Graduate Research Methods in Psychology
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth exploration of research methodologies employed in psychological inquiry at the graduate level. Emphasizing experimental, correlational, and qualitative methods, the course guides students through the processes of hypothesis formation, research design, data collection, statistical analysis, and interpretation of findings. Students will engage critically with ethical considerations, methodological rigor, and issues of validity and reliability. Through practical assignments and evaluation of empirical literature, students will develop the skills necessary to design, conduct, and disseminate independent research in psychology.
Recommended Textbook Research Methods 8th Edition by Donald H. McBurney
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Psychology and Science
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Q1) Mr.Manear,a high school literature teacher,noticed that his students always did better on tests if he had given them study questions the day before than if he had not."Aha," he said,"giving study questions facilitates student learning." Mr.Manear had discovered a
A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) concept
D) law
Answer: D
Q2) A statement describing the relationship between two or more events is called a A) theory
B) principle
C) concept
D) law
Answer: D
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Developing a Research Question
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Q1) The statement of the research question should be as ____ as possible
A) general
B) specific
C) relevant to the real world
D) complete
Answer: B
Q2) The research proposal
A) follows the same outline as a published article
B) states the expected results and how they will be analyzed
C) serves as a sort of contract between the student and the adviser
D) all of these are true
Answer: D
Q3) PsycINFO does not contain
A) popular magazines
B) journal references
C) references to dissertations
D) references to technical reports
Answer: A
Q4) How does one evaluate the credibility of information obtained from the Internet?
Answer: Answer not provided.
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Chapter 3: Ethics in Research
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Q1) Concerning confidentiality of research data,the researcher should:
A) make sure only responsible individuals have access to the data
B) inform the participants that only responsible individuals will have access to the data
C) ask the proper authorities for permission to publish data
D) remove names from data sheets and replace with a code
Answer: D
Q2) Most psychologists believe that
A) animals have certain legal rights
B) animals are part of a moral community
C) animals should not be used in research
D) humans are responsible for treating research animals humanely
Answer: D
Q3) Psychologists working with animals should take care to
A) Make certain that the experiment has been refined
B) Minimize the number of animals involved in the research
C) Consider animal replacements
D) All of the above
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Writing in Psychology
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Q1) Select a research topic of limited scope and write a hypothetical research report.Include the following: a statement of the problem; brief review of the literature; methods section; and data analysis section.Since this is a hypothetical study,you are not expected to actually collect the data or produce any results or conclusions.therefore,the sections dealing with results and conclusions will be missing from your paper.Do a brief review of the literature and limit your review and statement of the problem to two or three typewritten pages.Be brief and concise and pay special attention to the continuity of ideas.Use your mastery of the content of previous chapters from the textbook to present an adequate and correct methodology for doing the research project.Include a reference section.This project suggests a writing task of the scope of a short term paper.
Q2) APA style now requires the use of participants instead of subjects
A) when describing humans
B) everywhere we used to say subjects
C) when describing humans, except in describing statistics
D) everywhere except in the methods and results sections
Q3) List the parts of a scientific article in APA style,and describe the contents of each.
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Chapter 5: Variables
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Q1) The idea that a test appears to be measuring what it is supposed to be measuring relates to
A) face validity
B) construct validity
C) internal validity
D) both a and b
Q2) Consider the following title of a research study: "The effect of physical distance on ratings of attraction." In this study the dependent variable is
A) physical distances
B) ratings of attraction
C) actual attraction
D) not stated in the title
Q3) Which one of the following variables represents a quantitative variable?
A) college major
B) political party affiliation
C) salary in dollars
D) type of life insurance owned
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Chapter 6: Tabular and Graphical Description of Data
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Q1) You should connect the data points with straight lines,instead of a smooth curve,unless
A) the data points describe a curvilinear relationship
B) you could write the mathematical equation for the curve
C) the line would be nonmonotonic
D) None of these. You should always connect the data points with straight lines.
Q2) A curve that never changes direction is called a(n)____ curve.
A) monotonic
B) nonmonotonic
C) U-shaped
D) inverted
Q3) The coding guide lists
A) the columns in which variables can be found
B) the names of all variables
C) acceptable values of all variables
D) All of these are true.
Q4) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having error bars on a graph.
Q5) Discuss the normal distribution in relation to measures of central tendency (mean,median,and mode).How does it differ from a skewed distribution?
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Chapter 7: Validity
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Q1) If people who drop out of study are systematically different from those who stay,we have which threat to validity?
A) selection
B) mortality
C) regression to the mean
D) maturation
Q2) Milgram's famous study (1963)in which people were led to believe that they were administering shocks to other people illustrates the power of obedience and A) evaluation apprehension
B) role demands
C) experimenter bias
D) selection bias
Q3) To ascertain the effect of wilderness survival training,a researcher measures a group of 14-year-old Boy Scouts and a group of 8-year-old Boy Scouts who have not yet had wilderness survival training.The boys are measured at the same time on proficiency in various skills.Discuss the weaknesses related to experimental validity.
Q4) List at least 4 threats to internal validity and explain what they mean.
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9
Chapter 8: Control
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Q1) Subjects may be used as their own control when
A) experiencing one condition is unlikely to influence the response to another
B) using statistical control is impossible
C) there are likely to be sequence effects
D) a within-subjects condition is not possible
Q2) An environment that is selected for a particular research purpose is called
A) Construct validity
B) A preparation
C) Reliable
D) Instrumentation
Q3) If the independent variable is magnitude of reward,then subjects who experience a large reward (say,$200)first may respond less to a small reward (say,$20).This is a(n)
A) Situation in which to use a within-subjects experiment
B) Example of a contrast effect
C) Example of a concurrent effect
D) Situation in which an experiment cannot be performed
Q4) List and describe the conditions that make using a within-subjects design viable.
