Deck 13: Alternative Research Designs

Question 1

The purpose of random assignment is to

A) ensure that everyone in the population has an equal chance of being included in the study.
B) control for instrumentation effects.
C) control for maturation effects.
D) create equal groups at the start of an experiment.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Briefly describe what the paraprofessionals did during the first B period of the A-B-A-B design.

Answer 2

During the first B period, the paraprofessionals used choice questions instead of directive prompts to get the children through their routines (e.g., "Do you want to dry your hands quickly or slowly?"). Observers again recorded the occurrence or nonoccurrence of the dependent measures during these routines (e.g., occurrence of challenging behavior, number of steps completed before the occurrence of challenging behavior).

Question 3

_______ occurs when an uncontrolled extraneous variable varies systematically with the IV.

A) Extraneous sampling
B) A cause-and-effect relationship
C) Confounding
D) Internal validity

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Examine the graph of Wally's behavior on p. 35. Does it appear that the treatment worked? How do you know?

Question 5

__________ means that each participant has an equal chance of being in any of the groups in an experiment.

A) Random assignment
B) Random selection
C) Statistical regression
D) Experimental mortality

Question 6

What were the dependent variables used in this study?

Question 7

Briefly describe what the paraprofessionals did during the first A period of the A-B-A-B design.

Question 8

When your experiment is internally valid, then

A) you can generalize your results beyond the particular sample used.
B) you can draw cause-and-effect conclusions.
C) the experiment was replicated with a different sample.
D) there was a selection-history interaction.

Question 9

Briefly summarize the research reviewed in the Introduction regarding choice making.

Question 10

According to Cole and Levinson (2002), the observers were "blind" (see p. 31). What does it mean to be "blind?" Why is it important for the observers to be blind in this study?

Question 11

Why do you think the researchers chose an A-B-A-B design instead of an A-B-A design?

Question 12

Examine the graph of Keith's behavior on p. 34. Does it appear that the treatment worked? How do you know?

Question 13

Briefly describe what the paraprofessionals did during the second A period of the A-B-A-B design.

Question 14

When a study is free from confounds, the researcher can conclude that the ___________ variable causes changes in the ____________ variable.

A) dependent; independent
B) independent; dependent
C) first independent; second independent
D) second independent; first independent

Question 15

____________ occurs when we know that a particular IV leads to a specific change in a DV.

A) A cause-and-effect relation
B) External validity
C) Confounding
D) Random sampling

Question 16

Variables that may unintentionally operate to influence the dependent variable are known as _______ variables.

A) internally valid
B) extraneous
C) moderator
D) independent

Question 17

Janine has controlled extraneous variables in her study. Therefore, Janine's study exhibits high ___________ validity.

A) external
B) internal
C) construct
D) content

Question 18

How have the researchers increased the external validity of their findings relative to a typical single-case experiment?

Question 19

Examine the graph of Keith's behavior on p. 34. Notice that there are six data points in the first "no choice" condition, nine data points in the first "choice" condition, four data points in the second "no choice" condition, and ten data points in the second "choice" condition. Why do you think the researchers chose to have so few data points in the "no choice" conditions relative to the "choice" conditions?

Question 20

Briefly describe what the paraprofessionals did during the second B period of the A-B-A-B design.

Question 21

If participants in one treatment group become familiar with the treatment being received by another treatment group, you should be worried about which threat to internal validity?

A) Maturation
B) Instrumentation
C) History
D) Diffusion of treatment

Question 22

Random assignment creates equal groups when

A) instrumentation is not a factor in your experiment.
B) testing effects have been controlled in your experiment.
C) maturation has been controlled in your experiment.
D) the sample size is large.

Question 23

Which of the following best depicts the pretest-posttest control-group design?

A) A group of participants is pretested on some variable, experiences a treatment, and then is posttested.
B) A group of participants is pretested on some variable, and later they are posttested.
C) A group of participants is randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group.
D) A group of participants is pretested, then randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group, and later is posttested.

Question 24

If participants change over time in an experiment, which threat to internal validity is potentially operating?

