Deck 6: Surveys and Observations: Describing What People Do

Question 1

Dr.Fletcher is concerned about a fence-sitting response set when he conducts his survey.Which of the following might you recommend to decrease fence sitting?

A)Using reverse-worded questions
B)Using scales with an even number of response options
C)Providing a "no opinion" option
D)Using a Likert-type response scale

Answer 1

Using scales with an even number of response options

Question 2

In developing a measure of "need for cognition" (the degree to which people like thinking and problem-solving),Dr.Jonason asks his participants to rate their agreement with the following statement: "I frequently solve and enjoy solving crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles." What is the problem with this question?

A)It is a forced-choice question.
B)It is a double-barreled question.
C)It has a double negative.
D)It is a leading question.

Answer 2

It is a double-barreled question.

Question 3

Dr.Gore is conducting a survey examining people's opinions toward funding for collegiate athletics on his campus.He notices that several participants agree with all 12 questions.This could be an example of all of the following EXCEPT:

A)A response set
B)Acquiescence
C)Yea-saying
D)Fence sitting

Answer 3

Fence sitting

Question 4

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Given the scenario above,Dr.Ewell decides to collect his data at a neighborhood park.He has his two research assistants pose as a married couple having a picnic.While having their picnic,they take detailed records of the sharing behavior of the children and note whether the pairs are same sex or opposite sex.Given his use of two research assistants,he must establish the ________ of their measures.

A)Face validity
B)Convergent validity
C)Interrater reliability
D)Test-retest reliability

Question 5

Masked,or blind,study designs are designed to deal with:

A)Yea-saying biases
B)Bystander effect
C)Observer bias
D)Faking good

Question 6

A study by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)involved telling teachers that some of their students were "bloomers" and would achieve rapid academic success within the next year.In fact,these students were no different than any of the other students in the class.At the end of the year,the "bloomers" showed more gains in IQ than the other students.It appeared that the teacher had unintentionally treated the "bloomers" in special ways.This is an example of which of the following?

A)Observer bias
B)Observer effects
C)A masked study design
D)Self-report operationalization

Question 7

How do reverse-worded items address shortcuts?

A)They slow down readers,making them answer more carefully.
B)They give people more answer options.
C)They are easier for people to read.
D)They ask each question twice so the participant answers twice.

Question 8

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Imagine that Dr.Ewell calculates an ICC for his two raters.Which of the following would be the best value for Dr.Ewell to find?

A)-0.92
B)0.02
C)0.89
D)1.05

Question 9

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Given the scenario above,Dr.Ewell is concerned that the children will behave differently because of the presence of research assistants.He is concerned about:

A)Reactivity
B)Observer bias
C)Faking good
D)Interrater reliability

Question 10

Forced-choice question formats are especially good at dealing with which of the following issues?

A)Fence sitting
B)Faking good
C)Faking bad
D)People self-reporting more than they can know

Question 11

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Given the scenario above,Dr.Ewell is concerned that the children will behave differently because of the presence of research assistants.Which of the following could he do to address this concern?

A)Make the observations himself instead of using a research assistant
B)Have two undergraduate research assistants make the observations instead of just one
C)Observe the same-sex friend pairs on the first day and the opposite-sex friend pairs on the second day
D)Hide a video camera in the daycare center and record the children playing without them knowing

Question 12

Which of the following is the most direct way to control for question order effects?

A)Give the survey questions to different groups of people.
B)Prepare different versions of the survey,varying the order of the questions.
C)Combine the two questions into a single question.
D)Both b and c control for question order effects.

Question 13

Why are double-barreled questions problematic?

A)They may have poor construct validity.
B)They may have poor internal reliability.
C)They are leading questions.
D)They are too conceptual.

Question 14

In his measure of "need for cognition" (the degree to which people like thinking and problem-solving),Dr.Jonason asks his participants to rate their agreement with the following statement: "I have never not enjoyed thinking." What is the problem with this question?

