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Which of the following are steps in the scientific method?

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Drawing conclusions Observing some phenomenon Formulating hypotheses and predictions

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A psychologists is studying sadness. Sadness would be considered a ________ in this study.

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Variable

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Theories can...(Check all that apply)

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- Be used to make predictions about future observation - Explain why certain things have happened - Tell psychologists about the relationships between variables on a conceptual level.

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A ___________ is an idea arrived at logically from a theory. It can be thought of as an educated guess, and it can be tested.

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Hypothesis

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In order to test a hypothesis and conduct valid empirical research, a psychologist first needs

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A concrete way to measure the variable of interest

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Correlational research is about establishing relationships b/t

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Variables

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Descriptive research serves the purpose of observing and recording ________ that can be used as data.

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Behavior

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A ______ presents a standard set of questions, or items, to obtain people's self-reported attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic.

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Survey

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A researcher is curious about people's satisfaction with their lives. What type of research might they chose to answer this question?

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Descriptive research

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Correlational research involves studies that are concerned with identifying the relationships between two or more _______ in order to describe how they change together.

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Variables

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The term _______ in correlational research does not imply causation.

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Correlation

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A correlational coefficient is most often represented in data by the letter ____________.

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R

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Which of the following represent variables that can be directly measured by correlational research?

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Ethic background Biological sex Exam scores

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What type of research design measures variables at a single point in time?

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Cross-sectional

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What is longitudinal design?

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Systematic observation that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time.

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A(n) __________ is a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more variables believe to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other variables are held constant.

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Experiment

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A random sample is a sample that gives every member of the ________ an equal chance of being selected.

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Population

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The subset of the population chosen by the investigator for a study is known as a

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Sample

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Which of the following statements are true regarding how gender bias has historically affected research in psychology? (Check all that apply)

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- Participants were typically all male - Theory and research often focused on the male experience. - Researchers were typically all male.

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Why have ethnic minorities been deliberately excluded from selected research samples historically?

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Since their scores did not fit neatly into the distribution, researchers excluded them to keep them from skewing their data.

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________ are used to analyze and interpret the data collected from a research study.

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Statistics

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Descriptive statistics are used to ______; while inferential statistics are used to ______.

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Describe and summarize data; draw conclusions about data.

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The purpose of using ethical guidelines when conducting research is

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- To protect participants best interests - To ensure that participants are not harmed - To evaluate the ethical nature of research

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True or False: The media often has trouble accurately informing us about the findings of psychological research study and its implications for our lives.

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True

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Media reported that a research study found that most of us can not react when threatened by an attacker. What specific information might be important to know about the details of this study?

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Information about the characteristics and size of the sample

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Generalizing research results of a group study to a(n) ________ may encourage a person to falsely apply the results to their own situation.

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Individual

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Which one of the following statements is true?

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Most psychological questions need many research studies to provide answers.

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Swedish researchers found that women who had experienced divorced or a family member's illness in their 50's to 60's were more likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease in their 70's or 80's. What conclusion can we draw from this study?

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70 year old women might develop Alzheimer's disease

question

A study presented at the American society for Reproductive Medicine in Boston and published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, suggests that processed meat intake is linked to poorer semen quality, and fish is linked to better semen quality. What elements of this story support the possibility that this research is credible?

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- The research suggests that there is a link between food intake and sperm count. - The research was presented to a credible professional group. - The research was published by a credible journal.

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Which of the following are reasons that researchers might use correlational research? (Check all that apply)

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- To use one variable to predict the value of another variable. - To investigate real-world events. - To conduct research in situations where it would not be ethical to carry out an experiment in another way.

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New research suggests the size of your car affects how you drive. If you have a big car, studies show you may be more likely to break the law. It has to do with posture and how powerful you feel. Researcher Andy Yap from MIT says if you're in a car that allows you to sprawl out, it can that make you feel more powerful and that in turn, can lead to unethical behavior. What conclusion can we draw from this study?

answer

Driving big cars may make us feel powerful and we might speed.

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The headline is :"Study says sniffing rosemary improves memory by 75%." The story reports that researchers presented evidence that sniffing the essential oil from the herb rosemary improved long-term memory and performance in mental arithmetic. To determine the credibility of this research what other information do you need to consider?

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- Who conducted the research study - How many participants were in the research study - Was the study reviewed by an expert panel

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There are two kinds of validity in experimental designs, _________ validity and __________ validity.

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External;Internal

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One drawback of the ___________ study type of research is the inability to generalize findings to other people.

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Case

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A _________ ___________ is a factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable.

