Deck 3: Problem Identification and Hypothesis Formation

Question 1

When preparing to conduct a literature review for your research idea, it is a good idea to do which of the following?

A) define your objectives during the search
B) familiarize yourself with the campus library
C) define your topic area and keywords for your search
D) all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A female psychologist is watching her children play in their backyard. She observes one child sharing a toy with the other. This sparks an idea to investigate the factors involved in sharing in children. Which of the following sources of research ideas does this example fall under?

A) theory
B) practical issues
C) everyday life
D) past research

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One source of ideas for research is past research. Why would someone do a research project based on research someone else has already done?

A) often, the technology has changed so rapidly that older studies are no longer valid
B) too many published articles used qualitative research methods when experiments were really required
C) journals like to publish replication studies
D) often, the results of a study creates more questions than it answers

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Why are psychological theories often a good source for research ideas?

A) because theories are basically everyday guesses about reality that need empirical verification
B) because theories often make specific predictions about relationships among variables that must then be tested empirically
C) because theories are usually about esoteric issues with no practical application, and research makes theory more practical
D) because theories do not have testable hypotheses

Question 5

The electronic bibliographic database that is devoted to psychological research is

A) Medline.
B) PsycINFO or PsycLIT.
C) CINAHL
D) ERIC

Question 6

Which of the following is true regarding the online database PsycINFO?

A) it allows electronic access to full-text psychological journal articles published since 1980
B) it can be accessed through Google scholar
C) similar to Psychological Abstracts, it publishes summaries of psychologically relevant scholarly literature
D) because of its technical nature its use is really beyond the ability of most undergraduate students

Question 7

Jimmy is using PsycINFO to search for articles on bullying behavior. He wonders if there are other psychological terms similar to bullying) he should be using in his search. What advice would you give Jimmy?

A) he should ask friends for new terms to look for
B) he should use the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms to identify similar terms used by other psychologists
C) a quick Google search would be the most efficient way to obtain additional search terms
D) he should not search for other terms because he would risk accessing articles that aren't relevant for his research

Question 8

Which of the following pieces of information would NOT be included in a typical PsycINFO record?

A) authors)
B) abstract
C) source
D) references

Question 9

The primary reason for doing a literature review is to

A) determine which statistical test to use.
B) find the proper phrasing of the scientific hypothesis.
C) determine the current state of knowledge in the area.
D) determine who should be in the participant pool.

Question 10

What part of a scholarly journal article should you read to get an overview of the research to determine if you want to read the entire article?

A) abstract
B) introduction
C) methods
D) discussion

Question 11

We can not use the scientific method to determine some questions like "Is there a God?" But an interest in religious belief can lead to ideas that can be translated into researchable questions. Which of the following is NOT a researchable question related to religion?

A) Does daily social prayer influence recovery rate among surgery patients?
B) Does meditation reduce stress better than prayer?
C) Is prayer heard by God?
D) Do couples with a serious commitment to their religion have less marital conflict?

Question 12

Which of the following might you find in the Annual Review of Psychology?

A) a report on one recent research project examining the relationship between poverty and 4th grade reading ability
B) the abstracts of journal articles on concept formation published in the past 12 months
C) an in-depth discussion of last year's major journal articles on the relationship between medication and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
D) a list of all articles on psychology published in the last year, arranged by topic

Question 13

Which of the following would be the least capable of scientific investigation and thus would represent the worst potential research idea?

A) Which art form is the more valuable to society, paintings or music?
B) Which is better to increase alertness, caffeine or nicotine?
C) Which species can learn a particular maze better, rat or mouse?
D) Which produces better learning, studying with or without music?

Question 14

A "theory" is best defined as

A) a researchers best guess about the reality of the phenomenon he is studying.
B) a series of hypotheses not yet supported by empirical evidence.
C) a group of statements that explains how and why something works and makes predictions
D) the best tentative solution to a specific problem, open to change.

Question 15

In order to make his psychological literature search particularly fast and efficient, Carl should use a computerized database such as

A) PsycLIT or PsycINFO.
B) Medline.
C) Internet Explorer
D) Lexis Nexis.

Question 16

When planning a research project, scientists usually review the literature published papers, books, etc) on their topic of interest. Which of the following is NOT a standard reason to do so?

A) to understand the current state of knowledge about your topic
B) to see whether the study you plan to do has already been done
C) to learn about methodological approaches to and problems with studying your topic
D) to find out about funding sources for your study

Question 17

Overlooking research ideas because of personal preferences or demographic influences is called in research ideas.

A) testability
B) objectivity
C) manipulation
D) bias

Question 18

Dr. Nettles is interested in determining the factors that increase productivity in the workplace. After reading the section in your book on sources of research ideas, which source is Dr. Nettles drawing from?

