Exam 9: Multivariate Correlational Research

A criterion variable is also known as a(n) variable.

Name two consequences of journalists reporting on single studies rather than reporting on patterns of data.

Explain the value of pattern and parsimony in attempting to establish causal links in correlational findings.

RESEARCH STUDY 9.1: Dr.Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the potential causal relationship between doing homework and academic achievement.In January, Dr.Farah has her students report their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) and estimate how many hours they spent doing homework during a typical week in the fall semester.In May, Dr.Farah measures the same variables again (the estimated number of hours spent doing homework during a typical week in the spring semester and their spring GPA).She finds the following correlations. Of the correlations listed in the table, how many are autocorrelations?

Cross-lag correlations are NOT helpful for answering/addressing which rule of causation?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.2: Dr.Finkel is a social psychologist who studies romantic relationships.Several researchers have found that there is a link between income and marital satisfaction .Dr.Finkel is curious as to whether there is a causal link between the two variables, such that having a higher income causes higher levels of marital satisfaction.He is confident that he cannot reasonably or ethically manipulate people's income level, so he decides to use a multivariate design.He is also curious as to whether there is a causal link between these two variables or if two other variables (number of arguments and life satisfaction) can explain the relationship.He measures his three variables in a sample of 124 married couples recruited from a local community center.Below are his results. One of Dr.Finkel's colleagues argues that he should have considered years of marriage in his study, which is a known predictor of marital satisfaction.If Dr.Finkel conducts his study again and asks people to report on how many years they have been married as well, which of the following statements is true?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.1: Dr.Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the potential causal relationship between doing homework and academic achievement.In January, Dr.Farah has her students report their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) and estimate how many hours they spent doing homework during a typical week in the fall semester.In May, Dr.Farah measures the same variables again (the estimated number of hours spent doing homework during a typical week in the spring semester and their spring GPA).She finds the following correlations. A colleague of Dr.Farah's questions the internal validity of her causal claim.He is curious as to whether the relationship between homework and academic achievement could be explained by interest in one's classes.Specifically, he thinks that students who are interested in their classes will both do more homework and have higher GPAs.Which of the following is a solution to this possible threat to internal validity?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.3: Dr.Cheong is a clinical psychologist who is curious about how people deal with natural disasters to report on how their well-being was affected by the hurricane, the social support felt after the storm, and the number of PTSD symptoms.Dr.Cheong finds support for his proposed relationship.However, in examining his data more closely, he finds that the relationship between emotional well-being and PTSD symptoms is stronger for men than for women. Dr.Cheong's finding that the relationship between emotional well-being and PTSD symptoms is stronger for men than for women suggests which of the following?

Which of the following words/symbols would indicate that you are reading results from a multiple-regression analysis?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.1: Dr.Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the potential causal relationship between doing homework and academic achievement.In January, Dr.Farah has her students report their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) and estimate how many hours they spent doing homework during a typical week in the fall semester.In May, Dr.Farah measures the same variables again (the estimated number of hours spent doing homework during a typical week in the spring semester and their spring GPA).She finds the following correlations. Correlation 5 is an example of which of the following types of correlations?

Such topics as the link between media and aggression and smoking and lung cancer have been studied with a variety of methods and by a variety of researchers and have all reached similar conclusions.This is an example of which of the following?

When examining the results of a multiple regression, which of the following should be compared to determine which predictor variables have the largest relationship to the criterion variable?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.5: Dr.Nguyen is a psychologist who studies legal decision making.Specifically, he is curious about the factors that are irrelevant to the crime committed that influence the sentences juries give to defendants (known as extra-legal factors).To study this further, he samples a group of jury-eligible adults from the Memphis area.He provides them with the fact pattern to a particular case and allows them to watch the closing statements from the trial.He then asks them to provide a sentence (in months) for the defendant.In addition, he measures two legal factors (the number of arguments made by the prosecuting attorney and the length of time the defense attorney speaks during his or her closing argument) and two extra-legal factors (how attractive the participants think the defendant is [higher scores indicate higher ratings of attractiveness] and how many legal televisions shows the participants watch).The data are below. Choose one of the variables in Dr.Nguyen's study.Explain how this variable relates to criminal sentencing, considering direction of the effect, statistical significance, and strength of relationship compared with the other variables.

The degree to which a good scientific theory provides the simplest explanation of some phenomenon is known as .

In a multiple regression design, variable is to dependent variable as variable is to independent variable.

The pattern and parsimony approach to causation is a good example of which cycle in research?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.1: Dr.Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the potential causal relationship between doing homework and academic achievement.In January, Dr.Farah has her students report their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) and estimate how many hours they spent doing homework during a typical week in the fall semester.In May, Dr.Farah measures the same variables again (the estimated number of hours spent doing homework during a typical week in the spring semester and their spring GPA).She finds the following correlations. Which of the correlations is an autocorrelation?

All of the following are true of betas and correlation coefficients EXCEPT:

In understanding "controlling for" a third variable, which of the following is a similar concept?

RESEARCH STUDY 9.1: Dr.Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the potential causal relationship between doing homework and academic achievement.In January, Dr.Farah has her students report their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) and estimate how many hours they spent doing homework during a typical week in the fall semester.In May, Dr.Farah measures the same variables again (the estimated number of hours spent doing homework during a typical week in the spring semester and their spring GPA).She finds the following correlations. A colleague of Dr.Farah's asks her why she did not simply conduct an experiment.Which of the following is a probable reason for Dr.Farah's choice not to conduct an experiment?