Research Methods Chapter 11

Which of the following designs maintains the advantages of the within-subjects design for the variables that can be manipulated between subjects?

A mixed design

Which of the following is also called a split-plot design?

A mixed design

Identify the possible consequences of using naturally formed groups in a pretest-posttest design format.

A researcher's conclusions regarding the effect of a quasi-independent variable would be weak. The between-subjects component would involve a quasi-independent variable.

Nested designs are not practical in situations in which a factorial design is not practical.

False

Identify the reasons for subject mortality in a longitudinal design/study. (Check all that apply.)

Participants find the study offensive. Participants have moved to new places. Participants lost interest in the study.

Identify the types of developmental designs. (Check all that apply.)

The cross-sectional design The longitudinal design

Which of the following designs permits researchers to see developmental changes clearly and as they occur, thereby making the design worth the rather large investment of time it takes to collect data?

The longitudinal design

Which of the following are true about experimental designs?

They help determine whether the links between variables are causal ones. They allow one to identify whether relationships exist between variables.

Pretest-posttest

Within-subjects factor

In a nonequivalent control group design, the control group is nonequivalent because it _____.

comes from a different community

In the pretest-posttest design, Campbell and Stanley's second remedy to the pretest sensitization problem is the ____

elimination of the pretest

At the time of interpreting results from quasi-experimental designs, researchers should _____.

exercise caution in terms of accompanied changes

According to your text, subject mortality reduces the ______ validity of a study?

external

True or false: In developmental designs, interpretations that an individual makes from his or her data should center on causal relationships between age and behavior change as age cannot be assigned to participants randomly.

false

True or false: The cohort-sequential design eliminates generation effects.

false

In a longitudinal study, the results from observing the same participants that over time may get affected by other factors tend to arise and become confounded with age. According to Campbell and Stanley, this is known as a(n) _____ that affects the internal validity of the study.

history effect

During a research study, a researcher can effectively subtract out the influence of a covariate from the dependent variable by _____.

including a covariate in the experimental design

A researcher is able to compare levels of performance before the introduction of his or her change to levels of performance after the introduction of the change by using a _____.

pretest-posttest design

When evaluating the impact of a new policy on the productivity of factory workers, you would most likely use a

pretest-posttest design.

Designs that resemble experimental designs but use quasi-independent variables rather than true independent variables are known as pure _____ ______ designs

quasi-experimental

Adding _____ to an experimental design increases the number of groups of subjects required and adds complexity to the analysis of the data

quasi-experimental variables

In an interrupted time series design, the naturally occurring event is a(n) _____ variable.

quasi-independent

A psychological researcher compares the effectiveness of two types of academic programs on students. He includes student gender to determine whether male and female students tend to respond differently to the two programs. In this example, gender is a(n) _____.

quasi-independent variable

The simplest practical pretest-posttest design includes two independent groups of participants, _____ and _____.

the experimental group; the control group

To evaluate the internal validity of one's study, Campbell and Stanley suggest _____.

the nonequivalent control group design

True or false: One can't use archival data in a time series design.

False

Identify a solution to the problem of carryover in the context of longitudinal research.

Use different forms of a test to evaluate behavior at different times.

Identify the situations in which it is advisable for researchers to use pretest-posttest designs. (Check all that apply.)

When evaluating the effects of some change in the environment on subsequent performance When assessing the effect of changes in a particular environment When testing the effects of an experimental manipulation on behavior

Generation effects are a major problem when _____.

a cross-sectional design is used to evaluate age-related changes in behavior of participants of quite disparate ages

In a nonequivalent control group, the validity of the design will be compromised if _____.

a researcher's two groups differ on some important variable before the study begins

The pretest-posttest design differs from the quasi-experimental strategies in that the pretest-posttest design is _____.

a true experimental design that resembles a standard within-subjects design

One can conceptualize equivalent time samples design in one's experiment by _____.

administering and withdrawing treatment repeatedly

A major drawback of quasi-experimental research is that

you have no control over potential confounding variables.

Identify the research design that helps a researcher manipulate the independent variable or even simply take advantage of a naturally occurring event to establish clear causal relationships among variables.

A quasi-experimental design

Treatment versus no treatment

Between-subjects factor

How does a researcher conceptualize the nonequivalent control group design in his or her experiment?

By including a time series component along with a control group that is not exposed to the treatment

In the context of experimental designs, what is the effect of a researcher randomizing the effects of any remaining extraneous variables across treatments?

He or she can produce error variance that obscures the effects of his or her independent variables.

A researcher is interested in evaluating the changes in intelligence with age. He decides to approach the problem by using a cross-sectional design. In this case, which of the following actions should the researcher take.

He should create groups based on the chronological ages of his participants at the time of his study.

Identify an advantage of including a quasi-independent variable in an experiment.

It allows to segregate data into groups of participants who respond in a similar fashion to experimental manipulation.

In the context of Campbell and Stanley's two-group pretest-posttest design, which of the following is the purpose of the additional groups in the Solomon four-group design?

