Psychological Statistics
Review Questions
Course Introduction
Psychological Statistics is an introductory course that explores the essential concepts and methods used to analyze and interpret data within the field of psychology. The course covers topics such as descriptive statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, correlation, and analysis of variance (ANOVA), emphasizing practical applications and the interpretation of results. Students gain hands-on experience using statistical software to conduct analyses, develop critical thinking skills to evaluate research findings, and learn how to effectively communicate statistical information. Mastery of these concepts enables students to better understand psychological research and prepares them for more advanced study in behavioral science.
Recommended Textbook Research Methods In Psychology 9th Edition by
John J Shaughnessy
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction
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Q1) Suppose a friend tells you about psychological research findings she read about on the Internet,and because of the findings she is convinced that she should try some new communication techniques in her relationship.You tell her you are skeptical because A)the way the research was conducted may not be very good.
B)it's better to read the original research report before drawing a conclusion.
C)some important information about the research may not have been reported on the Internet.
D)all of these
Answer: D
Q2) The most important characteristic of the scientific method is the A)computer revolution.
B)theoretical perspective of behaviorism.
C)empirical approach.
D)cognitive approach.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Scientifi C Method
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Q1) Reliability refers to the ________ of measurement,and validity refers to the ________ of measurement.
A)operational definition,objectivity
B)accuracy,precision
C)testability,parsimony
D)consistency,truthfulness
Answer: D
Q2) The major function of a theory in psychology is to
A)develop quantitative and qualitative predictions for the results of future experiments.
B)derive explanations that are independent of the results of experiments.
C)formulate definitive explanations for empirical findings.
D)organize empirical knowledge and guide research.
Answer: D
Q3) The most rigorous test of a scientific theory involves
A)precision of prediction.
B)generalization.
C)the rule of parsimony.
D)falsification.
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Ethical Issues in the Conduct of Psychological Research
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Q1) Which of the following is not one of the areas that Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC)are charged to review?
A)adequacy of housing for the animals
B)procedures for controlling pain
C)budget for the proposed research
D)procedures for training personnel who will work with the animals
Answer: C
Q2) A major goal of debriefing participants at the end of a research session is to
A)make sure participants have returned all of their research materials.
B)learn about any errors in the research procedure.
C)make sure individuals feel good about their participation.
D)ask participants for their ideas regarding future research.
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following ethical principles is contradicted when deception is used in research?
A)risk/benefit ratio
B)informed consent
C)minimal risk
D)privacy
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Observation
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Q1) The remnants,fragments of past behavior that provide unobtrusive measures of behavior are called
A)subtle traces.
B)physical traces.
C)archival traces.
D)anecdotal traces.
Q2) For both physical and psychological measurement the lowest scale of measurement involves categorizing the stimulus into one of a number of discrete categories (e.g. ,male or female).This level of measurement is called a(n)
A)ordinal scale.
B)ratio scale.
C)nominal scale.
D)interval scale.
Q3) Probably the most important control over observer bias is
A)the use of a detailed checklist.
B)informing observers about the purpose of the study.
C)the awareness that observer bias might be present.
D)restricting observations to the public domain.
Q4) Calculate and report the observers' interobserver reliability.
Q5) Identify the type of observational method used in this study.
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Chapter 5: Survey Research
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Q1) Identify the key features of a good questionnaire item.
Q2) In sampling,the specific list of the elements of the population is called the A)sample.
B)sampling frame.
C)survey set.
D)representative sample.
Q3) When individuals report on a questionnaire that their behavior is more favorable than it actually is,researchers need to be concerned about the _____ of the questions.
A)morality
B)selection bias
C)demographics
D)social desirability
Q4) A sampling frame in survey research could be considered a(n)__________ of the population.
A)representative sample
B)biased sample
C)operational definition
D)probability sample
Q5) What correlation coefficient value indicates the "Friend" measure is reliable?
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Chapter 6: Independent Groups Designs
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Q1) When we conclude that an experiment does not provide sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis when,in fact,an independent variable does produce an effect,the inferential statistics problem is called a
A)no-confidence interval.
B)probability error.
C)Type I error.
D)Type II error.
Q2) The factors that researchers control or manipulate in order to determine their effect on behavior are called the
A)intervention variables.
B)independent variables.
C)dependent variables.
D)confounding variables.
Q3) Which of the following is a measure of the strength of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables that is independent of sample size?
A)F-test
B)error variation
C)effect size
D)residual variation
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Chapter 7: Repeated Measures Designs
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Q1) What potential confounding variable must be balanced in this research? Explain what balancing procedure would be best for this experiment.
B.Ten random sequences of A and B inkblots would counterbalance practice effects.
Q2) What is the dependent variable in this experiment?
Q3) A market researcher wants to test the effectiveness of three different types of advertisement.Participants will respond to many examples of each type of advertisement so that the researcher can determine each person's preference.What type of design is this researcher using?
A)replicated repeated measures design
B)partial repeated measures design
C)incomplete repeated measures design
D)complete repeated measures design
Q4) Cite at least two reasons why a researcher might choose to use a repeated measures design.
