Exam 4: The Psychologists Toolbox: Tools for Building Better Designs

Self-report is to behavioral as:

If a researcher were using stratified random sampling to study gender differences and the population was known to be composed of 60% females and 40% males, then for every 100 participants recruited, how many people should be selected from each gender strata?

Use the following to answer questions Scenario III Scenario III is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Johnson, M. K., Rowatt, W. C. & LaBouff, J. P. (2012). Religiosity and prejudice revisited: In-group favoritism, out-of group derogation, or both? Psychology of Religion and Spirtuality, 4(2), 154-168. Does Religion Encourage Discrimination? The purpose of this study was to examine intergroup bias-the idea that people favor those who share their religious attitudes and beliefs, and discriminate against those who do not. In the first part the researchers administered a survey to 144 undergraduate psychology students from a Christian university designed to address their attitudes toward individuals whose religious affiliation and sexuality were consistent and inconsistent with their own. In the second study the researchers recruited 73 undergraduates from the same university. The participants performed a lexical decision task 24 hours after reporting their religious affiliation and attitudes toward Christians, Muslims, atheists, heterosexual men, and homosexual men via an online survey. The purpose of the lexical decision task was to prime half of the participants with a religious word and half of the participants with a neutral word. Immediately following the lexical decision task the participants were again asked about their attitudes toward the aforementioned religious groups and male sexual orientations. The results of the study support intergroup bias. Not only did Christian participants exhibit a more positive attitude toward those consistent with their Christian values and a negative attitude toward those with values inconsistent with their Christian beliefs, but religious priming also appeared to accentuate the intergroup bias. The results of the study suggest that Christianity, a belief based on human acceptance, may actually promote discrimination. -(Scenario III) Religiosity was the independent variable in the study described in Scenario III. Religiosity was divided into three groups based on whether the participants reported being Christian, atheist, or Muslim. The method by which religious groups were established makes this a(n) ___________study.

Which of the following is NOT a reason why participants may inaccurately respond to a self-report measure?

List and describe ways that researchers can minimize error (both random and systematic) in their studies.

Observer bias can be minimized in behavioral data by:

To examine the opinions of individuals living in her jurisdiction, Gloria administers a survey outside of her local polling center on Election Day. However, she is weary of drawing conclusions about the population from this sample when she learns that people without a driver's license are unable to vote. As a result, she fears the opinions of elderly members of her community (who no longer drive or have a valid driver's license) may be unrepresented. Gloria is worried about:

Which of the following people would be a WEIRD participant?

Given their unique vantage point, the observer in a research study is often the:

Psychologists would like their measurement tools to be as reliable as a(n):

Purposeful sampling is to researcher as:

Sample is to population as:

Marko takes an IQ test at the beginning and end of his freshman year of college. If the test is known to be reliable then:

Which of the following represents a societal example of systematic error?

Use the following to answer questions Scenario II Scenario II is based on fabricated data inspired by the following study: Holtfreter, K., Reisig, M. D. & Turanovic, J. J. (2015). Depression and infrequent participation in social activities among older adults: the moderating role of high-quality familial ties. Aging and Mental Health, Oct 15:1-10. [Epub ahead of print]. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family ties and depression in the elderly. To that end, Holtfreter and colleagues randomly dialed telephone numbers from Florida and Arizona telephone directory databases that contained a combined total of 4130 phone numbers. Of the 4130 numbers dialed, 2000 individuals older than 60 years answered the call and agreed to participate in the telephone survey. The survey included questions that assessed one's level of social activity, depression, and family ties. The results revealed that elderly individuals who reported being very happy with their children and with their partner were significantly less depressed than those whose family ties were less strong. In addition, the researchers found that those who were depressed were less likely to participate in social activities. The results of this study suggest that family is an important contributor to psychological and social well-being. -(Scenario II) Less than half of the potential participants in Scenario II agreed to complete the telephone interviews. This could potentially result in:

If an APA-style research paper were a board game, which piece would be the instruction manual for anyone who may want to play?

In what section of an APA-style report would researchers interpret their research findings?

When people remember their behavior they often do so in a way that:

Lorenzo asks his participants whether they would like to solve anagram tasks alone or with a teammate. He is using:

What is the difference between a true experiment and a quasi-experimental design?