Exam 2: Asking and Answering Research Questions

Professor Green theorizes that people who exercise more frequently are happier than people who exercise less frequently. The abstract concept of happiness in Dr. Green's theory is an example of:

Whenever people are aware that they are being studied, whether in the lab or in the field, they may wonder about the purpose of the research and these questions may influence their behavior. In this case, the people's behavior is being influenced by _________ .

If the goal of social psychology is not to provide answers to moral questions, such as whether abortion is right or wrong, then what can social psychological research actually tell us about these and similar issues?

Social psychology is a(n) __________ science, which means that its theories and conclusions are based on the results of research.

Before taking part in a study on the relation between exercise and stress, participants were asked to complete a document that provided some information about the study and told the participants their rights. These participants have just completed:

Social desirability is a threat to construct validity.

How do psychologists come up with research ideas?

Every research design offers about the same level of internal validity.

Dr. Miller is conducting a study on the effects of alcohol consumption on risk-taking behaviors. When participants show up to his study, he allows them to select which experimental condition they want to be in. Dr. Miller's study will most likely be threatened by a failure of random assignment.

Participants must be told that they will be interacting with a confederate before taking part in a study.

In the question above, the prediction that more exercise leads to greater happiness is an example of:

Social psychological findings from Western cultures do not always generalize to people from Eastern cultures.

Lin is from a collectivist culture and endorses this view of herself. Lin would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

________ measures are those in which traces of past behavior, such as news reports or old Facebook posts, are examined.

Select one nonexperimental design and describe the pros and cons of that method. Next, compare those pros and cons to those of running an experiment. Which type of method generally has higher internal validity and which one generally has higher external validity? Explain.

What is the best way to ensure external validity in a study?

Dr. Zen is conducting a study on altruistic helping behavior with a group of Buddhist monks as her participants. She is excited to eventually make broad claims about helping behavior based on her findings from the monks. Based only on the limited information provided, which type of validity would appear to be the weakest in this study?

A researcher is interested in testing whether students who have recently been insulted are more or less likely to help a person in need. To study this issue, the researcher should make _______ the independent variable and _______ the dependent variable.

Correlational studies have greater internal validity than experiments.

College students are asked to complete a survey in which they indicate how often they have had unprotected sex and used illegal drugs. The author of this survey should be most concerned about which threat to construct validity?