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10
Chapter 9: Nonexperimental Research, part 1:
Observational, archival, and Case-Study Research
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Q1) A pilot study
A) is mostly for inexperienced researchers
B) is required for all studies
C) helps find the bugs in a design
D) reduces the credibility of the later study because the researcher has tested the design in advance
Q2) The main problem with using a camcorder to record your observations electronically is
A) You must review your records in real time
B) Camcorders are too expensive
C) Camcorders are unethical
D) Animals can smell camcorders
Q3) As part of a research project on factors promoting group leadership,a psychology graduate student joins a campus social club.This is an example of ____ research.
A) naturalistic-observation
B) participant-observer
C) case study
D) archival
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Chapter 10: Nonexperimental Research, part 2: Survey Research
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Q1) One of the major problems facing Web-based surveys is
A) Slippage can occur
B) A difficulty in finding a truly random sample
C) Social desirability is increased
D) The good subject tendency is increased
Q2) Branching items are useful when
A) When surveying the public about botany
B) Some participants need to skip inappropriate items
C) Attempting to avoid the social desirability tendency
D) Rating stimulus intensity
Q3) Which one of the following is a major function of survey research?
A) To dispel myths
B) To collect as much data as possible in the shortest period of time
C) To collect only information that will prove to be significant
D) To acquire qualitative data
Q4) The Mental Measurement Yearbook series
A) Is the official publication of MENSA
B) Reviews many standardized tests, including questionnaires
C) Is used to survey outgoing college seniors
D) Contains information about famous psychologists
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Chapter 11: True Experiments, part 1: Single-Factor Designs
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Q1) Exhibit 11-2 Refer to the following key:
R = random Assignment
X = experimental treatment
O = pretest or posttest observation
Refer to Exhibit 11-2.O X O represents the
A) pretest-posttest control group design
B) one-shot case study
C) posttest-only control group design
D) one-group pretest-posttest design
Q2) Exhibit 11-1 A drug and a placebo are compared for treating diabetes.A random half of the subjects receive the drug,while the other half receives the placebo.Blood glucose level is tested in all of the subjects several times a day.
Refer to Exhibit 11-1.What type of design does this study represent?
A) Single-factor within-subjects
B) Single-factor between subjects
C) One-group pretest-posttest
D) Posttest-only design with nonequivalent control groups
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Chapter 12: True Experiments, part 2: Factorial Designs
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Q1) There is an interaction if
A) there is no main effect of either Variable A or Variable B
B) the effect of Variable A depends on whether there is a main effect of Variable B
C) there is a main effect of both Variable A and Variable B
D) the effect of Variable A depends on the level of B
Q2) How does the interpretation of the results of a factorial experiment differ when it only includes significant main effects as opposed to both significant main effects and significant interactions?
Q3) If neither Variable A nor Variable B has a main effect you can have
A) no interaction
B) a ceiling effect interaction
C) an antagonistic interaction
D) a synergistic interaction
Q4) The results of a 2 x 2 experiment will fit one of ____ possible patterns
A) 2
B) 4
C) 6
D) 8
Q5) What is the advantage of a factorial design over a single-factor design?
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Chapter 13: Single-Subject Experiments
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Q1) Compare and contrast group designs with the single-subject approach.What are the advantages of the single-subject design? Disadvantages?
Q2) I obtained a baseline level of John's cooking behavior of 25% of the meals without praise.I then highly praised his cooking behavior,and it increased to 85% of the meals.Later,I stopped praising his cooking,and his behavior began to drop back to its baseline level.What sort of design was I using?
A) Multiple Baseline
B) ABA
C) Alternating-treatments
D) Reversal Replication
Q3) Researchers who favor the single subject approach over the group research approach assume that most variability within the subject's behavior:
A) is intrinsic and should be controlled statistically B) is caused by the research situation, or setting C) cannot be removed
D) is minimal and therefore irrelevant
Q4) Define and/or describe the term "statistical power".
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15
Chapter 14: Quasi Experiments
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Q1) A distinguishing characteristic of the nonequivalent control-group design is that the
A) control group does not receive a pretest
B) researcher has control over confounding variables
C) experimental and control treatments are randomly assigned to the groups
D) subjects are not randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups
Q2) When Alexander Wagenaar compared alcohol-related traffic accidents before and after the increase of the drinking age,the ____ design was used.
A) longitudinal
B) interrupted time series
C) control series
D) ABAB design
Q3) A quasi experiment has lower ____ validity but may have higher ____ validity
A) statistical, construct
B) construct, statistical
C) external, internal
D) internal, external
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Chapter 15: Biases and Limitations of Experimental Psychology
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Q1) All of the following may be considered responsibilities of the scientist except: Scientists are obligated to
A) study only those problems that have practical significance.
B) inform and educate the public about their research findings.
C) respond to the public's concerns about research.
D) critically examine the ideas of other scientists.
Q2) Much of the research in the United States is funded by
A) Government grants
B) Universities
C) The media
D) Private citizens
Q3) One source of conservatism in science is provided by
A) green building initiatives
B) a drastic increase in per capita spending
C) defense contracting
D) science's dependence on financial support
Q4) Discuss how our inability to solve such current health problems as AIDS,cancer,drug and alcohol addiction,and schizophrenia,reflects the limitations of science.
Q5) Identify and describe the essential and practical limitations of science.
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