Research Design Past Quizzes for Midterm

With which training model does the APU PsyD align?

Practitioner-Scholar

What is the main goal of experiments?

Draw causal inferences between variables

Independent Variable is synonymous with...?

Treatment

A Control Condition can also be called a...?

Comparison Condition

In the abstract "A researcher wanted to determine if cognitive behavioral therapy was better than psychodynamic therapy for improving depression," which is the Independent Variable?

Treatment Type

A research assistant fails to follow the research script because he was "overcome with creativity." What threat to internal validity has been committed?

Instrumentation

A study on voting behavior uses only APU undergraduates. Which threat to external validity is a concern?

Sample characteristics

Internal Validity is concerned with _____ and External Validity is concerned with _____.

Methodological rigor; the extent to which findings can be generalized

In a treatment study, the control group drops out early while the treatment group stays. Which threat to internal validity is reflected?

Attrition

What is "Reactivity" or "Reactivity of Experimental Arrangements"?

When the participant changes their behavior because of being watched by the researcher

Type 2 Error is most closely associated with which concept?

Statistical Power

Which type of validity is associated with generalizability to other populations?

External Validity

Which of the following is not a construct or related to construct validity?

Discussing limitations to the research based on a failure to follow established experimental procedures

Which of the following concepts from Data-Evaluation Validity is associated with the probability of committing a Type 1 error?

Alpha

______ describes whether an experimental manipulation, or something else, is responsible for the change, and ______ is responsible for the interpretation of the causal relationship.

Internal Validity; Construct Validity

Another way to describe a "confounding" variable is ...

When another variable moves in tandem with the independent variable

If an experimenter unintentionally signals the participant in the direction of the expected hypothesis, this is called _______

Experimenter Expectancy

As error in the experiment increases, the effect size _______

Decreases

Effect Size is __________

The magnitude of the difference between the treatment condition and comparison condition

A treatment for headaches involving video games with musical rhythms and colors shows improvement and theoretical explanation, but lacks proof that effects come from the intended mechanism. According to Wampold and Imel, which component of the medical model is missing?

Specificity

The following phrase is most closely related to which of the choices below: "A rational conceptual explanation of client symptoms or problems that needs to be accepted by the client."

The Contextual Model

What does the null hypothesis signify?

That there is no difference between the sample and the population

What does a hypothesis testing statistic evaluate?

To evaluate a hypothesis that the sample data is the same as the population (null hypothesis)

What is the purpose of the Bradford Hill Criteria (from Table 4.3)?

The criteria are used to make causal arguments about correlational data

What is meant by a "low probability sample" when testing the null hypothesis?

That the sample means will be far from the hypothesized population mean

The critical region is also known as the...

Alpha level

If the alpha level established is .05, and the test statistic (z, t, F, r) does not land in the critical region established by alpha, then...

The researcher should retain the null hypothesis

What z-value is associated with the alpha level (or significance level) of .05?

1

What are the two possible decisions (Step 4) in a "hypothesis test"?

Reject or retain the null hypothesis

What is another name for z?

Statistical test

What is the most obvious threat to internal validity that is addressed by adding a control group to a pretest-posttest design?

History

Which issue does the Solomon Four-Group Design specifically target?

Pretest Sensitization

Which of the following research designs would be considered to be the best in terms of controlling threats to internal and construct validity?

Randomized Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design

Prior to randomly assigning the participants, the researchers had the participants go through a pretest data collection session. Based on the results of the pretest, the researchers matched the participants. Which of the following best describes the rationale for matching?

Participants should be matched on variables that are thought to covary with the dependent variable

If participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of the experimental groups, what does this describe?

Random assignment

Which of the following is not true about random assignment?

It guarantees group equivalence

Which of the following concepts is most closely associated with meta-analysis?

Effect Size

What is the preferred method for matching participants and variables?

Match before randomization but after pre-screening

A study is conducted to determine whether taking an ice bath will improve the participant's mood following the plunge. Prior to taking an ice bath, the participants take a measure of mood (affectionately called MOM or Measure of Mood) then jump into the ice bath for 3 minutes and then get out and take the MOM again. If you were consulting on this research study, what would you advise them to do to improve the design?

Add a control group to make sure that mood does not fluctuate with time

Why is it important to have a "non-WEIRD" sample?

Because important psychological and social variables vary as a function of ethnicity and culture

The Control Group meets with a therapist for a number of sessions and talks about specific fears that their friends might have (a technique created by the researchers and not thought to have any therapeutic benefit). What type of control group is this?

Nonspecific Treatment Control Group

Of the following control group options, which is arguably the most ethical?

Treatment as usual

Which of the following control groups present the most significant challenges for replication?

Treatment as Usual Control Group

When selecting a group, which of these is a factor to consider?

All of the options mentioned

Which of these is a benefit of using a treatment as usual control group?

All of the above

Which of these intervention evaluation strategies requires an intervention group and a no-intervention or wait-list group?

Intervention package strategy

As a psychotherapy treatment researcher, if a specific therapeutic technique improved a client's cognitions, which then led to improvement in the outcome - which intervention strategy would assess this particular association of the therapeutic process?

Intervention mediator strategy

A researcher is conducting a psychotherapy study and three participants received four fewer treatment sessions than all the others in the group. What control group strategy might the researcher use?

"Yoking" participants in the other group to receive the same number of reduced treatment sessions

Which is true of a "wait-list control group"?

Participants in the wait-list group need to wait the same amount of time that the other group is getting treatment

Which treatment research strategy attempts to answer the question "what can be added to treatment to make it more effective"?

Constructive intervention strategy