Deck 6: Research Strategies and Validity

Question 1

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the experimental strategy?

A)What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month?
B)Is there a relationship between the number of text messages that adolescents send each month and the number of pages of leisure reading done by adolescents?
C)Does decreasing the number of text messages sent by adolescents cause an increase in number of pages read for leisure?
D)None of these questions can be addressed with this strategy?

Answer 1

C

Question 2

A research study attempts to describe the relationship between self-esteem and birth order position by measuring self-esteem for each individual in a group of first-born boys,and then comparing the results with self-esteem scores for a group of later-born boys.This study is an example of the _____________ strategy.

A)nonexperimental
B)correlational
C)experimental
D)quasi-experimental

Answer 2

A

Question 3

As the values for one variable increase from one person to another,the values for a second variable tend to decrease.This is an example of a __________ relationship.

A)positive
B)negative
C)curvilinear
D)These data show no consistent relationship.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Experiments allow researchers to

A)eliminate experimenter bias.
B)answer questions about the existence of a relationship between two variables.
C)observe naturally occurring behavior.
D)answer cause-and-effect questions about the relationship between two variables.

Question 5

A research study begins by separating a sample of 40-year-old men into two groups: a high income group and a low income group.A score measuring alcohol use is then obtained for each man.The study intends to determine whether there is a relationship between income and alcohol use.This study is an example of the ____________ research strategy.

A)descriptive
B)correlational
C)experimental
D)nonexperimental

Question 6

A scatter plot showing the relationship between two variables shows data points that form a circular pattern.What kind of relationship is indicated by this pattern?

A)positive
B)negative
C)curvilinear
D)These data show no consistent relationship.

Question 7

The degree to which your research results generalize beyond the specific characteristics of your study refers to

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)general validity.
D)reliability.

Question 8

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the descriptive strategy?

A)What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month?
B)Is there a relationship between the number of text messages that adolescents send each month and the number of pages of leisure reading done by adolescents?
C)Does decreasing the number of text messages sent by adolescents cause an increase in number of pages read for leisure?
D)None of these questions can be addressed with this strategy

Question 9

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the correlational strategy?

A)What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month?
B)Is there a relationship between the number of text messages that adolescents send each month and the number of pages of leisure reading done by adolescents?
C)Does decreasing the number of text messages sent by adolescents cause an increase in number of pages read for leisure?
D)None of these questions can be addressed with this strategy.

Question 10

Which research strategies produce similar data structures that use the same statistical analyses?

A)descriptive and correlational
B)correlational and experimental
C)correlational and nonexperimental
D)experimental,quasi-experimental,and nonexperimental

Question 11

As the values for one variable decrease from one person to another,the values for a second variable also tend to decrease.This is an example of a __________ relationship.

A)positive
B)negative
C)curvilinear
D)These data show no consistent relationship.

Question 12

Which research strategy attempts to address questions about cause-and-effect relationships but fails to produce an unambiguous answer because the study contains a flaw?

A)experimental
B)quasi-experimental
C)nonexperimental
D)correlational

Question 13

Results from a research study suggest that a stop-smoking program is very successful.However,the participants who volunteered for the study were all highly motivated to quit smoking and the researcher is concerned that the same results may not be obtained for smokers who are not as motivated.This study has a problem with

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)experimental validity.
D)validity of measurement.

Question 14

Any factor that allows an alternative explanation for the results of a study is a threat to

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)reliability.
D)accuracy.

Question 15

Any factor that raises doubts about the research results or the interpretation of the results is a(n)

A)threat to reliability.
B)threat to validity.
C)artifact.
D)demand characteristic.

Question 16

The primary distinction between quantitative research and qualitative research is based on differences in the

A)type of participants.
B)type of phenomena they study.
C)type of data they produce.
D)type of phenomena they study and data they produce.

Question 17

Which of the following is not a typical characteristic of qualitative research?

A)involves observing and interacting with individuals to record behaviors
B)produces a narrative report describing behaviors
C)produces data,usually numerical,that are analyzed with statistical methods
D)usually involves a holistic approach rather than examining individual variables

Question 18

A research study records a score measuring alcohol use and a score measuring income level for each individual in a group of 40-year-old men.The study intends to determine whether there is a relationship between the two variables.This study is an example of the ____________ research strategy.

