Deck 6: Describing What People Do: Surveys,Observations,and Sampling

Question 1

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. Which of the questions above is an example of an open-ended question?

A) Question A
B) Question B
C) Question C
D) Question D
E) Both a and b

Answer 1

Question A

Question 2

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.
E) All of the above control for question order effects.

Answer 2

Prepare different versions of the survey, varying the order of the questions.

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 is an example of which of the following?

A) A response set
B) Acquiescence
C) Yea-saying
D) Both b and c
E) All of the above

Answer 3

All of the above

Question 4

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 odd number of response options
C) Providing a "no opinion" option
D) Using a Likert-type response scale
E) None of the above

Question 5

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. In the above scenario,what is Dr.Kramer's population?

A) All students at the university
B) All psychology majors
C) All students he has ever taught
D) All students in his Research Methods course
E) None of the above

Question 6

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.
E) All of the above are true of double-barreled questions.

Question 7

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. In the above scenario,Dr.Kramer needs to avoid which of the following if he hopes to avoid having a biased sample?

A) Sampling only those students who come to class frequently
B) Sampling only those students who volunteer to complete the survey
C) Sampling only those students he likes
D) All of the above should be avoided
E) None of the above should be avoided

Question 8

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
E) All of the above

Question 9

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 good
D) Both a and c
E) Both b and c

Question 10

In developing a measure of need for cognition (a trait that describes 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.
E) None of the above are problems with this question.

Question 11

How do reverse-worded items address shortcuts?

A) They slow down readers, making them answer more carefully.
B) They distinguish between yea-sayers and people that are true believers.
C) They are easier for people to read.
D) Both a and b address shortcuts.
E) All of the above address shortcuts.

Question 12

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. Which of the questions above is an example of a question that uses a semantic differential scale?

A) Question A
B) Question B
C) Question C
D) Question D
E) Both b and d

Question 13

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
E) None of the above are true

Question 14

All of the following can decrease accurate responses EXCEPT:

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

Question 15

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. Which of the questions above is an example of a question that uses a Likert scale?

A) Question A
B) Question B
C) Question C
D) Question D
E) Both b and d

Question 16

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. Which of the questions above is an example of a forced-choice question?

A) Question A
B) Question B
C) Question C
D) Question D
E) Both c and d

Question 17

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 inadvertently 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
E) None of the above

Question 18

In his measure of need for cognition,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.
E) None of the above are problems with this question.

Question 19

RESEARCH STUDY 6.1
Professor Kramer has decided to measure how happy his students are with his teaching this semester. He is teaching two classes this semester-Psychology and Law class and Introduction to Neuroscience class. His survey has the following questions.

Refer to Research Study 6.1 above to answer the following question. In the above scenario,Dr.Kramer plans to give his survey only to his Psychology and Law students because he sees them on Mondays,Wednesdays,and Fridays and he can spare the class time (unlike his Tuesday/Thursday Introduction to Neuroscience class).Which of the following is true?

A) This will lead to a biased sample because the type of students who take Psychology and Law may be different from the type of students who take Introduction to Neuroscience.
B) This will lead to a biased sample because of self-selection.
C) This will lead to a biased sample because the Research Methods students have a lot of time to complete the survey.
D) The will lead to a sample that is representative of both of his classes.
E) None of the above are true.

Question 20

Which of the following is true?

A) The confidence people have in their memories is 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.
E) None of the above are true.

Question 21

If researchers measure every tenth member of a population,they have:

A) Conducted a census
B) Collected a sample
C) Decreased external validity
D) Increased internal validity
E) Biased the study

Question 22

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 23

Dr.Oishi is an educational psychologist interested in students' attitudes toward math and their effect on performance on standardized tests.He chooses his local school district to study.There are 15 middle schools and he randomly chooses five.Then,of the 1,500 students in each of those five schools,he randomly recruits 250 students.This is an example of which of the following sampling techniques?

A) Simple random sample
B) Snowball sample
C) Systematic sample
D) Multistage sample
E) Cluster sample

Question 24

Which of the following is NOT an example of a probability sample?

