Question 1

In which of the following types of research is the researcher most concerned with the representativeness of the sample used?

Accepted Answer

A)  Naturalistic observation 
B)  Archival analysis 
C)  Survey research 
D)  Experiments 
A)  Naturalistic observation 
B)  Archival analysis 
C)  Survey research 
D)  Experiments C

Question 2

Why do researchers go to great lengths to create cover stories and devise elaborate situations in their studies to cover up the true purpose of the study?

Accepted Answer

A)  It reduces the likelihood that participants will change their behavior because they know too much about the study. 
B)  It helps them to manipulate participants to do what they need to prove their theory correct. 
C)  It increases the likelihood that participants will participate in a study that could be dangerous. 
D)  Researchers customarily use deception just to trick participants. 
A)  It reduces the likelihood that participants will change their behavior because they know too much about the study. 
B)  It helps them to manipulate participants to do what they need to prove their theory correct. 
C)  It increases the likelihood that participants will participate in a study that could be dangerous. 
D)  Researchers customarily use deception just to trick participants. A

Question 3

What are some possible advantages and disadvantages associated with using surveys to enhance our understanding of social behavior?

Accepted Answer

Although surveys are useful in collecting data about behaviors that cannot easily be observed directly and surveys can afford the prediction of behaviors, the data they generate are correlational data, so unequivocal cause-and-effect conclusions cannot be drawn. In addition, surveys using nonrepresentative samples can yield inaccurate results and conclusions. Finally, even surveys collected from representative samples can yield inaccurate responses due to unclear or leading questions or inaccurate respondent recall or reports.

Question 4

Participants in the Latané and Darley (1968) experimental study of the effects of group size on intervention in an emergency utilized __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  audiotapes of the Kitty Genovese murder 
B)  a staged assault on the experimenter 
C)  an audiotaped seizure 
D)  participants' reports of what they would do in an emergency 
A)  audiotapes of the Kitty Genovese murder 
B)  a staged assault on the experimenter 
C)  an audiotaped seizure 
D)  participants' reports of what they would do in an emergency

Question 5

Social neuroscience is the marriage between which fields?

Accepted Answer

A)  Medicine and psychology 
B)  Social psychology and biology 
C)  Biology and psychology 
D)  Social psychology and medicine 
A)  Medicine and psychology 
B)  Social psychology and biology 
C)  Biology and psychology 
D)  Social psychology and medicine

Question 6

Recall that Latané and Darley (1968) studied bystander intervention by having participants overhear a seizure while they were speaking on headphones with another discussant. Assuming that the participants believed that the seizure was real and felt anxious and confused about whether and how to help when they heard the seizure, Latané and Darley's (1968) experiment was __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  low in psychological realism 
B)  high in psychological realism 
C)  low in internal validity 
D)  invalid 
A)  low in psychological realism 
B)  high in psychological realism 
C)  low in internal validity 
D)  invalid

Question 7

In many respects, reality television shows are similar to observational research in social psychology. In what crucial respect are reality TV shows most different from observational research?

Accepted Answer

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 systematic, scientific manner. 
D)  The kind of situations that are filmed are not relevant to social psychologists. 
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 systematic, scientific manner. 
D)  The kind of situations that are filmed are not relevant to social psychologists.

Question 8

Relative to laboratory-based experiments, field experiments tend to be high in __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  external validity 
B)  internal validity 
C)  p-value 
D)  reliability 
A)  external validity 
B)  internal validity 
C)  p-value 
D)  reliability

Question 9

Survivor is a reality TV show on which a group of contestants are stranded on a remote island with very few resources. Reality TV shows are most like __________ research in social psychology.

Accepted Answer

A)  observational 
B)  archival 
C)  experimental 
D)  cross-sectional 
A)  observational 
B)  archival 
C)  experimental 
D)  cross-sectional

Question 10

Consider the following survey item: "If you found yourself on an airplane with engine problems, would you __________?" Most social psychologists would not include such an item on their survey because most respondents would __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  be offended at such a personal question 
B)  never have experienced that situation, yielding too small a sample 
C)  find it difficult to accurately imagine what they would actually do 
D)  avoid flying in the future, instead opting for trains 
A)  be offended at such a personal question 
B)  never have experienced that situation, yielding too small a sample 
C)  find it difficult to accurately imagine what they would actually do 
D)  avoid flying in the future, instead opting for trains

Question 11

Suppose someone says to you, "I don't understand what you can learn from laboratory psychology experiments in social psychology. They are so artificial, and most of them are done with limited populations, namely college students." What would your best response be, according to a social psychologist?

