Deck 2: Methodology: How Social Psychologists Do Research

Question 1

A hypothesis is most like a(n)

A) brilliant insight.
B) experiment.
C) theory.
D) hunch.

Answer 1

hunch.

Question 2

The phenomenon of diffusion of responsibility can best be described as

A) the more people who witness an emergency, the more likely any one person is to help.
B) the fewer people who witness an emergency, the more likely it is that they will take longer to help.
C) the more people who witness an emergency, the less likely it is that witnesses will help.
D) the fewer people who witness an emergency, the less likely it is that the victim will be blamed.

Answer 2

the more people who witness an emergency, the less likely it is that witnesses will help.

Question 3

Complete the analogy: hindsight bias: _________ as hypothesis: _________.

A) prediction; educated guess
B) explanation; common sense
C) common sense; logical analysis
D) retrospection; prediction

Answer 3

retrospection; prediction

Question 4

Which of the following explanations for the failure of neighbors to come to Kitty Genovese's aid best reflects the idea of diffusion of responsibility?

A) The cost of intervening was too high, so neighbors didn't help.
B) The neighbors did not interpret her cries as an emergency, so they didn't intervene.
C) Urban dwellers are especially callous when it comes to giving aid.
D) There were so many witnesses that no single person felt responsible to intervene.

Question 5

The hindsight bias occurs because after an event occurs, people

A) explain why the event occurred to themselves, and explaining makes it seem inevitable.
B) have to assert that they predicted it correctly as a way to enhance their self-esteem.
C) repress the memory of their previous predictions because they find them embarrassing.
D) imagine that the event turned out differently than it did, and this confuses them.

Question 6

The authors of the textbook explain the controversy of whether viewing pornography makes people prone to sexual violence or not.How are such controversies resolved in the field of social psychology? By using

A) theoretical debates.
B) news magazine polls.
C) research methods.
D) majority opinion.

Question 7

The Kitty Genovese murder inspired research on bystander apathy.This example illustrates the usefulness of relying on ________ in formulating research hypotheses.

A) personal observations of everyday life
B) social-psychological theory
C) previous research
D) folk wisdom

Question 8

The authors of your text discuss the idea that social psychology progresses through the process of theory refinement.Which of the following is the best summary of theory refinement?

A) Theories are developed and debated by experts in the field.
B) When hypotheses are proven, they become theories.
C) Theories are developed, hypotheses are proposed and tested, and then theories are revised.
D) Hypotheses are proposed and tested at least three times by different researchers before altering a theory.

Question 9

The hindsight bias is most like which of the following statements?

A) "Birds of a feather flock together."
B) "I knew it all along."
C) "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
D) "White men can't jump."

Question 10

In the 1950s, Leon Festinger arrived at a theory of attitude change that was at odds with the psychological "wisdom" of the day.The genesis of this theory-cognitive dissonance theory-demonstrates the author's point that many ideas in social psychology are

A) best viewed as "common sense."
B) the result of dissatisfaction with current theories.
C) based on researchers' personal experiences.
D) applicable only to the current historical era.

Question 11

According to the authors of your text, the hindsight bias is

A) the tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted an outcome after knowing that it occurred.
B) the level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data.
C) a form of the observational method in which the researcher examines the accumulated documents of a culture.
D) the extent to which results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people.

Question 12

If a scientist believes that another person's theory is wrong, the best approach for that scientist to take is to

A) write an essay explaining why the other theory is wrong.
B) ignore the other's research because it is irrelevant to the scientist's theory.
C) design a study making specific predictions to test the alternate explanation.
D) work in another country.

Question 13

When social psychologists observe something in everyday life that is interesting, how is such information useful in research?

A) It is used to prove hypotheses that were based on previous theory.
B) It can stimulate researchers to develop a hypothesis and design studies to test it.
C) It serves as information that can be used in theoretical debates about human behavior.
D) It serves no good purpose beyond stirring up controversy.

Question 14

After Lyla's husband was injured in a car accident, she said, "I woke up with a bad feeling in my stomach-I knew something was off about that day." Lyla is exhibiting

A) accessibility.
B) thought suppression.
C) counterfactual thinking.
D) the hindsight bias.

