Exam 4: Fundamental Research Issues

Which of the following statements best describes construct validity?

Ron, a researcher at Texo Labs, desires to conduct his study in a shopping mall to understand the factors influencing the shopping preferences of customers. In the context of methods of study, Ron is conducting a(n) _____ experiment.

To study the effect of workplace lighting on employee productivity, a researcher first manipulates the amount of lighting in a workspace and then observes its effect on a group's productivity. In this case, the researcher is focusing on which element of inferences of cause and effect?

An advertising agency conducted a research to analyze the effects of advertising on consumer buying behavior. It was found that higher frequency of advertising resulted in more sales of the product being advertised. In this case, there is _____ relationship between the frequency of advertising and the sales of the product.

Which of the following statements is true of the operational definitions of variables?

Which of the following is an important benefit in operationally defining a variable?

Random variability exists because relationships between variables:

When the relationship between an independent and a dependent variable is plotted in a graph, the independent variable is always placed on the _____ axis.

The _____ definition of a variable is the set of procedures used to measure or manipulate it.

What is the difference between experimental and nonexperimental methods of study?

A study has high _____ validity when strong inferences can be made that one variable caused changes in the other variable.

In the context of relationship between variables, increases in the values of one variable are accompanied by increases in the values of the second variable in a _____ relationship.

What is the difference between internal validity and external validity?

The term _____ implies that there is randomness in events.

In the context of relationship between variables, identify a difference between negative and curvilinear relationships.

A researcher desires to understand the effect of child abuse on an individual's personality and attitude. He forms two groups of participants for the study. The first group contains people who were abused during their childhood and the second group contains people who had normal childhood. This type of division of people based on actual differences rather than through random assignment is called _____ design.

A researcher finds that the more a song is played on the radio, the greater the liking for the song. However, she also finds that if the song is played too much, people start to dislike the song. In the context of relationship between variables, what type of relationship exists between the song and its likeness factor?

Personal attributes such as gender, nationality, and age are also called _____ variables.

Which of the following is a problem with making causal statements when the nonexperimental method of study is used in research?

In the context of relationship between variables, when increases in the values of one variable are associated with both increases and decreases in the values of a second variable, what type of relationship is present between the variables?