Exam 2: Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research

Before beginning a study on the health effects of obesity, a group of researchers agree that, for the purposes of their research, anyone with a Body Mass Index greater than 30 kg/m² will be considered obese. This is an example of _______________.

Experimenter bias can best be controlled using ________. a. a placebo b. double-blind control c. randomization d. subjects who do not know the purpose of the study

Confidentiality requires researchers to do which of the following?

A(n) ____________ involves an extremely deep and detailed information-gathering from a single individual over a long period of time.

Sarah, a graduate student in psychology, just heard about a five-year-old child who has already learned calculus. She is thinking about conducting an in-depth study of the child for her dissertation. Sarah is considering which research method?

Ryan, a professional bass fisherman, is trying to determine which lure is most effective on Wakeby Lake: the plastic worm he normally uses or the new minnow-style lure he bought yesterday. Based on this scenario, what would constitute the control?

In an experiment on the effects of level of motivation on the performance of typists, the researcher randomly assigned one third of her subjects to each of three levels of motivation (and then induced different levels of motivation in the three groups). She measured the average words typed per minute by each group, and found that performance was highest under medium motivation, average under low motivation, and worst under high motivation. What was the independent variable in this experiment? a. motivation b. typing speed c. variation in typing speed d. manipulation of typing speed

A researcher, based on his review of relevant scientific studies, believes that there is a relationship between the frequency of a baby's crying and whether it was nursed at set intervals or on a demand schedule. If this belief were tested by experimentally manipulating feeding schedules, the feeding schedule would be called the: a. independent variable. b. dependent variable. c. extraneous variable. d. control factors.

Keisha performs an experiment with two randomly assigned groups of school children. The first group is allowed 15 minutes of recess play before a math test, while the second group watches a video before the test. When she analyzes the test scores, she finds that there is a statistical difference between the groups, with the recess group scoring higher on average. Which conclusions can be drawn from this result?

Louis is participating in a survey on undergraduate drug use. When the interviewer asks Louis whether he has used illegal drugs in the last 6 months, he lies and says 'no' because he doesn't want the interviewer to have a poor opinion of him. Louis's response is an example of ________________.

When asked if there are more ice cream cones sold in November or July, Mary answers "July" immediately. She is surprised to find out that there is little to no difference between the two months in terms of ice cream cone sales. Mary's error is most clearly an example of ___________________.

Cause-and-effect conclusions can be drawn from the results of an experiment because: a. it is almost always performed in a laboratory setting. b. statistical analysis can be applied to data from an experiment. c. the independent variable is manipulated while other possible causes of change in the dependent variable are held constant. d. several groups of subjects, not just one sample, are typically investigated in a laboratory experiment.

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest degree of relation between two variables?

Which of the following is one of the questions that a researcher should ask herself before conducting a research study?

If a group of researchers find that the number of books 5^th graders read is positively correlated with their scores on an intelligence test, it would be correct to conclude that having children read more increases their intelligence.

The degree of relationship between two or more variables is __________. a. correlation b. validity c. reliability d. a hypothesis

An important danger of the various types of research bias discussed in Chapter 2 is that they lead us:

There is a negative correlation between wearing one's seat belt and the severity of injuries received during an accident. Which statement correctly illustrates this correlation?

Mr. Marshall hired June to collect data from a group of subjects. Neither June nor the subjects were aware of the independent variable that Mr. Marshall had manipulated. This is an example of _______. a. randomization b. a placebo c. double-blind control d. experimenter bias

Once the results of a study have been peer reviewed and published they are considered accurate, even if other researchers cannot replicate them.