It allows to test for any possible sensitization effects of the pretest.

Identify a true statement about a nested design.

It combines within-subjects and between-subjects components.

Which of the following is true of the two-group pretest-posttest design in research according to Campbell and Stanley (1963)?

It does not preclude problems with external validity.

Which of the following statements is true of including a covariate in an experimental design

It reduces error variance.

Identify the requirements of experimental designs

Randomize the effects of any remaining extraneous variables across treatments. Allow for manipulation of the suspected causal variable.

Identify a true statement about quasi-experimental designs.

Researchers have little or no control over when an event will occur when using naturally occurring events as quasi-independent variables

According to Schaie, which of the following combines the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs and lets an individual evaluate the degree of contribution made by factors such as generation effects?

The cohort-sequential design

Identify the statement that best explains cross-generational effects.

The conclusion drawn from the longitudinal study of a particular generation may not apply to another generation.

Identify the types of quasi-experimental designs

The equivalent time samples design The nonequivalent control group design Time series design

In which of the following designs is a group of participants followed over a period of time—weeks, months, or years?

The longitudinal design

In the nonequivalent control group design,

a time series component is included along with a control group that is not exposed to your treatment.

A drawback of quasi-experimental designs is that they do not _____.

allow individuals to control the variables influencing behavior in an experiment

A mixed design allows psychological researchers to _____.

assess the effects of variables that cannot be manipulated effectively within subjects

If a researcher nests only one group of subjects within each independent variable's level, the researcher will _____.

be unable to identify whether the direct variables account for differences between groups across treatment levels

A mixed design is one that includes a(n) _____

between-subjects factor and a within-subjects factor

To ensure internal validity, one must include _____ in one's experiment.

control groups

The main disadvantage of including a quasi-independent variable in a design is that _____

correlational variables tend to look exactly like experimental variables in the statistical analysis of the data

When participants differ on some variable, a researcher can statistically control the effects of this variable by measuring the value of the variable for each participant along with the value of a dependent variable. This additional, correlational variable is called a(n)

covariate

According to Shaffer, longitudinal research has the problem of _____.

cross-generational effects

A cohort-sequential developmental design includes

cross-sectional and longitudinal components.

If a researcher is interested in evaluating the changes in intelligence with age, he should approach the problem by using a _____.

cross-sectional design

A covariate is expected to covary with the _____ of an experimental design.

dependent variable

One can use the pretest-posttest design to _____.

determine the main effect of within-subjects and between-subject factors and the interaction between them

If a researcher is interested in evaluating changes in behavior that relate to changes in a person's chronological age, he or she should use _____.

developmental designs

In the context of the analogy of agricultural research for psychological research, within a given plot, subplots represent _____.

different levels of the within-subjects variable to which all members of that group are exposed

One advantage of quasi-experimental designs is that they allow one to _____.

evaluate the impact of a quasi-independent variable under naturally occurring conditions

In the longitudinal design, a researcher conducts his or her study by _____.

following a single group of participants over some time period

The term _____ effect refers to the influence of generational differences in experience, which become confounded with the effects of age.

generation

The influence of generational differences in experience, which become confounded with the effects of age per se, is termed as

generation effect

A serious problem that exists with cross-sectional designs that may preclude drawing clear conclusions from the observed differences in intelligence test scores across age groups is known as _____.

generation effects

In agricultural research, a field is divided into several plots in a split-plot design. Different plots receive different levels of a given treatment. Each plot is then split into subplots, and each subplot receives a different level of a second treatment. Using this analogy in psychological research, each "plot" represents a _____.

group of subjects who all receive the same level of the between-subjects variable

In an interrupted time series design, what can a researcher do if he or she knows that an event is going to happen?

he researcher can make observations prior to the introduction of the quasi-independent variable and continue observations afterward.

In a pretest-posttest design, since it is not possible to control the carryover effects by counterbalancing the pretest and posttest administrations, it leads to problems with _____.

internal validity

In a quasi-experimental design, because the researcher has little or no control over the quasi-independent variable and other related variables, confounding variables will probably cloud any causal inferences drawn from the data collected. This phenomenon is likely to affect _____ of the research.

internal validity

A variation on the basic time series design in which a researcher charts changes in behavior as a function of some naturally occurring event is known as a(n) _____.

interrupted time series design

Dr. Jones conducts an experiment on visual perception. He has reason to believe that the gender of a subject is an important factor in perception. Consequently, he records the gender of his subjects and includes it as a variable in his data analysis. Assume that he finds a significant effect of gender in his data analysis. Dr. Jones is most likely to conclude that the gender of the subject

is correlated with changes in perception.

Dr. Gomez studies the development of emotions by following a group of 100 participants over a period of 10 years, taking measures every year. The design being employed in this scenario is the

longitudinal design.

Subject mortality, testing effects, and the cross-generational effects are drawbacks associated with the

longitudinal design.

