Deck 2: Research Methods in Psychology

Question 1

In the opening vignette, Alicia's condition was found to be linked to:

A) time management problems
B) poor diet, particularly the excessive amount of junk food
C) the death of her parents and only brother
D) her poor social relationships

Answer 1

the death of her parents and only brother

Question 2

James Pennebaker found that college students made fewer visits to health services if they:

A) ate a well-balanced meal
B) maintained an active exercise program
C) exercised little during the weekdays but 5-8 hours on the weekend
D) wrote their deepest thoughts and feelings

Answer 2

wrote their deepest thoughts and feelings

Question 3

According to Pennebaker's study, college students were healthier if they

A) took classes in psychology, so they understood themselves better
B) wrote= home to their friends and family
C) wrote their daily plan in detail
D) wrote their deepest thoughts and feelings

Answer 3

wrote their deepest thoughts and feelings

Question 4

Several studies have shown that keeping a daily journal or diary is helpful for people. In addition to providing perspective on the recent past, Pennebaker's studies show that keeping a journal is helpful because it allows the writer to

A) feel a part of a writer's community
B) record their thoughts and feelings for future generations
C) think about their faults and flaws every day
D) think about their deepest emotions, feelings, and opinions

Question 5

A theory is defined as a:

A) systematic way of organizing and explaining observations
B) hypothetical way of organizing and explaining characteristics of people
C) systematic framework for creating a hypothesis based on data and experimentation
D) framework based on one's psychological perspective

Question 6

A systematic way of organizing and explaining observations is known as a

A) theory
B) inferential statistic
C) experimental method
D) educated guess

Question 7

A hypothesis is best characterized as:

A) a procedure that precedes a theoretical framework
B) any phenomenon that can change from one situation to another
C) a systematic way of organizing and explaining observations
D) a tentative belief about the relationship between two or more variables

Question 8

Any phenomenon that can differ, or vary, from one situation to another, from one person to another, or from one time to another, is called a/an:

A) dependent variable
B) independent variable
C) variable
D) continuous variable

Question 9

Variables that can be placed on a continuum, such as the degree of happiness or the amount of income, are referred to as:

A) dependent variables
B) independent variables
C) categorical variables
D) continuous variables

Question 10

I believe that there is a relationship between foot length and intelligence. More specifically, I think that intelligence increases with an increase in foot length. What kind of variable is foot length?

A) continuous
B) categorical
C) nominal
D) dependent

Question 11

Any variable that is comprised of groupings or classifications such that a person must be in one group or another is referred to as a/an:

A) dependent variable
B) independent variable
C) categorical variable
D) continuous variable

Question 12

I've decided to do an experiment that compares males and females in terms of their ability to judge the distance of a sound (a quacking duck). I am going to measure the accuracy of their perceptions. In this experiment, male and female are what kind of variable?

A) continuous
B) categorical
C) nominal
D) inferential

Question 13

I am running an experiment in which my participants have a drink and then drive a car. To ensure that I have good results, my participants should

A) try hard to drive well when in next in line
B) be blind to the results
C) be able to explain their observations
D) have the same basic procedure so as to minimize unintended variations

Question 14

Investigators typically conduct research in order to better understand the behavior of the:

A) culture
B) subculture
C) samples
D) population

Question 15

A subgroup of the population that is likely to be representative of the population as a whole is known as

A) a culture
B) a sample
C) a population
D) a subculture

Question 16

A sample is defined as

A) a subgroup of the population that is similar to other members of the population once standardized procedures are performed
B) a subgroup of the population that is comprised of continuous and categorical variables that are representative of the population as a whole
C) a subgroup of the population that is likely to be representative of the population as a whole
D) a subgroup of the population whose internal validity qualifies them as representative of a narrow subset of the population

Question 17

Experiments should involve a _____, a subgroup of the population that is likely to be representative of the population as a whole.

A) culture
B) subculture
C) sample
D) control group

Question 18

If a researcher studies students at Tiger University in order to learn about students at all universities, then the student body of Tiger University comprises a:

A) population
B) cohort
C) sample
D) subculture

Question 19

If a researcher studies some Tiger University students in order to learn about Tiger University students in general, then the entire student body of Tiger University is a:

A) population
B) sample
C) cohort
D) subgroup

Question 20

Good psychological research uses ìstandardized proceduresî in order to:

A) make sure that a representative sample is being used
B) expose participants in a study to as similar procedures as possible
C) ensure external validity
D) ensure objectivity

Question 21

The ability to infer something about a larger population from the behaviors of a subset of that population is called:

A) reliability
B) internal validity
C) standardized procedure
D) generalizability

Question 22

If a study is designed in such a way that it doesn't test the experimenter's hypothesis, it is said to lack:

A) external validity
B) internal validity
C) external reliability
D) internal reliability

Question 23

Which of the following might threaten the internal validity of a study?