Question 15

According to the authors of your text, when Bibb Latané and John Darley began to seriously consider why no one helped Kitty Genovese during her brutal attack, they hypothesized that the explanation was that

A) New Yorkers are all apathetic.
B) no one witnessed the attack.
C) witnesses knew they would not be reinforced for reporting the crime.
D) when many witness a crime, people assume someone else will call for help.

Question 16

Before the 2008 election, Zoe was not so sure who the winner would be.But after President Barack Obama won, Zoe exclaimed, "Of course he won, he had the popular vote in many states, and many Americans are inspired by him." Here, Zoe is exhibiting

A) interjudge reliability.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) internal validity.
D) social influence.

Question 17

In which of the following disciplines are students most likely-by virtue of their experiences-to sigh, "Big deal.I could have predicted that"?

A) particle physics
B) organic chemistry
C) social psychology
D) theoretical mathematics

Question 18

Latané and Darley were interested in examining the reasons for the lack of bystander intervention in Kitty Genovese's murder.The ________ of what was happening caused people to perceive, comprehend, and interpret the situation differently; thereby, delaying helping.

A) construal
B) hindsight bias
C) internal validity
D) interjudge reliability

Question 19

Julia reads a research study which shows that when children have a mother who talks about emotions with them, the children tend to be more empathetic.Julia scoffs, "This is obvious; I could have told you that!" Julia's reaction to the study is an example of

A) reliability.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) schemas.
D) fundamental attribution error.

Question 20

Dissonance research resulted from Festinger's skepticism about the behaviorist approach.In recent years, new researchers have explored alternatives to dissonance explanations for social phenomena.These events illustrate

A) that behaviorist folk wisdom and dissonance folk wisdom are incorrect.
B) the influence of researchers' personal experiences in shaping their research questions.
C) that old theories can inspire new research.
D) the shortcomings of science as a cumulative enterprise.

Question 21

Observational research allows a researcher to

A) make statements about causality.
B) make predictions about one variable based on knowledge of another.
C) provide a description of a phenomenon.
D) randomly assign participants to conditions of an experiment.

Question 22

A cult in the 1950s believed that the world was coming to an end very soon.Researchers Leon Festinger and his colleagues studied this cult by joining the group and pretending to share these beliefs.What research method were they using?

A) archival analysis
B) ethnography
C) correlational study
D) field experiment

Question 23

Patricia and John have each independently recorded the number of times the words "right" and "responsibility" appeared in a civics textbook.They compared their counts, and found that of the thousands of references to rights and responsibilities, they only disagreed by two occurrences.This example illustrates high

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

Question 24

In order to examine the prevalence of drug use in several different generations of Americans, a researcher decides to collect the lyrics from the fifty most popular songs from each decade, 1940-2010, and to code those lyrics for how often drug-related themes were present.Which of the following methods is this researcher using?

A) correlational
B) observational
C) archival
D) cross-sectional

Question 25

A goal of ethnography that makes it different from other methods of testing theories is that in ethnography, the researcher

A) tries to understand the group or culture without imposing his or her own ideas on it.
B) focuses on interjudge reliability.
C) relies on the accumulated documents of a culture as a technique for understanding.
D) focuses on assessing behaviors that occur more often in private than in public.

Question 26

Professor Rothman is interested in tracking changes in racial stereotypes in the U.S.If he decides to conduct an archival analysis, he should

A) interview multiple generations in families of different race and ethnicities.
B) record how minorities are portrayed in cartoons in the New Yorker magazine from 1940-2010.
C) ask his students to report their impressions of how different ethnic groups are portrayed on television.
D) compare the results of opinion polls taken over five decades.

Question 27

A researcher is interested in the changing nature of sex roles in contemporary society.If she were to employ an archival analysis, what would she be most likely to do?

A) record how boys and girls are portrayed in children's books
B) observe both men and women in "non-traditional" occupations
C) interview both male and female doctors to determine how they are treated by colleagues
D) participate in the daily activities of a family in which the woman works and the man stays home

Question 28

Professor Swenson is interested in university students' reactions to the death of a popular rock star.For two weeks, Professor Swenson spends one hour a day in a popular cafeteria, inconspicuously listening to students, joining in their conversations when the topic of the dead rock star comes up, and recording what the students have to say.Professor Swenson is conducting ________ research.

