PSY285 ch6 Learning Check Questions + exercises (FINISH EXERCISES)

3. How is the descriptive strategy different from the other four research strategies?

just describes, doesnt have an indep variables

difference btwn correlational and experimental Research?

only experimental research can establish a causal relationship. • In correlational research, there's no attempt to control or influence variables. merely a record of the values of variables. • Correlational research can establish a correlation between two variables w/o stating that variables have a causal relationship

4. Explain the difference among the terms research strategy, research design, and research procedure

research strategy: general approach + goals research design: framework of research methods + techniques research procedure: exact, step by step description; last, most detailed step

What is the novelty effect, and how does it affect a study's external validity?

studies can be exciting and a novel experience for many and this excitement may affect how the subjects react(behave unnaturally), thus affecting the extent to which the study can be applied to real world (external val)

Describe how experimenter bias can be a threat to internal validity; that is, how can experimenter bias provide an explanation for the scores in one condition being higher than the scores in a second condition?

subconscious bias of experimenter; affects way research was conducted or the way the outcome is analyzed/ interpreted

Describe how participant reactivity can be a threat to external validity; that is, how can participant reactivity limit the ability to generalize research results?

(Participant reactivity - a phenomenon in which the responses/behaviors of participants are affected by their awareness that they're in a study) ---> if they act different (reactivity) because theyre trying to prove or disprove the study results you can't apply to real world/ gen population

What is the primary threat to internal validity for a study that compares different groups of participants?

Individual differences btwn participants

nonexperimental vs correlational

Nonexperimental research- lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, control of extraneous variables through random assignment, or both. Correlational and quasi-experimental research focus on a statistical relationship but lack manipulation

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the descriptive strategy? a. What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month? b. Is there a relationship between the number of text messages that adolescents send each month and the number of pages of leisure reading done by adolescents? c. Does decreasing the number of text messages sent by adolescents cause an increase in number of pages read for leisure? d. None of these questions can be addressed with this strategy

a (What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month? )

A researcher measures mood for a group of participants who have listened to happy music for 20 minutes and for a second group who have listened to sad music for 20 minutes. If different mood scores are obtained for the two groups, the researcher would like to conclude that music influences mood. However, the happy music group was tested in a room painted yellow and the sad music group was in a room painted dark brown and the researcher is concerned that the room color and not the music may influence mood scores. What kind of validity is being questioned? a. Internal validity b. External validity c. Experimental validity d. Validity of measurement

a. Internal validity

What aspect of a study is threatened if the participants are tested in one treatment condition at one time and then tested in a second treatment condition at a different time? a. Internal validity b. External validity c. Reliability d. Accuracy

a. Internal validity

A research study attempts to describe the relationship between self-esteem and birth order position by measuring self-esteem for each individual in a group of first-born boys, and then comparing the results with self-esteem scores for a group of later-born boys. Which research strategy is being used? a. Nonexperimental b. Correlational c. Experimental d. Quasi-experimental

a. Nonexperimental (not correlational!)

A journal article reports that a new teaching strategy is very effective for first-grade students. A teacher wonders if the same strategy would be effective for a class of third-grade students. What is the teacher questioning? a. The external validity of the report b. The internal validity of the report c. The reliability of the report d. The accuracy of the report

a. The external validity of the report

Experimental research studies tend to have very _______ internal validity but often have relatively _______ external validity. a. high; low b. low; high c. high; high d. low; low

a. high; low

Selection bias and individual differences are both potential problems dealing with the participants in a study. a. Identify which of these is a threat to internal validity and which is a threat to external validity, and describe how each one is a threat. b. Suppose that you were planning a research study in which the individuals who participate will be put into separate groups and each group will participate in one of the treatment conditions that are being compared. Explain how you could minimize the risk of selection bias

a. selection bias- threat to internal. individual differences-threat to external. (selection bias- experimental error that occurs when the participant pool isnt representative of the target population) b. randomly assign, large samp size

Which of the following is a general plan for implementing a research strategy? a. A research procedure b. A research design c. A research study d. A research protocol

b. A research design

Results from a research study suggest that a stop-smoking program is very successful. However, the participants who volunteered for the study were all highly motivated to quit smoking and the researcher is concerned that the same results may not be obtained for smokers who are not as motivated. What kind of validity is being questioned? a. Internal validity b. External validity c. Experimental validity d. Validity of measurement

b. External validity

2. How can sensitization threaten external validity of a study? a. The results may be limited to the novel situation of the research study. b. The results may be limited to individuals who have experienced a pretest. c. The results may be limited to individuals who have experienced a series of different treatment conditions. d. The results may be limited to participants taking on different subject roles.

b. The results may be limited to individuals who have experienced a pretest. !

The degree to which your research results generalize beyond the specific characteristics of your study refers to a. internal validity. b. external validity. c. general validity. d. reliability.

b. external validity.

. Cues given to participants about how they are expected to behave define which of the following terms? a. Reactivity b. Demand characteristics c. Experimenter bias d. Volunteer bias

b.Demand characteristics

Which of the following describes a variable that exists in a study but is not being directly examined? a. Independent b. Dependent c. Extraneous d. External

c. Extraneous

Explain how using college students as participants in a study may limit the external validity of a study's research findings.

college students are young, stressed, diff than adult population so you cant really extend studies' finding using college students to the adult population.

A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences. The participants in one group are primarily 8-year-old students and those in the second group are primarily 10-year-old students. In this study, age is potentially a(n) ________ variable. a. independent b. dependent c. extraneous d. confounding

d. confounding