Intro to Psych Unit One
What is meant by the saying, "science is empirical?"
Scientific answers are based on direct observation
Which question can be addressed with a descriptive strategy?
What is the average number of hours of sleep that a typical college student gets each night?
Research results indicate that the more servings of red meat eat from age 15 to 25, the higher their cholesterol scores will be at age 60. This is an example of a __ relationship between variables
positive
Which question is best addressed with the experimental strategy?
Does increasing the hours of sleep college students get each night cause an increase in GPA?
Which research strategies attempt to address the same question about the relationship between variables?
Experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental
Which question is best addressed with the correlational strategy?
Is there a relationship between the amount of sleep that college students get each night and the GPA of those college students?
Why is probability sampling rarely used in behavioral science researcher?
It is often not possible to list every individual in a population
A researcher finds that room color influences the mood of 45-year-old women in a sample. To preserve external validity, the researcher should generalize these findings to which group?
Middle-aged women
According to the most recent edition of the Publication Manual, information describing the sample of humans that participated in the study would be found in which subsection of the method section?
Participants
If people score low on one measure and score low on another measure, there is...
a positive relationship between the two measures
A good hypothesis must...
allow for all variables to be measured
A refutable hypothesis must...
allow for the possibility that the observations will not support the hypothesis
Experiments allow researchers to __
answer cause-and-effect questions about the relationship between two variables
When researchers apply behavioral observation techniques to historical records in order to measure behaviors that occurred in the past, the measurement process is called __
archival research
Which hypothesis is problematic because it cannot be tested? a. people use stress as an excuse to be rude b. there would be less stress today if 9/11 hadn't occured c. people worry too much about stress d. children can learn to decrease their stress levels faster than adults
b
A study that aims to modify existing psychological theory related to personality traits would be considered __ research
basic
Counting the number of times a third-grade student leaves his seat without permission during a 30-minute observation period is an example of using what modality of measurement?
behavioral
The workers in a factory are organized into five-person teams. When conducting a work-environment survey, a researcher randomly selected 10 teams to obtain a total sample of 50 workers. The researcher used __ sampling.
cluster
You develop a new measure of self-efficacy and you find that people who score high on your measure also score high on a standardized measure of self-efficacy. You have demonstrated...
concurrent validity
What term refers to a variable that cannot be observed or measured directly but is useful for describing and explaining behavior?
construct
A researcher who brings dating couples into the laboratory to be observed while they are solving a problem is most likely using __
contrived observation
The most commonly used sampling method in psychological research is probably __ sampling
convenience
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 a $10 payment for participation. What kind of sampling is the researcher using?
convenience sampling
Which sampling technique is most likely to result in a biased sample?
convenience sampling
A research study records a score measuring Facebook use and a score measuring happiness level for each individual in a group of 20-year-old women. The study intends to determine whether there is a relationship between the two variables. This study is best characterized as __ research
correlational
What kind of reasoning uses a general statement to make conclusions about specific examples?
deductive
The general goal of a research study using the descriptive research strategy is to __
describe a variable or variables as they exist naturally
A researcher conducts a survey to determine the average number of minutes that college students spend on their smartphones in a typical day. Which research strategy is being used?
descriptive
A research ____ is a general plan for implementing the research strategy
design
Where would you look to find information on the validity and reliability of measures used in a study?
discussion
Recording how many hours a week your roommate spends studying involves using the __ method, while simply recording whether or not your roommate studies in a week involves using the __ method.
duration; interval
The primary advantage of a stratified random sample is that it __
ensures that group sizes will be adequate for statistical analysis
When an observer switches recording from one behavior during one interval to another behavior during another interval, it is known as __ sampling.
event
An explanation is empirical if it is based on
evidence of senses
A research study attempts to describe the relationship between self-esteem and birth order position 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. This study is an example of the ____ strategy
experimental
The results of a study may be influenced by the experimenter's expectations regarding the outcome of the study. This artifact is known as ___
experimenter bias
The degree to which your research results generalize beyond the specific characteristics of your study refers to __
external validity
A(n) ____variable is a variable in a study that is not being directly studied
extraneous
The results section of an APA-style research report typically describes the __
findings of descriptive and inferential statistics
The __ method for quantifying observations involves counting the number of times a behavior occurs in a specified period of time.
frequency
When describing the research, a research proposal should typically use __ tense
future
A major goal of research is to __ from a small group of participants included in a study to the larger group from which they came.
generalize
Research proposals contain which of the following kinds of information?
how the research was conducted
The method section is designed to answer what questions?
how was the study conducted
What kind of reasoning uses a few specific observations to produce a statement about a larger possible set of observations?
inductive
Although surveys can be used with a variety of different research strategies, the defining characteristic of the survey research design is that the __
intent is simply to describe behaviors
The ____ of a research study is concerned with factors in the study that raise doubts about the interpretation of the results
internal validity
In which section of a psychological research report or proposal should the hypothesis of the study be stated?
introduction
Which is the correct order of the section of a reserach report?
