Exam 2: Research Methods in Psychology

A(n) ____________________ is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

The ____ is an index of the amount of variability in a set of data.

The mode in a group of scores describes the ____ for that group of scores.

Statistical procedures are used during which step in conducting a scientific investigation?

A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables is a(n)

When variability in a data set is large, the standard deviation will be ____; when variability is small, the standard deviation will be ____.

A correlational research study was conducted that found that adults who ate oatmeal as children were four times more likely to develop cancer than those who did not.Can the authors of this correlational study conclude that oatmeal causes cancer? Why or why not?

The greatest advantage that the scientific method has over logical reasoning or common sense is that it results in cause-and-effect explanations.

Researchers use ____ to determine whether the observed difference between the two groups in the study was large enough to support the hypothesis.

When, or if, a research project uses a sample that is NOT representative of the population from which it was drawn, the project would show the effect of

Research involving the repetition of a study to see whether the earlier results can be duplicated are referred to as

A researcher is interested in examining whether relaxation techniques help decrease the perception of anxiety in subjects.The second step in this scientific investigation would be

Bongani designed an experiment in which participants listened to a persuasive speech delivered either by a person who was very tall or a person who was average in height.In addition, the speeches were delivered either by individuals wearing business clothes or by people wearing casual clothes.In this example, Bongani

A group of researchers wants to determine if people are more likely to follow directions if the person giving the directions is in a uniform.Half the participants are directed to a parking spot by a uniformed security guard, the other half are directed to a parking spot by an individual wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt.In this study, the dependent variable would be

The two major advantages of the scientific method are its ____________________, or the fact that it requires that people specify exactly what they are talking about and its intolerance of error.

Dr Meintjies is investigating the link between social support networks and grades in school.Students in his classes are required to complete survey forms related to this research.If a survey form is not completed by the end of the semester a student's grade is reduced by 10 points.In this case, some researchers might argue that Dr Meintjies's research violates the ethical principle of

A scientific theory has to be

"Statistically significant" means that the results of an experiment most likely

Design a simple descriptive/correlational study to investigate the relationship between television violence and children's aggressive behaviour.

One of your friends is writing a research paper and wants to obtain information about the depth of personal information people typically reveal during a first date.Directly observing a large number of people during a first date will be difficult, so your friend asks for your advice on the best way to collect this type of data.The best suggestion would be for your friend to use