Accepted Answer

A)  A great advantage to laboratory studies is the ability to know for sure what is causing what. To see how much you can generalize from them, you can replicate the studies with different populations and in different situations. 
B)  It is too impractical and expensive to make every study a field study. Some studies have to be done in the laboratory for these reasons. 
C)  College students have personality characteristics that are similar to most other samples. 
D)  You can learn a lot from laboratory studies as long as you maintain random selection. 
A)  A great advantage to laboratory studies is the ability to know for sure what is causing what. To see how much you can generalize from them, you can replicate the studies with different populations and in different situations. 
B)  It is too impractical and expensive to make every study a field study. Some studies have to be done in the laboratory for these reasons. 
C)  College students have personality characteristics that are similar to most other samples. 
D)  You can learn a lot from laboratory studies as long as you maintain random selection.

Question 12

Which of the following represents a primary threat to internal validity?

Accepted Answer

A)  Failure to randomly assign participants 
B)  Assigning participants based on gender 
C)  Randomly changing several aspects of the study in addition to the independent variable 
D)  Changing only the independent variable 
A)  Failure to randomly assign participants 
B)  Assigning participants based on gender 
C)  Randomly changing several aspects of the study in addition to the independent variable 
D)  Changing only the independent variable

Question 13

Based on information from your text, basic research is to __________ as applied research is to __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  satisfying intellectual curiosity; solving social problems 
B)  experiments; observational research 
C)  biological sciences; social sciences 
D)  single studies; meta-analyses 
A)  satisfying intellectual curiosity; solving social problems 
B)  experiments; observational research 
C)  biological sciences; social sciences 
D)  single studies; meta-analyses

Question 14

Jane analyzed the results of her study and found that the probability of getting such findings by chance was less than 1 in 100. Jane can say that her results are statistically __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  generalizable 
B)  significant 
C)  valid 
D)  realistic 
A)  generalizable 
B)  significant 
C)  valid 
D)  realistic

Question 15

Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior is called __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  ethnography 
B)  archival analysis 
C)  field experiments 
D)  survey research 
A)  ethnography 
B)  archival analysis 
C)  field experiments 
D)  survey research

Question 16

According to the authors of your text, the ultimate test of an experiment's external validity is __________.

Accepted Answer

A)  generalizability 
B)  p-value 
C)  replications 
D)  random selection 
A)  generalizability 
B)  p-value 
C)  replications 
D)  random selection

Question 17

Compare the goals of researchers who use the observational method, the correlational method, and the experimental method. Provide an example of a question that is best addressed by each method.

Accepted Answer

The observational method is used to desc

Question 18

Your text discusses the fact that there are three causal interpretations of correlations. If there is a correlation such as that the more milk a child drinks, the more weight he or she gains, which of the following is not a possible causal interpretation of the finding?

Accepted Answer

A)  Drinking milk makes children gain weight. 
B)  Gaining weight makes children drink more milk. 
C)  A third variable: onset of a growth spurt makes both more likely. 
D)  Obesity is caused by calcium intake. 
A)  Drinking milk makes children gain weight. 
B)  Gaining weight makes children drink more milk. 
C)  A third variable: onset of a growth spurt makes both more likely. 
D)  Obesity is caused by calcium intake.

Question 19

A __________ enables researchers to decide whether the effects of an independent variable are reliable across studies.

Accepted Answer

A)  meta-analysis 
B)  peer review 
C)  reliability coefficient 
D)  validity index 
A)  meta-analysis 
B)  peer review 
C)  reliability coefficient 
D)  validity index

Question 20

Who are the members of an institutional review board and what is the role of the institutional review board in guiding the research at an institution?

Accepted Answer

The main ethical issue in this study is

In which of the following types of research is the researcher most concerned with the representativeness of the sample used?

Why do researchers go to great lengths to create cover stories and devise elaborate situations in their studies to cover up the true purpose of the study?

What are some possible advantages and disadvantages associated with using surveys to enhance our understanding of social behavior?

Participants in the Latané and Darley (1968) experimental study of the effects of group size on intervention in an emergency utilized __________.

Social neuroscience is the marriage between which fields?

In many respects, reality television shows are similar to observational research in social psychology. In what crucial respect are reality TV shows most different from observational research?

Relative to laboratory-based experiments, field experiments tend to be high in __________.

Survivor is a reality TV show on which a group of contestants are stranded on a remote island with very few resources. Reality TV shows are most like __________ research in social psychology.

Consider the following survey item: "If you found yourself on an airplane with engine problems, would you ?" Most social psychologists would not include such an item on their survey because most respondents would .

