Experimental Methods Review

RESEARCH STUDY 4.1: 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.As a psychologist who primarily does research, Dr. Kushner is most concerned with which APA standard of ethics? Select one: a.8 b.2 Incorrect c.4 d.6

8

When examining an association in which one variable is categorical and one is quantitative, which of the following is NOT likely to be used? Select one: a.A t test b.A correlation c.A scatterplot Correct d.A bar graph

A scatterplot

In which of the following cases would a large sample especially be needed? Select one: a.A study of first-time homeowners 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 teenagers whose parents are both deployed overseas in the military

A study of teenagers whose parents are both deployed overseas in the military

Which of the following could you conclude by looking at the figure? Select one: a.There is a causal relationship between optimism and life satisfaction. b.As optimism increases, life satisfaction also increases. Correct c.More people reported being optimistic than being satisfied with life. d.The relationship between optimism and life satisfaction is negative.

As optimism increases, life satisfaction also increases.

A researcher wants to know what people really do, not what they think they do. Which method would you advise him to use? Select one: a.Both behavioral observations and self-report questions are equally good for finding out what people really do. b.Neither behavioral observations nor self-report questions is desirable for finding out what people really do. c.Behavioral observations Correct d.Self-report questions

Behavioral observations

Forced-choice question formats are especially good at dealing with which of the following issues? Select one: a.Faking good b.Response sets c.People self-reporting more than they can know Incorrect d.Fence sitting

Fence Sitting

RESEARCH STUDY 4.1: 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? Select one: a.He does not need to obtain informed consent because he is not using deception. 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. Correct d.He needs to obtain informed consent because the study is anonymous.

He needs to obtain informed consent because there is a likelihood of risk in his study.

RESEARCH STUDY 6.2: 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. Which of the following is true? Select one: a.He can use the videotapes regardless of whether the adult objects as long as the child agrees. b.If he uses hidden cameras, he does not need to tell the participants they have been videotaped. c.He will be unable to use videotape because he is studying children. d.He will likely need to get permission to videotape the children prior to doing so.

He will likely need to get permission to videotape the children prior to doing so.

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: 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.43 of 50 Introduction to Neuroscience students and 46 of 48 Psychology and Law students complete the survey. Based on this information, which of the following can Dr. Kramer say? Select one: a.His sample is biased. b.His sample is larger than his population. c.His sample is representative. d.His sample came from his population of interest.

His sample came from his population of interest.

Dr. Jewell is interested in measuring people's attitudes toward proposed tax cuts. One of his items reads, "People who support cutting taxes are not well informed about how the government works." What is the problem with this question? Select one: a.It is a forced-choice question. b.It is a leading question. Correct c.It is a double-barreled question. d.It has a double negative.

It is a leading question.

Dr. Cyril 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? Select one: a.Sampling bias b.Margin of error Correct c.Probability value d.Statistical significance

Margin of error

Which of the following is a unique threat to construct validity found only in behavioral observation? Select one: a.Observer bias Correct b.Fence sitting c.Socially desirable responding d.Acquiescence

Observer Bias

Which of the following events did NOT occur in the Tuskegee Study? Select one: a.Participants in the study were given/infected with the disease. Correct b.Researchers prevented participants from seeking treatment. c.Participants were not told they had been infected with the disease. d.Researchers told participants they were receiving treatment even though they were not.

Participants in the study were given/infected with the disease.

RESEARCH STUDY 4.1: 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? Select one: a.Participants must be told the reasons for the deception. Correct b.Because his study has potential medical applications, the use of a debriefing session is optional. c.During the debriefing, Dr. Kushner only needs to tell the participants that there was deception. d.Dr. Kushner only needs to invite participants who were troubled by the study to the debriefing session.

Participants must be told the reasons for the deception.

Which of the following ethical violations proposed by the Belmont Report was NOT committed in the Tuskegee Study? Select one: a.Participants were from a disadvantaged social group. b.Participants were harmed. c.Participants were not treated respectfully. Incorrect d.Participants were not given monetary payments for their time.

Participants were not given monetary payments for their time.

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1: 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.12345StronglyAgreeAgreeNeitheragree nor disagreeDisagreeStronglydisagreeC. 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?12345Easy HardWhich of the questions above is an example of a question that uses a Likert scale? Select one: a.Question B Correct b.Question A c.Question C d.Question D

Question B

Unobtrusive observation is done to counteract which of the following? Select one: a.Nay-saying b.Observer bias c.Observer effects Incorrect d.Reactivity

Reactivity

Online surveys commonly suffer from which of the following? Select one: a.Over sampling b.Poor reliability c.Self-selection Correct d.Probability sampling

Self-selection

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? Select one: a.Convenience sampling b.Self-selection sampling c.Purposive sampling d.Snowball sampling

Snowball sampling

Oversampling is a variant used in which of the following sampling techniques? Select one: a.Cluster sampling b.Simple random sampling c.Stratified random sampling Correct d.Convenience sampling

Stratified random sampling

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: 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 could reasonably use his sample to say something about which of the following populations of interest? Select one: a.Students who have taken a class with Dr. Kramer b.Students enrolled at the university Incorrect c.Students currently taking a psychology class d.Students who are political science majors

Students who are political science majors

RESEARCH STUDY 8.1: 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 (p = .01) • Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Considering Dr. Guidry's sample, which of the following statements is true? Select one: a. The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly people in other large cities in the South. b. The association found in her study could probably generalize to young adults. c. The association found in her study could probably generalize to people living in other capital cities (e.g., Sacramento, California). d. The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly persons living in nursing homes.