A) theory
B) practical issues
C) everyday life
D) past research

Question 19

After you have developed a research idea, the next step is to

A) determine if the study is feasible.
B) review the literature.
C) write a scientific hypothesis.
D) write a null hypothesis.

Question 20

The internet and world wide web can be useful when conducting a literature review. What should you be most concerned with when using the web or internet in your search?

A) reliability of the information
B) appearance of the information
C) validity of the information
D) nothing, the internet is perfect

Question 21

Attending psychological conferences often

A) provides opportunities to interact with researchers
B) provides exposure to current research
C) often results in renewed enthusiasm about research d.all of the above

Question 22

In a scholarly journal article where would you be most likely to find the purpose of the study or the researcher's hypothesis?

A) the first paragraph of the introduction
B) toward the end of the introduction
C) the methods section
D) there is no standard location for this information

Question 23

When evaluating the validity of information on the internet, which of the following is important information to find on the authority of an author?

A) number of testimonials
B) email address
C) credentials
D) opinions

Question 24

When establishing the validity of a web page how should you evaluate its currency?

A) the general rule of thumb is that pages more than 10 years old should not be used in scientific research
B) because scientific advances occur so quickly, web pages more than one year old should not be considered valid
C) it is inappropriate to include information about when the page was produced because they may be misleading
D) the date of publication and frequency of updating should be posted on the page as a clue to its currency

Question 25

A metacrawler or meta search engine works by

A) remembering your search history to allow more efficient searches in the future.
B) submitting your search query to several different search engines and including all of the results.
C) allowing you to research multiple topics in a single search.
D) finding and storing new information related to your topic for days after your original search

Question 26

In addition to accessing PsycINFO through your school's computer system, the textbook authors suggest using to find published research on the web.

A) Ask Jeeves
B) Google scholar
C) Yahoo news
D) Bing

Question 27

Once you have reviewed the literature on a topic, you are in a position to

A) begin collecting data.
B) determine the feasibility of your study.
C) formulate a research problem.
D) write a review article for the Annual Review of Psychology.

Question 28

If you find an article that you would like to use for your research but are unable to locate it in your library or through electronic collections provided by your library, your next step should be to

A) drive to the nearest "research" library where you will likely find the article.
B) search through your library's microfiche files.
C) use inter-library loan.
D) search again using broader search terms.

Question 29

In addition to PsycINFO, what other data bases are mentioned in your text as being helpful in psychological research?

A) MEDLINE and SocINDEX
B) BioMed and PhilosophyINDEX
C) INASP and JSTOR
D) LexisNexis and PubMed

Question 30

Feasibility of a study refers to

A) how well you have defined the research problem.
B) the specificity of the question.
C) whether the hypothesis is testable.
D) whether or not the study can actually be conducted.

Question 31

When evaluating the validity of information on the internet "coverage" refers to

A) the length of the webpage
B) viewing information without pay fees
C) having a .edu, .gov, or .org domain extension
D) none of the above

Question 32

Which of the following is probably the major concern about internet resources in exploring your research idea?

A) the accuracy of information at some Web sites
B) the accuracy of information posted on Listserv's
C) the theft of your research idea by hackers
D) the quality of information received by e-mail from other researchers in the field

Question 33

E-mail can be used in the research process by

A) using it to get on-line references from the Internet.
B) allowing you to communicate with other scientists and authors.
C) allowing you to send phone messages.
D) none of the above.

Question 34

When looking at information on the web for your literature review, which of the following should NOT be important to validate the information?

A) author credentials and email address
B) peer-reviewed references
C) author's opinions
D) preferred domains such as .edu, .gov, or .org

Question 35

are e-mail discussion groups that are organized around a specific topic. Messages are distributed to all members of the group.

A) Academic chatrooms
B) Metacrawlers
C) Listservs
D) Electronic meeting rooms

Question 36

It is useful for a research problem to be stated as precisely as possible because

A) specific questions are more likely to be proved correct.
B) the more specific the question is, the easier it is to get statistical significance.
C) a specific question allows the researcher to focus on only one variable at a time.
D) specific questions help the researcher decide what techniques, participants, and measures to use.

Question 37

After you have determined it is feasible to conduct your study, the next step is to

A) prepare a clear and exact statement of the research problem.
B) determine what the null hypothesis will be.
C) conduct a literature review.
D) collect data.

Question 38

Why do scientists hold and attend annual or semi-annual professional conferences?

A) to catch up on very recent and/or on-going research
B) to meet each other personally, in order to better judge each other's work
C) to get away from teaching commitments
D) to bypass having to read the literature

Question 39

Dr. Marshall is interested in researching the feeding habits of humpback whales in the wild. Which of the following feasibility issues will be the most difficult one for him to deal with?

