Deck 8: Bivariate Correlational Research

Question 1

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Considering Dr.Oswald's study,her results could most safely be generalized to which of the groups below?

A)People in the southern United States
B)Elderly people
C)People with a high number of friends
D)People with high life satisfaction

Answer 1

Elderly people

Question 2

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald submits her study for publication in a scientific journal.If one of the peer reviewers is concerned about the external validity of her study,which of the following is the most important aspect of Dr.Oswald's study to consider?

A)The random sampling technique used to recruit the participants
B)The number of people in the sample
C)The use of three measured variables
D)The number of significant findings

Answer 2

The random sampling technique used to recruit the participants

Question 3

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald creates a scatterplot of the relationship between the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.In doing so,she realizes there are three scores that seem to be very extreme and are nowhere near the other points on the scatterplot.Specifically,it appears that three people report very high levels of daily stress and very low levels of life satisfaction.Dr.Oswald should probably consider these scores ________.

A)Random
B)Moderators
C)Outliers
D)Curvilinear scores

Answer 3

Outliers

Question 4

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Comparing all three correlations,Dr.Oswald will be most able to accurately predict life satisfaction from the experience of daily stress because:

A)The relationship is negative
B)The relationship has the largest effect size
C)The relationship was reported first
D)The relationship was statistically significant

Question 5

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald finds that the relationship between the number of friends one has and life satisfaction is stronger for men than for women.In this study,sex (male or female)is considered a/an:

A)Outlier
B)Cause
C)Moderator
D)Spurious variable

Question 6

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Considering Dr.Oswald's sample,which of the following statements is true?

A)The association found in her study could probably generalize to teenagers.
B)The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly people in other large cities in Tennessee.
C)The association found in her study could probably generalize to people in New York City.
D)The association found in her study could probably generalize to elderly persons living in nursing homes.

Question 7

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald creates a scatterplot of the relationship between the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.In doing so,she realizes there are three scores that seem to be very extreme and are nowhere near the other points on the scatterplot.Specifically,it appears that three people report very high levels of daily stress and very low levels of life satisfaction.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A)These scores may have strengthened the correlation between these two variables.
B)These scores are more likely to have an effect because of the large sample size.
C)These scores are more likely to have an effect because they are extreme on both variables.
D)These scores may be considered outliers.

Question 8

Which of the following graph formats is the best way to examine an association claim between a categorical variable and a quantitative variable?

A)A scatterplot
B)A line graph
C)A bar graph
D)A pie chart

Question 9

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .32.According to Cohen's benchmarks,the magnitude of this effect is:

A)Moderate
B)Large
C)Multiply determined
D)Categorical

Question 10

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald realizes that the women in her study have more friends than the men in her study.This might result in which of the following?

A)Outliers due to subgroups
B)Larger effect sizes
C)More measured variables
D)Spurious associations due to subgroups

Question 11

When examining an association claim using a bar graph,an association is indicated by which of the following?

A)A difference in the height between the bars
B)The number of bars in the graph
C)The number of observations that make each bar
D)The direction of the bars

Question 12

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

In determining whether the relationship between two of her variables was statistically significant,which of the following must be considered?

A)Sample size and number of variables analyzed
B)Direction of the association and strength of the association
C)Sample size and effect size
D)The number of outliers and the direction of the association

Question 13

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald has decided to examine one of her relationships with a scatterplot to double-check for a curvilinear relationship.Which relationship will be most important for her to examine?

A)Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress
B)Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress
C)Number of friends one has and life satisfaction
D)Life satisfaction,experiences of daily stress,and number of friends one has simultaneously

Question 14

Which of the following tells you that an association claim is being made?

A)The graph used to interpret the results
B)The fact that the two variables are measured
C)The statistic used to interpret the results
D)The validities that can be established

Question 15

When examining an association in which one variable is categorical and one is quantitative,which of the following is NOT likely to be used?

A)A t test
B)A correlation
C)A scatterplot
D)A bar graph

Question 16

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

According to the benchmarks established by Cohen,what type of effect size has Dr.Oswald found for the association between number of friends and life satisfaction?

A)Very small
B)Small
C)Medium
D)Large

Question 17

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Which of the following conclusions can Dr.Oswald draw about the number of friends one has and life satisfaction,based on her statistical analyses?

