Deck 5: Variables and Measurement in Research

Question 1

The difference between nominal and ordinal measurement scales is ______.

A) nominal scales have numerical response categories and ordinal scales do not
B) responses on ordinal scales can be rank ordered and responses on nominal scales cannot be rank ordered
C) nominal scales include zero as the lowest possible score and ordinal scales do not
D) nominal and ordinal scales are identical

Answer 1

responses on ordinal scales can be rank ordered and responses on nominal scales cannot be rank ordered

Question 2

An independent variable that includes three different types of treatments is called a(n) ______ variable.

A) amount
B) bivalent
C) multivalent
D) subject

Answer 2

multivalent

Question 3

A variable that affects the results of the study but is not a variable of interest in the study, is called a(n) ______ variable.

A) independent
B) dependent
C) subject
D) confound

Answer 3

confound

Question 4

Having different participants in a study experience conditions in different orders is ______.

A) counterbalancing
B) regression toward the mean
C) random assignment
D) attrition

Question 5

A solution to experimenter bias is to use a(n) ______ design.

A) double-blind
B) single-blind
C) experimental
D) correlational

Question 6

If I set my alarm to read 8:10 when it is really 8:00 (i.e., it is 10 minutes fast) and the alarm goes off each day when it reads 8:10, it will be ______ but not ______.

A) valid; reliable
B) reliable; valid
C) accurate; testable
D) parsimonious; falsifiable

Question 7

Temperature measured in Fahrenheit or Celsius is an example of a(n) ______ measurement scale.

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval
D) ratio

Question 8

Suppose a psychologist developed a test to measure intelligence, but this test was poorly developed and really only measured how well people perform on standardized tests (in other words, it doesn't actually measure intelligence). This test would lack ______.

A) inter-rater reliability
B) test-retest validity
C) construct validity
D) parsimony

Question 9

Independent variables can be manipulated according to all but ______.

A) presence/absence of treatment
B) type of treatment
C) amount of treatment
D) level of treatment

Question 10

People in a grocery store are asked to sample three types of energy drinks and then indicate which one they liked best and which they liked least (i.e., they rank ordered the drinks). The dependent variable in this study is measured on a(n) ______ scale.

A) interval
B) ratio
C) ordinal
D) nominal

Question 11

Confounding variables primarily threaten the ______ of a study.

A) external validity
B) internal validity
C) reliability
D) third variable

Question 12

Suppose that on average, you tend to score about 83% on exams in your courses. Scoring a 95% on the first exam in a course and 84% on the second exam in that course is an example of ______.

A) the Hawthorne effect
B) maturation
C) regression toward the mean
D) attrition

Question 13

Measuring intelligence using the score on an IQ test is an example of ______.

A) reliability
B) an operational definition
C) an independent variable
D) maturation

Question 14

Time measured in minutes is an example of a(n) ______ scale.

A) interval
B) ordinal
C) nominal
D) ratio

Question 15

When different observers of behavior record the behavior in a similar way, the measure is said to have good ______.

A) inter-rater reliability
B) test-retest validity
C) construct validity
D) parsimony

Question 16

A quasi-independent variable is the same as ______.

A) a subject variable
B) an independent variable
C) a dependent variable
D) a confounding variable

Question 17

The difference between an independent variable and a quasi-independent variable is that the quasi-independent variable lacks ______.

A) random assignment
B) parsimony
C) validity
D) reliability

Question 18

Getting better on a task in a study with practice can cause a source of bias called ______.

A) maturation
B) testing effects
C) regression toward the mean
D) mortality

Question 19

Suppose that a participant completes a task in a research study faster than he or she would have completed the task outside the study (i.e., in their natural surroundings). This would be an example of ______.

A) regression toward the mean
B) maturation
C) a history effect
D) the Hawthorne effect

Question 20

Testing effects are particularly problematic for ______ designs.

A) quasi-experimental
B) within-subjects
C) between-subjects
D) bivalent

Question 21

In a ______, both the participants and the researchers who interact with the participants do not know which participants are assigned to the different groups.

A) double-blind design
B) tri-blind design
C) multi-blind design
D) single-blind design

Question 22

Ways to minimize the Hawthorne effect does not include ______.

A) observing the participants unobtrusively
B) using deception
C) making the participants' responses in a study anonymous
D) telling participants you will be observing them

Question 23

The best way to minimize regression toward the mean bias effects is to use ______ of the test for within-subjects variables.

A) several repetitions
B) blind procedure
C) repeat surveys
D) remove confounds

Question 24

A sugar pill given to the control group in a drug study to allow all groups to believe that they are receiving a treatment is using ______.

