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

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.

Answer 2

design a study making specific predictions to test the alternate explanation.

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

the tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted an outcome after knowing that it occurred.

Question 4

According to the authors of your text,which of the following most accurately describes how scientific insights are gained?

A)through sudden brilliant insights
B)when a solution to a social problem flashes into a researcher's mind
C)by reading previous research on a topic
D)as a cumulative process wherein researchers generate hypotheses after reading others' work

Question 5

The ____ led Bibb Latané and John Darley to systematically test the situational factors that influence people's responses to emergencies.

A)Watergate scandal
B)Bay of Pigs fiasco
C)murder of Kitty Genovese
D)Iran-Contra affair

Question 6

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 7

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 8

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 9

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,then theories are revised.
D)Hypotheses are proposed and tested at least three times by different researchers before altering a theory.

Question 10

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 11

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)newsmagazine polls.
C)research methods.
D)majority opinion.

Question 12

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

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

Question 13

Complete the analogy: hindsight bias: ____ :: hypothesis: ____.

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

Question 14

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.

Question 15

The first stage in doing research is usually to ____.

A)manipulate the independent variable
B)make observations about the phenomenon of interest
C)develop a coding form for the data
D)formulate a hypothesis

Question 16

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 authors' 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 17

According to the authors,why do people often believe that they could have predicted social psychological findings in advance?

A)Social psychology relies heavily on the study of uncommon experiences and case histories.
B)People are largely ignorant about what exactly social psychologists study.
C)People's inferences about psychological phenomena are rarely based in fact.
D)Findings that seem common sense in retrospect could not have been predicted in advance.

Question 18

In Chapter 2,the authors included a brief quiz about research findings.This quiz was designed to illustrate that

A)most research findings directly contradict folk wisdom.
B)social psychology is really little more than common sense.
C)so-called "obvious" research findings are not all that easy to predict in advance.
D)although people are not insightful "physicists," they are insightful "social psychologists."

Question 19

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 20

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

Question 21

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 22

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 construct a theory 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 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

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 27

A social psychologist employing the ____ method of research is most like a video camera.

A)experimental
B)observational
C)survey
D)archival analysis

Question 28

Complete the following analogy about research methods in social psychology: observational: ____ :: ____ : causality

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

Question 29

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 30

Which research method allows the researcher to focus on causality?

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

Question 31

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 32

Using observational research methods allows research to focus on

A)description.
B)prediction.
C)causality.
D)validity.

Question 33

A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that people in Asian cultures are more likely to use the word "we" than the word "I" when talking to others.To test this prediction,she sits at a café and surreptitiously listens to five-minute snippets of a random sample of the conversations going on around her over a week-long period.Which of the following best describes the researcher's method?

A)ethnography
B)correlational method
C)naturalistic observation
D)casual observation

Question 34

In many respects,reality television shows are similar to observational research in social psychology.In what crucial respect are reality t.v.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 controlled,scientific manner.
D)The kind of situations that are filmed are not relevant to social psychologists.

Question 35

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 36

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 37

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 38

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 39

Professionals like actors,writers,and filmmakers employ observational methods to learn about social situations.What makes their work different from the work of social psychologists?

A)The situations or events that these professionals observe are not of interest to scientific social psychologists.
B)Social psychologists tend to employ a pre-arranged set of criteria to guide their observations.
C)Social psychologists are more likely to be participant observers.
D)These other professionals are always testing a specific hypothesis.

Question 40

The technique whereby a researcher observes people and systematically records measurements or impressions of their behavior best defines

A)experimental method.
B)correlational method.
C)observational method.
D)random assignment.

Question 41

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

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

Question 42

Based on your text,what is a central distinction between observational methods generally and ethnography?

A)Observational methods may or may not be very systematic.
B)Ethnography involves no preconceived notions.
C)Ethnography involves preconceived notions.
D)Ethnography typically involves predictions and hypotheses about a group.

Question 43

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 1940-2000.
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 44

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 45

Which of the following is a drawback to the observational method?

A)No interesting or important questions can be answered using this method.
B)The observational method is statistically unreliable.
C)Some social behaviors only take place in private.
D)Interjudge reliability is difficult to establish.

Question 46

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 47

What is one of the major advantages of archival research over other forms of observational research? This research method

A)does not require trained observers.
B)takes less time than systematic observation.
C)generates information that is more reliable.
D)enables researchers to detect changes across time and cultures.

Question 48

Which of the following refers to the level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code the same information?

A)archival analysis
B)coding validity
C)interjudge reliability
D)external validity

Question 49

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 50

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 51

In what way is archival research most like the systematic observation of ongoing behaviors? Both methods

A)make use of random assignment to conditions.
B)have low external validity.
C)make use of specific,well-defined categories for coding.
D)are controversial methods of research in social psychology.

Question 52

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 53

The greatest drawback to archival analysis is that

A)it can be used to examine a large number of variables.
B)it is very difficult to train researchers to code archival data accurately.
C)archival data are invariably biased by the researcher's preconceptions.
D)archival data rely on the accuracy of the original compiler of the data and may be incomplete.

Question 54

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 55

What have archival analyses of sexually explicit materials revealed about the pornography/violence question?

A)Aggression against women is a major theme in some of these explicit materials.
B)Sexually explicit materials are more likely to contain bondage than to contain consensual sex.
C)Men are largely absent in these sexually explicit publications.
D)Men who read sexually explicit books and magazines are likely to engage in violent acts against women.

Question 56

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,1940-2005,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 57

According to the authors of your text,diaries,novels,and television shows would be examined as part of ____ research.

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

Question 58

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 59

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 60

All of the following are limits on observational research except

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

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

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 63

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 64

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

A)determining the causes of behavior.
B)explaining a behavior.
C)documenting relations between behaviors.
D)manipulating a behavior.

Question 65

The statistic assessing how well one variable predicts another is called the correlation ____.

A)value
B)coefficient
C)reliability
D)meta-analysis

Question 66

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 67

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)systematic observation.
D)correlational research.

Question 68

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 69

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

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

Question 70

Which of the following is not a major drawback of observational methods?

A)They cannot be used to study rarely occurring behaviors very well.
B)They do not allow scientists to predict behavior.
C)Archival research is at the mercy of the quality of the original reports.
D)These methods cannot accurately describe behavior.

Question 71

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 72

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 73

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 74

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

A)feelings of love; likelihood of a break-up
B)room temperature; comfort level
C)flossing; cavities
D)consumption of fatty foods; risk of heart disease

Question 75

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 76

The research approach that assesses the relationship between two variables is

A)systematic observation.
B)archival analysis.
C)the correlational method.
D)unobtrusive observation.

Question 77

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 78

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 79

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 80

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

A)Because participants will lie to him about being abused.
B)Because 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.