Exam 2: Methodology: How Social Psychologists Do Research

In which of the following kinds of research is the researcher concerned with random assignment?

In a study of group dynamics,participants were placed in groups consisting of either three or ten people.During the study,group members worked together trying to solve a puzzle.After completing the task,participants reported how satisfied they were with the other members of their group. ____ is the independent variable in this study.

A researcher wants to examine whether teachers show any bias in calling on male students over female students.The best method for answering this question would be

Social neuroscience is the marriage between which fields?

Before the 2008 election,Zoe was not so sure who the winner would be.But after President Barack Obama won,Zoe exclaimed,"Of course he won,he had the popular vote in many states,and many Americans are inspired by him." Here,Zoe is exhibiting

By controlling all extraneous variables and by randomly assigning people to different experimental conditions,an experimenter can achieve high

Institutional review boards (IRBs)must be composed of certain types of people.If the IRB at Claudius University already consists of a scientist and a non-scientist,which of the following people would also need to be on the IRB at Claudius University?

Professor Swenson is interested in university students' reactions to the death of a popular rock star.For two weeks,Professor Swenson spends one hour a day in a popular cafeteria,inconspicuously listening to students,joining in their conversations when the topic of the dead rock star comes up,and recording what the students have to say.Professor Swenson is conducting ____ research.

When a researcher examines several replications of a phenomenon,he would be most likely to examine these data using the statistical technique of

The experimental method always involves

Observational research is to describing a behavior as correlational research is to

Provide a hypothesis that can be tested using the experimental method.Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in your experiment.

According to the authors,cross-cultural research "...is not a simple matter of traveling to another culture,translating materials into the local language,and replicating the study there." What factors make conducting cross-cultural research difficult?

A cult in the 1950s believed that the world was coming to an end very soon.Researchers Leon Festinger and his colleagues studied this cult by joining the group and pretending to share these beliefs.What research method were they using?

Why is it important to replicate studies across different situations and people?

Jacob conducts an experiment testing the hypothesis that watching romantic movies makes people feel more amorous towards attractive strangers.He tells participants that they will be watching a movie,then interacting with a stranger.Next,some participants watch a romantic movie,others watch a scary movie,and others watch a nature documentary.Then participants interact with a confederate for five minutes,while the number of flirtations is recorded.Finally,Jacob explains the true nature of the study and participants are dismissed.What is the major ethical concern in this study,and how did Jacob resolve it?

Suppose a researcher wants to know whether frustration really does cause aggression.She collects a large number of experimental studies that involve both children and adults,and that are conducted both in the laboratory and in the "real world" in both the United States and other cultures.She then conducts a(n) ____ to determine whether there is enough consistency in findings across studies to determine the generalizability of the relationship between frustration and aggression.

Replications are designed to ensure that

In reading descriptions of the behaviors of the New York University students who participated in Latané and Darley's (1968)experiment on bystander intervention,you wonder whether a similar study conducted in Tokyo in 1968 would have yielded the same results as those participants from NYU.In essence,your question is,"Will these results generalize across ____?"

According to the authors,Kurt Lewin once wrote,"There is nothing so practical as a good theory." By that, Lewin was referring to the idea that