Research Methods Practice Final – Flashcards
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In an experiment, the independent variable is: created by the experimenter. collected from the research participant. correlated with the predictor variable. correlated with the outcome variable
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created by the experimenter
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It is hypothesized that living in integrated housing causes decreased racist attitudes. In this case, the independent variable is ___ and the dependent variable is ___. racist attitudes; integrated housing integrated housing; racist attitudes prejudice; integration can't be determined from above information
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integrated housing; racist attitudes
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A researcher examined the effect of lighting on learning. Randomly assigned participants learned material while using a 100 watt or a 125 watt bulb. There were no differences between the two groups. The nonsignificant results may have occurred because of: a costly measure of learning. insufficient strength of the manipulation. selection differences. all of these
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insufficient strength of the manipulation
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When a confounding variable is present in an experiment, one cannot tell whether the results were due to the: independent variable or the dependent variable. independent variable or the confounding variable. dependent variable or the interval variable. dependent variable or the participant variable.
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independent variable or the confounding variable
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A researcher wants to find out whether campers prefer cotton or nylon sleeping bags. A troop of boy campers tried cotton and a troop of girl campers tried nylon sleeping bags. The sleeping bags were rated for softness and warmth. The confounding variable is: cotton or nylon material. softness. gender of camper. all of these
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gender of camper
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An experimenter had one group of participants eat ice cream that was packaged in a red carton, whereas another group of participants ate the same flavor ice cream from a green carton. Participants then indicated how much they liked the ice cream by rating the taste on a 1-5 scale. The independent variable in this experiment was the: ice cream ratings. gender of the participant. color of the carton. flavor of the ice cream.
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color of the carton
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A researcher had participants eat the same flavored ice cream packaged in a round or square carton. The participants then indicated how much they liked the ice cream. The dependent variable is: ice cream rating. gender of the participant. shape of the carton. flavor of the ice cream.
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ice cream rating
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A psychologist develops a measure of self-esteem in order to be able to test a theory of self-esteem. The researcher then conducts a number of studies investigating the differences between persons who score low and persons who score high on the self-esteem measure. The researcher is establishing the ________ of the measure. construct validity face validity reliability reactivity
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construct validity
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You are constructing a test of knowledge of research methods. In doing so, you use your textbook for this class to devise 100 true-false questions on various aspects of research methods. Without conducting any research, you can be most certain of which validity of this test. construct face criterion divergent
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face
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Consider a researcher who developed a test of driving skills that involved measuring the ability to effectively shift gears in a manual transmission car. One might criticize this test for having low: content validity. criterion validity. predictive validity. discriminant validity
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content validity
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When planning an experimental manipulation, one should consider: the need to maximize differences between the groups. the ethical considerations of a strong manipulation. the cost of the manipulation. all of these
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all of these
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Which of the following is an example of systematic error? The participant misreads the question. The experimenter misprints the question. The participant forgets to answer a question. The participant displays socially desirable responding.
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The participant displays socially desirable responding
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A test designed to measure baseball performance skills would be said to have high predictive validity if a person who scores low on the test also: scores low on a test measuring basketball performance. scores high on a test measuring basketball performance. has a poor batting average over the baseball season. scores high on the same test given two weeks later.
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has a poor batting average over the baseball season
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Face validity refers to whether or not the measure: -yields the same score for the same participant across different circumstances. -correlates positively with other measures of the same variable. -correlates negatively with other measures of the same variable. -appears to measure what it is supposed to measure.
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appears to measure what it is supposed to measure
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You are developing a measure of skills needed for the successful performance of a job. You include items the job supervisor feels are relevant for the job. What type of validity would this procedure best represent? Face convergent divergent concurrent
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face
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If research finds that candidates who score high on a medical college admissions test do better in medical school than those who score low on this test, we would say the test has _____ validity. concurrent convergent discriminative predictive
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predictive
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A researcher has developed a measure of a person's ability to detect colors. He finds the measure is not related to a person's spelling ability. This finding would illustrate what type of validity? convergent discriminant reliable face
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discriminant
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Probability sampling techniques are most important for: -generalization of results to a population. -selecting participants for experiments. -obtaining significant results. -internal validity.