A) Simple random sample
B) Multistage sample
C) Convenience sample
D) Systematic sample
E) Cluster sample

Question 25

Dr.Jackson is a personality psychologist who is interested in studying the characteristics of people who report being abducted by UFOs.She finds several people in a support group to research and asks them if they can provide the names and contact information of other people who have also been abducted.Upon contacting these new participants,she asks them to refer her to even more people they may know who have been abducted.This is an example of what kind of sampling?

A) Purposive sampling
B) Snowball sampling
C) Random sampling
D) Convenience sampling
E) Self-selection sampling

Question 26

Refer to Research Study 6.3 above to answer the following question.
For each of Dr.Omiata's statements,say whether it is well worded.If it is not,indicate what the problem is and how it could be fixed.

Question 27

RESEARCH STUDY 6.2
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 with opposite-sex friend pairs.
Refer to Research Study 6.2 above to answer the following question. 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) Use a masked study design
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
E) All of the above

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT true of interrater reliability?

A) It is measured with Cronbach's alpha.
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.
E) None of the above are true.

Question 29

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 30

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

A) Yea-saying biases
B) Bystander effect
C) Observer bias
D) Observer effects
E) Interrater reliability

Question 31

If researchers measure every member of a population,they have:

A) Conducted a census
B) Collected a sample
C) Decreased external validity
D) Increased internal validity
E) Biased the study

Question 32

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

Question 33

Having a representative sample is most important in which of the following example claims?

A) "Fifty-nine percent of college athletes feel that playing professionally is an attainable goal."
B) "According to ApplianceCentral.com, 23% of people who bought Samsung brand refrigerators said they did not make a lot of noise."
C) "Expressing uncertainty about relationship commitment prior to marriage is associated with greater marital happiness."
D) "Having a boss compliment you at work causes you to work more efficiently."
E) "People who have religious experiences report feeling more comfortable with the idea of death."

Question 34

RESEARCH STUDY 6.2
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 with opposite-sex friend pairs.
Refer to Research Study 6.2 above to answer the following question. 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) Interrater reliability
D) Delayed observation
E) A double blind study design

Question 35

A sample is always _________ a population.

A) More expensive to measure than
B) Smaller than
C) More interesting than
D) More scientific than
E) The same as

Question 36

Which of the following is true of probability sampling?

A) It is the best way to obtain a representative sample.
B) It is the same as random assignment.
C) It results in larger samples than nonprobability sampling.
D) It should be used when external validity is not the goal of the study.
E) None of the above are true.

Question 37

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 38

Another word for observer effects is:

A) Observer bias
B) Reactivity
C) Interrater reliability
D) Unobtrusive observation
E) Observational error

Question 39

RESEARCH STUDY 6.2
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 with opposite-sex friend pairs.
Refer to Research Study 6.2 above to answer the following question. 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) Bystander effect
C) Observer bias
D) Faking good
E) Interrater reliability

Question 40

RESEARCH STUDY 6.2
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 with opposite-sex friend pairs.
Refer to Research Study 6.2 above to answer the following question. 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) Observer bias
B) Face validity
C) Convergent validity
D) Interrater reliability
E) Test-retest reliability

Question 41

A representative sample is most necessary for which type of claim (frequency,association,or causal)? Why?

Question 42

Explain why bigger samples are not always better samples.

Question 43

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 44

What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?

Question 45

Refer to Research Study 6.4 above to answer the following question.
Describe the three sampling problems that could lead to a biased sample for Dr.Parrett.

Question 46

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

Question 47

Refer to Research Study 6.4 above to answer the following question.
What is the population of interest in Dr.Parrett's study? Will he be collecting a sample or conducting a census? Why does he need to be concerned with external validity/representativeness?

Question 48

Explain the two reasons nonrandom samples are sometimes acceptable.

Question 49

Refer to Research Study 6.4 above to answer the following question.
What is the difference between a cluster technique and a multistage technique? Explain why Dr.Parrett would be advised to use a cluster or a multistage technique rather than a simple random sample.

Question 50

Refer to Research Study 6.4 above to answer the following question.
Imagine that Dr.Parrett wants to use a nonrepresentative sampling technique.Name the three types of nonprobability sampling and explain how each one could be used by Dr.Parrett.