research methods exam 3 (chapter 7,8,&10)
True or false: The repeated-measures and pretest-posttest BOTH use a baseline measurement.
False, repeated-measures does not
acquiescent response set
a response bias where a participant tends to agree with most, if not all, of the items on a scale, regardless of what they are asking (p.202)
error of central tendency
a response bias where a participant tends to avoid using the extreme response alternatives on a scale (p. 204)
response set
a response bias where a participant tends to give the same answer to most, if not all, of the items on a scale, regardless of what they are asking (p. 202)
area probability sampling
a sampling strategy where the researcher first divides the population into subgroups based on geographic area and then randomly selects participants from each geographical subgroup
summated ratings scale
a scale where a participant evaluates a series of statements using a set of predetermined response options; the responses are summed to represent the overall measurement for the variable; commonly referred to as a Likert scale (p. 198)
forced choice scale
a scale where a person must choose between only two response alternatives for each item (p. 204)
reverse-coding
a scoring strategy where more negative response alternatives are assigned higher numerical values and more positive response alternatives are assigned lower numerical values; used to minimize the potential for an acquiescent response set (p. 205)
behavior diary
a self-report data collection strategy where individuals record their behaviors and associated feelings as they occur
Cronbach's alpha
a statistic used to evaluate the internal consistency reliability of a scale; can range from 0 to 1.0
standard deviation
a statistic used to indicate how much, on average, an individual score differs from the arithmetic mean of scores; represented with the symbol SD
effect size
a statistical measure of the magnitude of the difference between the groups (p. 260)
t test for independent means (independent samples t-test
a statistical test comparing the groups' means to see if the groups differ to a degree that could not have just happened accidentally or by chance (p.260)
history
a threat to internal validity due to an external event potentially influencing participants' behavior during the study
instrumentation
a threat to internal validity due to changes in how a variable is measured during the course of a study
order effect
a threat to internal validity in a within-subjects design resulting from influence that the sequence of experimental conditions can have on the dependent variable
maturation
a threat to internal validity stemming from either long-term or short-term physiological changes occurring within the participants that may influence the dependent variable
testing effect
a threat to the internal validity of a study where participants' scores may change on subsequent measurements simply because of their increased familiarity with the instrument
what are the types of within-subjects designs?
pretest-posttest design longitudinal design and repeated-measures design
What is a benefit of experimental design?
the ability to identify cause and effect
independence
the assumption that each participant represents a unique and individual data point
statistically significant
the conclusion a researcher makes when the probability is that one hypothesis is unlikely to be incorrect given the data collected
face validity
the degree to which a scale appears, on the surface, to measure the intended variable (p. 207)
mundane realism
the degree to which a study parallels everyday situations in the real world
experimental realism
the degree to which a study participant becomes engrossed in the manipulation and truly influenced by it (p. 256)
variability
the degree to which individual measurements of a variable differ from one another
convergent validity
the degree to which scores on a measurement correspond to measures of other theoretically related variables; used to help establish the construct validity of a measurement (p. 208)
internal consistency reliability
the degree to which the individual items in a scale are interrelated (p.206)
content validity
the degree to which the items on a scale reflect the range off material that should be included in a measurement of the target variable (p. 207)
internal validity
the degree to which we can be confident that a study demonstrated that one variable had a causal effect on another variable
attrition (mortality)
the differential dropping out of participants from a study
predictive validity
the extent to which a measurement corresponds with a particular outcome or behavior that occurs in the future; used to establish the criterion validity of a measurement (p.208)
concurrent validity
the extent to which a measurement corresponds with an existing outcome or behavior; used to establish the criterion validity of a measurement (p.208)
discriminant validity
the extent to which a measurement does not correspond to measures of unrelated variables; used to help establish the construct validity of a measurement (p.208)
criterion validity
the extent to which a measurement relates to a particular outcome or behavior; established by evaluating the concurrent and predictive validity of the measurement (p. 208)
construct validity
the extent to which the scale actually measures the desired construct, established by evaluating the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement (p. 208)
experimental group
the group or condition that gets the key treatment in an experiment
null hypothesis
the hypothesis of no difference; usually the hypothesis the researcher is trying to statistically reject
baseline measurement
the participants' initial assessment at the beginning of a study
response rate
the proportion of the invited sample that actually completes a survey
What is the anatomy of a correlation?
