Deck 2: Basic Concepts

Question 1

Calculate S X² with X₁ = 2, X₂ = 5.

A) 11
B) 29
C) 18
D) 49

Answer 1

29

Question 2

The Greek letter S is a symbol for

A) multiplication.
B) suppression.
C) the square root.
D) summation.

Answer 2

summation.

Question 3

If we want to obtain a random sample of people to interview, we could best do so by

A) drawing random numbers from a table and linking a number to a person.
B) taking every 10^th name out of the telephone book.
C) knocking on doors and interview whoever answers.
D) asking for volunteers.

Answer 3

drawing random numbers from a table and linking a number to a person.

Question 4

Professor Jeffrey assigned each of his students a number and selected 20 for his study by using a table of random numbers. Professor Jeffrey was interested in how the type of feedback received would affect the level of happiness in his students. The students were either praised or insulted and then the levels of happiness were measured by a questionnaire administered at the end of the study. What is the dependent variable of this study?

A) praise
B) feedback
C) students
D) happiness

Question 5

In the above study, what is the independent variable?

A) weight
B) feedback
C) students
D) happiness

Question 6

Evans et al. (1998) recorded adrenaline levels of children who lived near a newly opened airport to see if the presence of the airport increased stress levels in children. (Increased stress would be associated with increases in adrenaline levels.) In this study we would most likely view adrenaline as

A) a ratio measurement of stress.
B) a nominal measure of stress.
C) somewhere between an ordinal and an interval measure of stress.
D) an absolute measure of stress.

Question 7

In the study of children living near an airport, we first need to be concerned about

A) the underlying scale of adrenaline scores.
B) the relationship between numerical scores on adrenaline and underlying stress.
C) whether adrenaline increases over time in a continuous fashion.
D) the number of children who showed high adrenaline scores.

Question 8

An important general rule given in the text is

A) always square values before you do anything else.
B) work algebraic equations from right to left.
C) perform operations that are within parentheses before you perform operations outside of parentheses.
D) operations can be performed in any order.

Question 9

Which of the following is least likely to be an example of an independent variable?

A) gender
B) age
C) treatment condition
D) test score

Question 10

When we are concerned about the measurement scale, we are concerned about

A) the numbers we have collected.
B) the underlying concept which we are trying to measure.
C) the interpretation we can give to our resulting statistics.
D) both the underlying concept and our interpretation of them.

Question 11

Which scale really isn't much of a scale at all?

A) nominal
B) ordinal
C) interval
D) ratio

Question 12

Which of the following is a discrete variable?

A) gender
B) age
C) height
D) depression score

Question 13

In an equation, a constant is

A) always represented by the letter "c."
B) a term that you can ignore.
C) another word for "variable."
D) a number that does not change its value in a given situation.

Question 14

Scales of measurement are important because

A) they influence the kinds of statistical tests we will use in at least a crude way.
B) they reflect the kinds of statements we may make about relationships between points on the scale.
C) they limit the kinds of conclusions we can draw from a study.
D) all of the above

Question 15

The major difference between an interval and a ratio scale is that

A) with an interval scale you know which values represent more of the quantity.
B) with an interval scale you can speak meaningfully about a score of 0.
C) with a ratio scale you can speak meaningfully about a score of 0.
D) both scales carry the same level of information

Question 16

If we are comparing the adrenaline scores of children who live near an airport with those who live away from an airport, the dependent variable is

A) location.
B) adrenaline.
C) stress.
D) distance from the airport.

Question 17

When we use paw-lick latency as a measure of temperature sensitivity, latency is

A) an independent variable.
B) a categorical variable.
C) a continuous variable.
D) a discrete variable.

Question 18

Which of the following is most certainly an ordinal scale?

A) football numbers
B) mailbox numbers
C) IQ scores
D) Celsius temperature scale

Question 19

In the preceding question the independent variable is

A) stress.
B) adrenaline.
C) location.
D) the number of children treated for sleep disturbance.

Question 20

What is wrong with the above study when generalizing to people in general?

A) The sample was not randomly assigned.
B) The sample was not random sampled from a larger population.
C) A nominal scale was used to measure the dependent variable.
D) Nothing was wrong with the above study.

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT an example of "assigning a number to an object"?

A) giving a sensitivity score to a roommate
B) measuring a child's IQ
C) giving a football player jersey #87
D) All of the above are examples of assigning numbers to objects.

Question 22

Which of the following is most likely to be an independent variable?

A) running speeds
B) depression scores
C) paw-lick latencies
D) forms of therapy

Question 23

According to the text, the most important component of an experiment for giving us confidence that our results are meaningful is

A) random sampling.
B) random assignment.
C) summation notation.
D) the manipulation of the dependent variable.

Question 24

What does NOT count as "measurement?"

A) The assignment of numbers to behaviors
B) Matching verbal expressions to ratings of hostility
C) Assessment of behavior with only a weakly valid instrument
D) These are all examples of measurement.