A)It is a forced-choice question.
B)It is a double-barreled question.
C)It has a double negative.
D)It is a leading question.

Question 15

Another word for observer effects is:

A)Observer bias
B)Expectancy effects
C)Interrater reliability
D)Unobtrusive observation

Question 16

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Given the scenario above,Dr.Ewell decides to collect his data at a neighborhood park.He has his two research assistants pose as a married couple having a picnic.While having their picnic,they take detailed records of the sharing behavior of the children and note whether the pairs are same sex or opposite sex.This technique is known as:

A)A blind study design
B)Unobtrusive observation
C)Delayed observation
D)A double blind study design

Question 17

All of the following can decrease accurate responses EXCEPT:

A)Nay-saying response sets
B)Fence-sitting
C)Reverse-worded questions
D)Acquiescence

Question 18

Dr.Gahan decides to create a questionnaire asking about people's attitudes toward immigration (a socially sensitive topic).He should be most concerned about which of the following?

A)People self-reporting more than they can know
B)Fence sitting
C)Faking bad
D)Negatively worded answers

Question 19

All of the following are true of observational data EXCEPT:

A)Observational measures tend to have good construct validity.
B)Observational measures cannot be used in making causal claims.
C)Observational measures can be used in frequency claims.
D)Observational measures tend to provide richer information than survey data.

Question 20

Which of the following is true?

A)The confidence people have in their memories is not strongly related to the accuracy of their memory.
B)People are very good judges of the reasons for their behavior.
C)People are better able to remember vivid memories.
D)If people are inaccurate in reporting their reasons for behavior,it is because they are deliberately trying to be deceptive.

Question 21

Which of the following questions is most likely to result in a socially desirable answer?

A)"How often do you eat lunch?"
B)"Have you ever hit your relationship partner?"
C)"When was the last time you texted a friend?"
D)"Why did you choose to be a psychology major?"

Question 22

Which of the following is a disadvantage of using open-ended questions?

A)The answers provided are often spontaneous.
B)The answers are unscientific.
C)The answers must be coded.
D)The answers are not taken seriously by participants.

Question 23

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Imagine that Dr.Ewell wants to videotape the children in the park.Which of the following is true?

A)He will likely need to get permission to videotape the children prior to doing so.
B)If he uses hidden cameras,he does not need to tell the participants they have been videotaped.
C)He will be unable to use videotape because he is studying children.
D)He can use the videotapes regardless of whether the adult objects as long as the child agrees.

Question 24

Write three questions designed to measure liking for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches-one forced-choice,one open-ended,and one with a response scale (can be of any type).

Question 25

In which of the following studies is self-report the best data collection option?

A)A study examining the intensity of pain during natural childbirth
B)A study examining the health of children born via natural childbirth
C)A study examining discussions about natural childbirth between mothers and doctors
D)A study examining the breathing styles used during natural child birth

Question 26

Dr.Smith is interested in measuring how adults view sexual behavior in teenagers.She asks the following two questions.Explain why Dr.Smith should be worried and how she can correct the problem.
i.Is it okay for boys under the age of 18 to be sexually active?
ii.Is it okay for girls under the age of 18 to be sexually active?

Question 27

Unobtrusive observation is done to counteract which of the following?

A)Observer bias
B)Observer effects
C)Reactivity
D)Nay-saying

Question 28

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Why would most psychologists have no problem with the ethics of Dr.Ewell's study?

A)His research topic is interesting.
B)People in a public park do not expect their behavior to be private.
C)Research with children is generally not risky.
D)Observing children is the only way to collect data about this topic.

Question 29

Which of the following is true of interrater reliability?

A)It is measured with an ICC.
B)It is necessary to calculate only if you have four or more raters.
C)It does not need to be calculated if your research assistants are well trained.
D)If interrater reliability is established,it means the observations are also valid.

Question 30

Dr.Ewell,a developmental psychologist,is planning on conducting a study that involves watching children play together to determine how sharing behavior occurs in same-sex friend pairs compared to opposite-sex friend pairs.

