PSY 305: Ch. 2 Test Yourself

Which section(s) of a journal article it should be found: Number of participants in the study

method - participants

What is a literature review and why is it an important part of the research process?

A literature review is a review of previous research in an area to allow a researcher to conduct research that does not replicate what has previously been done and to allow researchers to make accurate predictions about a study's outcome.

What is a peer-reviewed journal article, and how does it differ from an article you might find in a popular magazine?

A peer-reviewed journal article is typically an article written to describe a research study to inform other researchers what has previously been found in an area of psychology. Peer reviewed means that the article has been reviewed by experts in the area before publication to improve the article and make a recommendation about publication. An article in a popular magazine would likely provide a short summary of the study and may not accurately reflect the original article. Thus, magazine articles are considered secondary (rather than primary) sources.

Explain the differences between a database such as PsychINFO and a search engine such as Google.

PsycINFO will yield peer-reviewed articles about research. Google will yield other types of information (such as popular magazine articles) that are considered secondary sources that may not be reliable.

What is the difference between an empirical journal article and a book chapter or review article?

The primary difference between an empirical article and a book chapter or review article is that the empirical article will describe the details (purpose, method, results, conclusions) of a single study (or set of studies), whereas book chapters and review articles summarize and organize a large set of studies by many researchers.

Describe how theory-driven and data-driven hypothesis are made

Theory-driven hypotheses are made using predictions of a theory for a research study. Data-driven hypotheses are made by generalizing results from past studies to the results of a research study.

Explain why the research question below is not an appropriate research question for psychological research: Does every human being have a soul?

This is an inappropriate research question for psychological studies because it would be difficult to observe behaviors to answer this question. In other words, it is a question that cannot be answered by scientific methods because there are no clear behaviors that are seen as indicative of a soul.

A short summary of a hournal article that appears at the beginning of the article and in databases such as PsychINFO is called a(n) ____________________.

abstract

Creating a theory-driven hypothesis involves _______________ reasoning.

deductive

A hypothesis that proposes a link between exercise and memory would be classified as a _________________ hypothesis

descriptive

Which section(s) of a journal article it should be found: Comparison of results of present study with results of previous studies

discussion

Which section(s) of a journal article it should be found: Researchers' hypothesis

introduction and discussion

Which section(s) of a journal article it should be found: Summary of the instructions given to the participants

method - procedure

Which section(s) of a journal article it should be found: Average scores for different groups in a study

results