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generalization of results to a population
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If you want to assess presidential candidate preferences of Maricopa County registered voters classified by social class and age, you might randomly select voters from each subgroup according to their proportion in the entire county. This sampling technique is called ________ sampling. quota cluster simple random stratified random
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stratified random
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Nonprobability sampling is most acceptable when studying: -the characteristics of a population. -what people believe about current events. -the relationship between two variables. -attitudes toward controversial issues -none of these
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the relationship between two variables
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The sampling ________ is the actual set of people who might be included in the sample after the population is defined. size set frame control
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frame
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A researcher asked participants to rate the softness of two well known brands of toilet tissue: Fuzzy and Luvvy. Fuzzy was rated softer than Luvvy with mean ratings of 5.50 and 3.25, respectively. This difference was statistically significant at the .05 probability level. The null hypothesis for the population was that: -Fuzzy is softer than Luvvy. -Luvvy is softer than Fuzzy. -there is a difference between Fuzzy and Luvvy in softness. -there is no difference between the softness of Fuzzy and Luvvy tissues.
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there is no difference between the softness of Fuzzy and Luvvy tissues
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Sampling bias is most likely to occur when: -the representativeness of the sample is high. -there is no sampling frame available. -participants guess the research hypothesis. -the researcher is a member of the population.
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there is no sampling frame available
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Which of the following is a type of nonprobability sampling? Stratified sampling Snowball sampling Cluster sampling Simple random sampling
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Snowball sampling
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A town in West Virginia needs to choose a jury for a trial. They create slips of paper with the names of each of the adults in the county and place the slips in a large box. They then draw twelve names from the box. What sampling method has been used? Stratified sampling Simple random sampling Convenience sampling Cluster sampling
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Simple random sampling
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Strata refer to: subgroups of a larger population. descriptive statistics describing a sample. the population used to draw a snowball sample. the raw data from any survey study.
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subgroups of a larger population
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According to her statistical analysis, an investigator found that significantly more men than women used spanking to discipline their children. Thus, the investigator would: accept the null hypothesis. reject the null hypothesis. make a Type II error. make a Type I error.
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reject the null hypothesis
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A Type II error is a decision to reject the null hypothesis when it is false. reject the null hypothesis when it is true. accept the null hypothesis when it is true. accept the null hypothesis when it is false.
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accept the null hypothesis when it is false
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A researcher was interested in differences in attitudes about marriage between men and women. She predicted that women would have different attitudes about marriage than men. What would be the null hypothesis? -women have more positive attitudes than men. -men have more positive attitudes than women. -there is no difference between men and women in their attitudes toward marriage -gender and attitude are not related
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there is no difference between men and women in their attitudes toward marriage
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Based on her use of inferential statistics, Martha believes that the difference in happiness scores between single versus married women in her study is a true difference. Thus, she would _____ and assume _____. accept the null; statistical significance accept the null; no statistical significance reject the null; no statistical significance reject the null; statistical significance
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reject the null; statistical significance
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Before conducting inferential statistics, Tim selects the probability level required for statistical significance. This level is referred to as the _____ of the test. null hypothesis research hypothesis intuitive level alpha level
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alpha level
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In a multiple-choice question with four alternatives, if the null hypothesis is correct, the probability of a person choosing the correct answer is approximately 1 out of 4 2 out of 4 3 out of 4 4 out of 4
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1 out of 4
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A 2x2x3 design has: three factors and twelve conditions. three levels and twelve conditions. twelve factors and three levels. three levels and seven conditions.