1) + or - sign to show the direction of the relationship 2) r, the correlation symbol 3) the number between -1 and +1, showing strength of relationship. (p.222)
what are the three types of reliability?
1) internal consistency reliability 2) test-retest reliability 3) alternative form reliability
what is the anatomy of a t-test for independent means?
1) t test-symbol 2) degrees of freedom 3) actual t score 4) p = significance level 5) d = calculated effect size t(df)=___, p=___, d=__ (p.260)
As a restaurant server, Lonnie notices that his customers always say that their meal was "fine" whenever he asks them. Wanting to get a more accurate understanding of his customers' satisfaction with their dining experience, Lonnie decides to survey each of his dining parties. What is the best way for him to minimize potential yea-saying? A. Include some reverse-coded items in the survey B. Extensively pilot test his survey to establish its reliability C. Use a forced choice scale D. Avoid asking double-barreled questions
A.
As a speech pathologist, Flavia always wants to make sure her clients get the best treatment. One day a salesperson for a neurological diagnostic company comes to Flavia's office to share information about the effectiveness of a new diagnostic tool for stuttering to be compared with the current leading technique. The bar chart comparing the two groups looks impressive, but Flavia wants to see the statistical results. The appropriate statistic for comparing two groups is a _____. In those numbers, if Flavia wants to know how big the difference is between the two diagnostic tools, she would focus on the _____. A. t score; effect size B. Pearson r; p level C. p level; Pearson r D. t score; p level
A.
Darren and his friends are arguing about who has the worst part-time job. They decide to create a scale to assess how "bad" a job is so that they can objectively compare their different places of employment. This means that Darren and his friends will be doing what to settle their argument? A. They will be creating a standardized measure to quantify their workplace experiences. B. They will be conducting a correlational study of their workplace experiences. C. They will be developing open-ended questions to compare their work-place experiences. D. They will be creating a plan for systematically observing one another's workplaces.
A.
true or false: content validity is the degree to which a measurement relates to a particular outcome
FALSE, it is criterion validity
Arielle hypothesizes that the more often a mother interacts with her child, the less distressed the child will be when left with a stranger. This is an example of what type of hypothesis? A. A nondirectional hypothesis B. A directional hypothesis C. A null hypothesis D. A causal hypothesis
B.
To evaluate how similar individual measurements are to one another, one should look at the A. Cronbach's alpha associated with the measurement. B. standard deviation of the measurement. C. correlation between the measurements. D. reliability of the measurement.
B.
Whenever asked a closed-ended question, Julio refuses to use the endpoints in the provided set of response options. Julio is exhibiting which response bias? A. The acquiescent response set B. The error of central tendency C. Participant judgment bias D. Random response bias
B.
A college director of admissions is wondering if a new measure of college preparation would effectively identify students who will be successful in college. Which type of validity should the director consider in order to answer this question? A. Construct validity B. Content validity C. Criterion validity D. Face validity
C.
Bethany is interested in the types of stressors students tend to experience during their first year in college. She has six first-year students download a special app to their smartphone. When the app's alarm goes off, the students are supposed to stop and answer a few questions that appear on their smart-phone concerning what they are doing at that moment and the level of stress they are currently experiencing. The students do this several times a day for one week. Bethany is using a _____ to study her research question. A. within-subjects design B. pretest-posttest design C. behavioral diary D. longitudinal study
C.
what are the advantages of within-subjects designs?
Can address research questions involving change or relative comparisons Fewer research participants needed for adequate statistical power Individual differences are constant across comparison groups (p.314)
Chip is doing a study on gift-giving around the holidays. He finds that people who received lots of gifts for their birthdays during childhood expect more gifts as adults. In order for Chip to conclude a causal relation, he still needs to establish which of the following? A. Covariation B. Temporal precedence C. Correlation D. Elimination of extraneous variables
D.
Researchers use Cronbach's alpha to evaluate a scale's A. test-retest reliability. B. statistical significance. C. convergent validity. D. internal consistency reliability.
D.