A)The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 4%.
B)The probability of her sample coming from a zero association population is about 96%.
C)The relationship is not statistically significant.
D)The strong correlation means that the number of friends one has causes an increase in life satisfaction.

Question 18

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Matt,Dr.Oswald's research assistant,is discussing the findings of the study with some other students.He claims that the experience of more daily stress causes people to have lower life satisfaction.Which of the following causal criteria did Matt meet?

A)The covariance of cause and effect
B)Temporal precedence
C)Internal validity
D)External validity

Question 19

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

In evaluating Dr.Oswald's study,you question the construct validity of the study.Which of the following questions would you be asking?

A)How did Dr.Oswald recruit her participants?
B)Which statistic did Dr.Oswald compute?
C)How reliable is the measure of daily stress?
D)Does the number of friends cause people to experience less stress?

Question 20

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

The "not sig." in Dr.Oswald's findings indicates all of the following EXCEPT:

A)It is likely that the association between number of friends one has and experience of daily stress is from a zero association population.
B)Effect size could not be calculated.
C)There is not a statistically significant association between the two variables.
D)She cannot reliably predict a study participant's experience of daily stress from the participant's number of friends.

Question 21

Dr.Oswald conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of friends one has and the experience of daily stress and life satisfaction.She randomly samples 1,500 elderly men and women in the Memphis,Tennessee,area in the southern United States.Below are her findings.
-Life satisfaction and experience of daily stress: r = -.57 ( p = .01)
-Number of friends one has and experience of daily stress: r = .09,not sig.
-Number of friends one has and life satisfaction: r = .36 ( p = .04)

Dr.Oswald finds that the relationship between the number of friends one has and life satisfaction is stronger for men than for women.Why might Dr.Oswald have looked for this difference?

A)To examine her study's external validity
B)To examine her study's internal validity
C)To determine whether the association was curvilinear
D)To determine whether the association was spurious

Question 22

In which of the following cases might a small effect still be important?

A)When the sample is very large
B)When the study has life-or-death implications
C)When the finding is also statistically significant
D)When external validity is high

Question 23

Which of the following means a study used a bivariate correlational design?

A)The presence of measured variables
B)The use of correlational statistics
C)The inclusion of quantitative variables
D)The depiction of a bar graph

Question 24

For a third variable to be plausible as the explanation in an established association,which of the following must also be true?

A)The third variable must be related to both of the measured variables in the original association.
B)The third variable must be measured on the same scale as the original measured variables.
C)The third variable must be a categorical variable.
D)The third variable must have a positive relationship with the two measured variables in the original association.

Question 25

Why are curvilinear relationships hard to detect with correlation coefficients (r)?

A)Because curvilinear relationships require a large amount of scores
B)Because r always looks for the best straight line to fit the data
C)Because r always assumes a zero association
D)Because r always assumes a negative relationship

Question 26

Which of the following is true of statistical significance testing?

A)It is necessary for establishing external validity.
B)It can lead to an incorrect conclusion about the population.
C)It is synonymous with measuring effect size.
D)It is only done when you have two quantitative variables.

Question 27

What is the relationship between moderators and external validity?

A)Moderators suggest that associations may be spurious.
B)Moderators suggest that associations may not generalize to all subgroups of people.
C)Moderators are necessary for external validity to be established.
D)Moderators suggest that an association between two variables will extend to another variable.

Question 28

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .32 and reports p < .05.The p value indicates which of the following?

A)The correlation is negative.
B)The correlation is unlikely to have come from a zero association population.
C)The correlation is not statistically significant.
D)The effect size is medium.

Question 29

Martin has found a correlation of r = .18 between the two variables of caffeine consumption and frontal lobe activity.This correlation is more likely to be statistically significant if:

A)The study can be applied to the real world
B)Martin used a larger number of subjects
C)Martin measured frontal lobe activity extremely accurately
D)Martin's measure of caffeine consumption is categorical

Question 30

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .32.This number gives you information about which of the following?

A)Statistical significance and effect size
B)Strength and direction of the relationship
C)Statistical validity and external validity
D)Type of relationship and importance

Question 31

If a there is not a full range of scores on one of the variables,this is known as ________.

A)Spurious data
B)An outlier effect
C)Restriction of range
D)Null effect

Question 32

When evaluating the external validity of an association claim,which of the following is the most important issue to consider?