A) observational
B) experimental
C) correlational
D) archival

Question 29

In two hundred years, after watching our TV commercials and Internet advertising, it is possible that researchers will conclude that we had all sorts of medical problems and only ate food in our cars.These conclusions would be based on ________ research.

A) ethnographic
B) experimental
C) correlational
D) archival

Question 30

Which of the following is the best example of the observational method?

A) Chris puts a glass to the wall so that he can hear his parents argue.
B) Elaine parks her car near a traffic light and records how many drivers run red lights.
C) Gary stops people on the street to ask them how they voted in the last election.
D) Twyla videotapes her sister's wedding, focusing on sentimental and silly moments.

Question 31

Why are social psychologists concerned with the issue of interjudge reliability?

A) Without it, there is no hope of reforming the legal system.
B) Independent agreement reduces the possibility of bias or distortion.
C) Coding criteria must be objective and determined before observation begins.
D) Interjudge reliability makes causal explanations possible in archival research.

Question 32

In many respects, reality television shows are similar to observational research in social psychology.In what crucial respect are reality TV shows most different from observational research?

A) They do not use a representative sample of people who confronted strange situations.
B) The people filmed did not provide informed consent.
C) The observations were not conducted in a systematic, scientific manner.
D) The kind of situations that are filmed are not relevant to social psychologists.

Question 33

________ research involves systematic examination of the documents or records of a culture.

A) Systematic
B) Archival
C) Participant observational
D) Cross-sectional

Question 34

During the 1990s, the MTV program The Real World aired, and currently there are several "reality TV shows" in which cameras record the activities of people living together.These shows are most like ________ research in social psychology.

A) observational
B) archival
C) experimental
D) cross-sectional

Question 35

What have archival analyses of sexually explicit materials revealed about pornography usage?

A) Women are more likely to subscribe to pornography sites.
B) Liberals in "blue" states are the largest subscribers to pornography sites.
C) Residents of "blue" and "red" states were equally likely to subscribe to pornography sites.
D) Residents of "red" states are the largest subscribers to pornography sites.

Question 36

Professor Yarnofsky wonders whether recent acts of airline terrorism have made the public more fearful of airline flight.He secures records of the amount of flight insurance that people have purchased via machines at the airport, and compares the records of insurance purchases before the last hijacking to purchases after the last hijacking.Professor Yarnofsky has employed a(n) ________ research method.

A) participant observation
B) systematic observation
C) archival
D) experimental

Question 37

Ethnography can be defined as the method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by

A) independently observing and coding a set of data.
B) examining the accumulated documents of that culture, such as newspapers.
C) asking questions of a representative sample of people by means such as telephone interviews.
D) observing it from the inside, without imposing any preconceived notions.

Question 38

A researcher has recorded that on the playground, boys are more likely to use physical aggression to get what they want, but that girls are more likely to use verbal aggression to get what they want.This researcher most likely employed a(n) ________ research method.

A) observational
B) archival
C) experimental
D) interview

Question 39

According to the authors of your text, archival research can tell researchers about

A) causes of behavior.
B) the values and beliefs of a culture.
C) the past, but probably isn't good at predicting the future.
D) the relationship between two or more variables.

Question 40

After a controversial play, referees meet in the middle of the field to discuss what each saw and explain his/her ruling before coming to a final decision.This most closely resembles which of the following?

A) archival analysis
B) dependent variables
C) interjudge reliability
D) external validity

Question 41

Are people who are better educated more or less prejudiced than people who have less education? This question is most appropriately answered by using

A) archival analysis.
B) experimental research.
C) ethnography.
D) correlational research.

Question 42

Which research method allows the researcher to focus on causality?

A) observational methods
B) correlational methods
C) experimental methods
D) archival analyses

Question 43

Assume that instead of conducting experiments, Latané and Darley had used a correlational method to study the relationship between the number of bystanders who witness an emergency and how quickly a victim receives help.Assume that the correlational data were compatible with results from experiments: the more bystanders, the more time it took bystanders to help.What type of correlation is this between time and number of bystanders?

A) a nonlinear correlation
B) a positive correlation
C) a negative correlation
D) a spurious correlation

Question 44

What do observational and correlational research have in common?

A) They cannot answer causal questions.
B) They can describe social behavior.
C) They cannot predict behavior.
D) They can use random assignment.

