in an unbiased sample? a. convenience sample b. snowball sample c. systematic sample d. purposive sample
c. systematic sample
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester—Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience. He gives his students a survey. What is Dr. Kramer's likely population of interest? a. all students at the university b. all psychology majors and minors c.all students in his Introduction to Neuroscience class d. all students he is currently teaching
d. all students he is currently teaching
Science journalists have argued that cigarette smoking leads to a variety of health problems. What type of claim are they making? a. operational b. frequency c. association d. causal
d. causal
Online surveys commonly suffer from which of the following? a. poor reliability b. probability sampling c. over sampling d. self-selection
d. self-selection
A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children. You know this relationship may not be causal because you are not sure which occurred first: watching television or being aggressive. You are questioning which of the following rules of causation? a. the criterion of external validity b. the third-variable criterion c. the criterion of covariance d. the criterion of temporal precedence
d. the criterion of temporal precedence
While reading about a research study, which of the following would tell you that an association claim is being made? a.one manipulated and one measured variable b. two manipulated variables c. two categorical variables d. two measured variables
d.. two measured variables
Which of the following statements is true of random assignment and random sampling? a. They both mean the same thing. b.Random assignment is necessary for internal validity, whereas random sampling is necessary for external validity. c.Random sampling is more important than random assignment. d. They both are necessary for frequency claims.
b.Random assignment is necessary for internal validity, whereas random sampling is necessary for external validity.
In developing a measure of "need for cognition" (the degree to which people like thinking and problem-solving), Dr. Jonason asks his participants to rate their agreement with the following statement: "I frequently solve and enjoy solving crossword puzzles." What should Dr. Jonason do to improve the construct validity of this question? a.Avoid using negative phrasing in the question. b.Split up the question into two separate questions. c.Avoid suggesting a particular viewpoint in the question. d. Phrase the question in a neutral way.
b.Split up the question into two separate questions
Professor Singh creates a survey to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes: Psychology and Law and Introduction to Neuroscience. He writes the following questions for his survey: A. What was your favorite part of this class? B. Please rate how much you agree with the following statement using the scale below: This was one of my favorite classes all semester. C. Which of the following is most true of you? a. I am a very serious student. b. I try only as hard as I have to. D. How easy did you feel this class was? Which of the questions above is an example of an open-ended question? a. question D b. question B c. question A d. question C
c. question A
if an association study did not select people for the study by using random sampling, which of the following statements is true? a.The effect size should be considered, but tests of statistical significance should not. b.The findings should be replicated in another population. c.The association should be rejected as inconclusive. d.The study must be done again using the same participants.
b.The findings should be replicated in another population.
Dr. Sanchez conducts a simple random sample of 500 men who became fathers for the first time in the past year. He finds that 23 %of them report being unsure of their ability to be good fathers, plus or minus 4 %. What is another term for the 4 % value? a. probability value b. statistical significance c. sampling bias d. margin of error
d. margin of error
Forced-choice question formats are especially good at dealing with which of the following issues? a. fence sitting b. response sets c.people self-reporting more than they can know d. faking good
a. fence sitting
From an ethical standpoint, in what way is researching prisoners with tuberculosis similar to researching children with ADHD? a.Researchers do not have to have written informed consent with these groups of participants. b.Neither group of participants can provide informed consent. c.Both groups of participants have less autonomy than other types of participants. d.Researchers must ensure anonymity when dealing with both types of participants.
c.Both groups of participants have less autonomy than other types of participants.
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. Imagine that Dr. Ewell calculates a correlation (e.g., ICC) for his two raters. Which of the following would be the best value for Dr. Ewell to find? a. 0.89 b. 1.15 c. 0.02 d. −0.92
a. 0.89
In a scatterplot, the direction of the relationship can be seen by the a. slope of the line. b.the presence of a line drawn through the dots. c. number of dots. d. spread of the dots.
a. slope of the line.