A)The way the sample was selected from the population
B)The size of the sample
C)The number of subgroups
D)The size of the original population

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a question you should ask about the statistical validity of an association claim?

A)What is the effect size?
B)Are there subgroups?
C)Is random assignment affecting the findings?
D)Could outliers be affecting the relationship?

Question 34

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .32 and reports p < .05.The p is a/an ________.

A)Population value
B)Possibility assessment
C)Probability estimate
D)Plausible significance approximation

Question 35

Which of the following is true of the relationship between effect size and statistical significance?

A)Larger effect sizes are advantageous for statistical significance.
B)Statistical significance alone is sufficient to indicate effect size.
C)An association's effect size has no effect on statistical significance.
D)Effect size and statistical significance are synonymous terms.

Question 36

All of the following are true of outliers EXCEPT:

A)They have the biggest effect when dealing with large sample sizes.
B)They can affect the direction of an association.
C)They can affect the strength of an association.
D)They are especially problematic when there are outliers on both variables.

Question 37

Statistical significance depends on which of the following?

A)Sample size and number of variables analyzed
B)Direction of the association and strength of the association
C)Sample size and effect size
D)Number of outliers and direction of the association

Question 38

Stronger effect sizes allow for all of the following EXCEPT?

A)Greater likelihood of finding a statistically significant relationship
B)Greater accuracy in predicting one variable as opposed to another
C)Greater likelihood of a finding being important in the real world
D)Greater construct validity

Question 39

Which of the following is true of moderators?

A)They help establish a cause and effect relationship.
B)They decrease effect size.
C)They can inform external validity.
D)They weaken statistical significance.

Question 40

If an association study did not select people for the study by using random sampling,which of the following statements is true?

A)The association should be rejected as inconclusive.
B)The study must be done again using the same participants.
C)The effect size should be considered,but tests of statistical significance should not.
D)The findings should be replicated in another population.

Question 41

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Explain the three associations from Dr.Moynihan's study in terms of direction of each association,statistical significance,and effect size (using Cohen's benchmarks).

Question 42

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Imagine that Dr.Moynihan finds two outliers.These two people report a very high number of nightmares in the past month and have very high scores on neuroticism.Why should Dr.Moynihan be worried about the presence of these two outliers?

Question 43

What are the five questions that consumers of research should ask to evaluate the statistical validity of an association claim?

Question 44

What does it mean that an association is "spurious"? What can cause spurious associations?

Question 45

Name two ways in which the analysis of an association between two quantitative variables differs from the analysis of an association between a categorical variable and a quantitative variable.

Question 46

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Examining Dr.Moynihan's study and using the three criteria of causation,why can she not say that the number of panic attacks in the past month causes one to have fewer nightmares in the same month?

Question 47

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Draw a scatterplot for the three associations found by Dr.Moynihan.

Question 48

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Of the three findings in Dr.Moynihan's study,which associations are statistically significant? What does it mean that an association is statistically significant?

Question 49

Why is the size of a sample not as important to external validity as the way a sample was collected?

Question 50

Draw a scatterplot for the following three associations:
a.A curvilinear association
b.A positive association with a large effect size
c.A zero association

Question 51

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

How strong is the external validity of Dr.Moynihan's study? How does the fact that she finds no differences in the associations in men and women also speak to the study's external validity?

Question 52

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

What is an outlier? What aspect of Dr.Moynihan's study makes her findings especially susceptible to outliers? Why is this a problem?

Question 53

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Imagine that Dr.Moynihan is concerned about curvilinear relationships.Which of the three relationships is most likely to be affected by a curvilinear relationship? How should Dr.Moynihan check for this type of relationship? Why would this be effective?

Question 54

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

Of the three findings in Dr.Moynihan's study,which finding has the largest effect size? Name two things that having a large effect size means.

Question 55

Dr.Moynihan conducts a study examining the relationship between the number of panic attacks a person experienced in the past month,the number of nightmares experienced in the past month,and people's levels of neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by instability,anxiety,and worry).She collects a convenience sample of 50 community college students (25 males,25 females).Below are her findings.
-A-number of panic attacks in the past month and neuroticism: r = -.03,not sig.
-B-number of panic attacks in the past month and number of nightmares in the past month:
r = -.14 (p = .05)
-C-number of nightmares in the past month and neuroticism: r = .48 (p = .003)

State two questions that you might ask if you were to interrogate the construct validity of
Dr.Moynihan's study.