Deck 2: Research Methods in Social Psychology

Question 1

Alexis designed an instrument to distinguish between high and low quality managers.She administered the survey, and then returned two years later to measure each manager's salary increase over that time.If the managers' scores on the instrument correlated highly with their level of salary increase, Alexis's instrument has ________________.

A)Face validity
B)Criterion validity
C)Construct validity
D)None of the above

Answer 1

Criterion validity

Question 2

Sofia placed a large plain box labeled "clothing donations to help local kids" at the grocery store.After leaving the box in place for one week, she removed the contents and counted articles of clothing.The following week, Sofia added several photos of small children to the box.After the photos had been attached to the box for one week, Sofia again removed the contents and counted the articles of clothing.Sofia's research method is best categorized as _____________.

A)Participant observation
B)A field study
C)A field experiment
D)Content analysis

Answer 2

A field experiment

Question 3

The set of all people of whose attitudes are of interest to the researcher is the population.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The statistical technique used by investigators to combine the quantitative results from all previous studies on a question is known as _____________.

A)Combinatory statistics
B)Meta-analysis
C)Re-analysis
D)Statistical inference

Question 5

Lack of control over the type and quality of the data is a major drawback associated with what method?

A)Content analysis
B)Interviewer surveys
C)Web-based surveys
D)Laboratory based experiments

Question 6

Researchers can more easily draw casual interpretations from a panel study than a cross-sectional survey.

Question 7

Some objectives of research include_____________.

A)Describing reality and expanding existing theories
B)Developing new theories and establishing causal connections
C)Both A and B
D)None of the above

Question 8

Frequently, the best way to establish a causal connection between two variables is to use a random sample.

Question 9

Web surveys make it easier to recruit respondents with specific characteristics, but run the risk of self-selection bias resulting in a sample that does not represent the spectrum of people in the group of interest.

Question 10

Every Sunday morning, before starting his day, Matthew weighs himself.Each time he steps on the scale it tells him he weighs 15 pounds.Being a fully grown adult, Matthew is quite sure that he weighs more than that.We could say that Matthew's scale is ________.

A)Valid
B)Reliable
C)Both A and B
D)Neither A or B

Question 11

Researchers implement the following best practices when studying diverse populations, except:

A)Translate questions into respondents' primary language
B)Conduct research with or alongside people trained in culturally competency
C)Create representative samples when characterizing a group or culture
D)State all questions with the same wording to maintain consistency

Question 12

The administration at a state university would like to learn how participation in university clubs and organizations impacts students' college experience and overall sense of happiness.They plan on using student email addresses to distribute the survey, and are offering an incentive to increase the response rate.They hope to produce results that can be generalized to other universities with similar student bodies.What type of sample would be best suited to this study?

A)A simple random sample
B)A convenience sample
C)A stratified sample
D)Either A or B would be well suiteD.

Question 13

Luke works at the local coffee shop.He has noticed that some people leave money in the tip jar, while others do not.He begins to keep track of who tips, their gender, their age, and how long they had to wait in line.In this situation, ___________________ is the dependent variable.

A)Tipping behavior
B)Gender
C)Age
D)Length of wait

Question 14

Eduardo designed an experiment to study the effects of a drug conviction on a person's job application.He applied online to 25 restaurants with two fake profiles - either Juan or Jaime - and flipped a coin to decide which application would indicate a previous drug conviction.He tracked the number of follow-up calls each applicant received.Eduardo can increase the internal validity of the experiment in the following ways, EXCEPT:

A)State that Juan and Jaime have the same amount of food service experience
B)List Juan's and Jaime's addresses under the same zip code
C)Alternate between indicating a conviction for drug possession and drug distribution
D)Repeat the experiment by applying to 25 data entry jobs

Question 15

Juliana was interested in learning about how status and hierarchies emerge in small groups.She chose to examine this process by observing little league teams.Each weekend she went to the baseball field and observed the teams.She took careful notes about their interactions.Juliana's research method is best categorized as _____________.