Question 45

When researchers say that there is a relationship between two variables, this means

A) that you can predict one from the other.
B) they are very similar to each other.
C) one is causing the other.
D) they are equal to each other.

Question 46

Observational research is to describing a behavior as correlational research is to

A) determining the causes of behavior.
B) explaining a behavior.
C) predicting behavior.
D) manipulating a behavior.

Question 47

One strength of observational research methods is that they can be useful for describing behavior.However, these methods do not allow researchers to ________ human behavior.

A) create theories about
B) analyze and compare
C) predict and explain
D) understand the nature of

Question 48

A researcher is interested in the relationship between the number of a person's past sexual partners and the person's decision to have an HIV test.To determine this, the researcher should use the ________ method.

A) observational
B) correlational
C) experimental
D) longitudinal

Question 49

Complete the following analogy about research methods in social psychology: description: _________ as _________: experimental.

A) observational; correlational
B) correlational; experimental
C) experimental; observational
D) observational; causality

Question 50

Dr.Williams wants to understand the motivations behind school shootings.To begin answering her questions, she examines the social media posts and blogs by identified school shooters.She also reads all the media reports she can find about the school shooters.Doing research in this manner is

A)ethnography
B)cognitive dissonance
C)correlational method
D)archival analysis

Question 51

Because some behaviors occur rarely or in private, it can be useful to use methods other than

A) surveys.
B) correlational methods.
C) observational methods.
D) experimental methods.

Question 52

Whereas observational research is designed to ________ behavior, correlational research is designed to ________.

A) systematically describe; explain behavior
B) systematically describe; determine what causes behavior
C) explain; assess relations between variables
D) systematically describe; assess relations between variables

Question 53

All of the following are limits on observational research except

A) the coding of the data by judges is always low in reliability.
B) many behaviors of interest occur only in private.
C) researchers using archival data are dependent on the original creators of the archive.
D) the sample being observed tends to be limited to just one group of people, one activity, and one setting.

Question 54

A researcher hired by a department store wants to examine whether manipulating the room temperature to be hotter as opposed to cooler affects sales of air conditioners.The best method for answering this question would be

A) experimental.
B) correlational.
C) observational.
D) archival analysis.

Question 55

Complete the following analogy about research methods in social psychology: observational: _________ as _________: causality.

A) description; correlational
B) prediction; experimental
C) description; experimental
D) prediction; correlational

Question 56

A researcher wants to see if there is a relationship between a person's birth order and his or her leadership ability.The best method for answering this question would be

A) experimental.
B) correlational.
C) observational.
D) archival analysis.

Question 57

Tony has been doing research on age and aggression.He has discovered that the older a person gets, the less likely he or she is to aggress against another person.What kind of relationship best describes Tony's findings?

A) positive correlation
B) negative correlation
C) curvilinear correlation
D) no correlation

Question 58

Dr.Nash wants to conduct research on spousal abuse.Why would Dr.Nash be unwise to use observational methods for this topic?

A) Participants will lie to him about being abused.
B) Abuse is usually something that occurs privately.
C) There actually are no drawbacks to using observational methods.
D) He will be unable to remain neutral.

Question 59

According to information from the registrar's office, Lee has discovered that people who score higher on the SAT tend to have a higher GPA in their first year of college.Lee has used a(n) ________ research method.

A) ethnographic
B) correlational
C) experimental
D) field study

Question 60

A researcher wants to examine whether teachers show any bias in calling on male students over female students.The best method for answering this question would be

A) experimental.
B) correlational.
C) observational.
D) archival analysis.

Question 61

You are reading a paper about how to do well in college and it presents several correlation coefficients.These correlation coefficients indicate

A) that this study compared three or more groups of students.
B) how well you can predict one variable from the other.
C) the causal relationship between the variables.
D) the reliability of the variables.

Question 62

Which of the following questions would a researcher be most likely to investigate with a survey?

A) How often do people run a red light at the intersection of Main St.and Holland Ave.?
B) What aspects of an intersection cause people to run a red light more often?
C) In the past thirty years, has there been an increase of drivers running red lights?
D) What are people's attitudes about drivers who run red lights?

Question 63

The problem with a survey that is not representative is that

A) it is unfair not to give everyone an equal chance to participate.
B) the data will be limited in its reliability.
C) the rules governing random assignment have been violated.
D) the researcher will not be able to draw valid conclusions about the population.