Subject mortality reduces the external validity of a(n) _____.

longitudinal study

Researchers can implement time series design in their experiment by _____

making several observations of behavior over time prior to and immediately after introducing their treatment

The validity of the nonequivalent control group design will be compromised if a researcher's two groups differ on some important variable before the study begins. This problem can be minimized if the researcher _____.

matches his or her group as closely as possible prior to his or her study

If a researcher can test only one group under each level of an independent variable, he or she should not _____.

nest groups of subjects within levels of the independent variable

In situations where a factorial design is not practical, a(n) _____ may provide the required information.

nested design

Johnson is conducting an experiment on the effect of a safety campaign on the number of worker injuries. He wants to establish that any positive effect of the campaign is not specific to one industry, so he includes several companies in his study, representing different industries. He demonstrates the effect of the safety campaign across many types of job within each company. In this case, Johnson is most likely using a _____.

nested design

n situations where a factorial design is not practical, a(n) _____ may provide the required information.

nested design

You have six different classes available for your experiment. You expose the first three classes to one level of your independent variable and the remaining three classes to the other level. In this experiment, you are

nesting classes under different levels of your independent variable.

Edwin, a researcher, wants to test the participants of his study during their regularly scheduled class hours. He tested three classes under each of his experimental conditions, which are independent variables. This is an example of _____.

nesting groups of subjects

In time series designs,

observations are made before and after the introduction of a treatment.

One of the advantages of the cross-sectional research design is that it permits an individual to _____.

obtain useful developmental data in a relatively short period of time

You conduct a quasi-experiment to assess the impact of the state raising the speed limit from 55 to 65 miles per hour. You find out that there were more accidents at higher speeds. Although it is tempting to say that raising the speed limit caused higher accident rates, you must be careful because

other variables (for example, cheaper gasoline or the season of the year during which the change was instituted) may also be affecting accident rates.

Subject mortality, a problem in one of the developmental designs, arises when

participants do not complete a study because they have lost interest in the study.

In a cohort-sequential developmental you can identify potential generation effects by comparing

participants from different cohort groups of the same age.

A correlational variable that resembles an independent variable in an experiment is a(n) _____

quasi-independent variable

If a covariate is discrete and has relatively few levels, it should be treated as a(n) _____

quasi-independent variable

In developmental design, the age of a participant must be used either as a purely correlational variable or as a(n) _____ as it cannot be assigned to participants randomly.

quasi-independent variable

In the context of experimental designs, holding extraneous variables constant can _____.

reduce the generality of one's findings

Minus the pretest, the pretest-posttest design represents a(n) _____ experiment.

simple two-group

In a nested design

subjects receiving different levels of the between-subjects factor do not receive the same levels of the within-subjects variable.

By including a covariate in your experimental design, you can effectively

subtract out the influence of a covariate from your dependent variable.

A nested design is likely to be useful when a researcher wants to _____.

test subjects in large groups rather than individually

Experimental designs that include a quasi-independent variable let researchers _____.

test the generality of their findings across the levels of the variable

Including a quasi-independent variable in your research allows you to

test the generality of your findings across the levels of the quasi-independent variable and reduce error variance by segregating the data into groups of participants who responded in similar fashion to the manipulation.

If a researcher wants to implement a pretest-posttest design in an experiment, he or she _____.

tests participants on a dependent measure before introducing a treatment and then tests the participants after introducing the treatment

In a cross-sectional design, generation effects pose a problem because

the fact that participants in different age groups were born in different decades may provide an alternative explanation for the observed effects.

The problem of external validity could be serious if subject mortality is due to _____.

the nature of a study

The main disadvantage of including a quasi-independent variable in an experimental design is that

the results obtained are often misinterpreted.

A researcher measures a tuberculosis patient's health progress on a weekly basis for several weeks and then introduces a new drug to check the patient's response to it. After introducing the new treatment, he measures the patient's progress again on a weekly basis and makes a contrast between preintervention and postintervention progress. In this example, the researcher has used a _____.

time series design

True or false: A cross-sectional design would be appropriate when the research participants are closer in age.

true

True or false: Covariates typically take the form of continuous variables or of discrete variables having a relatively large number of levels.

true

True or false: Using the Solomon four-group design, a researcher can determine whether the pretest in an experiment alters the effect of a treatment.

true

Which of the following statements is true of including a covariate in an experimental design?

It reduces error variance.

Identify an advantage of using nested designs in research.

A researcher can increase the generality of his results.

Identify the possible consequences of using naturally formed groups in a pretest-posttest design format. (Check all that apply.)

The between-subjects component would involve a quasi-independent variable. A researcher's conclusions regarding the effect of a quasi-independent variable would be weak

Changes in performance due to the effects of repeated testing in a longitudinal study are most likely a type of _____.

carryover effects

In a quasi-experimental strategy related to the time series design, a researcher administers and withdraws a treatment repeatedly. This design is called the

equivalent time samples desgin

The levels of the within-subjects factor that a given between-subjects group receives differ across the groups in a(n)

nested design

The loss of participants from a research is known as

subject mortality