A)Participant observation
B)A field study
C)A field experiment
D)Content analysis

Question 16

A team of researchers designed a 20-question Likert scale to measure attitudes on immigration.They administered the survey to 100 participants.Which of the following techniques could they use to assess the reliability of their scale?

A)Administer the same survey to 100 different participants six months later, and compare the first results with the second results
B)Administer the same survey to the same 100 participants six months later, and compare the first results with the second results
C)Randomly divide the scale into two groups of ten, calculate a score or each respondent on each group of ten, and compute a correlation between the two scores
D)Both B and C

Question 17

Kai asked undergraduates in a social movements class to document their participation in marches, rallies, and protests over the course of the semester.Students sent Kai text messages when they arrived at an event with the event's location and purpose.Kai's research method is best categorized as ______________.

A)Participant observation
B)Archival research
C)Diary research
D)Content analysis

Question 18

Internal validity is a matter of degree; the level of internal validity that findings of a study have is influenced, in part, by the researcher's choice of method.For instance, _____________usually have high internal validity, _____________have moderate internal validity, and _____________tend to have low internal validity.

A)Observational studies; field experiments; surveys
B)Surveys; observational studies; laboratory experiments
C)Laboratory experiments; observational studies; field experiments
D)Laboratory experiments; surveys; observational studies

Question 19

The three important types of variables discussed in this chapter are independent, dependent, and external.

Question 20

Evelyn has been hired by a local university to conduct a study about undergraduate drinking habits.She has not yet decided how to distribute the survey.She wants to ensure a high response rate, and is also concerned about protecting participant confidentiality.She should _____________.

A)Hire a team of undergraduate students from the university and train them to administer the survey as an interview
B)Place clip boards with paper surveys on them in the busiest place on campus, and provide a box for students to deposit them in
C)Email a link to an anonymous web survey to every student
D)Use a team of researchers unrelated to the university to administer the survey as an interview

Question 21

Common Rule, 45 Code of Federal Regulations 46 A is a set of regulations for research involving human subjects that has been adopted by many federal departments and agencies.It sets forth a number of guidelines for researchers.Identify three ways that this common rule guides investigators and protects participants.

Question 22

Researchers can represent the entire adult population of the United States with a stratified sample of 1,500 people.

Question 23

Relying on evidence left behind by people after they have exited a situation (such as receipts at a bar or restaurant) is an unobtrusive method of data collection used in some field studies.

Question 24

Informed consent can be obtained in writing only.

Question 25

Likert scales are useful for measuring connotative meanings.

Question 26

Interview surveys suffer a significant disadvantage compared to mailed and online surveys for their low response rates.

Question 27

A weakness of archival research is its high cost compared to other methods.

Question 28

Your employer is concerned with employee morale.They administered a survey that asked employees to report the department they work in, how many hours a week they work, how long they've been at the company, and how happy they are in their position.First, form a causal hypothesis that could be tested with this data.Identify the dependent and independent variable.Next, identify a threat to the internal validity of this study and one possibility for addressing this threat.

Question 29

Research shows that questions of moderate length produce more complete answers than shorter questions.

Question 30

Random assignment mitigates the effects of extraneous variables in both laboratory and field experiments.

Question 31

Human research subjects never benefit directly, but they may benefit indirectly after the research is complete and the findings have been published.

Question 32

Informed consent is an important institutional safeguard against harm to human research participants.What is informed consent, and what are three of its six essential elements?

Question 33

It is important that measures are valid.The text discusses three important ways in which an instrument can have validity.Identify and define the three types of validity.Then, drawing on class discussion, offer an example for one of the three.

Question 34

Select a social behavior of interest to you (intergroup conflict, altruism, socialization, etc.) and discuss how you might approach the study of this topic using one of the five methods discussed in this chapter (surveys, dairy research, experiments, observational research, archival research/content analysis).Address what advantages this method has in regards to your topic of choice, as well as the weaknesses, challenges, and limitations it may pose.Be as specific as possible.

Question 35

Compared to laboratory experiments, field experiments often have higher external validity.