Deck 4: Measures

Question 1

The number of jokes that a person tells at a party is to having a good sense of humor as

A) a conceptual variable is to a measured variable.
B) a behavioral variable is to a self-report variable.
C) a behavioral variable is to an operational definition.
D) a measured variable is to a conceptual variable.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Height is a(n) _____variable, whereas weight is a(n) _____ variable.

A) quantitative; independent
B) dependent; categorical
C) quantitative; quantitative
D) independent; dependent

Answer 2

C

Question 3

An operational definition

A) tests a relationship between measured variables.
B) describes the causes of a behavior.
C) expresses a behavior in terms of a mathematical formula.
D) explains how a conceptual variable is to be measured.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A conceptual variable is

A) an abstract idea that forms the basis of a research design.
B) an idea that is used to define a measured variable.
C) correlated with another conceptual variable using a correlation coefficient.
D) a specific method of measuring a variable.

Question 5

A valid answer of "French" could be given for which type of variable?

A) Ratio
B) Nominal
C) Interval
D) Ordinal

Question 6

The Kelvin temperature scale is an example of which scale?

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Ratio
D) Interval

Question 7

Steve wants to measure attraction by measuring individuals' heart rates. In this case heart rate is the __________ variable and attraction is the __________ variable.

A) measured; conceptual
B) conceptual; measured
C) predictor; outcome
D) outcome; predictor

Question 8

Which of the following would be the best operational definition of the conceptual variable "aggression"?

A) Whether or not participants complete a task with a visible gun in the room
B) The tendency to think hostile thoughts about others
C) The intention to harm others
D) Asking participants to indicate on a Likert scale how aggressive they are feeling at the moment

Question 9

A researcher indicates the experimental condition of an experiment using the number 1 and the control condition using the number 2. What kind of variable is being used?

A) Quantitative
B) Qualitative
C) Conceptual
D) Nominal

Question 10

A researcher who measures self-esteem using both a Likert scale and a behavioral measure is using the technique of

A) redundant measurements.
B) interval scale measurement.
C) ratio scale measurement.
D) converging operations.

Question 11

Using a very specific operational definition is important for which of the following reasons?

A) It provides a measure of the relationship between measured variables.
B) It provides a way to ascertain confidence in the research.
C) It allows others to understand the collected data and possibly replicate the research.
D) It disambiguates the dependent variable.

Question 12

A researcher who measures learning using both a self-report measure and a behavioral measure is using which principle?

A) Scaled measurements
B) Paired measurements
C) Unobtrusive measurements
D) Converging operations

Question 13

Measuring how many times a person bites their nails in a two-hour period is an example of

A) a nominal variable.
B) a quantitative variable.
C) a reactive measure.
D) a psychophysiological measure.

Question 14

A nominal variable is a measured variable that

A) names or identifies a particular characteristic.
B) measures any changes in responding that may occur as a result of measurement.
C) is used to indicate the extent to which a person possesses a characteristic.
D) has an absolute zero point and is known to represent the complete lack of the conceptual variable.

Question 15

The goal of the research of behavioral scientists is to

A) make old findings into new experiments.
B) learn about the relationships between and among conceptual variables.
C) determine whether common sense is correct or incorrect.
D) confirm findings of past research.

Question 16

Conceptual variables are turned into measured variables using

A) a quantitative definition.
B) a measured response.
C) an operational definition.
D) the research hypothesis.

Question 17

The difference between an interval scale and a ratio scale is that

A) the interval scale has an absolute zero.
B) the ratio scale has an absolute zero.
C) the interval scale is more reliable.
D) both scales are nominal variables.

Question 18

Ginelle has used a semantic differential to assess students' favorability toward their university. The scale ranges from 0, which indicates they are not the least bit favorable, to 100, which indicates that they are extremely favorable to the university. As a measure of the conceptual variable of favorability toward the university, Ginelle's scale is probably a(n)

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

Question 19

William decides to study differences in student's interest in their psychology class. He figures that people who are more interested in the class will come to class more often and so he keeps track of class attendance. In William's research project, interest in the class is which of the following?

