Chapter 1

Which of the following is the best description of the scientific method?

A circular process that leads to a tentative answer

Russell is shopping for a new car, and when he walks into the showroom, he notices huge monitors playing endorsements by famous athletes. He recognizes that reliance on the method of ____ is a common advertising ploy.

Authority. Advertisers often rely on famous individuals to endorse products, thus using the method of authority.

How did the researchers measure sleep in this study?

Daily sleeping time. each evening, students recorded time slept the night before.

Jared relies on looking out the window to decide what the day's weather will be like. Jared is relying on which method?

Empiricism. Relying on one's own sensory input involves relying on the method of empiricism.

Which method of acquiring knowledge can be time consuming and sometimes even dangerous?

Empiricism. The method of empiricism can be time consuming and sometimes even dangerous.

What kind of reasoning uses a few specific observations to produce a general hypothesis?

Inductive reasoning

Jan decides to play the lottery because she just feels like it is her day to win. She picks the numbers based on those that feel right. Jan is relying on which of the following for her decisions?

Intuition. Basing decisions on what feels right or wrong is relying on intuition.

One of the steps in the research process is to decide which research strategy to use. One possible research strategy for a researcher to use is an experiment. In an experiment, one variable in the study is manipulated to see whether it causes a change in another variable. Did Gillen-O'Neel et al. (2013) use the experimental strategy?

No. The researchers in this study did not manipulate sleep time to see how it affected academic problems. Instead, the researchers merely measured each of these variables according to reported data from the participants.

In logical reasoning, ____ statements describe facts or assumptions that are presumed to be true.

Premise. In logical reasoning, premise statements describe facts or assumptions that are presumed to be true.

Angela likes to try to reason things out and often creates lists of pros and cons to aid her in making decisions. Angela is using the method of:

Rationalism. Reasoning things through logically is characteristic of the method of rationalism.

What is meant by saying that "science is objective"?

Scientific answers are obtained without influence by the researcher's biases or beliefs.

In this study, which group recorded the time spent studying?

Students recorded how much time they spent studying outside of school each evening.

Which of the following is a distinction between science and pseudoscience? a. Pseudoscience tends to dismiss or refuse to accept negative results. b. Pseudoscience tends to rely on testimonials and selected results. c. Pseudoscience tends to treat criticism as a personal attack. d. All of the other options are differences between science and pseudoscience.

d. All of the other options are differences between science and pseudoscience.

A hypothesis is a __________ statement and a prediction is a __________ statement.

general; specific

The first step in the research process is

identifying a topic area and searching the literature to find a research question.

The results from an experiment allow researchers to conclude that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables. On the other hand, a nonexperimental study simply allows researchers to conclude that a relationship exists. What conclusion was made in the Gillen-O'Neel et al. (2013) study?

increased study time is related to an increase in academic problems.. By the 10th and 12th grades, study time increasingly became associated with academic problems. Specifically, days with greater than average study time tended to be followed by days with more academic problems.

Sara relies on news from a network known to have an extremely liberal slant, and Constance relies on news from a network known to have an extremely conservative slant. No matter what has occurred, it seems as though their takes are diametrically opposed and completely irreconcilable. Both Sara and Constance are relying on the method of:

Authority. Relying on a perceived expert for information is characteristic of the method of authority.

Deeply religious individuals may defer to their religious leaders for all types of decisions, including those that seem unrelated to religion. This method of acquiring knowledge, called the method of faith, is a variant of which method?

Authority. The method of faith is a variant of the method of authority.

Upon hearing that one of her favorite actors has died, Natasha worries out loud about who the other two deaths will involve, as she is certain that deaths come in threes. Natasha's assertion that deaths come in threes is based on which of the following?

Tenacity. Natasha's assertion is based on a superstition and thus represents the method of tenacity.

A researcher conducts a study in which 50 college students are assigned to different treatments and tested. In the study, the students are called

research participants.

Which of the following is typical of quantitative research? A. It involves measuring variables for each individual. B. It usually involves numerical scores. C. It uses statistical analysis to summarize and interpret results. D. All of the above.

D. All of the above.

A drawback of the method of tenacity is that it:

Does not allow for the correction of erroneous ideas. The method of tenacity does not allow for the correction of erroneous ideas.

One of the steps in the research process is to decide which research design to use. One possible research design is the between-subjects design, which involves comparing different groups of individuals. Another type of design is the within-subjects design, where the participants are repeatedly measured, often at different times. Which type of research design did Gillen-O'Neel et al. (2013) use?

Within-subjects design. The study begins with a large group of 9th-grade students. These students are measured in terms of the amount of sleeping time, studying time, and academic problems. Then, these same students are measured again in 10th grade. Another two years later, they are measured again in 12th grade.