A) an unrepresentative sample
B) non-standardized procedures
C) extraneous variables
D) all of the above

Question 24

If the methods of an experiment test the hypothesis, then we conclude that the experiment has:

A) external reliability
B) internal reliability
C) external validity
D) internal validity

Question 25

In order to measure intelligence, I create a questionnaire and conduct an experiment using a very particular methodology. I find out at a later point in time that my questionnaire and methods do measure intelligence. My experiment, therefore, must have:

A) internal validity
B) external validity
C) inter-rater reliability
D) test-retest reliability

Question 26

Findings that can be generalized from the laboratory to the real world have:

A) external reliability
B) internal reliability
C) external validity
D) internal validity

Question 27

The results of an experiment I conducted are found to be highly applicable to the way people behave in the real world. I can conclude that my experiment is high in:

A) internal validity
B) external validity
C) inter-rater reliability
D) test-retest reliability

Question 28

The trade-off between internal and external validity is referred to as:

A) the experimenter's dilemma
B) a win-lose scenario
C) an empirical paradox
D) the Orlacchio paradigm

Question 29

The more tightly a researcher controls what participants experience, the less the situation may resemble life outside the laboratory. This balance is known as

A) the experimenter's dilemma
B) a win-lose scenario
C) an empirical paradox
D) the Orlacchio paradigm

Question 30

In order to ensure that the findings obtained with your sample can be applied to the population, your study should involve which of the following?

A) stratified sample of subjects
B) external validity
C) experimenter's dilemma
D) all of the above

Question 31

Although I ran an elegant study, which produced significant differences between groups in my lab, my results don't actually predict what people do in the real world. My study is very low in

A) external validity
B) practicality
C) test-retest reliabilty
D) criterion validity

Question 32

A test that yields relatively similar scores for the same individual over time has which ONE of the following types of reliability?

A) test-retest reliability
B) interrater reliability
C) interitem reliability
D) contextual reliability

Question 33

To ensure that I am a good researcher, I gave the same questionnaire to the same participants at three different points in time. I hope to get essentially the same answers. If I do, then I can conclude that my experiment has:

A) internal validity
B) external validity
C) inter-rater reliability
D) test-retest reliability

Question 34

I'm afraid that participants will not be reading the questions of my survey so I intentionally ask the same question more than once (in a different form, of course). The purpose of doing this is related to which ONE of the following?

A) internal validity
B) external validity
C) internal consistency
D) test-retest reliability

Question 35

Having a number of ways of asking for the same information is a manner of determining:

A) test-retest reliability
B) inter-rater reliability
C) interitem reliability
D) contextual reliability

Question 36

If two or more individuals agree on some dimension and give a participant the same score, then that study possesses:

A) test-retest reliability
B) interrater reliability
C) interitem reliability
D) contextual reliability

Question 37

A test or instrument that measures what it is supposed to measure or assess possesses:

A) validity
B) reliability
C) consistency
D) determinacy

Question 38

Validity is present when:

A) the test measures what it is supposed to measure
B) measurement reflects truth
C) measurement reflects theory correctly
D) the test measures the same way each time

Question 39

The extent to which a measure actually assesses what it is believed to measure is referred to as:

A) face validity
B) construct validity
C) criterion validity
D) all of the above

Question 40

With regard to face validity, which of the following is true?

A) face validity refers to whether or not the measure looks like it measures what it purports to measure
B) many researchers go out of their way to make sure their scale does not have face validity
C) face validity is the least important type of validity
D) all of the above

Question 41

If a test is high in construct validity:

A) it measures what it claims to measure
B) it will be strongly correlated with related measures
C) it will not be correlated with unrelated measures
D) all of the above

Question 42

If a test or measure can differentiate among different groups with regard to behaviors, then that test or measure has:

A) face validity
B) construct validity
C) criterion validity
D) convergent validity

Question 43

Which of the following is NOT a type of validity discussed in the textbook?

A) face validity
B) construct validity
C) criterion validity
D) conceptual validity

Question 44

One of the best ways to obtain an accurate assessment of a variable is

A) with face validity
B) through central reliability
C) by using multiple measures
D) by using a representative sample

Question 45

I decide to simply describe behavior rather than to manipulate variables. Therefore, I should use which type of research?

A) descriptive
B) experimental
C) longitudinal
D) cross-sectional

Question 46

Which one of the following is NOT a type of descriptive research?

A) case study
B) naturalistic observation
C) survey
D) correlational study

Question 47

Researchers who study one person or maybe a small number of people in-depth are performing what type of research?

A) case study
B) naturalistic observation
C) survey
D) cross-sectional

Question 48

A case study is:

A) a survey of a person's likes and dislikes
B) generalizable with little effort
C) the study of one individual in great depth
D) appropriate for small groups

Question 49

In an attempt to understand why some people are much more successful financially, I decide to do an in-depth study of Bill Gates and Donald Trump, following them throughout the day. What kind of research method am I using?

A) experimental
B) correlational
C) survey
D) case study

Question 50

Possible limitations of the case-study method include:

A) investigator bias
B) small sample size
C) lack of generalizability
D) all of the above

Question 51

Case studies are thought to have a number of limitations. Which of the following is a limitation according to your textbook?