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three factors and twelve conditions
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In an experiment that manipulates temperature of a room (warm or cold), difficulty of material (easy, difficult); and amount of material (low, moderate, high). Which of the following statements applies to the design of this study? 2 X 2 2 X 3 2 X 2 X 3 2 X 2 X 2
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2 X 2 X 3
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A 5x6x2 design has: six factors and thirteen conditions. thirty factors and six conditions. sixty conditions and three factors. fifty conditions and three factors.
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sixty conditions and three factors.
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In a study examining the effect of room illumination (low, medium, high) and room temperature (cold, warm, hot) on test performance, how many interactions are possible? 1 2 6 9
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1
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A researcher examined judgments of responsibility for an automobile accident by manipulating the type of injuries received (none, mild, or severe) and the time of the accident (7 a.m., 12 p.m., 6 p.m., or 3 a.m.). How many main effects are possible in this study? 2 4 7 12
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2
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A study involves a 3 X 4 X 2 factorial design. How many independent variables are being studied? 24 9 4 3
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3
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A researcher examines the physical attractiveness of a driver involved in an automobile accident (unattractive, average, or attractive) and the severity of damage caused ($500, $1500, or $2500) on judgements of responsibility assigned to the driver. Which of the following represents the design? 2 x 2 2 x 3 3 x 3 1 x 3
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3 x 3
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In a study designed to measure aggressive play of boys versus girls who attend public or private schools, which of the following statements is least correct? -there may be a simple main effect of gender -there may be a simple main effect of type of school -there may be an effect of aggressive play -there may be a Gender x type of School interaction
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there may be an effect of aggressive play
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A marketing company wants to determine which cola beverage is most preferred by consumers. A group of participants tastes Cola A and then rates the taste. The group then tastes Cola B and rates the taste for this cola. A second group of participants follows the same procedure. However, they first taste Cola B and then Cola A. This is an example of what type of design? 2 x 2 independent groups 2 x 2 repeated measures 2 x 2 mixed factorial 2 x 3 independent groups
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2 x 2 mixed factorial
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Researchers who do not know the research hypothesis are known as: artifact-free experimenters. baseline experimenters. blind experimenters. naïve experimenters.
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naïve experimenters
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In a one-way experiment testing the influence of mood states on performance, the manipulation check will be a measure of: mood. performance self-esteem. anxiety.
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mood
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The goal of treating all experimental participants in exactly the same way with the simple exception of the manipulation itself is known as: statistical conclusion validity. standardization of conditions. construct validity. internal validity.
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standardization of conditions
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In a two-way factorial experimental design, ____ will be manipulated and ____ will be measured. -one independent variable; one dependent variable -one independent variable; two dependent variables -two independent variables; two dependent variables -two independent variables; one dependent variable
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two independent variables; one dependent variable
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A variable other than the independent variable that is found to vary systematically among the conditions is known as: -an extraneous variable. -a confounding variable. -a baseline variable. -a manipulation variable.
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a confounding variable
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Participants were asked to read a poem that was written by a male or female author who they were told was a college English major or an English professor. The participants rated the poem written by the professor as being of higher quality than the poem written by the student. From these results, one can conclude there was a main effect of gender a main effect of authorship a main effect of quality an interaction between gender and authorship
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a main effect of authorship
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The absence of confounding variables assures external validity. experimental realism. internal validity. alternative explanations.
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internal validity
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A baseline measure is: -an initial measurement of the dependent variable in a before-after research design. -a measure that is given in case a before-after research design is spurious. -a measure that is accompanied by a cover story. -used to increase external validity.
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an initial measurement of the dependent variable in a before-after research design
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Which of the following is a possible disadvantage of before-after research designs? High statistical power Statistical conclusion validity Retesting Effects High random error
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Retesting Effects
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What type of error occurs when we reject the null hypothesis when it is in fact true?
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type 1 error
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failing to reject the null hypothesis when the null is really false is what type of error?
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type 2 error
