Test #3 Principles of psychological research

What are quantitative variables?

continuous variables that are coded with meaningful numbers

What is the most common sampling technique?

convenience sampling

What is a variation of stratified random sampling called?

oversampling

What is the type of sampling in which if researchers only want to study only certain kinds of people, they recruit only those particular participants?

purposive sampling

What type of format includes a numeric scale in which participants are asked to use to rate a target object that is anchored with adjectives?

semantic differential format

What is referred to as the entire set of people or products in which you are interested? a. sample b. population c. census

b. population

When talking about reliability specifically, we want what type of relationships? a. negative b. positive

b. positive

When there is no relationship between two variables, r will be close to?

0.00

When the relationship is strong, r is close to either?

1 or -1

What is the statistical measure used to measure internal reliability?

Cronbach's alpha

What mathematically combines the AIC and the number of items in the scale?

Cronbach's alpha

What type of scale are people presented with a statement and are asked to use a rating scale to indicate their degree of agreement, or when it contains more than one item and each response value is labeled with the specific terms strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and strongly disagree?

Likert scale

When using a correlation coefficient to evaluate reliability, what is undesirable? a. positive correlation coefficient b. negative correlation coefficient

b. negative correlation coefficient

True or false: a measure may be less valid than it is reliable.

True

True or false: the value of r can only fall between 1.0 and -1.0.

True

What type of questions allow participants to answer any way that they would like to answer? a. forced-choice questions b. open-ended questions c. double-barreled questions d. leading questions

b. open-ended questions

Externally valid samples are more important for some research questions than for others. For which of the following research questions will it be most important to use an externally valid sampling technique? a. Estimating the proportion of U.S. teens who are depressed. b. Testing the association between depression and illegal drug use in U.S. teens. c. Testing the effectiveness of support groups for teens with depression.

a. Estimating the proportion of U.S. teens who are depressed.

A researcher's population of interest is New York City dog owners. Which of the following samples is most likely to generalize to this population of interest? a. A sample of 25 dog owners visiting dog-friendly New York City parks. b. A sample of 25 dog owners who have appointments for their dogs at veterinarians in the New York City area. c. A sample of 25 dog owners selected at random from New York City pet registration records. d. A sample of 25 dog owners who visit New York City's ASPCA website.

a. A sample of 25 dog owners visiting dog-friendly New York City parks.

In what type of reliability are consistent scores obtained no matter who measures the variable? a. test-retest reliability b. interrater reliability c. internal reliability

b. interrater reliability

In what type of sample do some members of the population of interest have a much higher probability than other members of being included in the sample? a. biased sample b. unbiased sample

a. biased sample

What type of validity is when one measure strongly correlates with a measure of another construct? a. construct validity b. content validity c. criterion validity

a. construct validity

If a measure captures all parts of a defined construct, what kind of validity does it have? a. content validity b. criterion validity c. face validity

a. content validity

What kind of sampling involves using a sample of people who are easy to contact and readily available to participate? a. convenience sampling b. biased sampling c. unbiased sampling d. random sampling

a. convenience sampling

Which of the following is a subjective assessment of validity? a. face validity b. divergent validity c. convergent validity d. discriminant validity

a. face validity

What type of questions allow the participant to give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options? a. forced-choice questions b. open-ended questions c. double-barreled questions d. leading questions

a. forced-choice questions

What kind of variables do Likert scales use? a. interval b. ratio c. internal

a. interval

What type of measure operationalizes a variable by recording biological data, such as brain activity, hormone levels, or heart rate? a. physiological measures b. self-report measures c. observational measures

a. physiological measures

Classify each operational variable below as categorical or quantitative. If the variable is quantitative, further classify it as ordinal, interval, or ratio. a. Degree of pupil dilation in a person's eyes in a study of romantic couples (measured in millimeters) b. Number of books a person owns c. A book's sales rank on Amazon.com d. The language a person speaks at home e. Nationality of the participants in a cross-cultural study of Canadian, Ghanaian, and French students f. A student's grade in school

a. quantitative, ratio b. quantitative, ratio c. quantitative, ordinal d. categorical e. categorical f. quantitative, interval

