psychology a - unit 2: scientific inquiry

which statement accurately describes the meaning of a valid study?

a valid study is one which has accurate results true to its original aims.

the cross-sequential method combines which characteristics of cross-sectional and longitudinal methods? select all that apply.

following the same groups over a period of time observing more than one age group in the population

microgenetic research methods are best for studies that require _[blank]_.

frequent observations to record the small yet significant changes that may occur over a shorter period of time

which situation describes a focus group?

gathering a group of teens from a local high school to "pick their brains" about their opinions on a topic

qualitative research is a scientific method for _[blank]_.

gathering attitudes or preferences

measures of central tendency _[blank]_. select all that apply.

include the mean, median, or mode indicate the values that are most common or typical of a set of data

dr. martell is conducting research on a new medication. the results of the study found that participants who used the medication were less depressed. in another study with a similar design and similar participants, another set of researchers used direct replication to come up with the same results. why is direct replication important? select all that apply.

it can check for dishonest practices. it builds confidence in the testing process. it can help ensure research findings are true.

which statement describes standard deviation?

it shows the average distance of each score from the mean of a dataset.

match each key term with the correct definition.

statistical significance : the likelihood that a relationship between variables did not occur purely by chance effect size : the measure of strength between variables correlation coefficient : the statistical value that describes the linear relationship between two variables

match each term with its definition.

survey : a collection of data, self-reported by a large, random sample of participants case study : an in-depth examination of a single person, group, or event focus group : a guided discussion, typically involving 4 to 10 people, to gather opinions on a particular topic

which option refers to quantitative research methods?

survey, experiment, correlation study

a cross-sectional method is a type of research design _[blank]_.

that studies multiple individuals in different stages of life at one time

the mean of a data set is _[blank]_.

the average value

what is statistical significance?

the likelihood that a relationship between variables does not occur purely by chance

what is the mode of a data set?

the most frequently occurring value

dr. martell is conducting research on a new medication. the results of the study found that participants who used the medication were less depressed. using systematic replication in another study with a different design and a different set of participants, researchers came up with the same results. how do the two studies show external validity?

they show that the results of the test can be applied to other populations.

which are examples of measures of dispersion in a data set?

variance, range, standard deviation

what is used to provide a meaningful summary of data?

descriptive statistics

dr. martell is conducting research on a new medication. the results of the study found that participants who used the medication were less depressed. however, he also found that these participants were also exercising and meditating. in a similar study, other researchers were unable to replicate his results. what were the problems with his study? select all that apply.

dr. martell's study lacked reliability. his study could not be repeated by other researchers. dr. martell's study lacked internal validity. he was unable to indicate for certain that the study results were due to the medication or to the exercise and meditation.

milo was interested in how other people his age dealt with stress at school so he surveyed them individually. many respondents reported that they would work for hours on homework, staying up until after midnight working on school assignments. then they would wake up at 6 a.m. for school. the same students also said they often felt depressed about how they were performing in their classes. what are some conclusions milo might make from this data? select all that apply.

a lack of sleep could result in depression. too much homework could result in depression.

in this graph, what does the pattern of data points indicate?

a positive correlation between number of hours playing violent video games and number of acts of aggression

how does replication of a test help show its reliability? select all that apply.

allows for new discoveries checks for dishonest results checks that the study's design was good

dr. matthews is conducting a study on the relationship between social media and depression. her results suggest that there is a moderate relationship between time spent on social media and depressive symptoms. what statistical calculation would she have used to arrive at these results?

correlation coefficient

lesson 7

data analysis

what is the difference between internal and external validity in psychological testing? select all that apply.

external validity means that test results apply to the wider population. internal validity means that test results are due to the independent variable and no other factor.

which design could be used to collect data about the same group of individuals over a number of years?

longitudinal

lesson 8

methods and perspectives of development

malia is interested in observing cognitive development in children and wants to design a study that will allow her to observe small changes in how 6-year-olds learn to solve problems. she plans to collect data from each child every week for three months. which design is her best choice?

microgenetic

match each term with its definition.

quantitative data : represents numbers and facts that can be measured qualitative data : represents attitudes and opinions that can be observed but not measured

what is the difference between quantitative and qualitative information?

quantitative information typically involves numerical data, while qualitative information involves non-numerical data.

a psychologist is interested in a study that finds a strong link between nutrition and well-being in american residents. how could this psychologist repeat the study using systematic replication?

repeating the study on people who live in the caribbean to see if it produces the same results

lesson 5

research methods

lesson 6

research procedures

which of the following is the correct order of the research process?

research question, hypothesis, data collection and analysis, reflection

which scenario describes the step of data collection?

researchers conduct an experiment to gather information about how subjects respond to changes in an independent variable.

a psychologist reads about an experimental study of a new treatment for depression and notices that it was only tested on men. how could the psychologist use systematic replication to repeat the study?

she could repeat the study on a mixed group of men and women to see if the results of the depression treatment are the same.

according to the graph, what is the type of correlation between variables?

zero