Chapter 6 Quiz

negatively worded

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old, beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, so she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Do you oppose not cutting down this tree?" A problem with this question is that it is which type of question?

leading

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old, beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, so she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Would you be in favor of brutally cutting down this majestic tree to make way for a stupid bike path?" This question is which one of the following types?

They will tell you why they think they made that choice, but they may not accurately identify the true reason for their choice.

According to research by Nisbett and Wilson (1977), which of the following is true of people when they are asked why they made a certain choice?

observer bias

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. Both observers are very interested in the topic because they have been struck by bicycles. Which threat to construct validity should concern Professor Ibrahim even if the interrater reliability is high?

Use unobtrusive data.

Which of the following is a method that researchers use to reduce reactivity in observational studies

observer effects

In a study, students received rats they believed to be genetically bred as "maze-bright" or "maze-dull" rats. For the next several days, students trained and recorded how long it took for their rats to complete a maze. Although the rats were genetically the same breed, the "maze-bright" rats showed improvement in their performance every day, whereas the "maze-dull" rats did not. This study is examining which of the following?

Use more neutral language.

Jenny recently learned of plans to cut down an old, beautiful tree on her campus to make way for a new bike path. Jenny is opposed to cutting down the tree, and she decides to survey some students at her university to see if others also oppose cutting down the tree. She plans to share the results of her survey with the school administration to argue to keep the tree. One question on Jenny's survey asks, "Would you be in favor of brutally cutting down this majestic tree to make way for a stupid bike path?" In which way could this question be changed to improve its construct validity?

She could include reverse-worded items.

Judy writes a survey to assess how much people worry. Her survey has 20 questions to which people can rate their level of agreement on a seven-point Likert scale. All the questions are worded so that higher responses will indicate a higher level of worry. After having 100 people complete her survey, she finds many respondents often respond to all the questions by choosing only the "strongly agree" option. She improves the construct validity of her survey by doing which of the following?

acquiescence

Judy writes a survey to assess how much people worry. Her survey has 20 questions to which people can rate their level of agreement on a seven-point Likert scale. All the questions are worded so that higher responses will indicate a higher level of worry. After having 100 people complete her survey, she finds many respondents often respond to all the questions by choosing only the "strongly agree" option. This kind of responding is called which of the following?

Which is truer of you? 1) I have little interest in computer games or 2) I would miss computer games if I couldn't play anymore.

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which is a forced-choice question?

What computer games have you played?

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which of the following would be an example of an open-ended question?

On a scale of 0 (not at all) to 5 (very much), rate how much you like and play your favorite game

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which question is a double-barreled question?

On a scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree), rate the following statement: Computer games are a great pastime.

Professor Law wants to construct a survey to assess involvement with computer games. Which question uses a Likert scale?

The bicyclists were probably responding in a socially desirable way on the self-report survey.

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. After completing the observational study, Professor Ibrahim sends a survey out to the entire campus about bicycle safety, and asks all bicyclists to respond. He finds a large difference between their reports of how safely they ride and what his observers found. Which is the most likely cause of the self-report ratings being inconsistent with the observational data?

the reliability of the measurement

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. Initially, the observers can't agree about what is dangerous behavior. Professor Ibrahim refines his codebooks to clearly define the rating scales and retrains the observers. Which is he addressing by doing this?

The observers could make unobtrusive observations

The campus safety committee has asked Professor Ibrahim to study bicycling on his campus. He trains two observers and has them observe the number of cyclists and their safety at various points around campus. When the observations began, the observers noticed that bicyclists slowed down when they neared the observers. In which way could this reactivity be avoided?

Likert scale

The following item appears on a survey: "On a five-point scale, where 1 is strongly disagree, 2 is disagree, 3 is neither agree nor disagree, 4 is agree, and 5 is strongly agree, rate the following statement: "I look forward to coming to class." Which type of question format is being used?

Split the question into two so that it is not double-barreled

The following problematic question appears on a survey: "Please indicate whether the following statement is true or false for you: My cell phone is new and has all the latest features." In which way could this question be changed to improve its construct validity?

responding to a controversial question on a survey by selecting the response right in the middle

Which of the following describes a "fence-sitting" response to a survey?

Use a masked or blind study design.

Which of the following is a method to control for observer bias?

Use measures, such as the Implicit Association Test, to evaluate implicit, unconscious opinions.

Which of the following is a way to control for socially desirable responding?

They can be time-consuming for researchers because the responses need to be coded

Which of the following is true about open-ended questions?

Self-reports are valuable sources of information when researchers are interested in a person's internal experiences.

Which of the following is true about self-reports?

Is it ethical for psychological researchers to observe people in a public place?

Yes, because in those settings people can reasonably expect their behavior to be public, not private.