Learning Checks

A researcher measures mood for a group of participants who have listened to happy music for 20 minutes and for a second group who have listened to sad music for 20 minutes. If different mood scores are obtained for the two groups, the researcher would like to conclude that music influences mood. However, the happy music group was tested in a room painted yellow and the sad music group was in a room painted dark brown abd the researcher is concerned that the room color and not the music may influence mood scores. What kind of validity is being questioned? a. internal validity b. external validity c. experimental validity d. validity of measurement

a. Internal validity

How do studies using the experimental research strategy differ from other types of research? a. Only experiments can demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables b. Only experiments involve comparing two or more groups of scores c. Only experiments can demonstrate that relationships exist between variables and provide a description of relationship d. Only experiments can demonstrate a bidirectional relationship between variables

a. Only experiments can demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the descriptive strategy? a. What is the average # of texts a typical adolescent sends in a month? b. Is there a relationship between the # of texts that adolescents send each month and the # of pages read for fun? c. Does decreasing the # of texts sent by adolescents cause an increase in # of pages read for fun? d. none of the above

a. What is the average # of texts a typical adolescent sends in a month?

A researcher would like to examine the relationship between self-esteem and academic performance for high school students. Instead of a correlational sudy, what other kind could the researcher use? a. a differential study comparing academic performance scores for a group of high self-esteem students and a group of low self-esteem students b. an experimental study comparing academic performance scores for a group of high self-esteem students and a group of low self-esteem students c. a descriptive study examining self-esteem for a group of students who are in the top 25% of their high school class d. none of the above

a. a differential study comparing academic performance scores for a group of high self-esteem students and a group of low self-esteem students

Dr. Near conducts an experiment on memory using participants above the age of 65. Although there are millions of people above the age of 65, she selects a group of 25 to participate in the experiment. What name is given to the group of 25? a. a sample b. an accessible sample c. a population d. a subgroup

a. a sample

What name is given to the group of individuals from which researchers actually select participants for research studies? a. accessible population b. target population c. representative population d. real population

a. accesible population

Which of the following was not mentioned as a safeguard against fraud? a. Careful review by the IRB b. potential replication of the research c. peer review of the research report d. the consequences of being found guiltyt of fraud

a. careful review by the IRB

A researcher conducts a survey to determine the average # of text messages that college students send or receive during a typical 1-hour class. Which research stategy is being used? a. descriptive research strategy b. correlational research strategy c. experimental research strategy d. nonexperimental research strategy

a. descriptive research strategy

Research indicates the people who suffer from depression also tend to experinece insomnia. However, it is unclear whether the depression causes insomnia or the lack of sleep causes depression. What problem is demonstrated by this example? a. directionality problem b. third-variable problem c. extraeous variable problem d. manipulation-check problem

a. directionality problem

A research study attempts to describe the relationship between self-esteem and birth order psotion by measuring self-esteem for each individual in a group of first-born boys, and then comparing the results with self-esteem scores for a group of later-born boys. Which research strategy is being used? a. Nonexperimental b. correlational c. experimental d. quasi-experimental

a. nonexperimental

A researcher would like to select a sample of 50 people so that five different age groups are equally represented in the sample. Assumming the researcher does not know the entire list of people in the population, which sampling technique should be used? a. quota sampling b. stratified random sampling c. proportionate stratified random sampling d. cluster sampling

a. quote sampling

What principle of the Belmont Report corresponds to the guideline of "No Harm?" a. Respect b. beneficence c. Justice d. None of the above

b. beneficence

In order to establish an unambiguous relationship between two variables, it is necessary to eliminate the possible influence of which of the following variables? a. extraneous b. confounding c. independent d. dependent

b. confounding

Which of the following sampling techniques is most likely to result in a biased sample? a. simple random sampling b. convenience sampling c. proportionate stratified random sampling d. systematic sampling

b. convenience sampling

Results in a research study suggest that a stop-smoking program is very succesful. However, the participants who volunteered for the study were all highly motivated to quit smoking and the researcher is concerned that the same results may not be obtained for smokers who are not as motivated. What kind of validity is being questioned? a. internal validity b. external validity c. experimental validity d. validity of measurement

b. external validity

The degree to which your research results generalize beyond the specific characteristics of your study refers to a. internal validity b. external validity c. general validity d. reliability

b. external validity

How does the descriptive research strategy differ from the experimental or nonexperimental research strategies? a. it involves comparing groups of scores b. it does not concern relationships between variables c. it attempts to describe and explain relationships between variables d. it does not involve the measurement of variables

b. it does not concern relationships between variables

Which of the following characteristics are necessary for extraneuous variables to become a confounding variable? a. it must change systematically from one participant to the next b. it must change systematically when the independent variable is changed c. it must have no systematic relationship with the dependent variable d. it must have no systematic relationship to either the independent or dependent variables

b. it must change systematically when the independent variable is changed

A college professor reports that students who finish the examine early tend to get better rgades than students who hold onto their exams until the last minute. The correlation between exam score and amount of time spent on the exam is an example of a. positive correlation b. negative correlation c. correlation near zero d. correlation near one