Tyrone believes his psychology test was unfair because the questions did not appear to reflect what was discussed in class or in the textbook. Tyrone is upset because he believes the test has poor A. internal consistency reliability. B. construct validity. C. criterion validity. D. content validity.
D.
correlational study
a research approach that focuses on how variables relate to one another (p. 196)
Latin square design
a counterbalancing strategy where each experimental condition appears at every position in the sequence order equally often
extraneous variable
a factor other than the intended treatment that might change the outcome variable
alternative-form reliability (equivalent-form reliability)
a form of reliability that evaluates how well a measure correlates with a similar but different measure of the same variable (p. 207)
nondirectional hypothesis
a hypothesis that does not make a specific prediction as to how two variables are related (p.210)
directional hypothesis
a hypothesis that makes a specific prediction as to the exact nature of the relationship between two variables
research participant pool
a list of students maintained by a psychology department who will receive credit in their psychology class if they participate in a research study
correlation
a measure of the linear relationship between two variables. ranges from -1.0 to +1.0. represented by r (italicized) (p. 206)
manipulation check
a measure that helps determine whether the manipulation effectively changed or varied the independent variable across conditions (p.257)
scale
a measurement strategy for assigning a number to represent the degree to which a person possesses or exhibits the target variable (p. 197)
researcher notes
a place to keep track of anything out of the ordinary that happens during the study (p. 256)
statistical hypothesis testing
a procedure for evaluating the probability of obtaining one's results given the researcher's prediction; this probability is represented with the symbol p
survey
a quantitative research strategy for systematically collection information from a group of individuals; generalized to a larger group of interest (p. 196)
closed-ended question
a question participants answer using a predetermined set of response options (p.197)
open-ended question
a question participants answer using their own words (p. 197)
repeated-measures design
a type of within-subjects design where participants are exposed to each level of the independent variable and are measured on the dependent variable after each level; unlike the pretest-posttest design, there is no baseline measurement
pretest-posttest design
a within-subjects design where participants are measured before and after exposure to a treatment or intervention (p. 312)
Colleen was asked about her political attitudes on a survey in her sociology class. She did not want to seem politically overzealous so she indicated moderate levels throughout the rating scale. This is referred to as _________________
an error of central tendency
two-group design (simple experiment)
an experimental design that compares two groups or conditions and is the most basic way to establish cause and effect
Likert Scale
another name for a summated ratings scale (p. 198)
evaluation apprehension
anxiety or concern participants may experience about how their answers or behaviors may appear to the researcher
control group
any condition that serves as the comparison group for an experiment
random assignment
any method of placing participants in groups that is nonsystematic, non biased, and ensures each participant has an equal chance of being in any group
what are potential threats to internal validity?
attrition testing effects instrumentation history maturation
practice effect
changes in a participant's responses or behavior due to increased experience with the measurement instrument, not the variable under investigation
which two validities are used to establish criterion validity?
concurrent and predictive
sensitization effect
continued exposure to experimental conditions in a within-subjects study increasing the likelihood of hypothesis-guessing, potentially influencing participants' responses in later experimental conditions
Which two validities are used to establish construct validity?
convergent and discriminant
What are the 3 criteria for causality?
covariation, temporal precedence, and elimination of extraneous variables
fatigue effect
deterioration in measurements due to participants becoming tired, less attentive, or careless during the course of the study
carryover effect
exposure to earlier experimental conditions influencing responses to subsequent conditions
when would attrition be a threat to the study's internal validity?
if it related in some way to the treatment or independent variable (p. 315)
distractor items
items included in a scale to mislead participants as to the real purpose of the scale
experimental control
keeping everything between groups the same except for the one element you want to test in an experiment
what are the disadvantages of within-subjects designs?
potenial internal and external validity threats and concerns potenital logistical challenges (p.314)
test-retest reliability
the temporal stability of a measure (ability to produce similar measurements across different time periods) (p.206)
true or false: a correlation of 0 means there is no relationship
true
true or false: standard deviation is a measure of how much on average an individual score differs from the mean
true
true or false: the dependent variable is what is being measured in the study
true
Counterbalancing
using all potential treatment sequences in a within-subjects design
covariation
when changes in one variable are associated with changes in another variable
temporal precedence
when changes in the suspected cause (treatment) occur before changes in the effect (outcome)