Suppose someone says to you, "I don't understand what you can learn from laboratory psychology experiments in social psychology. They are so artificial, and most of them are done with limited populations, namely college students." What would your best response be, according to a social psychologist?

Which of the following represents a primary threat to internal validity?

Based on information from your text, basic research is to as applied research is to .

Jane analyzed the results of her study and found that the probability of getting such findings by chance was less than 1 in 100. Jane can say that her results are statistically __________.

Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior is called __________.

According to the authors of your text, the ultimate test of an experiment's external validity is __________.

Compare the goals of researchers who use the observational method, the correlational method, and the experimental method. Provide an example of a question that is best addressed by each method.

Your text discusses the fact that there are three causal interpretations of correlations. If there is a correlation such as that the more milk a child drinks, the more weight he or she gains, which of the following is not a possible causal interpretation of the finding?

A __________ enables researchers to decide whether the effects of an independent variable are reliable across studies.

Who are the members of an institutional review board and what is the role of the institutional review board in guiding the research at an institution?

Introducing Social Psychology

Social Cognition: How We Think About the Social World

Social Perception: How We Come to Understand Other People

The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context

Cognitive Dissonance and the Need to Protect Our Self-Esteem

Attitudes and Attitude Change: Influencing Thoughts and Feelings

Conformity and Obedience: Influencing Behavior

Group Processes: Influence in Social Groups

Attraction and Relationships: From Initial Impressions to Long-Term Intimacy

Prosocial Behavior: Why Do People Help

Aggression: Why Do We Hurt Other People Can We Prevent It

Prejudice: Causes, Consequences, and Cures

Using Social Psychology to Achieve a Sustainable and Happy Future

Social Psychology and Health

Social Psychology and the Law

Filters

Exam 2: Methodology: How Social Psychologists Do Research

In which of the following types of research is the researcher most concerned with the representativeness of the sample used?

Why do researchers go to great lengths to create cover stories and devise elaborate situations in their studies to cover up the true purpose of the study?

What are some possible advantages and disadvantages associated with using surveys to enhance our understanding of social behavior?

Participants in the Latané and Darley (1968) experimental study of the effects of group size on intervention in an emergency utilized __________.

Social neuroscience is the marriage between which fields?

In many respects, reality television shows are similar to observational research in social psychology. In what crucial respect are reality TV shows most different from observational research?

Relative to laboratory-based experiments, field experiments tend to be high in __________.

Survivor is a reality TV show on which a group of contestants are stranded on a remote island with very few resources. Reality TV shows are most like __________ research in social psychology.

Consider the following survey item: "If you found yourself on an airplane with engine problems, would you __________?" Most social psychologists would not include such an item on their survey because most respondents would __________.

Which of the following represents a primary threat to internal validity?

Based on information from your text, basic research is to __________ as applied research is to __________.

Jane analyzed the results of her study and found that the probability of getting such findings by chance was less than 1 in 100. Jane can say that her results are statistically __________.

Research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior is called __________.

According to the authors of your text, the ultimate test of an experiment's external validity is __________.

Compare the goals of researchers who use the observational method, the correlational method, and the experimental method. Provide an example of a question that is best addressed by each method.

Your text discusses the fact that there are three causal interpretations of correlations. If there is a correlation such as that the more milk a child drinks, the more weight he or she gains, which of the following is not a possible causal interpretation of the finding?

A __________ enables researchers to decide whether the effects of an independent variable are reliable across studies.

Who are the members of an institutional review board and what is the role of the institutional review board in guiding the research at an institution?

Introducing Social Psychology

Social Cognition: How We Think About the Social World

Social Perception: How We Come to Understand Other People

The Self: Understanding Ourselves in a Social Context

Cognitive Dissonance and the Need to Protect Our Self-Esteem

Attitudes and Attitude Change: Influencing Thoughts and Feelings

Conformity and Obedience: Influencing Behavior

Group Processes: Influence in Social Groups

Attraction and Relationships: From Initial Impressions to Long-Term Intimacy

Prosocial Behavior: Why Do People Help

Aggression: Why Do We Hurt Other People Can We Prevent It

Prejudice: Causes, Consequences, and Cures

Using Social Psychology to Achieve a Sustainable and Happy Future

Social Psychology and Health

Social Psychology and the Law

Filters

Consider the following survey item: "If you found yourself on an airplane with engine problems, would you ?" Most social psychologists would not include such an item on their survey because most respondents would .

Based on information from your text, basic research is to as applied research is to .