A) Selection
B) Maturation
C) Instrumentation
D) Diffusion of treatments

Question 25

Consider the diagram below. Which type of experimental design is depicted?
$$\begin{array} { c c c c } \mathrm { R } & \mathrm { O } _ { 1 } & & \mathrm { O } _ { 2 } \\\mathrm { R } & \mathrm { O } _ { 3 } & \mathrm { X } & \mathrm { O } _ { 4 }\end{array}$$

A) the nonequivalent group design
B) the pretest-posttest control-group design
C) the Solomon four-group design
D) the posttest-only control group

Question 26

Bess has conducted a pretest-posttest control-group study to raise math scores among fifth-grade students who have failed math. She has controlled the potential problem of _________ because this problem should affect both groups equally.

A) selection
B) diffusion of treatment
C) maturation
D) All of the above.

Question 27

If events occur between the DV measurements in a repeated-measures design, we have which of the following threats to internal validity?

A) Selection
B) Instrumentation
C) Diffusion of treatment
D) History

Question 28

Interactions with ___________ occur if there are systematic differences between or among treatment groups based on maturation, history, or instrumentation.

A) regression
B) mortality
C) treatment
D) selection

Question 29

You choose your participants through random __________, and once you have chosen them, you place them into groups through random _________.

A) assignment; selection
B) selection; assignment
C) assignment; sampling
D) selection; sampling

Question 30

________ means that all possible participants have an equal opportunity to be chosen for your experiment.

A) Random assignment
B) Random selection
C) Statistical regression
D) Diffusion of treatment

Question 31

If we choose participants in such a way that our groups are not equal before the experiment, we have which of the following threats to internal validity?

A) Selection
B) History
C) Testing
D) Maturation

Question 32

Random assignment is related to __________ validity, whereas random selection is related to ___________ validity.

A) construct; content
B) content; construct
C) internal; external
D) external; internal

Question 33

How does the pretest-posttest control-group design control for the problem of selection?

A) Participants are randomly assigned to groups, so we can assume that the groups are equivalent before the experiment.
B) Participants are randomly selected, so we can assume that the groups are equivalent before the experiment.
C) There is a placebo group, so we can assume that demand characteristics are controlled.
D) There are two more groups in the experiment, so external validity is increased.

Question 34

If participants drop out of your experiment at different rates, you should be worried about which threat to internal validity?

A) Maturation
B) Experimental mortality
C) Instrumentation
D) History

Question 35

If measuring the DV causes a change in the DV, which threat to internal validity has occurred?

A) Selection
B) Maturation
C) Testing
D) Diffusion of treatments

Question 36

Which of the following is not a true experimental design?

A) the nonequivalent group design
B) the pretest-posttest control-group design
C) the Solomon four-group design
D) the posttest-only control group

Question 37

Bess has conducted a pretest-posttest control-group study to raise math scores among fifth-grade students who have failed math. She has controlled the potential problem of __________ because she has selected participants for the experimental and control groups from the same pool of extremely low-scoring participants.

A) diffusion of treatment
B) instrumentation
C) selection
D) statistical regression

Question 38

Consider the pretest-posttest control-group design. Which of the following threats to internal validity is controlled in this design?

A) History
B) Maturation
C) Testing
D) All of the above.

Question 39

If in a repeated measures design, extremely low scores improve over time (or extremely high scores decrease over time), which threat to internal validity should we be worried about?

A) Instrumentation
B) Diffusion of treatments
C) Statistical regression
D) History

Question 40

Bess has conducted a pretest-posttest control-group study to raise math scores among fifth-grade students who have failed math. She has controlled the potential problem of _________ because she has randomly assigned the students to the experimental and control groups.

A) instrumentation
B) statistical regression
C) selection
D) history

Question 41

Consider the diagram below. Which experimental design is depicted?
$$\begin{array} { l l l } \mathrm { R } & & \mathrm { O } _ { 1 } \\\mathrm { R } & \mathrm { X } & \mathrm { O } _ { 2 }\end{array}$$

A) the posttest-only control-group design
B) the pretest-posttest control-group design
C) the Solomon four-group design
D) the interrupted time-series design

Question 42

The posttest-only control-group design is equivalent to the

A) single-case experimental design.
B) nonequivalent group design.
C) two-group design.
D) interrupted time-series design.

Question 43

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
Suppose Ronda finds that more people dropped out of the treatment group than the control group. Ronda might be worried about which threat to internal validity?

A) Instrumentation
B) Experimental mortality
C) Statistical regression
D) Testing

Question 44

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
Which set of results would result in Ronda being worried about maturation?

