Deck 12: Experimental Research

Question 1

A control group is one in which an experimental treatment is administered.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Experimental research attempts to find causal relationships among variables.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

An experimental treatment is the term referring to the way an experimental variable is manipulated.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

In experimental research, independent variables are simply measured.

Question 5

John correctly guessed that the purpose of an experiment he was participating in was to examine the effect of giving employees recognition on his attitude and intention to stay with his company, which creates a confound known as a bias effect.

Question 6

In an experiment, the researcher manipulates the dependent variable and measures its effect on the independent variable.

Question 7

Participants in experimental research are typically referred to as respondents.

Question 8

Factorial experimental designs are the least sophisticated type of experimental design.

Question 9

The most common procedure to try to ensure that experimental and control groups do not differ from each other in important ways at the beginning of a research study is random assignment of subjects to treatment and control groups.

Question 10

A confound is an experimental deception involving a false treatment.

Question 11

Covariates are categorical variables like a subject's gender or ethnicity.

Question 12

One way to reduce demand characteristics is to tell subjects the purpose of the experiment so they will be more willing to participate honestly.

Question 13

As long as the researcher debriefs subjects, any experimental deception is acceptable.

Question 14

The people administering an experiment must be aware of the experimental hypotheses.

Question 15

A cell refers to a treatment combination within an experiment.

Question 16

Systematic error can occur in experiments.

Question 17

An experiment can have only one experimental variable.

Question 18

A confound in an experiment means that there is a spurious relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

Question 19

An experimental construct refers to one of the possible levels of an experimental variable manipulation.

Question 20

Products are the most common test units in most marketing experiments.

Question 21

A tachistoscope is often used in experiments to control the amount of time a subject is exposed to a visual image.

Question 22

The question as to whether the experimental treatment was the "sole cause" of the changes in the dependent variable is the basic issue in internal validity.

Question 23

A 3 x 3 factorial experiment requires six combinations of treatment groups.

Question 24

Factorial designs allow researchers to measure interaction effects.

Question 25

A marketing researcher is manipulating exposing subjects to one of two price levels--$1.99 or $2.49--for a tube of lip balm and measures behavioral intentions. The two price levels are known as experimental_____ in the study.

A) confounds
B) conditions
C) cells
D) covariates

Question 26

Experiments are widely used in which type of research designs?

A) causal
B) descriptive
C) exploratory
D) nonspurious

Question 27

The sampling units in experiments are referred to as ____.

A) conditions
B) effects
C) subjects
D) parameters

Question 28

The experimental difference in means between the different levels of any single experimental variable is referred to as a(n) _____.

A) interaction effect
B) primary effect
C) main effect
D) confound

Question 29

A researcher is conducting an experiment in which one group of people is exposed to an advertisement and another group is exposed to another advertisement. He is examining the effect of headline font sizes on consumers' attitude toward the brand advertised. The participants in this experimental research are referred to as _____.

A) respondents
B) elements
C) factorials
D) subjects

Question 30

A cohort effect in an experiment is a function of time and the naturally occurring events that coincide with growth and experience.

Question 31

If only one variable is manipulated in an experiment, it has a primary experimental design.

Question 32

Between-subjects designs involve repeated measures because with each treatment the same subject is measured.

Question 33

"Does package size affect consumption rates in snack products?" is a typical question in what type of research design?

A) descriptive research
B) time-series research
C) experimental research
D) phone surveys

Question 34

A mortality effect occurs when some subjects withdraw from the experiment before it is completed.

Question 35

Variables like a subject's gender or ethnicity that are included in an experimental analysis are known as which type of variable?

A) blocking variables
B) covariates
C) main variables
D) confounds

Question 36

A company was interested in learning if training expenditures will enhance its salesforce productivity, so they hired a researcher to conduct an experiment in which one group of salespeople received training and the other didn't. The average sales for salespeople who received training was significantly higher than for those who did not. This difference in means between the two groups is known as a(n) _____ effect.

A) placebo
B) main
C) covariate
D) interactive

Question 37

Categorical variables included in the statistical analysis of experimental data as a way of statistically controlling or accounting for variance due to that variable are called _____ variables.

A) independent
B) dependent
C) blocking
D) covariate

Question 38

A(n) _____ refers to one of the possible values for each independent variable in an experiment.

A) experimental condition
B) experimental variable
C) experimental block
D) experimental subject

Question 39

When a test market is conducted in five retail stores in Erie, Pennsylvania, this is an example of an external experiment.