A)descriptive
B)correlational
C)experimental
D)nonexperimental

Question 19

Which research strategy is not concerned with examining relationships between variables?

A)descriptive
B)correlational
C)experimental
D)quasi-experimental

Question 20

A study examining what percentage of married couples is satisfied with their marriages is an example of what research approach?

A)experimental
B)quasi-experimental
C)correlational
D)descriptive

Question 21

A researcher evaluates the effectiveness of an art class by having an art expert judge the quality of student's paintings at the beginning of the class,in the middle of the class,and at the end of the class.If the art expert's standards for judgment change during the class,then the internal validity of the study is threatened by

A)history.
B)instrumentation.
C)maturation.
D)regression toward the mean.

Question 22

Experimental research studies tend to have very _______ internal validity but often have relatively ______ external validity.

A)high; low
B)low; high
C)high; high
D)low; low

Question 23

Sensitization can threaten external validity because the results obtained in a study

A)may be limited to the novel situation of the research study.
B)may be limited to individuals who have experienced a pretest.
C)may be limited to individuals who have experienced a series of different treatment conditions.
D)may be limited to participants taking on different subject roles.

Question 24

A research _______ is a general plan for implementing the research strategy.

A)procedure
B)design
C)study
D)protocol

Question 25

When one treatment condition has a lasting effect on individuals that influences their scores in future treatments,the study is confounded by

A)history.
B)instrumentation.
C)carry-over effects.
D)progressive error.

Question 26

When a group of individuals is tested in a series of treatment conditions over time,which of the following factors can cause progressive improvement in performance from treatment to treatment and thus provide an alternative explanation for the results?

A)history
B)selection bias
C)practice
D)fatigue

Question 27

A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences.The participants in both groups consist of a mixture of males and females.In this study,gender (male/female)is a(n)________ variable.

A)independent
B)dependent
C)extraneous
D)confounding

Question 28

A research study finds that a group of participants who received relaxation training had lower exam anxiety scores than a group who did not receive training.However,the researcher suspects that the difference between groups may be caused by the fact that the participants in one group are generally smarter than those in the other.This study has a problem with

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)experimental validity.
D)correlational validity.

Question 29

A researcher designs a study to determine whether female preschoolers prefer sweetened or unsweetened cereal.The researcher uses a box of sweetened colorful cereal and a box of unsweetened tan colored cereal.The research finds that the group of preschoolers ate more of the sweetened colorful cereal and therefore prefers the sweetened cereal.Which two variables are confounded in this experiment?

A)color of the cereal and children's gender
B)color of the cereal and sweetness of the cereal
C)sweetness of the cereal and amount of eating
D)children's gender and amount of eating

Question 30

If a researcher measures self-esteem with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale,will another researcher get the same results measuring self-esteem with the Harter Self-Esteem Measure? This is a question of

A)external validity.
B)internal validity.
C)reliability.
D)accuracy.

Question 31

Any factor that limits the ability to generalize the results of the study is a threat to

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)reliability.
D)accuracy.

Question 32

_______ effects occur when environmental events other than the treatment influence the participants' scores in one treatment differently than in another treatment.

A)Subject selection bias
B)Volunteerism
C)Fatigue
D)History

Question 33

Experimenter bias can threaten both internal and external validity because the results obtained in a study

A)may be specific to an experimenter with a certain set of characteristics.
B)may be specific to the experimenter who has the expectations.
C)may be specific to the cues about how to behave.
D)may be specific to the participants' knowledge that they are being measured.

Question 34

The tendency for individuals who have extreme scores (high or low)on one measurement and to have less extreme scores on a second measurement is called

A)history.
B)instrumentation.
C)maturation.
D)regression toward the mean.

Question 35

A(n)_______ variable is a variable in a study that is not being studied directly.