A) time
B) expense
C) ethics
D) all equally difficult

Question 40

Below are four examples of research problems. Which one conforms to your textbook author's definition of a good research problem?

A) Why do women take psychology courses?
B) What is the relation between drug therapy and depression symptoms?
C) Are people better off believing in an afterlife, or should they just be concerned about their behavior in this life?
D) Men are stronger than women.

Question 41

Why is the statement "What type of parenting is best for children?" not a good research question?

A) parenting is a very personal issue and should not be open to research
B) research on children is unethical
C) it does not specify the methods to be used to answer the question
D) it is not sufficiently specific

Question 42

Failing to support the scientific hypothesis could result for numerous reasons. Which of the following is NOT among those reasons?

A) the scientific hypothesis was conceived properly, but was actually false
B) the literature review was misinterpreted, leading to a misconceived scientific hypothesis
C) one or more prior studies may have been wrong, leading to a misconceived scientific hypothesis
D) the null hypothesis was conceived properly, and was false

Question 43

"Students who use mental imagery to study for an exam will do the same as those who do not." This sentence is an example of

A) a research idea.
B) a research problem.
C) a scientific hypothesis.
D) a null hypothesis.

Question 44

Which of the following criteria for good research problems is the most important?

A) variables should express a relationship
B) the problem should be in question form
C) it must be capable of empirical testing
D) it must have feasibility

Question 45

Which of the following sequences is the one suggested by the text?

A) get research idea, review the literature, determine feasibility of study, formulate the research problem, formulate the hypothesis, collect the data
B) get research idea, formulate the hypothesis, review the literature, determine feasibility of study, formulate the research problem, collect the data
C) get research idea, review the literature, formulate the research problem, formulate the hypothesis, determine feasibility of study, collect the data
D) get research idea, review the literature, determine feasibility of study, formulate the hypothesis, formulate the research problem, collect the data

Question 46

An experimental psychology lab student is having difficulty making a number of decisions such as identifying the variables to use in the experiment and the type of research participants to use. This difficulty could be because the student

A) did not have the psychology null hypothesis.
B) did not have a research problem that was specific enough.
C) did not state the research problem as a question.
D) forgot to write a scientific hypothesis.

Question 47

A research problem states the issue to be studied in question form. A scientific hypothesis

A) states the predicted relationship between/among variables.
B) specifies the procedure that the experimenter will use to answer the question.
C) is another name for the research problem.
D) states what statistics will be used to answer the research problem.

Question 48

In general, most psychological experiments result in data that

A) cannot be clearly interpreted.
B) can only suggest future experiments.
C) either refute or fail to refute the null hypothesis.
D) fail to support both the null and scientific hypothesis.

Question 49

"ESP cannot be demonstrated if a non-believer is present." This hypothesis is inadequate primarily because

A) it is not testable.
B) it is not specific.
C) it is not astatement.
D) it does not specify a relationship between variables.

Question 50

A scientific hypothesis is

A) a predicted relation that exists among the variables.
B) a statement of what the researcher expects to find.
C) sometimes derived from theories.
D) all of the above.

Question 51

"Students who use mental imagery to study for an exam will do better than those who do not." This sentence is an example of

A) a biased hypothesis.
B) a research problem.
C) a scientific hypothesis.
D) a null hypothesis.

Question 52

"Why do we sneeze?" is not a good research problem because

A) it cannot be studied empirically.
B) it is not stated as a interrogative sentence.
C) it does not state a relationship between two variables.
D) all of the above.

Question 53

According to Kerlinger 1973) and as presented in your text, a good research problem must meet several criteria. Which of the following is NOT among them?

A) It should be open to empirical investigation.
B) It should be stated in the form of a question.
C) It should suggest some relationship between/among variables.
D) It must apply to multiple species.

Question 54

Which of the following about hypotheses is correct?

A) The scientific hypothesis is tested because it specifies the exact relationship that is expected among the variables.
B) The null hypothesis is tested because it specifies the exact relationship that is expected among variables.
C) The scientific and null hypotheses are tested simultaneously.
D) All of the above are correct.

Question 55

Some aspects of Sigmund Freud's theories are said to be unscientific. For example, in some instances Freud believed that current behavioral problems are the result of past unconscious conflicts. From a scientific point of view this is problematic because

A) no relationship between variables has been specified.
B) the hypothesis is not derived from a theory.
C) this idea is not testable.
D) there is no research hypothesis.

Question 56

The null hypothesis is

A) a tentative solution to the research problem.
B) the hypothesis that is actually statistically tested.
C) the prediction that a negative correlation exists among the variables.
D) all of the above.