A) multi-blind design
B) confounding factors
C) placebo
D) bivalent

Question 25

An experiment conducted in the participants' natural environment is a(n) ______ experiment.

A) environment
B) natural
C) field
D) naturalistic

Question 26

Presence/absence of variables typically includes ______.

A) two levels
B) three levels
C) four levels
D) five levels

Question 27

A procedure used to hide the group assignment from the participants in a study to prevent their beliefs about the effectiveness of a treatment from affecting the results is ______.

A) double-blind design
B) tri-blind design
C) multi-blind design
D) single-blind design

Question 28

Nominal scales are considered ______ data.

A) quantitative
B) bivalent
C) multivalent
D) qualitative

Question 29

An independent variable that includes two levels is called a(n) ______ variable.

A) amount
B) bivalent
C) multivalent
D) subject

Question 30

______ validity means that on the surface, a study or scale appears to be intuitively valid.

A) Face
B) Criterion
C) Construct
D) Inter-rater

Question 31

External validity can be reduced by ______ reducing representativeness of the study.

A) the Hawthorne effect
B) maturation
C) regression toward the mean
D) attrition

Question 32

The best way to design a good causal experiment (or even a good quasi-experiment) is to use ______.

A) control for sources of bias
B) published inventories
C) counterbalancing procedures
D) different test for each participant

Question 33

In the ______ design each participant experiences only one level of the independent variable.

A) within-subjects
B) between-subjects
C) across-subjects
D) all-subjects

Question 34

A survey response scale that involves pictorial response categories for participants with low verbal skills is a ______.

A) verbal scale
B) mute scale
C) nonverbal scale
D) pictorial scale

Question 35

In the ______ design each participant experiences all levels of the variable.

A) within-subjects
B) between-subjects
C) across-subjects
D) all-subjects

Question 36

The simplest scale of measurement is a ______.

A) ordinal scale
B) nominal scale
C) interval scale
D) ratio scale

Question 37

A common interval scale is the Likert scale, where respondents are asked how much they agree or disagree with a statement on a 1 to 5 or a 1 to 7 scale.

Question 38

______ is a source of bias that can occur in a study due to participants changing their behavior based on their perception of the study and its purpose.

A) Demand characteristics
B) Perception characteristics
C) Bias characteristics
D) Study characteristics

Question 39

How consistent the measurements are is called ______.

A) reliability
B) validity
C) trustworthiness
D) generalizability

Question 40

Any characteristic that can be measured or observed from the participants can be used to create a ______ variable in a study.

A) bivalent
B) independent
C) quasi-independent
D) dependent

Question 41

The simplest scale of measurement is the ordinal scale.

Question 42

Experimenter bias occurs when in a study a researcher inadvertently treats groups the same due to knowledge of the hypothesis for the study.

Question 43

A mono-blind design is used to combat effects of subjects' knowledge of their group assignment.

Question 44

Explain the difference between construct validity and face validity. Please provide examples.

Question 45

If participants behave in a research study the way they would in their everyday lives, then the study has good external validity.

Question 46

Placebo effects can be an issue when multiple testing sessions occur in a study.

Question 47

Demand characteristics can affect the validity of a study.

Question 48

The ratio scale is defined as an unordered category.

Question 49

The Beck Anxiety Inventory questionnaire would have lower validity if used to collect data about anxiety on young children under the age of 4.

Question 50

"Regression toward the mean" means that extreme scores are not likely to recur.

Question 51

Use the following study description for questions : A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups.
Describe two possible sources of bias in this study and explain how each source of bias could have caused the results reported.

Question 52

Comparing scores on a depression questionnaire using different types of drugs or therapies is type variable of the dependent variable.

Question 53

Explain how the concepts of validity and reliability differ.

Question 54

Some examples of common quasi-independent variables used in psychological research include gender, age, personality types (e.g., introverts and extroverts), and ethnicity.

Question 55

Discuss what scales of measurement mean and how the scale of measurement affects research design.

Question 56

Use the following study description for questions : A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups.
What is the independent variable in this study? What are the levels of the independent variable?

Question 57

Amount variables involve a manipulation of the amount of a factor in each level.

Question 58

Use the following study description for questions : A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups.
What is the dependent variable?

Question 59

When the effectiveness of a drug is tested, the treatment group typically receives a placebo to equate beliefs of effectiveness of treatment across groups.

Question 60

High inter-rater reliability means that there is a high rate of agreement in the way the different observers are recording behaviors.