A) A measured variable
B) A conceptual variable
C) An operational definition
D) A nominal variable

Question 20

Which of the following is the best operational definition of intelligence?

A) Scores on the Stanford-Binet IQ test
B) A person's cognitive thinking ability
C) The ability to comprehend difficult sentences
D) The ability to do well in college

Question 21

Which of the following refers to changes in responding that occur as a result of measurement?

A) Self promotion
B) Reactivity
C) Cooperative responding
D) Acquiescent responding

Question 22

A child who weighs 160 pounds weighs twice as much as a child who weighs 80 pounds. Which scale measures this variable?

A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio

Question 23

The Gender Constancy Scale and the Thematic Apperception Test are both examples of

A) self-report measures.
B) behavioral scales.
C) free-format measures.
D) fixed-format measures.

Question 24

Why are Likert scales written so that on half of the responses, agreeing with the item means the person has the variable being measured, whereas on the other half, agreeing with the item means that the person does not have the variable being measured?

A) So that there is variety in the questions
B) To reduce the influence of self-promotion
C) To reduce the influence of guessing the hypothesis
D) To reduce the influence of acquiescent responding

Question 25

An ordinal scale could be used to measure which of the following?

A) Gender
B) Religion
C) Attractiveness
D) Ethnicity

Question 26

Which of the following is a type of participant reactivity?

A) Self-esteem
B) Embarrassment
C) Self-promotion
D) Neuroticism

Question 27

A Likert scale is a

A) free format self report measure.
B) fixed format self report measure.
C) projective measure.
D) nonreactive measure.

Question 28

A researcher uses a fixed format self report scale to assess peoples' feelings about an issue using a set of items that consist of pairs of adjectives. What type of scale is being used?

A) The Guttman scale
B) The Semantic Differential
C) The Acquiescent Response Scale
D) The Likert scale

Question 29

The tendency to respond in a way that makes one look favorable is called

A) interviewer bias.
B) open-ended responding.
C) yeah-saying.
D) self-promotion.

Question 30

The question "People like me" posed as a Likert scale item would likely be influenced by

A) uncooperative responding.
B) nay-saying.
C) reactivity.
D) scaling invalidity.

Question 31

Which of the following techniques can be used to reduce acquiescent responding?

A) A Likert scale
B) An integral scale
C) Reverse scoring
D) Self-promotional scaling

Question 32

A scale that asks participants to check off as many items as apply from a list is probably which type of scale?

A) Guttman
B) Semantic differential
C) Likert
D) Reliable

Question 33

Harold decides that he is interested in learning what school children do while they are playing at recess, and decides to collect the data by watching the children from the window of the school rather than going out on the playground where the children can see him. Harold's decision was probably made to reduce which of the following?

A) Objectivity
B) Reactivity
C) Projectivity
D) Acquiescent responding

Question 34

A psychologist asks her patient to describe her daily routine. This measured variable is an example of

A) an acquiescent response set.
B) a semantic differential scale.
C) a free-format self-report measure.
D) a Guttman model.

Question 35

The Guttman scale is

A) a fixed format self report scale.
B) a free format self-report scale.
C) a type of Likert scale.
D) a behavioral measure.

Question 36

The problem of acquiescent responding ("yeah saying") can be reduced through which technique?

A) Associative lists
B) Free format measures
C) Reverse scoring the items
D) Projective tests

Question 37

Which of the following best describes the Rorschach inkblot test?

A) A projective test
B) A fixed-format scale
C) A Guttman scale
D) A semantic differential

Question 38

Franklin is interested in determining what college students do in their everyday lives. He gives some students a beeper and asks them to wear it around for a few days. The beeper is programmed to go off at randomly determined times. Whenever the beeper goes off, students are asked to write down where they are and what they were thinking about at the time. Franklin's measure could be best considered as which of the following measures?

A) A fixed-format self-report measure
B) A free-format self-report measure
C) A psychophysiological measure
D) A behavioral measure

Question 39

Which of the following is an example of a free format self report measure?