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Dependent Variable

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Cady was being interviewed for a research study. Her interviewer was quite attractive and she found herself answering questions to impress him. This is an example of what kind of research bias?

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Research Participant Bias

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What is the purpose of descriptive statistics?

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To show the overall characteristics of the data and any significant variations.

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Now that the researchers have gathered data what do they do next?

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- Researchers would analyze their data to see if supports their hypothesis - Researchers would analyze the findings to see if the results tell us about the theory used to guide their study.

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A(n) ___________ Variable is the manipulated experimental factor in an experiment.

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Independent

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Which of these study designs involves a psychologist, often a therapist, observing one person over a period of time?

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Case Study

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For a person to give informed consent to participate in a research study which of the following should they be given? (Check all that apply)

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- Information about what they will be doing in the study - That they have the right to withdraw from the study at any time. - Information about any known risks or benefits that they might experience as part of their involvement.

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Descriptive statistics are the mathematical procedures

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That researchers have developed to describe and summarize sets of data in a meaningful way.

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Lou assigns a number to identify each of his research participant's responses. Lou is protecting the participants' (Check all that apply)

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Confidentiality anonymity identity

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Why is it important that survey questions be clear and understandable?

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-Because the participants responses must clearly reflect their feelings about the topic. -Because the questions must clearly measure the specific topic being studied. -Because the questions are used to define the operational variable.

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The ______ is the measure of central tendency used most often.

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Mean

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In an experiment examining the effect of leptin on the hunger of rats, rats in the ______ group are given leptin shots and rats in the ______ group are not given anything.

answer

Experimental; control

question

The Mean is

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The average of a set of scores

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Data is particularly useful when used to mathematically

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Support predictions

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You ask people to fill out a questionnaire, when relates your political and spiritual beliefs. This is an example of _______ research.

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Descriptive

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An experimental design actually reflects the real-world issue it was meant to address. This design is considered to have _________ validity.

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External

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The manipulated experimental factor in an experiment is known as

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An independent variable

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Which of the following statements are considered drawbacks to doing laboratory observation? (Check all that apply)

answer

- It is almost impossible to do research in the lab without the subject knowing that they are being studied. - People who are willing to participate in laboratory research may not fairly represent the population. - The laboratory setting is unnatural and can cause the participant to act unnaturally.

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Results are considered reliable if they can be

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Replicated

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Which of the following are measures of central tendency?

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Mean Median Mode

question

Psychologists conduct naturalistic observations at (Check all that apply)

answer

Sporting events Child-care Centers Work Settings Shopping Malls

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Which of these research topics would meet the definition of a good theory? (check all that apply)

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- Studying why people join gangs - Studying test scores on college entrance tests to see if they predict college success.

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A ___________ is an actor who participates in a psychological experiment pretending to be a subject but in actuality is working for the researcher.

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Confederate

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___________ or experimental research provides researchers a way to control many aspects of the situation.

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Laboratory

question

Barney is considering participating in a research study. Before he begins, Barney is given information about the study including what risks he might be asked to take. What ethical guideline is this researcher following?

answer

informed consent

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If the experimental methods used are found to be biased and illogical then the research does not have __________ validity.

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Internal

question

The score that occurs most often in a set of data is known as the

answer

Mode

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What is a drawback of the mean?

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The mean is easily affected if the data contains a few extreme scores.

question

Which of the following can be considered a population viable for a research study? (Check all that apply)

answer

- Children below the age of 12 - African- American males - Laboratory Mice

question

What is the term used to describe the influence of an experimenter on research participants?

answer

Experimenter Bias

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The _________ effects happens when changes in an experimental group are caused by participants' expectations rather than by an actice drug agent.

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Placebo

question

Measures of dispersion give researchers a sense how much _______ exists in the data of a study.

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Variation

question

A researcher is studying how trauma might affect a person's day functioning. What types of research might the designer choose to conduct this study? (Check all that apply)

answer

Descriptive Correlational Experimental

question

In ____________-______________ Procedures, neither the experimenter nor the participant know who is receiving the treatment drug and who is only receiving a placebo.

answer

Double-Blind

question

In order for observations to be effective, they must be ___________ (systematic/subjective).

answer

systematic

question

___________ Assignment means that researchers assign participants to group by chance.

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Random

question

Which of the following is NOT a measure of central tendency?

answer

Maximum

question

The ________ is the score that falls exactly in the middle of the distribution of scores after they have been arranged (or ranked) from highest to lowest.

answer

Median

question

In the following dataset, which of the following would be considered the mode?

answer

The senior student of high school voted most likely to succeed by his peers.

question

An operational definition is an objective description of how a research variable is going to be ________ and observed.

answer

Measured

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