Research Methods Exam 1

Which is the most important feature of a good theory, according to the text?

A. It is supported by data.

B. It is falsifiable.

C. It is parsimonious.

D. It proves something.

A. It is supported by data

Empirical journal articles

A. report a full review of the literature. B. are rarely peer-reviewed.

C. report the results of research for the first time.

D. are useless because they aren't readily understandable by the lay public

C. Report the results of research for the first time

Which of the following is a source of empirical evidence?

A. Logical argument

B. Intuition Expert

C. opinion

D. A scale

D. A scale

The example discussed in class of my recent research on Disney princesses illustrated how

A. companies pay for research to support their products.

B. movies can affect our memories.

C. research on adults does not generalize to children.

D. journalists don't always tell the right story about research.

D. Journalists don't always tell the right story about research

Which of the following best exemplifies how the availability heuristic can lead us astray?

A. buying a product endorsed by our favorite celebrity.

B.engaging in behavior because others around us are doing it.

C. claiming that all BMW drivers are ******** because one just cut you off. D. being frustrated when your Facebook friends malign your favorite political candidate, and assuming they are stupid

C. Claiming that all BMW drivers are ******** because one just cut you off

Dimitri is interested in studying the effects of sleep deprivation on short-term memory. Which of the following is an empirical approach?

A. gather and summarize the journal articles that address this question

B. design and execute a study which measures short-term memory function following different sleepless time periods

C. consult the professor on his campus who has published many journal articles on this subject

D. make strong logical arguments about these effects, based on the journal literature

B. Design and execute a study which measures short-term memory function following different sleepless time periods

When new data does not support an existing theory, the theory _______________.

A. is immediately discarded

B. is assumed to have been originally developed on falsified data

C. is not threatened unless the new data are based on a large sample

D. may be revised

D. May be revised

Which of these is not a characteristic of an edited book?

A. It is a collection of chapters on a common topic.

B. Each chapter is written by a different contributor.

C. Chapters typically are summaries of sets of research.

D. The peer-review process for edited books is more rigorous than for that of a journal.

D. The peer-review process for edited books is more rigorous than for that of a journal

What is a quantitative technique used in some review articles that combines the results of many studies and gives a number that summarizes the magnitude of a relationship?

A. macro-analytical procedure

B. analysis of variance

C. meta-analysis

D. hybrid scaling

C. Meta Analysis

Which of the following is not a reason to be skeptical of the advice of authorities?

A. They may have systematically and objectively compared different conditions.

B. They might cherry-pick the evidence to support their own position.

C. They may base their advice on their own experience and intuition.

D. The research cited by the authority may be unreliable.

A. They may have systematically and objectively compared different conditions

What does it mean to say that research is probabilistic?

A. There is a high likelihood that the research is valid.

B. The research predicts all possible results.

C. Conclusions are meant to explain a certain proportion of possible cases.

D. You must reject the conclusions if you are able to find a case that is an exception.

C. Conclusions are meant to explain a certain proportion of possible cases

Avlina believes that people in black cars are much more likely to speed than people in other colored cars. She is probably the victim of what tendency?

A. the pop-up principle

B. present/present bias

C. cherry-picking evidence

D. being overconfident

B. present/present bias

As part of an assignment for his Introduction to Psychology class, Amy has to read a journal article, summarize it, and compare it to what is reported in his textbook. Amy selects the article: "Effects of Severe Daily Events on Mood," Stone & Neale (1984). If Amy wanted to repeat the study, which section would she consult?

A. Introduction

B. Method

C. Results

D. Discussion

B. Method

In research, a confound is:

A. an alternative explanation for an outcome that comes about because more than one thing changed at the same time.

B. a result that leaves the researcher puzzled.

C. an instance when the actual outcome is contrary to the probabilistic prediction.

D. the difficulty we experience in thinking of counter-examples to our beliefs.

A. An alternative explanation for an outcome that comes about because more than one thing changed at the same time

Hilda is studying the effects of major natural disasters on people living nearby. She finds that many of the victims are depressed and show stress-related symptoms. She cannot conclude that the natural disasters caused the depression and stress-related symptoms because:

A. there is no comparison group.

B. she doesn't have a theory.

C. she hasn't done enough background research.

D. she is relying on intuition.

A. There is no comparison group

Frequency claims...

A. are also known as anecdotal claims

B. can describe a particular rate or level in something

C. need to have internal validity.

D. All of the above.

B. Can describe a particular rate or level in something

Family mealtimes and eating disorders are correlated -.31. The conclusion that family meals prevent eating disorders cannot be supported because

A. the study does not establish temporal precedence or internal validity.

B. there is zero association between the variables.

C. they covary positively.

D. they manipulate too many variables.

A. The study does not establish temporal precedence or internal validity

Three necessary criteria for causal claims are

A. covariance, temporal precedence, and internal validity.

B. association, construct validity, and generalizability.

C. operationalization, temporal precedence, and construct validity.

D. association, construct validity and statistical validity

A. Covariance, temporal precedence, and internal validity

Reading the news on the internet, Johan comes across the headline, "When Stress is Increased, Men Rush Ahead, Women More Cautious." In the published study, men and women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period, in a stressed or unstressed condition. In the unstressed condition, men and women performed similarly. However, with stress the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. Describes the variables in this study?