A) The treatment group improves their reading comprehension scores and the control group does not.
B) The control group improves their reading comprehension scores and the treatment group does not.
C) The treatment group and the control group both increase their reading comprehension scores.
D) The reading scores of both the treatment group and the control group stay the same across time.

Question 45

One disadvantage of the Solomon four-group design is that

A) many participants figure out the hypothesis.
B) there is no adequate control group.
C) it is generally low in internal validity.
D) it is difficult to analyze the data.

Question 46

An experiment that consists of one person is known as a

A) case study.
B) one-way ANOVA.
C) single-case experiment.
D) repeated measures ANOVA.

Question 47

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
Which set of results would result in Ronda being worried about statistical regression?

A) The treatment group improves their reading comprehension scores and the control group does not.
B) The control group improves their reading comprehension scores and the treatment group does not.
C) Both the treatment group and the control group increase their reading comprehension scores.
D) The reading scores of both the treatment group and the control group stay the same across time.

Question 48

How important is internal validity in an experiment?

A) It is less important than external validity.
B) It is less important than random selection.
C) It is less important than sample size.
D) It is the most important property of your experiment.

Question 49

Consider the diagram below. Which experimental design is depicted?
$$\begin{array} { c c c c } \mathrm { R } & \mathrm { O } _ { 1 } & & \mathrm { O } _ { 2 } \\\mathrm { R } & \mathrm { O } _ { 3 } & \mathrm { X } & \mathrm { O } _ { 4 } \\\mathrm { R } & & & \mathrm { O } _ { 5 } \\\mathrm { R } & & \mathrm { X } & \mathrm { O } _ { 6 }\end{array}$$

A) the posttest-only control-group design
B) the pretest-posttest control-group design
C) the Solomon four-group design
D) the interrupted time-series design

Question 50

The posttest-only control group design contains

A) one group of participants tested twice.
B) two groups of participants, each tested once.
C) one group of participants tested once.
D) two groups of participants, each tested twice.

Question 51

The posttest-only control-group design

A) suffers from the selection threat to internal validity.
B) suffers from the statistical regression threat to internal validity.
C) suffers from the history threat to internal validity.
D) allows cause-and-effect statements to be made.

Question 52

The Solomon four-group design has

A) two groups, with each group tested twice.
B) four groups, with each group tested twice.
C) four groups, with two of the groups tested twice and two of the groups tested once.
D) four groups, with three of the groups tested twice and one of the groups tested once.

Question 53

One advantage of the Solomon four-group design over the pretest-posttest control-group design is increased

A) internal validity.
B) external validity.
C) protection against experimenter bias.
D) protection against experimenter characteristics.

Question 54

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
Which set of results would result in Ronda being worried about the internal validity threat of testing?

A) The treatment group improves their reading comprehension scores and the control group does not.
B) The control group improves their reading comprehension scores and the treatment group does not.
C) The treatment group and the control group both increase their reading comprehension scores.
D) The reading scores of both the treatment group and the control group stay the same across time.

Question 55

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
How has Ronda controlled for the selection threat to internal validity?

A) She has randomly assigned participants to groups.
B) She has given a reading comprehension pretest.
C) She has given a reading comprehension posttest.
D) She has administered a treatment.

Question 56

The posttest-only control-group design consists of

A) random assignment to conditions and a comparison between the treatment group(s) and the control group.
B) random assignment to conditions and an assessment of a control group only.
C) random assignment to conditions and a pretest/posttest comparison between the treatment group(s) and the control group.
D) random selection of participants and an assessment of a control group only.

Question 57

A single-case experimental design is also known as a(n)

A) case study.
B) N = 1 design.
C) one-way ANOVA.
D) repeated measures ANOVA.

Question 58

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
Suppose Ronda finds out that participants in the treatment group were helping participants in the control group with their reading comprehension. Ronda should be worried about which threat to internal validity?

A) Selection
B) Experimental mortality
C) Testing
D) Diffusion of treatment

Question 59

The Solomon four-group design contains, in total, _____ sets of data.

A) 4
B) 6
C) 8
D) 12

Question 60

Questions 29 - 35 refer to the following research study:
Ronda would like to assess the effects of a reading comprehension course on the scores of students. She gives a group of remedial students a reading comprehension pretest and then randomly assigns them to either the treatment group or the control group. Shortly after the treatment, she measures their reading comprehension scores again.
What kind of research design did Ronda use?