b. negative correlation

If each person in a large group has an equal chance of being included in an experiment, then what kind of sampling is being used? a. systematic sampling b. random sampling c. convenience sampling d. cluster sampling

b. random sampling

Which of the following is a general plan for implementing a research strategy? a. research procedure b. research design c. research study d. research protocol

b. research design

A researcher would like to describe and compare the attitude of four different ethnic groups of students at a local state college. What kind of sampling would be best to obtain participants for the study? a. simple random sampling b. stratified random sampling c. proportionate stratified random sampling d. systematic sampling

b. stratified random sampling

A researcher reports a positive relationship between sugar consumption and activity level for a group of 8-year old children. However, the researcher cannot be sure whether the extra sugar is causing the children to be more active or whether the extra activity is causing the children to eat more sugar. Which of the following is demonstrated by this example? a. the third-variable problem b. the directionality problem c. the reversal problem d. the criterion problem

b. the directionality problem

Which of the following commonly occurs in a correlational study? a. one variable measured b. two variables are measured c. one individual is described in great detail d. one individual is treated

b. two variables are measured

The results from a correlational study show a positive relationship between aggressive behavior for 6 year old children and the amount of violence they watch on television. Based on this relationship, which of the following conclusions is justified? a. decreasing the amount of violence that the children see on TV will reduce their aggressive behavior b. increasing the amount of violence that the children see on TV will increase their aggressive behavior c. Children who watch more TV violence exhibit more aggressive behavior d. all of the above

c. Children who watch more TV violence exhibit more aggressive behavior

If a researcher explains what whill happen in a research study using language that potential participants probably cannot understand, then what ethical guideline is being violated? a. Confidentiality b. Preventing harm c. Informed consent d. Anonymity

c. Informed consent

A teacher obtains a sample of children from a fifth-grade classroom by randomly selecting the third, fifth, and eighth rows and taking all the students in those rows. What kind of sampling is being used? a. simple random sampling b. systematic sampling c. cluster sampling d. stratified sampling

c. cluster sampling

A researcher reports that there is no consistent relationship between grade point avergae and the number of hours spent studying for college students. Which of the following is the best description for the correlation between grade point average and the number of hours studying? a. positive correlation b. negative correlation c. correlation near zero d. correlation near one

c. correlation near zero

What is measured by the Pearson correlation? a. degree of relationship without regard to the form of the relationship b. degree to which the relationship is cosistently one directional c. degree of linear relationship d. degree of curvilinear relationship

c. degree of linear relationship

Which of the following is a responsibility for the IRB but is not mentioned in the responsibilities for the IACUC? a. review of research proposals b. minimizing risk of harm to those participating in research c. insuring informed consent d. insuring that researchers are qualified

c. insuring informed consent

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of the correlational research strategy? a. research is conducted in field settings rather than in a lab b. intent is simply to describe behaviors c. intent is to demonstrate the relationship between variables d. other three options are all defining characteristics of the correlational study

c. intent is to demonstrate the relationship between variables

In an experiment, what is the purpose for manipulating the independent variable? a. It help establish the direction of the relationship by showing that the dependent variable changes when you manipulate the independent variable b. It helps eliminate the third variable problem because you decide when to manipulate rather than waiting for the variable to change c. it helps establish the direction of the relationship and it helps eliminate the third-variable problem d. manipulation does not establish direction of the relationship or eliminate the third variable problem

c. it helps establish the direction of the relationship and it helps eliminate the third-variable problem

What kind of research was the focus for the most of the early attempts to establish ethical research guidelines? a. Psychological research with animals b. psychological research with humans c. medical research with humans d. medical research with animals

c. medical research with humans

Dr. Jones is interested in studying how indoor lighting can influence people's moods during the winter. A sample of 100 households is selected. FIfty of the homes are randomly assigned to the bright-light condition where Dr. Jones replaces all the lights are changed to 60-watt bulbs. After two months, Dr. Jones measures the level of depression for the people living in the houses. In this example, how many dependent variables are there? a. 100 b. 50 c. 2 d. 1

d. 1

The guidelines for nonhuman subjects in research are similar to the guidelines for human participants but also include extra provisions concerning what additional topics? a. housing b. medical care c. daily maintenance d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Which of the following is a responsibility of the IRB? a. They decide whether the process for selecting participants is fair and equitable b. they decide whether it is necessary to have a signed informed consent form for each participant c. They decide whether the privacy and confidentiality of participants is protected d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Which of the following is an example of plagirism? a. copying someone else's words without giving them credit b. paraphrasing someone else's words without giving them credit c. using someone else's ideas without giving them credit d. all of the above

d. all of the above

A researcher recruits a sample of 25 preschool children for a research study by posting an announcement in a local daycare center describing the study and offering $10 payment for participation. What kind of sampling is the researcher using? a. cluster sampling b. quota sampling c. simple random sampling d. convenience sampling

d. convenience sampling

For situations in which the researcher cannot know the complete list of potential participants, what kind of sampling in necessary? a. target sampling b. nontarget sampling c. probability sampling d. nonprobability

d. nonprobability