Exam 2: Research Methods

Correlational research designs are NOT appropriate for purposes of

The placebo and nocebo effects are examples of ________ in experimental research.

The more easily an image of an horrific event comes to mind, like a major airline crash or a bloody image from a school shooting, the more often we assume it occurs. In reality, however, each of these is a relatively rare, infrequent event. We have fallen victim to the ________.

Dr Schott's scatterplot reveals no real patterns or clusters. In fact, the data seems to fall randomly on the graph. This pattern of results is most likely from which type of correlation?

Which of the following is a measure of central tendency?

________ is the most important part of ensuring the generalisability of one's results to the general population.

The general public is often misled by discussions of research in the media because

________ is the extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure.

Which of the following statements is true about naturalistic observation?

A British literature instructor examines the number of class periods his students have missed by mid-terms and has the following data: 1, 0, 10, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 5, 2, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2. What is the median for this data set?

Sarula recently completed a compatibility "quiz" from one of her favourite magazines, and although she and her boyfriend have been dating for nearly two years, the "quiz" results suggested they are not compatible. Luckily, Riley, one of Sarula's friends, is a student of psychology and suggested that the "quiz" may not be valid. What is her friend suggesting?

When assessing patients' personalities using an "ink blot" test that she created, Dr Hardcastle is gaining confidence in the test's reliability. Which of the following is likely to be happening?

Dr Johansen randomly assigned subjects to three different groups during her last experiment. She then proceeded to give all the participants in the experiment a new study technique designed to enhance their learning for the upcoming test. What critical error did she make during her experiment?

Explain why no single measure of central tendency and measure of dispersion exists that a researcher can use every single time.

Common flaws in research design identified by the authors of the text include

Dr Wilkins randomly assigns subjects to one of three groups. He is interested in the effects of caffeine on anxiety levels. He gives subjects in the first group an extra two cups of coffee a day for six months. The second group receives an extra two cups of decaffeinated coffee a day for the same time period, while the control group is not given either regular or decaffeinated coffee. By providing one group with decaffeinated coffee, Dr Wilkins is trying to account for which potential element of the experiment?

A key disadvantage to self-report measures is that

A researcher wants to see whether she can make the typical administrative assistant job more motivating at Acme, Inc. To experimentally investigate this possibility, she randomly assigns administrative assistants to one of the following conditions: doing the job as it has always been done, having a computer performance monitoring device installed, receiving feedback about their performance on a weekly basis, or being given a say in how one's workload is structured and done. Which of the preceding conditions is an example of a control group?

A key factor to consider when reading about the results of a study on the internet, in a newspaper, or in a news magazine is to

Bauer (1992)argued that the scientific method is a myth because the techniques and strategies employed by scientists vary according to the ________ in which they are working.