Question 40

Field experiments tend to have less external validity than laboratory experiments.

Question 41

Which of the following occurs if the sampling units in an experimental cell are somehow different than the units in another cell, and this difference affects the dependent variable?

A) systematic or nonsampling error
B) sampling error
C) experimental bias
D) subject bias

Question 42

The way an experimental variable is manipulated is referred to as an experimental _____.

A) treatment
B) cell
C) confound
D) dose

Question 43

Experimental results that show that consumers purchased more when a store had a blue color with bright lights than they did when a store was orange with bright lights but no difference when the lighting was low is an example of which type of effect?

A) main
B) interaction
C) confound
D) synergistic

Question 44

Which of the following means that there is an alternative explanation beyond the experimental variables for any observed differences in the dependent variables?

A) confound
B) interaction
C) randomization
D) repeated measures

Question 45

Which of the following is a way for a researcher to equally distribute the effects of extraneous variables to all conditions in an experiment?

A) confounding
B) split sampling
C) repeated measures
D) randomization

Question 46

_____ are the subjects or entities whose responses to the experimental treatment are measured.

A) Test units
B) Focal units
C) Covariates
D) Independent units

Question 47

A psychology professor is conducting an experiment in which subjects perform memory tasks. There are four groups, each participating in different buildings on campus. During the time of the experiment one group was in a building near a dumpster that was being emptied by a big, noisy trash truck. The other groups weren't close enough to hear the noise. Which type of error does this introduce into the research?

A) systematic error
B) sampling error
C) testing error
D) interference error

Question 48

Differences in dependent variable means due to a specific combination of independent variables are called _____ effects.

A) main
B) conditional
C) interaction
D) valid

Question 49

Which of the following is the term used to refer to a treatment combination within an experiment?

A) level
B) link
C) cell
D) unit

Question 50

All of the following are experimental design issues EXCEPT _____.

A) selection and assignment of subjects to treatments
B) control over extraneous variables
C) manipulation of the independent variable
D) manipulation of the dependent variable

Question 51

Which of the following refers to items that may affect the dependent measures but are not of primary interest in an experiment?

A) nuisance variables
B) random variables
C) uniform variables
D) control variables

Question 52

A researcher is examining the impact of pictures in advertisements and whether including instructions to imagine impact subjects' mental imagery. She manipulated three treatment levels of pictures: concrete picture, abstract picture, or no picture. Instructions to imagine were either present or not present. How many cells are there in this experiment?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 5
D) 6

Question 53

Which of the following are possible test units in a business research study?

A) people
B) sales territories
C) strategic business units
D) all of these choices

Question 54

The group receiving an experimental treatment is called the _____.

A) primary group
B) experimental group
C) control group
D) experimental unit

Question 55

Kim and Mary are both participating in an experiment examining the effect of adding graphic warning labels on cigarette packages to the written warning labels that are already required by law. Kim saw a package in which half of the package had a picture of diseased lungs included with the written warning label, whereas Mary only saw the written warning label without a picture on the package the researcher showed her. Kim was part of which group in the experiment?

A) primary group
B) covariate group
C) experimental group
D) control group

Question 56

A group of subjects to whom no experimental treatment is administered is called a _____ group.

A) control
B) secondary
C) blocking
D) statistical

Question 57

Monica is conducting an experiment where all subjects rotate through all of the training programs she is testing. This type of experiment in which an individual subject is exposed to more than one level of an experimental treatment is called _____.

A) between-subjects
B) repeated measures
C) redundant manipulation
D) randomization

Question 58

If the level of advertising expenditures is compared to the number of units sold at the end of a four-month period, the independent variable is ______ while the dependent variable is ______.

A) advertising expenditure level; units sold
B) customer satisfaction; advertising expenditure level
C) units sold; advertising expenditure level
D) none of these choices

Question 59

Kamal is assigned to a group in an experiment examining the effectiveness of zinc on diminishing the symptoms of a cold. He didn't know it, but the capsule he received didn't contain any zinc in it. In fact, it was just a sugar pill. The other group of subjects received the true zinc supplements, and researchers compared the number of days subjects felt cold symptoms. Kamal was assigned to which group in the experiment?

A) primary
B) experimental
C) control
D) blocking

Question 60

Variables that naturally exist in the environment that may have some systematic effect on the dependent variable in an experiment are referred to as _____.