The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly people in other large cities in the South.

Which of the following is true regarding interrogating frequency claims? Select one: a.Frequency claims cannot be interrogated. b.Their accuracy can usually be determined. c.The most important thing to consider is the size of the sample. d.The chief concern is to evaluate the sampling technique.

The chief concern is to evaluate the sampling technique.

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? Select one: a.There wouldn't be a way to know this. b.The figure shows a positive relationship between optimism and life satisfaction. Correct c.There aren't 44 dots in the figure. d.Correlation coefficients cannot be smaller than 1.

The figure shows a positive relationship between optimism and life satisfaction.

When determining whether a study should be conducted, we have to balance which two issues? Select one: a.The potential risks to participants vs. the value of knowledge we can gain Correct b.The type of people negatively affected vs. the type of people positively affected c.The costs of conducting the study vs. the benefits gained by the researcher d.The number of people negatively affected vs. the number of people positively affected

The potential risks to participants vs. the value of knowledge we can gain

In addition to the three principles derived from the Belmont Report, which of the following two principles were added in the principles put forth by the American Psychological Association? Select one: a.The principle of reliability and validity b.The principle of honor and accountability/commitment c.The principle of integrity and fidelity/responsibility Correct d.The principle of consent and honesty

The principle of integrity and fidelity/responsibility

RESEARCH STUDY 8.1: 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 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig.• Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04)Which of the following conclusions can Dr. Guidry draw about the number of friends one has and life satisfaction based on her statistical analyses? Select one: a.The strong correlation means that the number of friends one has causes an increase in life satisfaction. b.The relationship is not statistically significant. Incorrect c.The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 96%. d.The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 4%.

The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 4%.

RESEARCH STUDY 8.1: 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 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig.• Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04)Dr. Guidry submits her study for publication in a scientific journal. If one of the peer reviewers is concerned about the external validity of her study, which of the following is the most important aspect of Dr. Guidry's study to consider? Select one: a.The use of three measured variables Incorrect b.The random sampling technique used to recruit the participants c.The number of significant findings d.The number of people in the sample

The random sampling technique used to recruit the participants

For a third variable to be plausible as the explanation in an established association, which of the following must also be true? Select one: a.The third variable must be related to both of the measured variables in the original association. Correct b.The third variable must be a categorical variable. c.The third variable must have a positive relationship with the two measured variables in the original association. d.The third variable must be measured on the same scale as the original measured variables.

The third variable must be related to both of the measured variables in the original association.

All of the following are true of outliers EXCEPT: Select one: a.They can affect the direction of an association. b.They have the biggest effect when dealing with large sample sizes. Correct c.They are especially problematic when there are outliers on both variables. d.They can affect the strength of an association.

They have the biggest effect when dealing with large sample sizes.

In addition to being ethical violations, why are data falsification and fabrication problematic? Select one: a.They are impossible to discover. b.Data are easy to acquire. c.They are federal crimes. d.They impede scientific progress.

They impede scientific progress.

RESEARCH STUDY 7.1: 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 plans to give his survey only to his Psychology and Law students because he sees them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and he can spare the class time (unlike in his Introduction to Neuroscience class, which only meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Which of the following is true? Select one: a.The will lead to a sample that is representative of both of his classes. b.This will lead to a biased sample because of self-selection. c.This will lead to a biased sample because the Psychology and Law students have a lot of time to complete the survey. d.This will lead to a biased sample because the type of students who take Psychology and Law may be different from the type of students who take Introduction to Neuroscience.

This will lead to a biased sample because the type of students who take Psychology and Law may be different from the type of students who take Introduction to Neuroscience.

Why might a researcher debrief his participants even if his study didn't include any deceptive elements? Select one: a.To prevent participants from having negative experiences during the study b.Because APA guidelines require debriefing in all studies regardless of deception c.To decrease the likelihood of data falsification d.To ensure that his participants had a good research experience

To ensure that his participants had a good research experience

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? Select one: a.Using reverse-worded questions b.Using scales with an even number of response options c.Using a Likert scale d.Providing a "no opinion" option

Using scales with an even number of response options

In which of the following cases might a small effect still be important? Select one: a.When the sample is very large b.When external validity is high c.When the study has life-or-death implications Correct d.When the finding is also statistically significant

When the study has life-or-death implications

An in-person institutional review board (IRB) meeting would probably be required for all of the following studies EXCEPT: Select one: a. a confidential survey examining sexual behavior in mentally handicapped individuals. b. an anonymous survey asking whether students want the campus mascot to be changed. Correct c. an anonymous study looking at gang behavior in recent parolees. d. a confidential study examining eating patterns in newborns.

an anonymous survey asking whether students want the campus mascot to be changed.

The figure above is an example of ___________________. Select one: a.scatterplot b.line graph c.data plot d.bar graph

bar graph

If researchers measure every tenth member of a population, they have: Select one: a.increased internal validity. b.conducted a census. c.biased the study. d.collected a sample.

collected a sample.

Masked, or blind, study designs are designed to deal with: Select one: a.yea-saying biases. b.faking good. c.bystander effect. d.observer bias. C

observer bias.

Faking good is also known as: Select one: a.socially desirable responding. Correct b.fence sitting. c.nondifferentiation. d.acquiescence.

socially desirable responding.