Deck 6: Descriptive Research

Question 1

Polly Petunia is Chief Horticulturalist for the Southwest region,encompassing Arizona,New Mexico,and Texas.She wants to survey amateur gardeners in her region to determine what,if any,water conservation practices they employ in their home gardening.Polly sends her survey to 150 randomly selected gardeners in each state.Polly is using:

A)purposive sampling.
B)proportional stratified sampling.
C)systematic sampling.
D)stratified random sampling.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Danny Drive wants to know the relationship between intrinsic motivation and course grade among math students.He contacts a local professor who teaches several general education math classes and asks about the possibility of gathering data in her classes.Danny is using:

A)simple random sampling.
B)cluster sampling.
C)convenience sampling.
D)systematic sampling

Answer 2

C

Question 3

"How unhappy are you with your current salary?" This question violates which rule of good survey writing?

A)It is not quantifiable.
B)It makes an unwarranted assumption.
C)It fails to keep the respondent's task simple.
D)It uses technical language that may not be known to all.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Correlational research allows the researcher to answer questions such as:

A)what is the relationship between Variable A and Variable B?
B)does change in Variable A cause change in Variable B?
C)is there a significant difference between scores on Variable A and scores on Variable B?
D)does change in Variable B causes change in Variable A?

Question 5

Angeline is conducting an observational study of aggression on the playground.She is especially interested in whether boys are reprimanded more than girls for aggressive actions.The best instrument for her to use to collect her data would be:

A)A checklist
B)A rating scale
C)A rubric
D)A survey

Question 6

Graham recruited student volunteers to participate in his dissertation study.He set up several times for students to come to a specified classroom and read various types of instructional materials and to be tested.He ran all of his control conditions first and then for each session he placed all students at the session in the same treatment condition.This is problematic because those who volunteered early are likely different than those who volunteered later.This problem is primarily due to

A)response bias.
B)instrumentation bias.
C)researcher bias.
D)sampling bias.

Question 7

Jody is interested in studying home schooling because she thinks that students who are home-schooled can't develop appropriate social skills.As part of her study she will be observing home-schooled children in social settings.Jody's planned study is particularly susceptible to

A)response bias.
B)researcher bias.
C)sampling bias.
D)instrumentation bias.

Question 8

Of the following research topics,which is most likely to be an observational study?

A)The relationship between hours of exercise and sleep.
B)The difference in minutes a day exercising between boys and girls.
C)The types of exercise students engage in after school.
D)Students' feelings about after-school track practice.

Question 9

Paul Pollster,a political psychologist,wants to determine whether rates of voter participation in his home state vary between rural,urban,and suburban voters.He notes that there are more rural voters than suburban or urban voters in the state.Paul should use ______ in this study.

A)simple random sampling
B)cluster sampling
C)proportional stratified sampling
D)systematic sampling

Question 10

Among survey methods,_____ generally generate the highest response rate.

A)telephone interviews
B)interviews using video-conferencing
C)face-to-face interviews
D)online surveys

Question 11

Advantages of questionnaires include all of the following EXCEPT:

A)large numbers of people can be contacted for a relatively low cost.
B)data can be gathered from a large number of people in a relatively short period of time.
C)participants may feel more confident about their anonymity and therefore respond more honestly.
D)because questions are in written form,they are less likely to be misunderstood by respondents.

Question 12

Geoffrey is conducting a descriptive study focused on women's rights.As part of his project,he reviews articles published in U.S.newspapers between 1850 and 1940.The best instrument for him to use would be:

A)A checklist
B)A rating scale
C)A rubric
D)A survey

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a good research question for a correlational study?

A)What are the attitudes of the parents about our districts new homework policy?
B)Is there a relationship between student achievement and homework completion?
C)Are there differences in parent attitudes about homework between mothers and fathers?
D)How much homework does the average fifth grade teacher in our district assign?

Question 14

Simon Cinema wants to know what the audience thought of tonight's advanced screening of a heralded psychological thriller called "I Can't Sleep." He and his research assistants stand outside the theatre exit and ask every fifth person leaving the theatre to answer several questions about their impression of the movie.Simon is using:

A)systematic sampling.
B)stratified random sampling.
C)convenience sampling.
D)purposive sampling.

Question 15

A researcher wishes to study developmental changes in people's preference for action movies.The researcher locates 50 people at each of the following ages: 15,20,25,30,35,40,45,and 50 years.She asks them to rate their preference for action movies in relation to other sorts of movies.This is an example of which type of design?

A)longitudinal
B)nested
C)cross-sectional
D)panel

Question 16

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a cohort-sequential design?

A)Don studies high school seniors' concerns about world events during their post-secondary experiences.He surveys the entire senior class state-wide.He surveys them again every year for eight years.
B)Melanie is conducting a survey for her thesis that examines administrative policies in middle schools that are intended to decrease bullying.After developing her survey and piloting the instrument with a small group,she then administers the instrument to a sample of 2300 middle-school administrators.
C)Jana wants to understand what predicts student success on the statewide standardized biology competency test.She administers the Biology Interest Survey (BIS)to all of her students at the start of the term and then categorizes students into two groups: those who have taken biology before and those who have not.She then administers an in-class exam at the end of the term.
D)Molly's study examines the benefits of exercise on weight loss.In one group she advocates exercise as well as a new diet program.In the comparison group she only presents the diet program.Those in the comparison group find out that some of Molly's clients are in an exercise program too,so they form an exercise group on their own.

Question 17

The typical return rate for a survey mailed to strangers is about:

A)80%
B)65%
C)50%
D)35%

Question 18

A researcher wishes to study developmental changes in the music people prefer to listen to.The researcher locates 50 people who are about 20 years old.She sends these people a questionnaire every year for the next 10 years asking about the types of music they prefer to listen to.This is an example of which type of design?

A)longitudinal
B)nested
C)cross-sectional
D)panel

Question 19

Regarding the length of questionnaires to be used in survey research,which of the following statements is most accurate?

A)Including a large number of items on the survey assures that you will get useful data for all of your trouble.
B)Keeping the survey short makes it more likely people will be willing to complete it.
C)A relatively lengthy survey communicates your seriousness about the research endeavor so people will be more willing to complete it.
D)Shorter surveys produce data that are ambiguous and therefore not useful.

Question 20

Edward Ethics is studying public opinion regarding prayer in public schools.He plans to gather survey data from a number of churches on Sunday mornings.He also wants to include a number of people who are not associated with an organized religion in his sample.Edward is using:

A)stratified random sampling.
B)cluster sampling.
C)convenience sampling.
D)purposive sampling.

Question 21

Rori is observing elite marching bands as part of her dissertation study.She is particularly interested in drum major leadership styles and behavior.She has found that the drum major at her current research site is very interested in showing off for her.This is an example of

A)response bias.
B)researcher bias.
C)sampling bias.
D)instrumentation bias.
Essay Questions

Question 22

Under what circumstances would a researcher choose a longitudinal study over a cross-sectional study? Give a specific example of a question that could be addressed with a longitudinal study and explain why that developmental design is preferred.

Question 23

In writing the cover letter to accompany a survey,novice researchers often stress the immediacy of their need for the data.Is this the best approach to take in the cover letter? If not,what do you recommend instead?

Question 24

The authors of your textbook suggest that sampling bias is virtually unavoidable and that it is important to disclose and discuss possible sources of bias in the study report.Do you agree? Explain your position.