``📕 `SET 3: RESEARCH SKILLS & STATISTICS (FULL, EXHAUSTIVE)

What is science according to Popper? A) Verification of theories B) Accumulation of facts C) Falsification of theories D) Consensus among scientists

C. A theory is scientific only if it can be falsified.

What is positivism? A) Focus on theory B) Reliance on observable, measurable phenomena C) Subjective interpretation D) Qualitative methods only

B. Positivism prioritises observable data.

What is a paradigm according to Kuhn? A) A single theory B) A method C) A shared framework guiding research D) A hypothesis

C. Paradigms shape how science is done.

What is a paradigm shift? A) Gradual theory improvement B) Method refinement C) Radical change in scientific framework D) Replication failure

C. Scientific revolutions replace paradigms.

What is the replication crisis? A) Fraud in science B) Failure to reproduce findings C) Ethical misconduct D) Small samples only

B. Many findings fail to replicate.

What is reproducibility? A) New data, same result B) Same data, same result C) Similar theory D) Same conclusion

B. Re-running analyses yields same result.

What is replicability? A) Same data, same analysis B) New data, same hypothesis C) Different theory D) No variability

B. Results generalise to new data.

What are questionable research practices (QRPs)? A) Fraud only B) Ethical behaviour C) Practices inflating false positives D) Replication methods

C. QRPs bias findings.

What is p-hacking? A) Fabricating data B) Running many analyses to obtain p<.05 C) Replicating studies D) Increasing sample size

B. Inflates Type I error.

What is HARKing? A) Preregistering hypotheses B) Hypothesising after results are known C) Replication D) Peer review

B. Undermines theory testing.

What is preregistration? A) Publishing early B) Declaring methods and hypotheses in advance C) Ethical approval D) Replication

B. Reduces QRPs.

What is open science? A) Public opinion B) Transparency and sharing C) Qualitative research D) Ethics boards

B. Improves reproducibility.

What is research ethics? A) Avoiding statistics B) Protecting participants and integrity C) Publishing results D) Avoiding bias

B. Core to psychological research.

What is informed consent? A) Permission after study B) Voluntary agreement with understanding C) Legal contract D) Debriefing

B. Participants must understand participation.

When is deception allowed? A) Never B) If results are important C) When justified and approved D) Without debriefing

C. Must be ethically justified.

What is debriefing? A) Consent B) Explaining true purpose after study C) Ethics approval D) Data analysis

B. Required after deception.

What is research design? A) Statistical test B) Overall study structure C) Sample size D) Ethics form

B. Determines how data are collected.

What defines an experimental design? A) Measuring variables B) Manipulating an IV C) Observing behaviour D) Surveys

B. Allows causal inference.

What is a correlational design? A) Manipulates variables B) Tests causation C) Measures relationships only D) Random assignment

C. Cannot infer causality.

What is internal validity? A) Measurement accuracy B) Causal confidence C) Generalisability D) Reliability

B. Whether IV caused DV.

What is external validity? A) Causal inference B) Replicability C) Generalisability D) Reliability

C. Applicability beyond the study.

What is a confounding variable? A) Random noise B) Variable correlated with IV and DV C) Measurement error D) Bias

B. Threatens internal validity.

What is a research question? A) Prediction B) Broad guiding question C) Statistical test D) Conclusion

B. Guides investigation.

What is a hypothesis? A) Observation B) Testable prediction C) Result D) Theory

B. Hypotheses are tested statistically.

What is the null hypothesis (H₀)? A) Effect exists B) No effect or relationship C) Alternative explanation D) Bias

B. Statistics test H₀.

What is a directional hypothesis? A) No prediction B) Predicts direction of effect C) Two-tailed D) Exploratory

B. One-tailed hypothesis.

What is an independent variable (IV)? A) Outcome B) Cause/predictor C) Confound D) Noise

B. Manipulated or measured cause.

What is a dependent variable (DV)? A) Predictor B) Outcome variable C) Confound D) Control

B. Measured outcome.

What is an operational definition? A) Theory B) Measurement description C) Result D) Bias

B. Specifies how variables are measured.

What are levels of measurement? A) Reliability types B) Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio C) Tests D) Biases

B. Define data type.

Which level has a true zero? A) Interval B) Ordinal C) Nominal D) Ratio

D. Allows meaningful ratios.

What is a normal distribution? A) Skewed distribution B) Symmetrical bell curve C) Flat distribution D) Random data

B. Mean = median = mode.

What is positive skew? A) Tail left B) Tail right C) Symmetrical D) No outliers

B. Mean > median.

What is sampling? A) Measurement B) Selecting participants C) Analysis D) Ethics

B. From population to sample.

What is random sampling? A) Convenience B) Equal chance of selection C) Random assignment D) Bias

B. Improves generalisability.

What is sampling bias? A) Random error B) Systematic misrepresentation C) Ethics issue D) Reliability

B. Threatens external validity.

What is inferential statistics? A) Summarising data B) Drawing population conclusions C) Ethics D) Measurement

B. Uses samples to infer populations.

What does a p-value represent? A) Probability H1 is true B) Effect size C) Probability of data if H0 is true D) Study quality

C. Classic exam trap.

What does p < .05 mean? A) Effect is large B) Results are important C) Results unlikely under H0 D) H1 is proven

C. Significance ≠ importance.

What is a Type I error? A) Missed effect B) False positive C) False negative D) Bias

B. Rejecting true H0.

What is a Type II error? A) False positive B) False negative C) Bias D) Random error

B. Missing a real effect.

What is a t-test? A) Correlation B) Mean comparison C) Regression D) ANOVA

B. Compares means.

Which t-test compares same participants twice? A) Independent B) One-sample C) Paired D) Correlation

C. Repeated-measures design.

What is effect size? A) Sample size B) Statistical significance C) Magnitude of effect D) Error rate

C. Practical importance.

What does Cohen’s d measure? A) Probability B) Mean difference standardised C) Variance D) Power

B. Effect size measure.

What increases statistical power? A) Small sample B) Noise C) Larger samples and effects D) Bias

C. Increases detection of true effects.

What is publication bias? A) Ethics issue B) Preference for significant results C) Sampling error D) Fraud

B. Leads to file drawer problem.

What is the IMRaD structure? A) Intro, Method, Results, Discussion B) Idea, Method, Analysis, Data C) Interview, Measure, Report, Discuss D) None

A. Standard research report format.

What belongs in the Results section? A) Interpretation B) Theory C) Statistical analyses D) Limitations

C. Interpretation belongs in Discussion.