Question 1

Gwen is studying the effects of comedic film on depressed participants.She is concerned that the data collectors will produce biased observations if they know the purpose of the study.She should address this problem by using an) study.

Accepted Answer

A) blind 
B) correlational 
C) experimental 
D) descriptive

Question 2

Carlos reads an article looking for a measure of central tendency.Which of the following might he find?

Accepted Answer

A) the standard deviation 
B) the median 
C) inferential statistics 
D) the correlation coefficient

Question 3

In which of the following ways are conducting research with humans versus animals different?

Accepted Answer

A) There are limits to the procedures researchers can use with humans, but no limits with animals. 
B) Certain research procedures are acceptable in animals, but not in humans. 
C) There is a committee reviewing human research, but no oversight for animal research. 
D) Observation is a common research procedure for animals, but is not permitted on humans.

Question 4

A researcher studying attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ADHD) is gathering information on how many children receive an ADHD diagnosis each year.Which of the four primary goals of science is she addressing?

Accepted Answer

A) description 
B) control 
C) prediction 
D) explanation

Question 5

Psychologist Jean Piaget observed children to see how they solved problems.Over the course of many studies, he was able to spot general patterns of behavior.This led him to connect different concepts and behaviors within a single

Accepted Answer

A) theory. 
B) hypothesis. 
C) experiment. 
D) sample.

Question 6

The Hawthorne effect refers to changes in behavior associated with

Accepted Answer

A) reactivity. 
B) observer bias. 
C) experimenter expectancy. 
D) informed consent.

Question 7

The process by which any deception used in a study is explained to a participant is called

Accepted Answer

A) debriefing. 
B) informed consent. 
C) relief of confidentiality. 
D) relief from relative risk.

Question 8

Dr.Brown is a psychologist who only uses college students as research participants.Her research does NOT involve

Accepted Answer

A) random sampling. 
B) convenience sampling. 
C) selection bias. 
D) populations.

Question 9

Researchers investigated whether mood affects participants' ratings of jokes.Participants in the first mood group read sad statements.In the second group, participants read neutral statements.In this study, the participants who read the sad statements constituted the

Accepted Answer

A) control group. 
B) population. 
C) experimental condition. 
D) observational group.

Question 10

One of the four main goals of science is description.The main goal of scientists addressing this goal is to describe

Accepted Answer

A) what laws are needed to reduce dangerous behaviors. 
B) what measures to use to assess a phenomenon. 
C) which types of research studies would best address the phenomenon. 
D) what a phenomenon is.

Question 11

Clara is working on a study to examine shy children's behavior with peers they have not met before.She is developing theories, forming hypotheses, and conducting research to determine if her theory is supported by the data.In what process is she engaged?

Accepted Answer

A) random selection 
B) correlational studies 
C) directionality 
D) the scientific method

Question 12

According to the textbook, the best way to become a critical thinker is to

Accepted Answer

A) memorize a set of questions. 
B) read movie and restaurant reviews. 
C) go to medical school or graduate school. 
D) practice the skill in classes and in everyday life.

Question 13

In what way are a scatterplot and a correlation coefficient similar?

Accepted Answer

A) Both provide numerical descriptions for an association between two variables. 
B) Both represent the association between two variables. 
C) Both provide pictures of an association between two variables. 
D) Both describe all associations between two variables as positive.

Question 14

When a researcher joins a social group and talks to the members in order to study that group, the approach is referred to as

Accepted Answer

A) a self-report method. 
B) participant observation. 
C) experience sampling. 
D) response performance.

Question 15

The ethical treatment of animals is important to consider for

Accepted Answer

A) any study using animals. 
B) only studies using mice. 
C) any study conducted by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee IACU
C) . 
D) only studies using more than 100 animals.

Question 16

In what way are internal validity and external validity different?

Accepted Answer

A) External validity relates to experimental control; internal validity relates to generalization. 
B) External validity relates to accuracy; internal validity relates to systematic error. 
C) External validity relates to generalization; internal validity relates to experimental control. 
D) External validity relates to systematic error; internal validity relates to accuracy.

Question 17

A research team told one group of people it would hear a set of jokes that were funny and a second group that it would hear jokes that were not funny.A third group was not told anything about the jokes.The jokes in all conditions were the same.Research conducted with this design is

Accepted Answer

A) observational. 
B) correlational. 
C) experimental. 
D) psychophysiological.

Question 18

What type of study can be described as a "study of studies"?

Accepted Answer

A) correlational 
B) case 
C) experiment 
D) meta-analysis

Question 19

What do we mean when we say that inferential statistics allow researchers to make generalizations?

Accepted Answer

A) Measures of central tendency like the mean, median, and mode are generalizations about data. 
B) Inferential statistics remove error/bias, so generalizations are easier to make. 
C) Knowing how likely findings are to occur indicates whether results reflect true differences in a population. 
D) Meta-analyses allow researchers to generalize findings from one study to many.

Question 20

Which of the following is closest to a perfect positive correlation?

Accepted Answer

A) 0.49 
B) 0.98 
C) -0.049 
D) -0.98

Exam 2: Research Methodology