the amount of time to perform the decision task is a constant variable, number of decision tasks performed was a dependent variable, stress of the participants was a manipulated variable

5. An association claim has...

A. one variable

B. two manipulated variables

C. two or more measured variables.

D. at least one constant variable

C. Two or more measured variables

The Belmont Report includes all of the following except:

A. the principle of respect for persons.

B. the principle of friendship.

C. the principle of beneficence.

D. the principle of justice.

B. The principle of friendship

Deception in psychology studies

A. should never be done.

B. Is unethical.

C. must be followed by debriefing.

D. is an ethical violation of the principle of justice.

C. Must be followed by debriefing

Federally funded animal experimentation

A. sadly, does not have to comply to any ethical violations.

B. must not use deception.

C. must be accompanied by a consent form.

D. must comply with IACUC guidelines.

D. Must comply with IACUC guidelines

Which of the following are two ethical issues raised by Milgram's studies of obedience?

A. the pain of the electrical shocks experienced by the learners and the stress experienced by the teachers

B.the stress experienced by the teachers and the lasting effects of the study on the teachers

C. the distress felt by the experimenter who had to order the teacher to shock the learner and the pain of the electric shocks experienced by the learners

D. targeting of a disadvantaged group and the disrespectful treatment of participants

B. The stress experienced by the teachers and the lasting effects of the study on the teachers

Which of the following is NOT an example of scientific fraud:

A. removing outliers based on pre-determined criteria

B. plagiarism

C. making up data for missing values

D. all of the above are examples of scientific fraud

A. Removing outliers based on pre-determined criteria

A(n) ___________ measure operationalizes a variable by recording a participant's ____________ .

A. self-report; observable behaviors

B. behavioral; intrapersonal thoughts

C. physiological; biological data

D. observational; questionnaire answers

C. Physiological; biological data

Lorenzo is studying aggression in children. The total number of instances of aggression for each child is used as the measure in the study. What type of variable is this?

A. ratio scale

B. interval scale

C. ordinal scale

D. categorical

A. Ratio scale

Which of the following is TRUE? (Circle as many as apply)

A. A measure can be valid but not reliable.

B. A measure can be reliable but not valid.

C. A measure can be both reliable and valid.

D. All of the above are TRUE (so I can either mark A, B and C or D)

B & C

Dr. Maya Chung is designing a questionnaire to assess body satisfaction. She is concerned that some features of body satisfaction are similar to appearance appraisal and to appearance salience. What type of validity does she need to show to demonstrate that her questionnaire reveals body satisfaction and not appearance appraisal or appearance salience?

A. convergent validity

B. discriminant validity

C. face validity

D. predictive validity

B. Discriminant validity

5. Fred studies aggression in children. First, he administers a questionnaire on self-reported aggression and examines response consistency across items. Second, he records observed aggression during play and assesses observer agreement. Third, he compares questionnaire scores between kids with no principal referrals and those with at least three for aggression. Which reliability/validity types (in order) apply?

A. test-retest reliability, internal reliability, interrater reliability

B. construct validity, interrater reliability, test-retest reliability

C. internal reliability, interrater reliability, known-groups paradigm for evaluating criterion validity

D. test-retest reliability, internal reliability, known-groups paradigm for evaluating criterion validity

C. internal reliability, interrater reliability, known-groups paradigm for evaluating criterion validity

An acquiescence bias can result from

A. leading questions.

B. failing to use reverse-scored items in your questionnaire.

C. using a Likert scale.

D. All of the above

B. Failing to use reverse-scored items in your questionnaire

A survey question that has you rate a response from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" is an example of

A. a Likert scale.

B. a double barreled question.

C. the semantic differential format.

D. a forced-choice format.

A. A likert scale

3. You are filling out a survey and come across the following question:

How do you feel about the following statement? We should reduce frivolous military spending.

Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

Which of the following is true of this question?

A. It is a leading question, but avoids fence sitting.

B. It is a double-barreled question, but avoids question order effects.

C. It is forced-choice format question, but avoids question order effects.

D. It is a negatively worded question, but avoids fence sitting.

A. It is a leading question, but avoids fence sitting

The following item appears on a survey: "When was the last time you checked your Facebook and Twitter account?" What is the biggest problem with this question?

A. It involves double-negatives.

B. It is a leading question.

C. It is a double-barreled question.

D. There is nothing wrong with this question.

C. It is a double-barreled question

5. Which of the following is NOT a way to help control for socially desirable responding?

A. include unrelated items such as "I always help someone in need" that reveal a person to be high on socially desirable responding, and consider excluding their data.

B. remove the neutral option from the survey so that a person must choose one side or the other.

C. include filler items on the survey that mask the true purpose of a sensitive survey.

D. use an implicit measure (like the Implicit Association Test or IAT) to find implicit opinions.

B. Remove the neutral option from the survey so that a person must choose one or the other

Which of the following is an example of observer bias in a study on arm strength and mood?

