Exam 9: Multivariate Correlational Research

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. -Based on her pattern of correlations,which of the following can Dr.Farah safely conclude?

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. -What type of study design is Dr.Farah using?

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.

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

Dr.O'Toole is a counseling psychologist who researches family dynamics.He is curious as to whether there is a causal link between the amount of time families spend together on vacation and children's happiness.More specifically,he thinks that spending more time together as a family on vacation causes children to be happier.He designs a study where he samples 63 single-child families in December of 2008 and measures how many days the family spent on vacation in the past year as well as the child's happiness.He then contacts the same families in December 2013 and measures those two variables again.The results of his study are below. -Describe what makes Dr.O'Toole's study (1)a longitudinal study and (2)a multivariate correlational study.

Explain why longitudinal designs can help researchers make causal statements.If a researcher is hoping to make a causal statement,why would a researcher use a longitudinal design instead of an experimental design?

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 following correlations is a cross-sectional correlation?

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?

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. -Imagine that Dr.Farah noted a cyclical,reinforcing relationship between homework and academic achievement.For this to be case,which of the following correlations would need to be significant?

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?

According to the text,when researchers conduct longitudinal research,the type of correlation they are most interested in is which of the following?

Which popular press headline might suggest that a multiple regression has been used?

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

Which of the following is true of multiple regression?

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

Dr.Sparrow is a social psychologist who studies romantic relationships.Several researchers have found that there is a link between income and marital satisfaction (e.g. ,Dakin & Wampler,2008).Dr.Sparrow 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. -Which of the following can be concluded based on the results of Dr.Sparrow's study?

Dr.Uchida is a clinical psychologist who is curious about how people deal with natural disasters (e.g. ,hurricanes,tornados,earthquakes).His previous research suggests that there is a relationship between how much people feel their emotional well-being was affected by the natural disaster and their likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)symptoms.However,he is curious as to whether the effect of emotional well-being goes through another variable,that of social support.He conducts a study in which he asks 174 men and women affected by the 2011 tsunami in Japan to report on how their well-being was affected by the tsunami,the social support felt after the storm,and the number of PTSD symptoms.Dr.Uchida 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.Uchida's finding that the relationship between emotional well-being and PTSD symptoms is stronger for men than for women suggests which of the following?

According to the textbook,which of the following is a reason that multiple regression designs are inferior to experimental designs?

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

Dr.Uchida is a clinical psychologist who is curious about how people deal with natural disasters (e.g. ,hurricanes,tornados).His previous research suggests that there is a relationship between how much people feel that their emotional well-being was affected by the natural disaster and their likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)symptoms.However,he is curious whether the effect of emotional well-being goes through another variable,social support.He conducts a study in which he asks 174 men and women affected by the 2011 tsunami in Japan to report on how their well-being was affected by the tsunami,the social support felt after the storm,and the number of PTSD symptoms.Dr.Uchida 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. -Using Dr.Uchida's study,identify a mediating variable and a moderating variable and explain the difference between the two types of variables.