Oversampling is a variant used in which of the following sampling techniques? a. stratified random sampling b. cluster sampling c. simple random sampling d. convenience sampling
a. stratified random sampling
Professor Adeyemi is examining well-being after retirement in a city, and it is important to have excellent external validity. If Professor Adeyemi obtains a sample that reflects the demographic proportions of their city, which of the following sampling techniques is most likely being used? a. stratified random sampling b. systematic sampling c. cluster sampling d. quota sampling
a. stratified random sampling
Dr. Hoda measures job satisfaction and number of years of education. In examining her scatterplot, she sees the cloud of points has no slope. This indicates which type of relationship? a. zero association b. causal association c. positive association d. negative association
a. zero association
Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Which of the following makes Dr. Kang's study an experiment? a. The study included a manipulated variable and a measured variable. b. The study included a distractor task. c. The study was conducted at a university by a psychologist. d. The study investigated a theory of emotion on memory.
a. The study included a manipulated variable and a measured variable.
Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. In this study, the researchers recorded how many errors participants committed. This is an example of which of the following? a. a measured variable b. a variable's level c. a constant d. the criterion of covariance
a. a measured variable
What is the difference between data that is collected anonymously and data that is collected confidentially? a.Confidential research collects participants' names but separates them from the data; anonymous research does not collect participants' names. b.Anonymous research and confidential research are the same thing. c.Confidential research collects sensitive information about participants (e.g., sexual behavior, illegal behavior); anonymous research collects nonsensitive information about participants. d.Anonymous research collects sensitive information about participants (e.g., sexual behavior, illegal behavior); confidential research collects nonsensitive information about participants.
a.Confidential research collects participants' names but separates them from the data; anonymous research does not collect participants' names.
Which of the following may lead to a biased sample? a.using people who are readily available to the researcher b.using people who accept compensation (e.g., money) to participate c.using people who have participated in other research studies d. using people who agree to participate
a.using people who are readily available to the researcher
Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Because of the design of this study, Sanchez and colleagues are likely more interested in ________ than ________. a. the effect size of their findings; internal validity b. construct validity; generalizing to all underrepresented groups c. external validity; validating their causal claims d. generalizing to all underrepresented groups; statistical validity
b. construct validity; generalizing to all underrepresented groups
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner suspects that the people who will most benefit from his study are high school and college students, who are asked to perform cognitive functions in various states of sleep deprivation. Given this information, what type of participants should Dr. Kushner recruit for his study? a.patients from Dr. Kushner's clinical psychology practice b. students from a community college c. employees from a local daycare center d. people with a history of insomnia
b. students from a community college
Anton and 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. Clarissa questions the study, saying, "I am not sure that I am convinced. I am not sure you can really measure being bullied." Quinn also questions the study, saying, "Which middle school students did they study? I am curious if they included both private and public school students." Manish is also curious about the study, asking, "I wonder how strong the relationship is between bullying and self-esteem. Could you predict one from the other?" Manish's concern is addressing which of the following? a. the study's internal validity b. the study's statistical validity c. the study's construct validity d. the study's external validity
b. the study's statistical validity
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner plans to use deception in his study and is thinking about a debriefing session. Which of the following is true of the debriefing? a.During the debriefing, Dr. Kushner needs to tell the participants only that there was deception. b.Participants must be told the reasons for the deception. c.Because his study has potential medical applications, the use of a debriefing session is optional. d.Dr. Kushner needs to invite only participants who were troubled by the study to the debriefing session.
b.Participants must be told the reasons for the deception.
Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Because of the design of this study, Sanchez and colleagues are likely more interested in ________ than ________. a. the effect size of their findings; internal validity b.construct validity; generalizing to all underrepresented groups c. external validity; validating their causal claims d.generalizing to all underrepresented groups; statistical validity
b.construct validity; generalizing to all underrepresented groups
Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse." Which of the following statements is true of Dr. Ramon's and Dr. LaSalle's claims? a. Dr. LaSalle's claim makes a stronger statement than Dr. Ramon's claim. b. Dr. Ramon's claim involves more variables than Dr. LaSalle's claim. c. Dr. Ramon's claim makes a stronger statement than Dr. LaSalle's claim. d. Dr. LaSalle's claim is the same as Dr. Ramon's claim.
c. Dr. Ramon's claim makes a stronger statement than Dr. LaSalle's claim.
