Research Methods Ch. 1-8

Hypothesis

Transforming a research question into a clear statement about a cause and effect relationship results in a ____.

Organize information in an understandable manner; predict new discoveries.

Two major functions of a theory are to:

Potential confounding variables that are held constant

Control variables are:

Nature of the question asked; method used to answer the question; and degree of precision of the method used to answer the question.

Different research approaches typically differ on three dimensions. These are

Causes; effects.

It is useful to think of independent variables as ____ and to think of dependent variables as ____.

General sources

Literature reviews usually do not contain material from which of the following sources?

The group that simply weighed themselves

Suppose that a researcher was interested in the effectiveness of different weight loss programs. She designed an experiment in which one group attempted to lose weight using a new and untested method of losing weight. A second group attempted to loose weight by following low-carbohydrate diet. The third group simply monitored their weight whenever members of the other two groups weighed themselves. Which group should be considered the control group?

People are more likely to run stoplights if traffic is light than if traffic is heavy.

Suppose that while you are sitting at a stoplight one afternoon, you see someone run the light as it changes from yellow to red, and you become annoyed at this. Being a good scientist, you ask yourself why people run stoplights. From the perspective of conducting research, an acceptable hypothesis about this behavior might be:

Sugar, molasses, & saccharin.

Suppose that you were interested in finding out whether different kinds of sweeteners in cereal caused children to be more active or less active. For this example, of the choices listed below, the most likely levels of an independent variable would be:

Ask a question; identify a need

The first step in conducting research is often to either ___ or ____.

Separate the effects of the factor(s) of interest from chance effects.

The goal of inferential statistics is to:

To help manage a set of references.

What is the function of a bibliographic database program?

To test for cause and effect relationships.

What is the main purpose of true and quasi-experimental methods?

The researcher should do the experiment only if the participants are willing to accept the risks.

When deciding whether or not to conduct an experiment that might cause physical or psychological harm to participants.

Make sure that your references are as current as possible

When you write a literature review, one of your goals should be to:

College admissions counselors use SAT scores to determine who should be admitted.

Which of the following best represents the results of correlational research?

Depressed patients respond better to a combination of behavioral modification and Prozac? than to other combinations of therapy and medication.

Which of the following hypotheses should be tested using a factorial design?

A form of therapy that is effective in treating divorced women is also effective in treating divorced men.

Which of the following is an example of generalizability?

Do college graduates respond differently to political ads than do people with no college education?

Which of the following research questions would most likely involve a quasi-experimental research design?

Treatment variable

Which of the following terms is another term for independent variable?

Searching general sources, then secondary sources, then primary sources, and then organizing notes and writing a proposal

A literature review usually follows which of the following sequences?

They are manipulated or chosen by the experimenter.

A major characteristic of independent variables is that

A statement of interest in a topic.

A research question is most similar to

The reviewers of the paper do not know the identity of the paper's author.

An article submitted for publication often undergoes a "blind review". This means that

To formulate a hypothesis.

Once you have defined a research question, the next step in the research process is usually

Participants in the treatment group recovered more quickly than did those in the control group. The treatment should be offered to participants in the control group.

One important ethical consideration when conducting research is the requirement to share the benefits of the research. Which of the following statements best captures this idea?

As a default explanation for the results and as a benchmark for comparison.

The null hypothesis serves two major functions. These are:

Whether there are significant risks to the participants in a research study.

The purpose of an Institutional Review Board is to determine

Significance level

The risk associated with being less than 100% certain that any differences observed in an experiment were a result of the different treatments is known as:

Directional; nondirectional.

There are two types of research hypotheses, known as ___ and ___.