Question 25

Use of a sample not randomly selected in an experiment

A) makes random assignment impossible.
B) limits the degree to which the results can be generalized to the whole population.
C) requires the use of ratio scales of measurement.
D) interferes with the use of quantitative independent variables.

Question 26

For the following equation, which mathematical operation should be performed first?

A) 3 - 1
B) 6 + 2
C) 4 + 1
D) 2 × 4

Question 27

A consumer researcher wanted to examine the effects of using different-colored boxes on shoppers' level of buying her brand of cereal. What is the dependent variable?

A) levels of buying
B) kind of cereal
C) different colored boxes
D) the consumer researcher

Question 28

Which of the following is NOT true of random number tables?

A) They can be used to draw random samples.
B) They can be used to assign participants to conditions.
C) They are only useful for drawing random numbers between 0 and 9.
D) It is appropriate to start at any place in the table when using it.

Question 29

For the set of numbers 1, 17, 19, 30, 87, X₅ refers to

A) 1, 17, 19, 30.
B) 1, 17, 19, 30, 87.
C) 87.
D) 5.

Question 30

Which of the following statements is NOT true about scales of measurement?

A) Measurement scales depend on the purpose for which you collected data.
B) Moving from ordinal to ratio scales represents an increase in the meaning assigned to numbers
C) Certain statistical procedures can only be performed with ratio data.
D) Measurement scales were, at least historically, tied to psychology's quest to be treated as a true science.

Question 31

Ordinal scales

A) are not really scales at all because they only provide numbers as arbitrary levels.
B) give information about differences between points on the scale.
C) provide information by ordering people, objects, or events along some continuum.
D) have a true zero point.

Question 32

Classifying students by their major field of study is an example of nominal data.

Question 33

Where X is a variable and C is a constant, which of the following equations is true?

A) S (X+C) = S X + C
B) S (X+C) = S C + X
C) S CX = X S C
D) S CX = C S X

Question 34

Which of the following types of variables cannot be continuous?

A) nominal variables
B) independent variables
C) dependent variables
D) quantitative variables

Question 35

If a happiness scale had a true zero point, a score of zero would mean

A) low levels of happiness.
B) an absence of happiness.
C) an arbitrary level of happiness.
D) nothing useful.

Question 36

The use of different colored boxes in the above example is most likely to be a

A) continuous independent variable.
B) discrete independent variable.
C) continuous dependent variable.
D) discrete dependent variable.

Question 37

A true zero point is characteristic of

A) all scales of measurement.
B) an interval scale.
C) a ratio scale.
D) none of the above

Question 38

Ranking students from the most popular to the least popular is an example of ratio data.

Question 39

In an experiment, an independent variable is _______ and a dependent variable is _______.

A) manipulated, measured
B) measured, manipulated
C) continuous, manipulated
D) discrete, summation

Question 40

When _______ is used, every subject in a study has an equal chance of being placed in each of the groups being formed?

A) random assignment
B) equivalent groups
C) matching
D) selective assignment

Question 41

If X₁ = 1, X₂ = 3, and X₃ = 5 and C = 3, then C S X = 12.

Question 42

Dr. Smith measured depressive symptoms using a questionnaire where scores could range from 0 to 40. Then, he used the clinical cutoff of a score of 16 to classify people as depressed or not depressed. Briefly describe the two types of data Dr. Smith had at his disposal.

Question 43

A student measured the effect on test performance of listening to various types of music while studying. Test performance is a dependant variable.

Question 44

If X₁ = 1, X₂ = 3, and X₃ = 5, then the S X = 9.

Question 45

Marital status (e.g., single, married, divorced/separated, widowed) is a discrete variable.

Question 46

Give one example of each of the following types of data:
a. nominal
b. ordinal
c. interval
d. ratio

Question 47

Describe two ways to obtain a random sample.

Question 48

An instructor for a course in Psychology of Gender wanted to know if there are gender differences in whether or not students major in the sciences.
a. Name the independent variable.
b. Name the dependent variable.
c. Is the dependent variable discrete or continuous?

Question 49

A researcher randomly assigned clients to two conditions (a wait-list control group and a hypnosis group) and measured their smoking reduction. Smoking reduction is an independent variable.

Question 50

Name three examples of continuous variables.

Question 51

Height is a continuous variable.

Question 52

S XY = S X S Y.

Question 53

Suppose the following numbers represent test scores from students in this class: 80, 95, 75, 100.
a. What is X₂?
b. What notation would be used to represent the sum of these test scores?

Question 54

A "variable" refers to data that is constant.

Question 55

Given the following numbers: 1, 3, 4, 2, 3:
a. Calculate S X.
b. Calculate S X²
c. Calculate S CX, where C = 2

Question 56

Briefly describe the benefits of random assignment to groups.

Question 57

Name three examples of discrete variables.

Question 58

A drink manufacturer wanted to examine the effect of different can designs on sales.
a. Name the independent variable.
b. Name the dependent variable.
c. Is the dependent variable discrete or continuous?