PSY 212 C6

A

"What is your opinion on background checks for firearms?"; "There is a major problem with people not getting background checks in this country."; "While there are some problems with background checks, the system is good enough." Are what type of questions? A. leading. B. Double-barreled. C. Negatively worded.

A B

"What mental health problems are you currently experiencing?" is what type of question? A. leading. B. Open-ended. C. Negatively worded. D. Forced-choice. E. Likert scale.

Observer bias

A bias that occurs when observer expectations influence the interpretation of participant behaviors of the outcome of the study.

Reactivity

A change in behavior of study participants (such as acting less spontaneously) becuase they are aware they are being watched.

Observer effect

A change in behavior of study participants in the direction of observer expectations. Also called expectancy effect.

Survey

A method of posing questions to people on the telephone, in personal interviews, on written questionnaires, or via the Internet. Also called poll.

Poll

A method of posing questions to people on the telephone, in personal interviews, on written questionnaires, or via the Internet. Also called survey.

C

A participant is unusually polite because he thinks the study is about social interactions. A. Reactivity. B. Observer bias. C. Observer effects.

Negatively worded

A question in a survey or poll that contains negatively phrased statements, making its working complicated or confusing and potentially weakening its construct validity.

Response set

A shortcut respondents may use to answer items in long survey, rather than responding to the content of each item. Also called nondifferentiation.

Masked design

A study design in which the observers are unaware of the experiemental conditions to which participants have been assigned. Also called blind design.

Forced-choice question

A survey question format in which respondents give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options.

Open-ended question

A survey question format that allows respondents to answer any way they like.

Likert scale

A survey question format using a rating scale containing multiple response options anchored by the specific terms strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree. A scale that does not follow this format exactly is called a _________ _______.

Semantic differential

A survey question format using a response scale whose numbers are anchored with contrasting adjectives.

Leading question

A type of question in a survey or poll that is problematic because its wording encourages one response more than others, thereby weakening its construct validity.

Double-barreled question

A type of question in a survey or poll that it problematic because it asks two questions in one, thereby weakening its construct vailidity.

Unobtrusive observation

An observation in a study made indirectly, through physical traces of behavior, or make by someone who is hidden or is posing as a bystander.

Acquiescence

Answering yes or strongly agree to every item in a survey or interview. Also called yea-saying.

True

Because a blood sample is not a question, this would be considered a physiological measure.

Construct Validity

Being certain of what a poll or survey is measuring, is essential to having reliable results.

Socially desirable

Giving answers on a survey (or other self-report measure) that make one look better than one really is. Also called faking good.

Faking good

Giving answers on a survey (or other self-report measure) that make one look better than one really is. Also called socially desireable.

Faking bad

Giving answers on a survey (or other self-report measure) that make one look worse than one really is.

Fence sitting

Playing it safe by answering in the middle of the scale for every question in a survey or interview.

socially desirable responding

Reassuring participants that their data is anonymous can help prevent this problem.

B

Researchers interpret prisoners' behavior as more aggressive than college students' behavior even though the behavior is identical. A. Reactivity. B. Observer bias. C. Observer effects.

Likert scale

Respondents are asked to choose a number corresponding to how much they agree in ______ _____ questions.

open-ended

Respondents can provide as much or as little information as they would like in ____-_____ questions.

Acquiescence

Reverse-worded items can be used to tell if a participant is simply selecting "yes."

A

Small children stop and stare at the experimenter taking notes in the room. A. Reactivity. B. Observer bias. C. Observer effects.

Question Format

Survey questons can follow four basic formats: open-ended questions, forced-choice questions, Likert scale, semantic differential.

C

The following item appears on a survey: "Was your cell phone purchased within the last two year, and have you downloaded the most recent updates?" What is the biggest problem with this wording? A. it is a leading question. B. It involves negative wording. C. It is a double-barreled question. D. It is not on a Likert scale.

B

The following question is: "How often are you late or absent for work?" is what type of question? A. leading. B. Double-barreled. C. Negatively worded.

C

The following questions are: "There is never a reason to be late for work" is what type of question? A. leading. B. Double-barreled. C. Negatively worded.

Observational research

The process of watching people or animals and systematically recording how they behave or what they are doing.

False

True or False. Asking people whom they voted for as they leave a local polling station would be considered observational research.

True

True or False. Counting the number of people who walk through a busy convenience store would be considered observational research.

True

True or False. Filling out a customer feedback form online is a poll or survey.

True

True or False. Interviewing someone who has been clinically committed is a poll or survey.

False

True or False. Measuring cholesterol using a blood sample a is poll or survey.

True

True or False. Recording how often students use the word literally in conversations with each other would be considered observational research.

True

True or False. The CDC asking questions over the telephone is considered a poll or survey.

True

True or False. Typically, any type of self-report would be considered a poll or survey.

False

True or False. Watching and recording the number of times someone smiles is considered a poll or survey.

True

True or False. Whenever someone is being directly asked questions, it is considered a poll or survey.

False

True or False. observing the blood pressure of 50 patients via the records of a local health clinic would be considered observational research.

Construct Validity

What type of validity is most important to consider when creating a poll or survey?

observer bias

When observers' knowledge of the research hypothesis influences how they record their observations, occurs. When participants change their behavior based on perceived expectations from the observer, it is called ________ _____.

observer effects reactivity

When people change their behavior based on the presence of someone else, this is known as __________.

Fence sitting

With certain question types, the middle option can be removed to prevent this problem.

forced-choice

______-______ questions ask people to choose between two or more options.

C

choose the best strategy to help improve the survey. Winston is conducting a survey gathering opinions on many controversial issues. He wants to be sure that respondents report some degree of an opinion rather than remaining neutral. A. Reassure the participants that their results are anonymous. B. Create multiple different questions on the same issue. C. Eliminate the neutral options on items. D. Add reverse-worded items.

True

watching and recording the number of times someone smiles does not involve asking the participant questions; it would be referred to as an observational measure.