A) generating hypotheses
B) exploring complex phenomena
C) understanding the meaning behind quantitative findings
D) generalizing results to larger populations

Question 52

Jane Goodall's studies of apes in Africa are an example of the:

A) method of naturalistic observation
B) experimental method
C) quasi-experimental method
D) survey method

Question 53

Which of the following is NOT a limitation of naturalistic observation:

A) may not generalize to a broader population
B) observer effects
C) cannot establish causation
D) self-report bias

Question 54

One of the problems in doing naturalistic observations is that:

A) the awareness of being watched may alter people's ìnatural behaviorî
B) correlation doesn't prove causation
C) it is difficult to find people in their ìnaturalî environments
D) all of the above

Question 55

A study of mine involves asking those who happen to pass by to answer a series of questions. What type of research am I doing?

A) pseudo-experimental
B) quasi-experimental
C) survey
D) none of the above

Question 56

Good survey research involves:

A) asking people questions
B) a large sample
C) a random sample
D) all of the above

Question 57

The major problem with survey methods is that:

A) most people don't want to talk about themselves
B) it is hard to question people in their natural environments
C) they rely on participants to report on themselves truthfully and accurately
D) all of the above

Question 58

A key issue with survey research is

A) the sample must accurately represent the population of interest
B) honesty of responses
C) the ability to use statistical analyses to draw conclusions
D) all of the above

Question 59

Participants for a study typically are selected:

A) by their degree of motivation
B) by the desire to want to change
C) by their desire to want to help
D) randomly

Question 60

A stratified sample reflects:

A) experimenter bias
B) the proportion drawn from each population category
C) the programmatic choice of participants
D) nonprobability sampling

Question 61

I hope to be a good researcher. For that reason, I make sure that my participants are representative of the population. I even go so far as to make sure that the proportion of each category of subjects (e.g., males and females) is the same as that found in the population. What technique have I used in selecting my participants?

A) random sampling
B) stratified random sampling
C) representative sampling
D) cohort sampling g

Question 62

Descriptive statistics:

A) are of little use in experiments
B) summarize non-quantitative data
C) tell us whether our results are due to chance
D) summarize quantitative data in understandable form

Question 63

Psychologists refer to the ____, which is just another name for the average.

A) cumulative index
B) representative index
C) mean
D) median

Question 64

If the sum of all the scores is divided by the number of scores, then the _____ has been calculated.

A) mean
B) mode
C) median
D) standard deviation

Question 65

Which one of the following is true of the mean?

A) it is the average of the scores
B) it is the most commonly reported measure of central tendency
C) it is the most intuitively descriptive statistic
D) all of the above

Question 66

If I rank all the scores from lowest to highest (or highest to lowest), the middle score (the one in the middle of the list) is then referred to as the:

A) median
B) mean
C) mode
D) range

Question 67

The most common or frequently occurring score is referred to as the:

A) median
B) mean
C) mode
D) range

Question 68

A professor determines that the score of 78 occurs more often than any other score on the first exam. What measure of central tendency is the professor discussing?

A) mean
B) mode
C) median
D) cumulative index

Question 69

If I have found out that the difference between the highest and lowest score on an exam is 72, then 72 refers to the:

A) median
B) mean
C) mode
D) range

Question 70

The amount the average participant deviates from the mean is the:

A) range
B) variance
C) deviance
D) standard deviation

Question 71

The average on the first exam in my class is 79.5%, but the average student differs from that score by 8.2%. What does 8.2 represent?

A) mean
B) mode
C) correlation
D) standard deviation

Question 72

The type of research that allows the researcher to determine causality is

A) correlational research
B) naturalistic observation
C) case studies
D) experimental research

Question 73

Which type of research primarily attempts to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships among variables?

A) descriptive
B) psychological
C) experimental
D) behavioral

Question 74

The variable that is manipulated by the experimenter is referred to as the:

A) dependent variable
B) independent variable
C) control variable
D) confounding variable

Question 75

I vary the distance of a sound-producing object and measure the ability of observers to accurately report the distance of the sound source. The distance of the sound source is what kind of variable?

A) independent
B) dependent
C) nominal
D) confounding

Question 76

The variable that is measured by the experimenter is the:

A) dependent variable
B) independent variable
C) control variable
D) confounding variable

Question 77

I vary the distance of a sound-producing object and measure the ability of observers to accurately report the distance of the sound source. The accuracy of the participants' perceptions is what kind of variable?

A) independent
B) dependent
C) nominal
D) categorical

Question 78

The different levels or variations of the independent variable are referred to as:

A) categories
B) manipulatory levels
C) conditions
D) continuous levels

Question 79

In order to accurately determine the extent to which sleep influences grades, I randomly assign my subjects to one of four groups: 4, 6, 8, or 10 hours of sleep per night. The four groups can be referred to as:

A) the control groups
B) the nominal groups
C) the conditions of the dependent variable
D) the conditions of the independent variable

Question 80

The first step in conducting an experiment is to:

A) randomly select subjects
B) establish your testing device to match your predicted population
C) create an operational definition
D) frame your hypothesis