What type of scale of measurement applies when the numerals of a quantitative variable have equal intervals and when the value of 0 truly means "none"? a. ratio scale b. ordinal scale c. interval scale

a. ratio scale

In what type of reliability will a study participant most likely get the same score each time they are measured with it? a. test-retest reliability b. interrater reliability c. internal reliability

a. test-retest reliability

Classify each of the following results as an example of internal reliability, interrater reliability, or test-retest reliability. a. A researcher finds that people's scores on a measure of extroversion stay stable over 2 months b. An infancy researcher wants to measure how long a 3-month-old baby looks at a stimulus on the right and left sides of a screen. Two undergraduates watch a tape of the eye movements of ten infants and time how long each baby looks to the right and to the left. The two sets of timings are correlated r=.95 c. A researcher asks a sample of 40 people a set of five items that all capture how extroverted they are. The Cronbach's alpha for the five items is found to be .85.

a. test-retest reliability b. interrater reliability c. internal reliability

What is a potential response to a survey or poll that consists of agreement without actually considering the question and its contents?

acquiescence

What are categorical variables?

aka nominal variables, consist of levels or categories rather than quantity

What is necessary for a representative sample?

all members of the population have an equal chance of being selected for the sample

What type of reliability is most relevant for observational measures? a. test-retest reliability b. interrater reliability c. internal reliability

b. interrater reliability

What type of scale of measurement applies when the numerals of a quantitative variable represent a ranked order? a. ratio scale b. ordinal scale c. interval scale

b. ordinal scale

To assess the test-retest reliability of some measure, what would the researcher do?

assess the same set of participants on that measure at least twice

What is the average of all of the correlations?

average inter-item correlation

Which of the following samples is most likely to generalize to its population of interest? a. A convenience sample of 12,000 b. A quota sample of 120 c. A stratified random sample of 120 d. A self-selected sample of 120,000

b. A quota sample of 120

What is the researcher's definition of the variable in question at a theoretical level? a. operational definition b. conceptual definition c. observational definition

b. conceptual definition

What type of validity ensures a measure contains all parts of a theory? a. construct validity b. content validity c. criterion validity

b. content validity

What type of validity evaluates whether the measure under consideration is associated with a concrete behavioral outcome that it should be associated with, according to the conceptual definition? a. content validity b. criterion validity c. face validity

b. criterion validity

What is it called when a participant gives an answer that they think others will like to hear rather than give their unpopular opinion or answer? a. faking good b. faking bad

b. faking bad

In what type of sampling is every member of the population of interest has an equal and known chance of being selected for the sample, regardless of whether they are convenient or motivated to volunteer? a. convenience sampling b. probability sampling c. biased sampling d. systematic sampling

b. probability sampling

What can we use to visualize reliability? a. bar graph b. scatterplots c. graph d. line graph

b. scatterplots

What type of measure operationalizes a variable by recording people's answers to questions about themselves in a questionnaire or interview? a. physiological measures b. self-report measures c. observational measures

b. self-report measures

In what type of sampling are participants asked to recommend a few acquaintances for the study? a. purposive sampling b. snowball sampling c. quota sampling

b. snowball sampling

In what type of sampling does the researcher purposefully select particular demographic categories, or strata, and then randomly selects individuals within each of the categories, proportionate to their assumed membership in the population? a. simple random sampling b. stratified random sampling c. multistage sampling d. probability sampling

b. stratified random sampling

In what type of sample do all members of the population have an equal chance of being included in the sample? a. biased sample b. unbiased sample

b. unbiased sample

What type of validity refers to how closely a test is related to other tests that measure the same or similar constructs? a. external validity b. internal validity c. convergent validity d. discriminant validity

c. convergent validity

What is a more reliable and efficient way to see if a measure is reliable, and indicates how close the dots, or points, on a scatterplot are to a line drawn through them? a. bar graph b. slope direction c. correlation coefficient

c. correlation coefficient

What type of validity is when a measure correlates with relevant behaviors? a. construct validity b. content validity c. criterion validity

c. criterion validity

What type of questions have poor construct validity, and asks two questions in one? a. open-ended questions b. forced-choice questions c. double-barreled questions d. leading questions

c. double-barreled questions

If a measure is subjectively considered to be a plausible operationalization of the conceptual variable in question, what kind of validity does it have? a. content validity b. criterion validity c. face validity

c. face validity

In what type of reliability is a study participant gives a consistent pattern of answers, no matter how the researchers phrase the question? a. test-retest reliability b. interrater reliability c. internal reliability

c. internal reliability

What type of scale of measurement applies to the numerals of a quantitative variable that meets two conditions: 1) the numerals represent equal intervals (distances) between levels, and 2) there is no true zero? a. ratio scale b. ordinal scale c. interval scale

c. interval scale

What type of measure is often called a behavioral measure, and operationalizes a variable by recording observable behaviors or physical traces of behaviors? a. physiological measures b. self-report measures c. observational measures

c. observational measures

What type of sampling involves the researcher identifying subsets of the population of interest and then sets a target number for each category in the sample? a. purposive sampling b. snowball sampling c. quota sampling

c. quota sampling

What are the two classifications of operational variables?

