RDSA Exam 4

Which popular media headline does NOT suggest that a multiple regression has been used?

"Dog ownership decreases stress."

Which popular media headline might suggest that a multiple regression has been used?

"Vacations are important for happiness, even when length of vacation is controlled for."

When examining an association claim using a bar graph, an association is indicated by which of the following?

A difference in the height between the bars

If an experiment cannot be done for practical or ethical reasons related to manipulating the variable of interest, which of the following events should happen?

A longitudinal correlational design could be done instead

Which of the following is true of multiple regression?

Adding more predictors means research is controlling for more variables

Cross-lag correlations are NOT helpful for answering/addressing which rule of causation?

Are there third variables that could explain the relationship?

Based on her pattern of correlations, which of the following can Dr. Farah safely conclude?

Because Correlation 3 is significant but Correlation 4 is not, Dr. Farah has evidence that increased homework comes before academic achievement.

All of the following are true of betas and correlation coefficients EXCEPT:

Betas from an analysis can be compared with other beta coefficients from the same analysis just as correlation coefficients can

Imagine that Dr. Farah noted a cyclical, reinforcing relationship between homework and academic achievement. For this to be case, which of the following correlations would need to be significant?

Correlations 3 and 4

_________ can be examined in both simple bivariate designs and longitudinal designs

Cross-sectional correlation

Which of the following studies is an example of a longitudinal design?

Dr. Benson's study in which she measured people's spatial manipulation ability in August and measured their ability again in May after they had taken two semesters of art classes

A colleague of Dr. Farah's questions the internal validity of her causal claim. He is curious as to whether the relationship between homework and academic achievement could be explained by interest in one's classes. Specifically, he thinks that students who are interested in their classes will both do more homework and have higher GPAs. Which of the following is a solution to this possible threat to internal validity?

Dr. Farah should also measure students' interest in their class

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) The "not sig." in Dr. Guidry's findings indicates all of the following EXCEPT:

Effect size could not be calculated

When interrogating the construct validity of an association claim, which of the following statements is true?

How each variable was measured must be considered

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) In evaluating Dr. Guidry's study, you question the construct validity of the study. Which of the following questions would you be asking?

How reliable is the measure of daily stress?

In understanding "controlling for" a third variable, which of the following is a similar concept?

Identifying subgroups

Which of the following questions is NOT necessary to ask when interrogating statistical validity?

Is random assignment affecting the findings?

Why is it problematic when journalists only report on a single study?

It can lead people to value one study over decades of previous research

Which of the following is true of statistical significance testing?

It can lead to an incorrect conclusion about the population

Why is the statistical validity of a multiple regression design more complicated to interrogate than a bivariate design?

It is harder to detect outliers

A colleague of Dr. Farah's asks her why she did not simply conduct an experiment. Which of the following is a probable reason for Dr. Farah's choice not to conduct an experiment?

It would be unethical to manipulate whether students are told to do homework for a semester

Which of the following is true of the relationship between effect size and statistical significance?

Larger effect sizes are advantageous for statistical significance

Which of the following is a criterion variable in Dr. Finkel's study?

Marital satisfaction

Martin has found a correlation of r = .18 between the two variables of using prescription stimulants (e.g., Adderall) and frontal lobe activity. This correlation is more likely to be statistically significant if:

Martin used a larger number of subjects

Which of the following is a necessary component of a longitudinal design?

Measuring the same variables at two points in time

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) According to the benchmarks established by Cohen, what type of effect size has Dr. Guidry found for the association between number of friends and life satisfaction?

Medium

What is the relationship between moderators and external validity?

Moderators suggest that an association between two variables will extend to another variable

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry has decided to examine one of her relationships with a scatterplot to double-check for a curvilinear relationship. Which relationship will be most important for her to examine?

Number of friends one has and life satisfaction

Dr. Cheong's finding that the relationship between emotional well-being and PTSD symptoms is stronger for men than for women suggests which of the following?

Participant sex is a moderating variable

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) In determining whether the relationship between two of Dr. Guidry's variables was statistically significant, which of the following must be considered?

Sample size and effect size

Which of the following is the mediating variable in Dr. Cheong's hypothesis?

Social support

A researcher has examined a variety of correlational studies that point to a causal relationship between two variables. All of the studies have found a positive relationship between the two variables, but for ethical reasons, no experiments have been conducted. Using an approach of pattern and parsimony, the researcher may begin to make a causal claim by doing which of the following?

Specifying a mechanism or explanation for the causal relationship

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry realizes that the women in her study have more friends than the men in her study. This might result in which of the following?

Spurious associations due to subgroups

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .52. This number gives you information about which of the following?

Strength and direction of the relationship

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Considering Dr. Guidry's sample, which of the following statements is true?

The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly people in other large cities in the South

One of Dr. Finkel's colleagues argues that he should have considered years of marriage in his study, which is a known predictor of marital satisfaction. If Dr. Finkel conducts his study again and asks people to report on how many years they have been married as well, which of the following statements is true?

The beta value for number of arguments may no longer be statistically significant

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .52 and reports p < .05. The p value indicates which of the following?

The correlation is unlikely to have come from a zero association population

If an association study did not select people for the study by using random sampling, which of the following statements is true?