introduction, method, results, and discussion
A person who buys a lottery ticket because s/he just feels lucky is using the method of
intuition
Which statement identifies a potential problem with Internet surveys?
it can be difficult to control or even know the composition of the sample
The four characteristics of a good hypothesis are that it is:
logical, testable, refutable, and positive
In the scientific method, a prediction is evaluated by
making systematic, planned observations
A measurement procedure is valid if it __
measures what you intend it to measure
Which section of an APA article would you read to find out exactly what happened in a study and in what order?
method - procedures
An artist tries putting a freshly painted canvas outside during a rainstorm to see how the painting will change from the pattern of the raindrops. Which method of acquiring knowledge is she using?
method of empiricism
A researcher recruits participants for an experiment by posting an announcement in the psychology department asking for volunteers. What kind of sampling is being used?
nonprobability
Felipe plans to watch how positively or negatively teachers treat children in their classrooms who have ADHD for his research methods class. This is an example of what type of measurement?
observational
A case study typically involves the study of __
one individual
Essay questions on an exam are examples __ items
open-ended
Using the number of yawns in a one-hour period as a definition and a measurement of sleepiness is an example of __ sleepiness
operationalizing
A research taking a job as a restaurant server in order to explore sexism in the restaurant industry is an example of__
participant observation
The individual differences between participants, such as age, gender, height, strength, intelligence, etc., are known as ___
participant variables
The method section typically consists of what 3 subsections?
participants, materials, and procedures
Using a PET scan to measure brain activity while participants solve mathematics problems is an example of using what modality of measurement?
physiological
A research proposal is a __
plan for a new study
Dr. Ziser conducts an experiment on life satisfaction using participants above the age of 80. All people above the age of 80 would make up the __
population
Combat veterans may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). You wonder about the best way to treat PTSD. This is an example of getting research ideas from
practical problems
You develop a new measure of anxiety and you find that people who score high on your measure show more anxious behavior than people who score low on your measure. You have demonstrated...
predictive validity
A __ source contains original research reports.
primary
To select a sample of 10 employees from a factory workforce of 100, a researcher puts each employee's name on a slip of paper, then shuffles the papers in a hat and randomly picks 10 names. What kind of sampling is being used?
probability
Which kind of sampling requires such extensive knowledge of the population that the researcher could list every individual in the population?
probability
Which subsection of the method section describes everything that happened during the study?
procedure
The purpose of an operational definition is to...
provide a definition and a method for measuring a hypothetical construct
The method section of an APA-style research report __
provides enough detail for replication
What type of question typically produces a numerical score for each participant?
rating scale
Publicly repeating a study by copying the methods exactly is referred to as
replication
When a sample has the same characteristics as the target population, the sample is said to be a(n) __ sample.
representative
The discussion section of an APA-style research report typically contains which of the following?
restatement of the hypothesis
In a simple study, which section of an APA article/paper may only be 3 sentences in length?
results
Dr. Ziser conducts an experiment on life satisfaction using participants above the age of 80. Because she cannot include all people above the age of 80, she will select what is known as a __
sample
A distinction between science and pseudoscience is that
science is based on hypotheses that are testable and refutable
When people make an observation, then form a hypothesis that explains the observation, and then make more observation to test the credibility of the hypothesis, they are using the
scientific method
The review of the literature in the introduction section of a research report is an example of a __ source
secondary
Which type of source summarizes information from sources of original research reports?
secondary
Serena plans to interview several teachers about their attitude toward teaching children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for her research methods class. This is an example of what type of measurement?
self-report
Using an anonymous questionnaire to determine how many times students send or receive text messages during class is an example of using what modality of measurement?
self-report
A researcher develops a 20-question test to measure anxiety and administers it to a group of participants. To evaluate the reliability of the test, the researcher computes a score for the first 10 questions and a score for the last 10 questions for each participant and then computes the correlation between the two scores. What is the researcher measuring?
split-half reliability
A researcher would like to describe and compare the attitudes of four different ethnic groups of students at a local state college. To obtain participants for the study while ensuring sufficient numbers of participants from each of the ethnic groups, the researcher should probably use __ sampling.
stratified random
Pseudoscience is based on
subjective evidence
Establishing the reliability of a measurement procedure by using the procedure to measure the same individuals on two separate occasions and comparing the two sets of scores is known as __ reliability
test-retest
A young child believing everything that her kindergarten teacher says to be true is an example of
the method of faith
An introduction of a research report or proposal typically contains __
the research question or problem
What is a limitation of survey research?
the results are limited by the truthfulness of the participants
While a __ is a group of closely related phenomena or observations, __ is a logical idea that can be tested
theory; hypothesis
How do quantitative research and qualitative research differ?
they generate different types of data
In an observational study of children in a day care center, you alternate one minute of observation with one minute of recording behavior. This is an example of __ sampling.
time
The law of large numbers states that larger samples are __
usually more representative of a population
In the materials subsection of an APA-style methods section, you tell the reader __
what questionnaires were used in the study
