Research Methods in Psychology chapter 6

Judy writes a survey to assess how much people worry. Her survey has 20 questions that people can rate their level of agreement to on a seven-point Likert scale. All of the questions are worded so that higher responses will indicate a higher level of worry. After having 100 people complete her survey, she finds that a lot of respondents often respond to all of the questions by choosing only the "strongly agree" option. How could she improve the construct validity of her survey? She could include reverse-worded items. She could encourage people to be as honest as possible while filling out the survey. She could use the worry questionnaire on a group of people with anxiety disorders. She could change the number of response options.

a

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which of the following would be an example of an open-ended question? What computer games have you played? On a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much), rate how much you like and play your favorite game. Which is truer of you? a) I have little interest in computer games or b) I would miss computer games if I couldn't play anymore. On a scale of 1 (Strongly agree) to 5 (Strongly disagree) scale, rate the following statement: Computer games are a great pastime.

a

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. Both observers are very interested in the topic because they have been struck by bicycles. Although the interrater reliability is high, what threat to construct validity should concern Professor Ibrahim? observer bias selection bias observer effects reactivity

a

Which of the following is true about open-ended questions? They provide rich data, but they can be time-consuming for researchers because the responses need to be coded. They completely lack construct validity. They are more efficient than asking forced-choice questions. They are the most common format for psychologists to ask questions.

a

Is it ethical for psychological researchers to observe people in a public place? Yes, because as long as it is for the sake of science, it is ethical to observe people in public or private places. Yes, because in those settings people can reasonably expect their behavior to be public, not private. No, because the researchers will have to individually identify the people they observe. No, because informed consent cannot be obtained from those being observed.

b

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, and she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Do you oppose not cutting down this tree?" A problem with this question is that it is a _____________. double-barreled question negatively worded question forced choice question leading question

b

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which question is a double-barreled question? What computer games have you played? On a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much), rate how much you like and play your favorite game. Which is truer of you? a) I have little interest in computer games or b) I would miss computer games if I couldn't play anymore. On a scale of 1 (Strongly agree) to 5 (Strongly disagree) scale, rate the following statement: Computer games are a great pastime.

b

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. When the observations began, the observers noticed that bicyclists slowed down when they neared the observers. How could this reactivity be avoided? The observers could use a masked design. The observers could make unobtrusive observations by hiding. The observers could use a blind study design. The observers could use random assignment.

b

The following item appears on a survey: "On a five-point scale, where 1 is Strongly disagree, 2 is disagree, 3 is Neither agree nor disagree, 4 is Agree, and 5 is Strongly agree, rate the following statement:"I look forward to coming to class". What type of question format is being used? forced choice Likert scale semantic differential open-ended

b

The following problematic question appears on a survey: "Please indicate whether the following statement is true or false for you: My cell phone is new and has all the latest features". How could this question be changed to improve its construct validity? change the wording so that it is positively worded, not a double-negative split the question into two so that it is not double-barreled change the order of "is new" and "has all the latest features" so to address problematic question ordering use more neutral language so that it is not a leading question

b

Which of the following is NOT a way to control for socially desirable responding? include unrelated items such as "I always help someone in need" that reveal a person to be high on socially desirable responding, and consider excluding their data remove the neutral option from the survey so that a person must choose one side or the other include filler items on the survey that mask the true purpose of a sensitive survey use a special, computer-based technique such as the Implicit Association Test to find implicit opinions

b

Which of the following is true about self-reports? They are always less reliable and valid than observational data. They are valuable sources of information when researchers are interested in a person's internal experiences. They are always biased by socially desirable responding. They are superior to observational data because they aren't susceptible to observer bias.

b

Joseph wants to find out what customers at his restraint think about the food and the service. He creates a survey for diners to fill out at the end of their meal with three questions: 1) Please rate the food from 1-10, where 1 is yucky and 10 is delicious; 2) Please rate the service from 1-10 were 1 is unacceptable and 10 is outstanding. What kind of question format is Joseph using? open-ended Likert scale semantic differential forced choice

c

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which is a forced-choice question? What computer games have you played? On a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much), rate how much you like and play your favorite game. Which is truer of you? a) I have little interest in computer games or b) I would miss computer games if I couldn't play anymore. On a scale of 1 (Strongly agree) to 5 (Strongly disagree) scale, rate the following statement: Computer games are a great pastime.

c

Professor Meyer gives the students in his class a mid-semester feedback survey asking them how stressed out they are by the assignments in his class. The majority of his class report that they feel "extremely stressed." What might explain this? socially desirable responding faking good faking bad reactivity

c

When people are asked why they made a certain choice, they ______________. are always able to tell you why they made that choice will refuse to tell you why they made a certain choice because they don't know will tell you why they think they made that choice, but they may not be accurate at identifying the true reason for their choice will lie to you about why they made that choice

c

Which of the following is a method to control for observer bias? use unobtrusive observations wait for the participants to become used to the observer before collecting data use a masked or blind study design measure the traces of behavior

c

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, and she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Would you be in favor of brutally cutting down this majestic tree to make way for a stupid bike path?" A problem with this question is that it is a _______________. double-barreled question negatively worded question forced-choice question leading question

d

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, and she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Would you be in favor of brutally cutting down this majestic tree to make way for a stupid bike path?" How could this question be changed to improve its construct validity? change the wording so that it is positively worded, not a double-negative split the question into two so that it is not double-barreled add another option such as "or would you favor leaving the poor tree alone" to make the question forced-choice use more neutral language so that it is not a leading question

d

Judy writes a survey to assess how much people worry. Her survey has 20 questions that people can rate their level of agreement to on a seven-point Likert scale. All of the questions are worded so that higher responses will indicate a higher level of worry. After having 100 people complete her survey, she finds that a lot of respondents often respond to all of the questions by choosing only the "strongly agree" option. What is this kind of responding called? faking good faking bad fence sitting acquiescence

d

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which question uses a Likert-type scale? What computer games have you played? On a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 5 (Very much), rate how much you like and play your favorite game. Which is truer of you? a) I have little interest in computer games or b) I would miss computer games if I couldn't play anymore. On a scale of 1 (Strongly agree) to 5 (Strongly disagree) scale, rate the following statement: Computer games are a great pastime.

d

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. After completing the observational study, Professor Ibrahim sends a survey out to the entire campus about bicycle safety, and asks all bicyclists to respond. He finds a large difference between their reports of how safely they ride and what his observers found. What is the most likely cause of the self-report ratings being inconsistent with the observational data? The bicyclists were probably fence-sitting on the self-report survey. The question order on the self-report survey probably affected the responses on the self-report survey. The bicyclists were probably faking bad on the self-report survey. The bicyclists were probably responding in a socially desirable way on the self-report survey.

d

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. Initially, the observers can't agree about what is dangerous behavior. Professor Ibrahim refines his codebooks to clearly define the rating scales and retrains the observers. What is he addressing by doing this? reactivity socially desirable responding acquiescence the reliability of the measurement

d

Which of the following describes a "fence-sitting" response to a survey? responding to the questions on a survey by consistently selecting all the "yes" or "strongly agree" responses responding to the questions on a survey by consistently selecting all the "no" or "strongly disagree" responses responding in a socially desirable way responding to a controversial question on a survey by selecting the response right in the middle

d

Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that researchers can avoid reactivity in observational studies? use unobtrusive observations wait for the participants to become used to the observer before collecting data measure the traces of behavior use a masked or blind study design

d