Exam 1: Introduction to Statistics

Observational research allows a researcher to study behaviors or events in which the researcher does not deliberately manipulate the phenomenon.

One study examined an Indian theory of architectural design that aligning buildings with the earth's magnetic field and the movement of the sun leads to positive outcomes for the building's inhabitants (Travis et al, 2005). More specifically, they hypothesized that homes that have front doors facing the south will experience more burglaries than homes facing the other directions (north, west, east). In this study, the dependent variable is best described as ______.

If you were to give a questionnaire to a group of people asking them about their criminal acts, what type of research are you engaging in?

A researcher is interested in understanding the IQ scores of delinquents compared to non-delinquents. This variable may best be described as being measured at the ______ level of measurement.

What type of research uses records or documents of the activities of individuals, groups, or organizations to examine research questions of hypotheses?

The difference between an interval level variable and a ratio level variable is ______.

Confounding variables are variables that provide an alternative explanation for the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

A recent medical study found that children who watch more than 4 hours of television a day were more likely to be obese (overweight) than children who watched less television. In this study, the independent variable is ______; the dependent variable is ______.

A recent study of college women hypothesized that "females with higher levels of depressive symptoms will be more likely to engage in casual sex than females with fewer symptoms" (Grello et al, 2006). In this study, the dependent variable is best described as ______.

One study examined an Indian theory of architectural design that aligning buildings with the earth's magnetic field and the movement of the sun leads to positive outcomes for the building's inhabitants (Travis et al, 2005). More specifically, they hypothesized that homes that have front doors facing the south will experience more burglaries than homes facing the other directions (north, west, east). In this study, the independent variable is best described as ______.

A team of researchers "predicted that men who believe that a woman was attracted to them would act on their belief and behave relatively more flirtatiously toward the woman than would men having no such belief" (Ridge & Reber, 2002). In this study, the independent variable is best described as ______.

One way of deciding whether a variable is measured at the ratio rather than nominal level of measurement involves ______ two values of the variable.

______ summarize data for a variable while ______ test hypotheses and draw conclusion from data.

A researcher hypothesizes that businesses that adopt telecommuting policies (allowing workers to work at home rather than have to drive to work) have lower turnover than businesses that do not have these policies. In this study, the dependent variable is ______.

The relationship between samples and populations may be described as ______.

In the journal Cyber Psychology and Behavior, a researcher asked, "Are students who report higher degrees of loneliness more likely to form new online relationships than other students with lower degrees of loneliness?" (Bonebrake, 2002). In this study, the dependent variable is best described as ______.

A researcher studying attitudes toward immigration by asking respondents whether they support DACA or not is an example of survey research.

Two researchers hypothesize that "parents who use more frequent verbal punishment ... will report more problem behaviors in their children" (Brenner & Fox, 1998, p. 252). In this study, the independent variable is ______.

The main purpose of using random assignment in a research study is to ______.

A recent newspaper article described a cafe that asked patrons to turn off their phones and actually talk to each other. Consequently, a researcher asks a group of people, "How many times a day do you check your Facebook account?" This variable may best be described as being measured at the ______ level of measurement.