Professor Adeyemi is examining well-being after retirement in a city, and it is important to have excellent external validity. Professor Adeyemi selects two random numbers, 4 and 6, and gets a list of all of the retired people in the city. If Professor Adeyemi obtains the sample by starting with the 4 th person on the list and selecting every 6 thperson, which of the following sampling techniques is most likely being used? a. cluster sampling b. quota sampling c. systematic sampling d. stratified random sampling
c. systematic sampling
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 wants to establish the discriminant validity of his pathological gambling measure. He gives his measure and three others to a group of 100 people. Which of the following provides the best evidence for discriminant validity? a.that his measure is strongly correlated with a measure of self-esteem b.that his measure is strongly correlated with a measure of alcohol addiction c.that his measure is not strongly correlated with a measure of impulsivity d.that his measure is not strongly correlated with the number of friends people have
c.that his measure is not strongly correlated with a measure of impulsivity
Jiyun has just conducted a study examining the association between a child's level of impulsivity and the amount of corporal punishment used by their parents. She used a questionnaire about discipline strategies to assess corporal punishment. She calculated the scale's internal reliability as .85 and concluded that her scale had good internal reliability. Jiyun most likely calculated reliability using what statistic? a. slope of a line b. the average inter-item correlation (AIC) c. kappa d. Cronbach's alpha
d. Cronbach's alpha
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. To test his measure, Dr. Sheffield gives his measure to a group of people in Gamblers Anonymous (GA) and another group of people in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). He finds that people in the GA group have higher scores on his new measure than people in the AA group. This procedure is known as a a. group evaluation paradigm. b. test-retest paradigm. c. prediction paradigm. d. known-groups paradigm.
d. known-groups paradigm.
Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can feel threatened by racism, men of color feel threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Which of the following questions assesses the construct validity of this study? a. Would this research generalize to children? b.How big was the effect of perceived discrimination? c.Did the researchers establish temporal precedence? d.How did the researchers measure expectations of unfair treatment?
d.How did the researchers measure expectations of unfair treatment?
Which of the following is necessary for a sample to be considered representative? a.All members of the population have an equal chance of being included in the sample. b.All members of the sample belong only to the population of interest. c.All members of the population must be included in the sample. d.All members of the sample are likely to provide the same data/information.
a.All members of the population have an equal chance of being included in the sample.
When is it acceptable for a researcher to study participants only from a specific group, such as a researcher studying depression in a sample of Native American women? a.if the specific group being studied is especially prone to the problem being studied (e.g., if depression rates are higher in Native American women) b.if the specific group being studied has participated in similar research previously (e.g., earlier studies of intelligence in Native American women) c.if the researcher has special access to the specific group (e.g., the researcher works on a Native American reservation) d.it is never acceptable for such a specific group to be studied
a.if the specific group being studied is especially prone to the problem being studied (e.g., if depression rates are higher in Native American women)
the difference between a cluster sample and a multistage sample is a.multistage samples sample both clusters and participants; cluster samples just sample clusters. b.cluster samples are probability samples; multistage samples are not. c.cluster samples rely on clusters of participants; multistage samples collect data from participants at different stages. d.There is no difference between cluster samples and multistage samples.
a.multistage samples sample both clusters and participants; cluster samples just sample clusters.
Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. Which of the following is a constant in this study? a. the gender of the participant b. the type of game c. effort put into playing the game d. the number of researchers
b. the type of game
The difference between a cluster sample and a multistage sample is a.cluster samples rely on clusters of participants; multistage samples collect data from participants at different stages. b.multistage samples sample both clusters and participants; cluster samples just sample clusters. c.cluster samples are probability samples; multistage samples are not. d.There is no difference between cluster samples and multistage samples.
b.multistage samples sample both clusters and participants; cluster samples just sample clusters.
The principle of justice calls for a balance between ________ and ________ . a.the interests of the researcher; the interests of the institutional review board (IRB) b.the kind of people who participate in research; the kind of people who benefit from it c.needing to deceive participants; needing to obtain informed consent d.costs to the participant; benefits to the participant
b.the kind of people who participate in research; the kind of people who benefit from it
A correlation coefficient and a scatterplot both provide which of the following pieces of information? a. the validity and reliability of two measurements b.the strength and direction of the relationship between two measurements c.the path and significance of the relationship between two measurements d. the outliers present in the two measurements
b.the strength and direction of the relationship between two measurements
If a study uses an unrepresentative sample, which of the following questions should you ask when assessing its external validity? a."Could the study have used a representative sample instead?" b. "Is the sample size sufficiently large?" c."Are the characteristics that make the sample biased actually relevant to what is being measured?" d."Is the study maki
c."Are the characteristics that make the sample biased actually relevant to what is being measured?"
