Deck 6: Experimental Research: Predicting Causes and Effects

Question 1

When you test hypotheses through observations of the dependent variable in order to determine a conclusion you are using which type of reasoning?

A) Inductive
B) Deductive
C) Testing
D) Accurate

Answer 1

B

Question 2

When constructing causal arguments, researchers must ensure that that the manipulation of the independent variable occurs before the change in the dependent variable. This criterion is known as

A) Covariance
B) Time order
C) Controlling for competing explanations
D) All of the above

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Experimental control refers to

A) The careful manipulation of the independent variable
B) Control of rival explanations
C) Control of intervening variables
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Laboratory experiments maximize internal validity sometimes at the expense of

A) External validity
B) Reliability
C) Both a and b
D) None of the above

Question 5

A researcher who is conducting a three-year longitudinal study of communication among international students in US colleges should be most concerned about the:

A) Hawthorne effect.
B) Mortality effect.
C) Researcher attribute effect.
D) Selection effect.

Question 6

A control group differs from the treatment group in that

A) Control group participants are randomly selected
B) Control group participants are not exposed to the manipulation of the independent variables
C) Control group participants are not randomly selected
D) Control group participants are exposed to the manipulation of the independent variables

Question 7

In your experiment, you are also testing the effects of gender on social media use. Gender would be considered

A) An independent variable
B) A dependent variable
C) An intervening variable
D) A confounding variable

Question 8

What test is used to ascertain that the participants in a study regarded the independent variable in the way(s) that the researcher intended?

A) Internal consistency assessment
B) Manipulation check
C) Meta-analysis
D) Post-hoc comparison

Question 9

In experimental research design, the term "factors" refers to

A) The dependent variables
B) The independent variables
C) The number of categories in a research design statement
D) Both a and b

Question 10

A researcher hypothesizes a sex difference in communication satisfaction. How many groups will be measured for the independent variable?

A) One group
B) Two groups
C) Four groups
D) Unknown

Question 11

People who participate in an experiment, but whose behaviors are dictated by the researcher, unbeknownst to other participants, are called:

A) Confederates
B) Boolean operators
C) Peer reviewers
D) None of the above

Question 12

A researcher who hypothesizes that employee status (long-term vs. short-term) rather than employee sex will significantly affect organizational commitment is predicting a(n):

A) Main effect for employee status
B) Main effect for employee sex
C) Interaction effect
D) None of the above

Question 13

A researcher who finds that males have significantly higher levels of arousal watching horror films in the presence of the opposite sex (vs. watching alone) while females have no change in arousal levels with or without opposite sex companions has found a(n):

A) Main effect for sex of viewer
B) Main effect for presence vs. absence of opposite-sex companion viewer
C) Interaction effect
D) Confounding variable

Question 14

A three-way ANOVA analysis is used when

A) An independent variable has three conditions
B) Three independent variables have been manipulated and tested for effects
C) Three treatment groups are exposed to the independent variable
D) Only main effects need to be tested

Question 15

In your experiment, you expose the same group of college students to images of cars in magazine ads once a month for four months. You tested the effects of the images by measuring their perceptions of the cars each time. Your research design incorporated

A) Repeated measures
B) Within-subjects factor
C) Between-subjects factor
D) Both a and b

Question 16

To reduce participants' reactions to the experimental situation while still maintaining control over manipulation of the independent variable you might use

A) Manipulation checks
B) A confederate
C) A cover story
D) A target population

Question 17

An ethical concern with using deceptive practices in experiments is that

A) Participants' right to privacy may be violated
B) Participants' right to give informed consent may be violated
C) The costs of deception may outweigh the benefits
D) All of the above

Question 18

A key threat to external validity is:

A) Time progression effect
B) Maturation effect
C) Reactivity effect
D) Sampling effect
Essays:

Question 19

Use the following example to answer the questions below: A researcher wishes to measure the effects of membership status (New, Transitional, Veteran) in an organization, and participation in an orientation communication skills workshop (participated/did not participate) on organizational identification (measured with a Likert-type scale).

Question 20

Explain how researchers attempt to control for internal and external validity in their research designs. Discuss potential ethical concerns with their attempts to control for validity.