Q5) What are one advantage and one disadvantage of using possible orders to balance practice effects in the incomplete repeated measures design?
Q6) What is the independent variable in this experiment?
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Chapter 8: Complex Designs
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Q1) The number of conditions in a complex design described as a 2 × 3 is A)two.
B)three.
C)five.
D)six.
Q2) When an independent variable such as task difficulty has been shown to interact with a second independent variable such as age,the generality (i.e. ,ability to generalize the findings)of the effect of the task difficulty variable is A)unaffected.
B)limited.
C)increased.
D)completeD.
Q3) Describe what effects might be statistically significant if this researcher computed an analysis of variance.
Q4) Did the results support the researcher's predictions? Explain why or why not.
Q5) What are the means for the main effect of the Offender Gender variable? [Be sure to specify which mean belongs with each condition.]
Q6) Draw a graph that displays mean results consistent with the researcher's hypothesis.
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Chapter 9: Single-Case Designs and Small-N Research
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Q1) Which of the following patterns represents an ideal baseline in a single-subject experimental design?
A)jagged line with several peaks and valleys
B)line with a positive slope (diagonal from lower left to upper right)
C)line with a negative slope (diagonal from upper left to lower right)
D)line with zero slope (horizontal line)
Q2) The relationship of the case study method to other research methods of investigation can best be described as
A)very similar to experimental approaches.
B)antagonistic to more controlled methods.
C)most related to methods used to conduct confirmatory studies.
D)interrelated with and complementary to other methods.
Q3) Researchers are often unable to control extraneous variables when they use the case study method.This poor degree of control makes it difficult to use the case study method to
A)develop predictions of behavior.
B)consider alternative theoretical explanations of behavior.
C)draw cause-and-effect conclusions about behavior.
D)develop descriptions of behavior.
Q4) What type of research design was used in this study? [Be specific.]
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Quasi-Experimental Designs and Program Evaluation
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Q1) What type of research design was used for this study?
Q2) If the residents,staff,and facilities of a nursing home where a quasi-experiment was done are likely to be different from those in other nursing homes,then the findings of the study are likely to lack
A)reliability.
B)statistical significance.
C)internal validity.
D)external validity.
Q3) A high school teacher conducted a test of a new approach to teaching math.Students were given a pretest when their math class began and a posttest at the end of the semester.The students' math performance increased.The teacher learned near the end of the semester,however,that in their science classes the students were using new computer software that included much of the math the teacher covered in his course.Which of the following threats to internal validity does the new computer software represent?
A)selection
B)regression
C)testing
D)history
Q4) What major threats to internal validity are controlled by this research design?
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Chapter 11: Data Analysis and Interpretation: Part I
Describing Data,confi Dence Intervals, Correlation
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Q1) The standard deviation is equal to the square root of A)the sum of squared deviations from the mean.
B)the variance.
C)N -1.
D)the standard error of the mean.
Q2) Values of the t statistic are defined by A)sample size.
B)population size.
C)the standard error.
D)degrees of freedom.
Q3) A coherent "story" of data analysis for a study will include all of the following except A)an explanation of the findings.
B)a critique of data analyses conducted in other studies.
C)counter arguments for opposing interpretations of the findings. D)justifications for conclusions.
Q4) Explain the phrase,"Correlation does not imply causation."
Q5) Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the three measures of central tendency: mean,median,mode.
Q6) Why is a confidence interval also called a "margin of error"?
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Chapter 12: Data Analysis and Interpretation: Part II
Statisticalsignifi Cance and the Analysis Story
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Q1) Before examining the "significance" of an inferential test,a researcher should carefully examine the
A)descriptive (summary)statistics.
B)statement of the null hypothesis.
C)results of previous experiments.
D)probability values.
Q2) A psychologist conducts a study to test a new treatment.The effect of treatment is statistically significant;the effect size is small according to accepted criteria.When considering the practical or clinical significance of the finding,the psychologist is likely to be concerned about
A)the financial cost of implementing the treatment.
B)the external validity of the finding.
C)how the study was conducted.
D)all of these
Q3) The most common error associated with null hypothesis testing in psychological research is
A)random sampling.
B)too much power.
C)Type I error.
D)Type II error.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Communication in Psychology
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Q1) The literature review in the introduction section of a research report should include A)all of the previous research that is relevant to the topic.
B)the studies that are most directly related to the research topic.
C)complete descriptions of the hypotheses,methodology,and findings of previous research related to the research topiC.
D)only previous studies that describe theories related to the research topic.
Q2) A typical paragraph in a results section begins by
A)stating the purpose of the analysis.
B)reviewing the statistical tests used.
C)summarizing what was found.
D)presenting descriptive statistics.
Q3) The last step in writing a paragraph in a results section is to
A)explain why the statistical tests were used.
B)present the confidence interval in APA-format.
C)present the descriptive statistics in a verbal statement,table,or figure.
D)state a brief conclusion regarding the statistical finding.
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