Deck 2: E: Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research

Question 1

Why it is a bad idea to draw conclusions from anecdotal evidence?

A)Such conclusions usually go against common sense and conclusions against common sense are not usually valid.
B)Anecdotes are reliable only if they come from experts,which they rarely do.
C)Anecdotes are a single-blind technique,not a double-blind method.
D)There is no way to know if the anecdote is true or if it will generalize to other people and situations.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Scientists study a _________ and then generalize the results of their investigation to a __________.

A)sample;population
B)population;sample
C)convenience sample;random sample
D)random sample;convenience sample

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Most people would agree that anxiety can lead to sleep loss.However,Dr.Jenkins believes that sleep deprivation can also cause increased anxiety.Which research method would allow him to test a cause-effect relationship between the two?

A)naturalistic observation
B)experimental
C)correlational
D)survey

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A teacher notices that,on the last science test,some students did very well while other students performed poorly or had grades somewhere in the middle.If she wanted to measure how "spread out" the scores were,which descriptive statistic could she use?

A)median
B)mode
C)standard deviation
D)mean

Question 5

Under which of the following circumstances would the mean be the best measure of central tendency to use?

A)The data have a normal distribution.
B)The data are positively skewed.
C)The data are negatively skewed.
D)The mean is robust and always considered the best measure of central tendency.

Question 6

What does a correlation coefficient of -0.94 indicate about the relationship between two variables?

A)The variables are weakly associated,with both increasing together.
B)The variables are strongly associated,with both increasing together.
C)The variables are weakly associated,with one increasing as the other decreases.
D)The variables are strongly associated,with one increasing as the other decreases.

Question 7

Which of the following statements describes the amount of cognitive and emotional risk to participants allowed in psychological research today?

A)Any amount of risk is acceptable.
B)No amount of risk is acceptable.
C)Low levels of risk are always acceptable,but more than minimal risk is never acceptable.
D)The amount of acceptable risk depends in part on the possible benefits from the study.

Question 8

The use of deception in psychological research is

A)considered necessary and completely acceptable in all research.
B)not considered acceptable.
C)generally acceptable when shown to be absolutely necessary for the research.
D)acceptable only in nonhuman research.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of demand characteristics affecting an experiment?

A)An experimenter draws the wrong conclusions from a study because she did not use the correct statistical analysis.
B)A participant changes his response to a question because he has the feeling he knows what the experimenter wants.
C)An experimenter changes her behaviour because she can predict how the participant will respond.
D)A participant in a double-blind experiment believes she is in the control group.

Question 10

Keisha performs an experiment with two randomly assigned groups of school children.The first group is allowed 15 minutes of recess play before a math test,while the second group watches a video before the test.When she analyzes the test scores,she finds that there is a statistical difference between the groups,with the recess group scoring higher,on average,on the test.Which conclusion can be drawn from this result?

A)The difference between the scores for the two groups is not likely due to their differing pre-test activities and it is probably due to random chance.
B)The difference between the scores for the two groups is likely due to their differing pre-test activities,and did not happen by chance.
C)Students who are good at math prefer recess to watching a video.
D)Students who are good at math prefer watching a video to recess.