Question 64

Using random selection is a way to ensure that

A) a sample is representative of a population by giving everyone an equal chance of being selected for the sample.
B) every participant in a sample has an equal chance of taking part in any condition of an experiment.
C) participants who fit certain criteria for gender and ethnicity are more likely to be selected as part of a sample.
D) every member in a population is sampled.

Question 65

Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior is called

A) ethnography.
B) archival analysis.
C) field experiments.
D) survey research.

Question 66

In which of the following types of research is the researcher most concerned with the representativeness of the sample used?

A) naturalistic observation
B) archival analysis
C) survey research
D) experiments

Question 67

A researcher is interested in the effects of self-esteem on people's choice of romantic partner.She asks her study participants to complete a measure of self-esteem and to bring in separate photos of themselves and their significant others.She then has these photos rated for attractiveness by a panel of independent judges, and relates the relative attractiveness of a person's significant other to the person's self-esteem.The study just described is a(n)

A) observational study.
B) correlational study.
C) experimental study.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 68

Before Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine to prevent polio, people noticed a correlation between outside temperature and the incidence of polio: The warmer the temperature over the course of the year, the more outbreaks of polio.This relationship is an example of a(n) ________ correlation.

A) negative
B) positive
C) spurious
D) illusory

Question 69

Which of the following pairs of variables are most likely to be negatively correlated?

A) education; income
B) amount of practice; quality of performance
C) calories consumed; weight loss
D) effort; success

Question 70

If height and weight have a positive correlation, what does this tell you about the relationship between these variables?

A) Height and weight are unrelated.
B) Taller people are almost never heavier, but there are exceptions to the rule.
C) Shorter people tend to be heavier.
D) Taller people are usually heavier, but there are exceptions to the rule.

Question 71

A researcher conducted a study and found a positive correlation between age and income level.In other words, this researcher found that as age ________, income level tends to ________.

A) increases; decrease
B) increases; increase
C) increases; stay the same
D) decreases; increase

Question 72

In the 2000 presidential election, the polls of upper-middle-class Americans tended to show Bush leading Gore by a landslide.When election night came, the final results were closer than had been predicted, and it turned out that Gore won the popular vote while Bush won the more critical Electoral College vote.One possible problem with the earlier survey results was that they relied primarily on polls of upper-middle-class people.This illustrates the finding that a major problem with surveys is

A) responses are not anonymous.
B) people's votes in the polling booth do not necessarily agree with their public statements.
C) they are not predictive of behavior if the sample is not representative of the population about which the prediction is to be made.
D) question order can affect survey results.

Question 73

Surveys are instruments most often used by social psychologists who conduct ________ research.

A) archival
B) observational
C) correlational
D) experimental

Question 74

The only way to be certain that the results of a survey represent the behavior of a particular population is to ensure that the respondents are ________ that population.

A) randomly assigned to
B) randomly selected from
C) conveniently accessible in
D) normally distributed in

Question 75

If a researcher is interested in learning about people's attitudes about environmental issues, the research method he should employ is

A) ethnography.
B) survey research.
C) a field experiment.
D) an experiment.

Question 76

Complete the analogy about correlation coefficients: positive correlation: same direction as negative correlation: _________.

A) no relationship
B) weak relationship
C) opposite direction
D) no direction

Question 77

If two variables have no correlation with one another, this means that

A) you can only predict one of the two variables.
B) when one is higher, the other is lower.
C) they are probably very similar.
D) you cannot predict one from the other.

Question 78

Which of the following pairs of variables are most likely to be positively correlated?

A) feelings of love; likelihood of a break-up
B) partying; grades
C) flossing; cavities
D) consumption of fatty foods; risk of heart disease

Question 79

A researcher conducted a survey and found a negative correlation between education and the tendency to resort to violence during disputes.In other words, this researcher found that as education level ________, the tendency to use violence ________.

A) decreases; also decreases
B) increases; decreases
C) increases; also increases
D) increases; remains the same

Question 80

One of the greatest advantages of surveys is that researchers

A) can examine variables that are difficult to observe directly.
B) do not have to worry about whether their samples are representative.
C) can be confident that respondents answered honestly.
D) can be biased, but still collect objective information.