A) latent variables
B) control variables
C) extraneous variables
D) third variables

Question 61

Which term refers to an experimental design element that unintentionally provides subjects with hints about the research hypothesis.

A) demand characteristic
B) Hawthorne effect
C) testing effect
D) confounding effect

Question 62

Caroline is participating in an experimental study in which she is taking an herbal supplement and the researcher measures her perceived energy levels for several weeks. Although she doesn't know it, the supplement she is given in the study does not contain any of the herb of interest in the study. However, Caroline feels as though she has more energy than before, and she attributes it to the herbal supplement. This effect due to the psychological impact that goes along with knowledge that a treatment has been administered is called a(n) _____.

A) maturation effect
B) false positive
C) counterbalancing effect
D) placebo effect

Question 63

When an experiment is conducted on the premises of the research organization, this is an example of a _____.

A) static group design
B) laboratory experiment
C) field experiment
D) controlled store test

Question 64

When a food company tests a new product by having one group of experimental subjects taste this product first and then taste a competitor's product second, while a second group of experimental subjects tastes these two products in the reverse order, the experimental design has been _____.

A) counterbalanced
B) reversed
C) confounded
D) validated

Question 65

Which experimental design involves manipulating a single independent variable to observe its effect on a single dependent variable?

A) primary experimental design
B) basic experimental design
C) factorial experimental design
D) counterbalanced experimental design

Question 66

All of the following are ways to reduce demand characteristics EXCEPT _____.

A) use an experimental disguise
B) administer multiple experimental treatment levels to each subject
C) use a "blind" experimental administrator
D) isolate experimental subjects

Question 67

Which type of experimental design allows for an investigation of the interaction of two or more independent variables?

A) basic experimental designs
B) factorial experimental designs
C) hierarchical experimental designs
D) instrumental experimental designs

Question 68

Demand characteristics, such as subjects' knowledge of the experimental hypotheses, create which type of effect?

A) covariate
B) maturation
C) history
D) demand

Question 69

When subjects in all experimental groups are exposed to identical conditions except for the differing experimental treatments, this is called _____.

A) the Hawthorne effect
B) confounding
C) constancy of conditions
D) compounding

Question 70

If a soft-drink company performs an experiment with a new type of soft drink in which experimental subjects always taste this new product first and then taste a competitor's product second, the study has an error in design termed a(n) _____.

A) history effect
B) maturation effect
C) order of presentation effect
D) guinea pig effect

Question 71

A researcher is interested in the level of employees' understanding of health benefit options. He is interested in how the amount of time spent looking at the brochure for each option influences understanding, so he's using a device that controls the amount of time a subject is exposed to the brochure. This device is called a _____.

A) pupilometer
B) psychgalvanometer
C) tachistoscope
D) rotoscope

Question 72

An experiment examining the interaction effects of the presence of police cars and the presence of speeding cameras on the number of speeding tickets issued is an example of which type of experimental design?

A) basic experimental design
B) legitimate experimental design
C) obtuse experimental design
D) factorial experimental design

Question 73

Research projects involving experimental manipulations that are implemented in a natural environment are called _____.

A) laboratory experiments
B) field experiments
C) primary experiments
D) secondary experiments

Question 74

An experiment is conducted in which music played in a store is manipulated to examine the impact on sales. What type of experimental design is this?

A) factorial experimental design
B) primary experimental design
C) basic experimental design
D) univariate experimental design

Question 75

When subjects act differently because they are aware that they are in an experiment, this is called the _____.

A) history effect
B) Hawthorne effect
C) maturation effect
D) Likert effect

Question 76

A device that controls the amount of time a subject is exposed to a visual image is called a _____.

A) tachistoscope
B) pupilometer
C) focalscope
D) rotoscope

Question 77

In which type of experiment does the researcher have more complete control over the research setting and extraneous variables?

A) factorial
B) controlled
C) field
D) laboratory

Question 78

Which of the following is critical when conducting experimental research because it allows researchers to return subjects to normal?

A) manipulation check
B) cohort analysis
C) debriefing
D) deception

Question 79

Which of the following is present when the person administering experimental procedures influences the subjects' behavior or sways them to slant their answers to cooperate with him or her?

A) experimenter bias
B) response bias
C) Type I error
D) Type II error

Question 80

Which experimental research design involves repeated measures?

A) within-subjects design
B) between-subjects design
C) squared-subjects design
D) interdependent-subjects design