A) Solomon four-group design
B) Non-equivalent group design
C) Pretest-posttest control-group design
D) Interrupted time-series design

Question 61

Renee conducts a single-case experiment in which she changes two variables simultaneously. Renee has

A) utilized a factorial design.
B) utilized a multiple-groups design.
C) controlled for several threats to internal validity.
D) a confound.

Question 62

Which of the following is NOT a reason why researchers conduct single-case experiments?

A) Researchers can study a unique person in depth.
B) It is not necessary to have more than one person when there is inconsequential variability among members of the population on a particular variable.
C) The results from one person can prove a well-known theory.
D) The results from one person can refute a well-known theory.

Question 63

In a single-case experimental design, the researcher would like for baseline measurements to

A) increase steadily.
B) decrease steadily.
C) increase or decrease steadily, depending on the research question.
D) remain stable.

Question 64

A measurement of a behavior made under normal conditions (i.e., no IV is present) in a single-case experiment is known as a(n) ______ measurement.

A) repeated
B) ABAB
C) baseline
D) random

Question 65

What is the minimum number of observations you should collect during the baseline period in a single-case experiment?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) none; baseline observations are not necessary

Question 66

Which of the following is NOT a general procedure of single-case experimental designs?

A) Repeated measures
B) Random assignment to condition
C) Baseline measurement
D) Changing one variable at a time

Question 67

A typical experiment differs from a single-case experiment in which of the following ways?

A) A typical experiment manipulates an independent variable and a single-case experiment does not.
B) A typical experiment controls variables and a single-case experiment does not.
C) A typical experiment uses multiple participants and a single-case experiment uses one participant.
D) All of the above.

Question 68

In a single-case experiment, how do researchers create a control condition?

A) A separate individual serves as the "control group."
B) The baseline observations serve as the control condition.
C) The researchers compare their results to past research to create a control condition.
D) Single-case experiments do not generally have a control condition.

Question 69

Who among these famous psychologists has conducted single-case experiments?

A) Ebbinghaus
B) Fechner
C) Wundt
D) All of the above.

Question 70

Case studies _________ cause-and-effect conclusions; single-case experiments _________ cause-and-effect conclusions.

A) do not allow; do not allow
B) allow; do not allow
C) allow; allow
D) do not allow; allow

Question 71

Why do researchers change only one variable at a time in single-case experiments?

A) There are not enough participants to change multiple variables at once.
B) There is increased external validity when only one variable is changed at a time.
C) Changing multiple variables at once creates confounds in the experiment.
D) The statistical techniques required to analyze the data are very complex when more than one variable is changed at a time.

Question 72

An observational technique in which a researcher compiles a record of observations about a single participant is known as a

A) case study.
B) one-way ANOVA.
C) single-case experiment.
D) repeated measures ANOVA.

Question 73

A case study is a(n) ______ technique; an N = 1 design is a(n) _______ technique.

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

Question 74

To ensure that behavior is consistent, researchers using the single-case experimental design use

A) random assignment.
B) repeated measures.
C) demand characteristics.
D) statistical regression.

Question 75

When collecting baseline measurements for a single-case experiment, researchers hope to find behavior that

A) fluctuates greatly.
B) gradually increases.
C) gradually decreases.
D) is stable.

Question 76

The single-case research approach popularized by B.F. Skinner is called

A) experimental analysis of behavior.
B) applied research analysis.
C) behavioral research analysis.
D) experimental approach to behavioral research.

Question 77

Why were single-case experiments more popular in the past than now?

A) Several popular statistical techniques were invented that made multiple-group experiments easy to analyze.
B) Researchers now prefer to manipulate an independent variable.
C) There were fewer people to serve as participants in the past than there are now.
D) All of the above.

Question 78

How is a case study different from a single-case experiment?

A) A case study involves manipulation of at least one variable, and a single-case experiment does not.
B) A single-case experiment involves manipulation of at least one variable, and a case study does not.
C) A case study allows cause-and-effect conclusions, and a single-case experiment does not.
D) A case study has higher internal validity than a single-case experiment.

Question 79

In single-case experiments, researchers

A) change one variable at a time.
B) change two variables at a time.
C) change three or more variables at a time.
D) do not change any variables.

Question 80

Over time, there has been a(n) ________ in the number of single-case experiments conducted.

A) increase
B) decrease
C) increase from 1890 to 1960 and then a sharp decrease
D) decrease from 1890 to 1960 and then a sharp increase