Deck 16: Interpreting Research and Practical Projects

Question 1

When someone interprets a study or project, he translates the language of _____ into the language of the culture.

A) Learning
B) Nature
C) Experience
D) Observation

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The primary challenge in interpreting a project is deciding how each of its ______ might have affected data.

A) Results
B) Readers
C) Features
D) Conditions

Answer 2

C

Question 3

All of the following are examples of influences on interpretative behavior during pre-experimental planning of a study, except:

A) measurement procedures
B) theory
C) other professional contingencies
D) experimental question

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is not an example of a professional contingency?

A) How much time the researcher has invested
B) The amount of money the researcher has used
C) A researcher's access to research participants
D) The response class definition that was used

Question 5

The amount of time, effort, and money that a researcher has invested can often lead to what form of research?

A) Advocacy
B) Thematic
C) Demonstration
D) Pilot

Question 6

Why is it important to assess, one at a time, each of the components of measurement?

A) To ensure that individuals will be able to replicate the study
B) To increase the likelihood that the study be accepted and published in a good journal
C) It guarantees that the data being collected will represent true values
D) Each feature of measurement provides information that is prerequisite to understanding what the data say

Question 7

______ has to do with the meaningfulness of experimental interpretations under circumstances that are different from those that generated the data.

A) Experimental control
B) Contingency
C) Generality
D) Repeatability

Question 8

______ addresses the question of if experimental procedures are repeated, will the same effects be obtained. While ______ addresses the question of "if experimental findings are used under different circumstances, will the same kind of effects be obtained?"

A) Generality; validity
B) Generality; reliability
C) Reliability; generality
D) Validity; generality

Question 9

An investigator's interpretations are often evaluated by the ______ of the original findings:

A) believability
B) validity
C) integrity
D) reproducibility

Question 10

___ refers to the appropriateness of attributing a causal role to independent variables.

A) Attrition
B) External validity
C) Instrumentation
D) Internal validity

Question 11

Identifying a study's outcomes is only appropriate if the project's procedures and data are:

A) good enough to be published
B) worthy of interpretation
C) in support of the original hypothesis
D) supported by the literature

Question 12

The task is not just to interpret the data, but to interpret:

A) the participants
B) the literature
C) the importance of the findings
D) the entire experiment

Question 13

Researchers are interested in each of the following generalities, except:

A) the generality of variables
B) the generality of predictions
C) generality across individuals
D) generality across settings

Question 14

If a study is well designed and conducted, the variability between phases ideally represents the effects of ___________.

A) extraneous variables
B) the dependent variable
C) the independent variable
D) the independent variable and any extraneous variables

Question 15

In most psychological research, the paramount interest is in the generality:

A) of procedures
B) of variables
C) across individuals
D) across settings

Question 16

While a research question can influence interpretations of data, the question should not discourage examining data for __________ discoveries.

A) predictable
B) serendipitous
C) known
D) replicable

Question 17

It is risky to interpret data without knowing exactly what they _______.

A) compare to
B) represent
C) missed
D) match in the literature

Question 18

When evaluating a study, an investigator must be satisfied about the ______ of data.

A) likability
B) believability
C) quality
D) quantity

Question 19

Interpreting a study requires a judgment about whether extraneous variables _______.

A) were completely eliminated
B) had frequent and powerful effects on responding
C) were erroneously controlled
D) were consistent

Question 20

All things considered, a study is either good enough to warrant conclusions or it is _________.

A) OK enough for interpretations
B) conducted again
C) fatally flawed
D) evaluated by peers

Question 21

Describe how differences of opinion regarding study interpretations are an important part of the scientific process.

Question 22

Is it possible to ensure that interpretations of a project are correct? Why or why not?

Question 23

Describe how the theoretical perspective of an investigator influences their interpretation.

Question 24

Describe three different professional contingencies that may influence interpretations.

Question 25

Explain the following statement: "the task is not just to interpret the data, but to interpret the entire experiment."

Question 26

Describe the features of data that should be evaluated before looking at what they reveal about the relationship between independent variables and responding.

Question 27

How is generality different from the reliability of effects?

Question 28

What must be evaluated about the role of control conditions before making interpretations?

Question 29

What must a control condition do?

Question 30

What are the consequences of drawing conclusions that are not justified by the experiment's procedures and data?

Question 31

Why can focusing too much on the experimental question sometimes be a detrimental influence on interpretations?

Question 32

When might a researcher decide that the study is not worthy of interpretation?

Question 33

Why should the researcher assess each of the components of measurement individually?

Question 34

Why is it important to evaluate the target behavior definition when interpreting results of a study? What are some questions one should ask regarding the definition?

Question 35

Describe the primary concern regarding the independent variable when interpreting a study.

Question 36

Why are extraneous variables problematic for a study and an investigator's interpretations of it.

Question 37

What do investigators need to do for interpreting studies with more than one independent variable?

Question 38

What does this statement mean "if the study was well designed and conducted, the variability between phases presumably represents the effects of the independent variable."

Question 39

All things considered, the study is either good enough to warrant conclusions or it is fatally flawed and therefore cannot support conclusions. Why is there no middle ground?

Question 40

There are no firm rules for interpreting a study. Discuss what makes interpretations complicated.