Zariah placed five identical pairs of black socks on a table and asked passersby to rate which pair of socks were their favorites. Although the socks were exactly the same, people rated the last pair of socks as having the highest quality. How should Zariah interpret this result? a.Zariah was mistaken, and the socks actually did differ in quality. b.People were giving socially desirable responses and not being honest. c.Zariah needs to consider the accuracy of flashbulb memories. d.People are not always able to accurately explain their responses.
d.People are not always able to accurately explain their responses.
Your professor says that researchers do not make ethical decisions alone. What does this mean? a.Researchers must consult with lawyers before they conduct a study. b.Researchers must discuss their ethical choices with their participants. c.Researchers must conduct research with other researchers. d.Researchers must consider the opinions of others, including institutional review board (IRB) members and peers.
d.Researchers must consider the opinions of others, including institutional review board (IRB) members and peers.
Which of the following statements is true of observational data? a.Observational measures can be used to make frequency claims. b.Observational measures cannot be used to make causal claims. c.Observational measures automatically have good construct validity. d.Observational measures provide better information than self-report data.
a.Observational measures can be used to make frequency claims.
Which of the following is true of question wording? a.Researchers may alter the wording of a question to determine if it does have an effect on the results. b.Differences in how questions are worded always lead to different results. c. It has no effect on the results of a survey/poll. d.No research has scientifically demonstrated that question wording affects the answers participants give.
a.Researchers may alter the wording of a question to determine if it does have an effect on the results.
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. Imagine that Dr. Ewell wants to videotape the children interacting in the park. Why would most psychologists have no problem with the ethics of Dr. Ewell's study? a. His research topic is interesting. b.Observing children is the only way to collect data about this topic. c.People in a public park do not expect their behavior to be private. d. Research with children is generally not risky.
c.People in a public park do not expect their behavior to be private
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Imagine that Dr. Kushner is a clinical psychologist who volunteers his time at a local prison counseling several inmates. Because of his connections there, he is considering using prisoners as his participants. The institutional review board (IRB) that reviews his committee must have which of the following as a member? a. the prison warden b. a criminal justice professor c. a prisoner advocate d. a prisoner
c. a prisoner advocate
Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Dr. Kang sends his study to a journal to be published. One of the peer reviewers questions the way Dr. Kang manipulated emotion, arguing that being exposed to emotional words does not make one emotional. The reviewer is questioning which of the following? a. the external validity of the study b. the statistical validity of the study c. the construct validity of the study d. the internal validity of the study
c. the construct validity of the study
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. To address the Belmont principle of beneficence, Dr. Kushner would need to ask which of the following questions? a.Are the people in my study going to benefit as much as the people who are not in my study? b. Am I trained sufficiently to conduct this study? c.What can I do to decrease the potential harm experienced by my participants? d.Can the participants in my study give full, informed consent?
c.What can I do to decrease the potential harm experienced by my participants?
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. To address the Belmont principle of beneficence, Dr. Kushner would need to ask which of the following questions? a.Can the participants in my study give full, informed consent? b.Are the people in my study going to benefit as much as the people who are not in my study? c. Am I trained sufficiently to conduct this study? d.What can I do to decrease the potential harm experienced by my participants?
d.What can I do to decrease the potential harm experienced by my participants?
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner asks his participants to provide informed consent. Doing this is adhering to which principle of the Belmont Report? a. the principle of beneficence b. the principle of justice c. the principle of respect for persons d. the principle of integrity
c. the principle of respect for persons
Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Which of the following is true regarding obtaining informed consent in Dr. Kushner's study? a.He needs to obtain informed consent because the study is anonymous. b.He does not need to obtain informed consent since participants will not be awake during most of the study. c.He needs to obtain informed consent because there is a likelihood of risk in his study. d.He does not need to obtain informed consent because he is not using deception.
c.He needs to obtain informed consent because there is a likelihood of risk in his study.
Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Based on this study, Dr. Kang can make which of the following claims? a.Fifteen percent of emotional words are remembered. b.Distraction is associated with worse memory. c. Group A has better memory than Group B. d. Emotion enhances memory.
d. Emotion enhances memory.