A. A research assistant records the participant as stronger in the happy condition than the sad condition, because that fits the hypothesis.

B. A study participant performs with more strength in the happy mood condition because of subtle, encouraging cues from the research assistant.

C. A study participant feels self-conscious in the experiment.

D. There is no observer bias if at least one of your variables use a physiological measure (like arm strength)

A. A research assistant records the participant as stronger in the happy condition than the sad condition, because that fits the hypothesis.

Cold and flu season is in high swing and so you are interested in understanding how frequently people wash their hands throughout the day (especially after coughing or sneezing into their hands). You decide to recruit a convenience sample of people from your dorm who agree to let you follow them around for an entire day. Which of the following is a significant threat to the construct validity of your observational measure?

A. Reactivity.

B. Observer bias.

C. Obedience effects.

D. There are no threats; this is a particularly well-suited way to gather accurate data.

A. Reactivity

8. Why is it important to use a document that details clear operational definitions of all behaviors that are to be recorded during an observation?

A. It provides detailed instructions about how to reduce reactivity.

B. It may reduce selection bias.

C. It may increase inter-rater reliability.

D. It is the best way to gather unobtrusive data

C. It may increase inter-rater reliability

Which of the following is an example of an unobtrusive measure?

A. Looking at student withdrawal rates after the 3rd class to examine professor's likeability.

B. Observing political bumper stickers during an election season to determine candidate popularity on campus.

C. Collecting used condoms (rather than relying on self-report) to determine safe sex practices.

D. ALL OF THE ABOVE are examples.

D. All of the Above

10. Researchers must be careful about "inferential bias" when doing observational research. What is inferential bias?

A. assuming that your participants are acting differently because you are watching, when they are not.

B. concluding things based on your data that you cannot conclude

C. incorrectly using inferential statistics to analyze your data

D. inferring that observations are a better way to measure behavior than surveys

B. Concluding things based on your data that you cannot conclude

A random sample is chosen in such a manner that:

A. Every individual in a population has an equal chance of being sampled

B. The sample is in the same geographic location

C. The sample is convenient for the researcher to access

D. The sample is always chosen in a multi-stage process

A. Every individual in a population has an equal chance of being sampled

Sample is to population as _______ is to ________.

A. Systematic; nonsystematic

B. Representative; nonrepresenative

C. Whole; part

D. Part; whole

D. Part; whole

Dr. Oishi is an educational psychologist interested in students' attitudes toward math and the effect of those attitudes on performance on standardized tests. He chooses his local school district to study. There are 15 middle schools, and he randomly chooses five. Then, of the 1,500 students in each of those five schools, he randomly recruits 250 students. This is an example of which of the following sampling techniques?

A. snowball sample

B. systematic sample

C. multistage sample

D. cluster sample

C. Multistage sample

Convenience sampling relies on which of the following?

A. Studying people who are easy to find

B. Studying people who are unwilling to participate

C. Studying people who are typical

D. Studying people who are colleagues of the researcher

A. Studying people who are easy to find

Online surveys commonly suffer from which of the following?

A. Poor reliability

B. Self-selection

C. Probability sampling

D. Over sampling

B. Self-selection

You can tell when a study is correlational because

A. the variables are all measured.

B. the researchers used the correlation coefficient.

C. the researchers used a t test.

D. the researchers used a scatterplot.

A. The variables are all measured

A correlational study that suffers from a restriction of range problem will probably accidentally find

A. a correlation that is more positive than it should be.

B. a correlation that is more negative than it should be.

C. a correlation that is larger than it should be.

D. a correlation that is smaller than it should be.

D. A correlation that is smaller than it should be

A correlational study with one categorical variable and one continuous (interval or ratio) variable is best graphed as a ____________.

A. scatterplot

B. bar graph

C. line graph

D. none of the above; correlational studies must include two continuous variables.

B. Bar graph

You are conducting a study examining the relationship between TV exposure and global self-esteem in preadolescent boys and girls. You find that there is a negative relationship for girls, but a positive relationship for boys. Which of the following BEST describes your findings?

A. Girls who watch more TV are more likely to report low self-esteem.

B. TV leads to low self-esteem for girls only.

C. TV leads to low self-esteem for both girls and boys.

D. Gender moderates the relationship between TV and self-esteem, such that TV is associated with lower self-esteem for girls, but higher self-esteem for boys.

D. Gender moderates the relationship between TV and self-esteem, such that TV is associated with lower self-esteem for girls, but higher self-esteem for boys.

You replicate the study from question #4 with two adolescent samples: 675 young women and, months later, 568 young men. You calculate Pearson's r and create scatterplots for TV (x-axis) and self-esteem (y-axis). You notice:

For young women, there's no relationship (r = - .01, p = .20), but the scatterplot suggests self-esteem rises with TV watching up to a point, then declines.

For young men, there's a strong positive relationship (r = .69, p < .001), but one participant watched TV twice as long as others and had unusually high self-esteem.

What Statistical Validity Questions are you examining? (Circle ALL that apply.)

A. Is the correlation statistically significant?

B. Are there any moderators of the association?

C. Is the relationship curvilinear?

D. Could outliers be affecting the relationship?

B, C, & D