Which of the following is Dr.Ewell likely to give his research assistants to prevent observer bias?

A)A video camera
B)A developmental psychology textbook
C)A codebook
D)Binoculars

Question 31

What is an advantage of open-ended questions? What is a disadvantage?

Question 32

Which of the following determines the construct validity of a survey questions?

A)How well it is worded
B)How many people answer it
C)How short it is
D)How many response options it has

Question 33

Which of the following is another term for response sets?

A)Observer bias
B)Nondifferentiation
C)Socially desirable responding
D)Uniqueness

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT a way to deal with reactivity?

A)Blending in with the surroundings
B)Waiting to begin observations
C)Measuring the behavior unobtrusively
D)Using multiple observers

Question 35

The construct validity of observations can be threatened by all of the following EXCEPT:

A)Observer bias
B)Observer effects
C)Reactivity
D)Socially desirable responding

Question 36

Faking good is also known as

A)A response set
B)Acquiescence
C)Socially desirable responding
D)Fence sitting

Question 37

RESEARCH STUDY 6.3
Dr.Omiata is working on creating a survey designed to measure people's attitudes toward marijuana use.For each statement,the person is asked to rate their agreement on a 5-point scale.A selection of his statements is below.


For each of Dr.Omiata's statements,state whether it is well-worded.If it is not,indicate what the problem is and how it could be fixed.

Question 38

In his measure of "need for cognition" (the degree to which people like thinking and problem-solving),Dr.Jonason asks his participants to rate their agreement with the following statement: "People who think a lot are really lame." What is the problem with this question?

A)It is a forced-choice question.
B)It is a double-barreled question.
C)It has a double negative.
D)It is a leading question.

Question 39

Observer bias relates mainly to ________ whereas observer effects stem from ________.

A)Validity;reliability
B)Researchers;participants
C)Faking good;faking bad
D)Outcomes;expectations

Question 40

Which of the following is a poll likely to measure?

A)A person's attitude toward their doctor
B)A person's feelings about people diagnosed with cancer
C)A person's thoughts about whether they prefer Advil or Tylenol
D)A person's opinions about a healthcare law

Question 41

Explain why socially desirable responding happens.Name one way to decrease the likelihood of its occurrence.

Question 42

Explain the difference between observer bias and observer effects and give an example of each.

Question 43

There are several ways to decrease socially desirable responding.Choose one of these and explain why it decreases this response tendency.

Question 44

Dr.Overup decides to use a hidden camera to videotape the behavior of people on dates at a local restaurant to determine how they express affection in public.State which threat to construct validity Dr.Overup is trying to address.Briefly discuss how she should deal with the ethics of the hidden camera.

Question 45

Explain why observational methods are typically seen by most psychologists as ethical.

Question 46

Explain why each of the following poses problems to a measure's validity: response sets (acquiescence,nay-saying,and fence sitting),socially desirable responding (faking good or faking bad),and inability to report.

Question 47

State three ways that a researcher could reduce reactivity in a study and why each one is effective.

Question 48

Dr.Katz is interested in studying self-esteem.He is especially curious as to whether people who have higher self-esteem say the words I and me more often than do those who have low self-esteem.He has decided to poll people and ask them how often they say these words during the day.Explain why you would advise him not to use this method and explain what alternative you would propose.

Question 49

Explain how a masked or blind design deals with both observer bias and observer effects.

Question 50

Dr.Overup decides to use a hidden camera to videotape the behavior of people on dates at a local restaurant to determine how they express affection in public.She has three research assistants code each video.She calculates an ICC of .94 for their rating of affection.Explain how Dr.Overup should interpret this value and what it tells her in terms of the reliability and validity of her measure.

Question 51

Dr.Leman is interested in using a survey to study people's experiences with natural disasters,like Hurricane Sandy and the tornadoes that hit Joplin,Missouri,and Tuscaloosa,Alabama.Provide one reason why a survey is a good method to study this topic and one reason that a survey may not be a good method.