A) A Guttman scale
B) An associative list
C) A true false questionnaire
D) A Likert scale

Question 40

Self promotion refers to which of the following?

A) Promoting the interest of one's research project
B) Responding in a way that will make oneself look intelligent, caring, and nonprejudiced
C) Changes in responding that occur as a result of measurement
D) Responding in a way that will help the researcher confirm his or her research hypothesis

Question 41

Sally thinks she knows what the researcher is trying to assess during the experiment, and acts to help the researcher confirm the hypothesis. In this case, Sally's answers are influenced by

A) self-promotion.
B) acquiescent responding.
C) cooperative responding.
D) projective responding.

Question 42

According to your textbook, scores on a Likert scale represent which of the following?

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

Question 43

Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration speed are examples of

A) psychophysiological measures.
B) circulation system measures.
C) physical measures.
D) self-report measures.

Question 44

One advantage of behavioral measures over self-report measures is that

A) they are less reactive.
B) they are relatively easier to construct and administer.
C) they are easier to effectively code.
D) they are easier to operationally define.

Question 45

A participant guesses the research hypothesis in a research project, and modifies her responses to help make the hypothesis come true. This is an example of which of the following?

A) Self-promotion
B) Cooperative responding
C) Acquiescent response set
D) Unconscious hostility

Question 46

Which of the following is the best operational definition of conceptual variable of attraction?

A) How much somebody likes another person
B) The number of inches an individual sits away from another person at a table
C) How interested a person is in another person
D) A tendency to enjoy being with another person.

Question 47

Which of the following are types of reactivity?

A) Self-promotion and cooperative responding
B) Lying and cheating
C) Responding and not responding
D) Behavior and verbalization

Question 48

Which of the following is not a psychophysiological measure discussed in your textbook?

A) EMG
B) MRI
C) PET
D) Exercise intensity

Question 49

In order to study the conceptual variable of ____________, a researcher might use the behavioral measure of ____________.

A) aggression; self-report of driving patterns
B) altruism; a helping behavior Likert scale
C) personality style; a projective test
D) prejudice; standing distance from someone of a different race

Question 50

One of the disadvantages of free format questions is that

A) they produce very limited data.
B) the responses of each individual are extremely similar.
C) they can be difficult and time-consuming to code.
D) they allow individuals to express their true feelings.

Question 51

Which of the following would be the best example of a nonreactive behavioral measure?

A) An associative list
B) The amount of pupil dilation
C) Scores on a Likert scale
D) Asking people to indicate how often they go to the movies

Question 52

About half of the items on a Likert scale should be reversed scored in order to

A) create an ordinal scale of measurement.
B) control for acquiescent responding.
C) reduce self-promotion.
D) prevent the participant from guessing the research hypothesis.

Question 53

Darci shows an individual a picture of some people at a party. She then asks the participant to discuss out loud what is happening in the picture. Darci is using which of the following?

A) A Likert scale
B) A psychophysiological measure
C) A quantitative questionnaire
D) A projective measure

Question 54

Which of the following best described the results of the study by Teachman, Smith-Janik, and Saporito (2007) which used a variety of indirect and direct measures to assess anxiety phobias?

A) Different participants completed different measures.
B) All of the measures were negatively correlated.
C) All of the measures were positively correlated with the underlying conceptual variable.
D) An experimental design was used.

Question 55

An example of a conceptual variable is _________; an example of a measured variable is___________.

A) self-esteem; the Rosenberg self-esteem scale
B) the Rosenberg self-esteem scale; self-esteem
C) job satisfaction; job performance
D) monthly sales; job satisfaction

Question 56

When choosing a measure to use for a study, it is important to

A) choose only one operationalization of a conceptual variable.
B) choose a measure that minimizes reactivity and bias.
C) use only behavioral measures.
D) use only conceptual measures.

Question 57

While taking a projective test, Neeka states that she has higher self-esteem and is more successful than most other college students. This responding might represent which of the following?

A) Converging operations
B) Semantic differential
C) Correlational confounding
D) Self-promotion