categorical and quantitative

What is bigger than a population and considers every single individual?

census

What type of validity refers to the extent to which a test is not related to other tests that measure different constructs? a. external validity b. internal validity c. convergent validity d. discriminant validity

d. discriminant validity

What type of question use various types of wording that illicit particular responses? a. open-ended questions b. forced-choice questions c. double-barreled questions d. leading questions

d. leading questions

In what type of sampling are two random samples selected: a random sample of clusters and a random sample of people within those clusters? a. probability sampling b. systematic sampling c. simple random sampling d. multistage sampling

d. multistage sampling

What kind of questions contain negative phrasing that can cause confusion, thereby reducing the construct validity of the survey or poll? a. open-ended questions b. double-barreled questions c. forced-choice questions d. negatively worded questions

d. negatively worded questions

What type of sampling involves using a random number generator on a computer, etc? a. probability sampling b. simple random sampling c. biased sampling d. systematic sampling

d. systematic sampling

What types of validity require collecting data that show a measure is correlated more strongly with measures of similar constructs than with measures of dissimilar constructs?

discriminant and convergent validity

What does validity measure?

everything that it is supposed to measure, or accuracy

True or false: Our global population can possibly be our population of interest.

false

True or false: There aren't any measures we can take to prevent observer bias.

false

True or false: nonrandom and self-selected samples do represent the population.

false

True or false: only one operational definition is possible for each conceptual definition.

false

True or false: reactivity helps the construct validity of observational studies.

false

What is the type of response in which the participant is essentially playing it safe by answering in the middle of the scale, especially when survey items are controversial?

fence-sittting

What is the most important factor concerning the external validity of a sample?

how the sample was collected

What is another way to gather evidence for criterion validity in which researchers see whether scores on the measure can discriminate among two or more groups whose behavior is already confirmed?

known-groups paradigm

What are the two ways to prevent observer effects?

masked design and unobtrusive observations

What are the three slope directions?

negative, positive, and zero

When a researcher watches people or animals and systematically records how they behave or what they are doing, what kind of research is this?

observational research

What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?

random assignment establishes INTERNAL validity whereas sampling establishes EXTERNAL validity

What is the change in behavior when study participants know another person is watching?

reactivity

What are the two aspects of construct validity of a measure?

reliability and validity

What is a type of shortcut that people can take when answering survey questions, also called nondifferentiation?

response sets

What is referred to as a smaller set taken from the population?

sample

What are the two statistical devices that researchers use for data analysis?

scatterplots & correlation coefficients

What are three common ways in which researchers operationalize their variables?

self report, observational, and physiological

What is the term that refers to when a sample is known to contain only people who volunteer to participate?

self-selection

What is the type of response in which participants want to look good in the eyes of others so they give answers that make them look better than they really are, and these responses decrease the survey's construct validity?

socially desirable responding or faking good

What is a method of posing questions to people online, in personal interviews, or in written questionnaires?

survey or poll

What does the quality of a frequency claim usually depend on?

the ability to generalize from the sample to the population of interest

What does the r or correlation coefficient indicate what same two things on the scatterplot?

the direction and strength of relationship

What determines the direction of the relationship in a correlation coefficient?

the plus or minus sign

What corresponds to the strength of a relationship on a scatterplot?

the spreading out of the dots on the plot

True or false: Reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity.

true

True or false: a measure cannot be more valid than it is reliable.

true

True or false: both measurement reliability and measurement validity are important for establishing a measure's construct validity.

true

True or false: people are bad at explaining their behaviors.

true

True or false: random assignment is only used in experimental designs.

true

True or false: reverse-worded questions can help increase accurate responding.

true

True or false: when a sample is externally valid, we can also say that it is unbiased, generalizable, or representative.

true

When the relationship is weak, r is closer to?

zero