A)independent
B)dependent
C)extraneous
D)lax

Question 36

In a study with a group of individuals being tested in a series of treatment conditions that extends over a relatively long time,it is possible that there will be systematic changes in the participants' physiology or psychology that occur during the time of the study.If these changes influence the participants' scores,causing scores at the end of the study to be different from scores at the beginning,the effect is called
A)history.

A)instrumentation.
B)maturation.
D)regression toward the mean.

Question 37

The results of a study may be influenced by the fact that a participant knows he or she is being studied.This threat to external validity is

A)reactivity.
B)novelty.
C)experimenter bias.
D)volunteerism.

Question 38

If participants in one treatment condition have characteristics that are different from the characteristics of participants in another treatment condition,then _______ may be threatened.

A)internal validity
B)external validity
C)reliability
D)accuracy

Question 39

If a researcher finds that room color influences mood of the adults in a sample,then the researcher would like to conclude that room color affects mood of

A)children.
B)people.
C)adults in general.
D)adolescents in general.

Question 40

In studies with a group of individuals being tested in a series of treatment conditions,factors such as history,instrumentation,and maturation threaten

A)internal validity.
B)external validity.
C)both internal and external validity.
D)neither internal nor external validity.

Question 41

The purpose of the correlational research strategy is to describe the relationship between two variables and measure its strength.

Question 42

The descriptive research strategy is the only strategy that is not concerned with relationships between variables.

Question 43

A history effect is an outside,environmental variable that influences the participants' scores in one treatment condition differently than in other conditions.

Question 44

Any factor that limits the ability to generalize the results of a research study to different populations or different environments is a threat to external validity.

Question 45

Any factor that allows for an alternative explanation for the results of a study is a threat to external validity.

Question 46

The purpose of the descriptive research strategy is to describe the relationship between two variables.

Question 47

The problem with using college students as research participants is that college students are not perfectly representative of the general adult population.

Question 48

Selection bias is a threat to external validity.

Question 49

A researcher is conducting a study in which the same group of individuals participates in a series of treatment conditions that are administered over several weeks.A flu outbreak that occurs in the middle of the study would be an example of a history effect.

Question 50

Experimenter bias and participant reactivity can threaten both internal and external validity.

Question 51

The validity of the research study is concerned with the truth of the research or the accuracy of the results.

Question 52

Experimental and nonexperimental studies both involve comparing groups of scores.

Question 53

If there are two or more possible explanations for the results of a research study,then the study has a problem with external validity.

Question 54

Both correlational and nonexperimental studies intend to examine relationships between variables without trying to explain the relationships.

Question 55

When the data points in a scatter plot form a circular pattern,it is an indication that there is no consistent relationship between the two variables.

Question 56

An extraneous variable is any variable that is part of a research study but not directly investigated.

Question 57

An extraneous variable can become a confounding variable if it is allowed to change systematically along with the two other variables being examined in a research study.

Question 58

If the participants in one treatment condition are noticeably older than the participants in another treatment condition,then participant age is a confounding variable.

Question 59

Of all the research strategies that investigate relationships between variables,the correlational strategy is the only one that does not involve comparing groups of scores.

Question 60

Both qualitative and quantitative research involve observing and recording behaviors in order to describe and explain behavior.

Question 61

Describe two time-related threats to internal validity.(Note: For each threat,be sure to label it,describe it,and be sure to indicate how it specifically is a threat to the internal validity of the design.)

Question 62

Explain the difference between assignment bias and selection bias.Which one is a threat to internal validity and which is a threat to external validity?

Question 63

Define internal validity in research design.Describe two threats to the internal validity of a research study.(Note: For each threat,be sure to label it,describe it,and be sure to indicate how it specifically is a threat to the internal validity of the design.)

Question 64

Define external validity in research design.Describe in detail one threat to the external validity of a research study.Be sure to specify how that characteristic is a threat to external validity.

Question 65

What is a confounding variable? How does it affect the validity of your research study? Describe a research study that contains an example of a confounding variable.

Question 66

What is an extraneous variable? How can it become a confounding variable? Describe a research study that contains an example of an extraneous variable.

Question 67

Describe the kind of question that each of the five research strategies intends to answer.