The findings should be replicated in another population

While reading about a research study, which of the following would tell you that an association claim is being made?

The measurement of two variables

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Which of the following conclusions can Dr. Guidry draw about the number of friends one has and life satisfaction based on her statistical analyses?

The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 4%.

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry submits her study for publication in a scientific journal. If one of the peer reviewers is concerned about the external validity of her study, which of the following is the most important aspect of Dr. Guidry's study to consider?

The random sampling technique used to recruit the participants

For a third variable to be plausible as the explanation in an established association, which of the following must also be true?

The third variable must be related to both of the measured variables in the original association

When evaluating the external validity of an association claim, which of the following is the most important issue to consider?

The way the sample was selected from the population

The pattern and parsimony approach to causation is a good example of which cycle in research?

Theory-data cycle

Why would a researcher interested in making a causal claim NOT do an experiment?

There may be ethical limitations of manipulating a variable

Which of the following is NOT true of finding a stronger effect size in an association claim?

There will be greater construct validity

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry creates a scatterplot of the relationship between the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. In doing so, she realizes there are three scores that seem to be very extreme and are nowhere near the other points on the scatterplot. Specifically, it appears that three people report very high levels of daily stress and very low levels of life satisfaction. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

These scores are more likely to have an effect because of the large sample size

Which of the following is true of moderators?

They can inform external validity

Which of the following is a reason why multiple regression designs are inferior to experimental design?

They can only control for third variables that are measured

All of the following are true of outliers EXCEPT:

They have the biggest effect when dealing with large sample sizes

Which of the following is NOT true of third variables and mediating variables?

Third variables can be detected using multiple regression techniques, but mediating variables cannot

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry finds that the relationship between the number of friends one has and life satisfaction is stronger for men than for women. Why might Dr. Guidry have looked for this diff

To examine her study's external validity

Why should journalists report on the previous body of research when writing about a newly published scientific study?

To highlight pattern and parsimony in scientific research

In which of the following cases might a small effect still be important?

When the sample is very large

Which of the following graph formats is the best way to examine an association claim between a categorical variable and a quantitative variable?

a bar graph

If a researcher is asking why the relationship between two variables exists, she is curious about which of the following?

a mediator

When examining an association in which one variable is categorical and one is quantitative, which of the following is NOT likely to be used?

a scatterplot

Which of the following words/symbols would indicate that you are reading results from a multiple-regression analysis?

beta

When examining the results of a multiple regression, which of the following should be compared to determine which predictor variables have the largest relationship to the criterion variable?

beta values

Bivariate association claims' failure to meet the criteria of temporal precedence and internal validity means that _________ cannot be_________.

causal claims; established

If a person is asking whether the variables in an association claim are measured appropriately, _________ is being interrogated.

construct validity

Adding several variables to a regression analysis can help do which of the following?

control for several variables at once

In a multiple regression design, _________ variable is to dependent variable as _________variable is to independent variable.

criterion; predictor

When conducting longitudinal research, researchers typically find _________ to be the most interesting

cross-lag correlations

A criterion variable is also known as a(n) _________ variable

dependent

The temporal precedence criterion is also known as the _________ problem.

directionality

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Considering Dr. Guidry's study, her results could most safely be generalized to which of the following groups?

elderly people

When determining mediation, how many steps are necessary?

five

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Comparing all three correlations, Dr. Guidry will be most able to accurately predict life satisfaction from the experience of daily stress because the relationship:

has the largest effect size

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Matt, Dr. Guidry's research assistant, is discussing the findings of the study with some other students. He claims that the experience of more daily stress causes people to have lower life satisfaction. Which of the following causal criteria did Matt meet?

internal validity

In considering the three criteria for causation, which of the following questions will Dr. Farah's study (multiple regression) NOT be able to address?

is there temporal precedence?

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .52. According to Cohen's benchmarks, the magnitude of this effect is:

large

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry finds that the relationship between the number of friends one has and life satisfaction is stronger for men than for women. In this study, sex (male or female) is considered a(n):

moderator

Dr. Guidry conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in Nashville, Tennessee (the state capital), located in the southern United States. Below are her findings. • Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = .57 (p = .01)• Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09, not sig. • Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 (p = .04) Dr. Guidry creates a scatterplot of the relationship between the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction. In doing so, she realizes there are three scores that seem to be very extreme and are nowhere near the other points on the scatterplot. Specifically, it appears that three people report very high levels of daily stress and very low levels of life satisfaction. Dr. Guidry should probably consider these scores _________.

outliers

The degree to which a good scientific theory provides the simplest explanation of some phenomenon is known as _________

parsimony

Such topics as the link between media and aggression and smoking and lung cancer have been studied with a variety of methods and by a variety of researchers and have all reached similar conclusions. This is an example of which of the following?

pattern and parsimony

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .52 and reports p < .05. The p is a _________

probability estimate

Why are curvilinear relationships hard to detect with correlation coefficients (r)?

r always looks for the best straight line to fit the data

If there is not a full range of scores on one of the variables, this is known as _________

restriction of range

Statistical significance depends on which of the following?

sample size and effect size

Which of the following means a study used a bivariate correlational design?

the presence of measured variables